Annual budgeting is a major task; if not thought through and done well, the coming year will be a mess. Once sales targets are set and marketing wheels start rolling, trivial matters overwhelm, leaving little room for holistic thinking, so marketing teams operate on inertia and repeat mistakes. Afterward, reflection shows they lag behind in everything. Year after year, many marketing managers have indeed improvised. Previously, relying on corporate platforms and market dividends worked, but now it's increasingly difficult. Today, regarding next year's budget, we discuss six strategies that must be considered: channel strategy, product strategy, consumer strategy, market expense strategy, distributor strategy, and time progression strategy. But why do first-tier brands like Coca-Cola remain evergreen in the industry? There are indeed issues worth pondering. Consumer gaps or loss is a problem many old brands must face. So annual budgets must consider consumer strategy. 04 Market Expense Strategy The core logic of annual budgeting: centered on one origin (market), four aspects (input, output, front-end, back-end), leading to eight tasks (promotion expenses, operating expenses, sales contribution, profit contribution, terminal performance, coverage performance, sales team, distribution network). This is also a rough framework for regional market thinking. Among these, expense strategy is a core element, and we need to focus on four aspects.

  1. Macroscopically understand the two dimensions of regional market expense investment.
  2. FMCG manufacturers should allocate expenses by product line.
  3. Avoid the "tragedy of the commons" in annual expense budgets. The time nodes for budget implementation should be set with at least two dimensions aligned with the company's annual comprehensive goals: First, on a timeline basis, can all organizations and resources be matched in time? I once encountered an awkward situation where a national consumer education campaign was about to launch, but related materials were delayed, forcing last-minute local production with varying quality, greatly reducing effectiveness. Second, failure contingency plans, commonly known as Plan B: if time dimensions are not met, how to remedy? How to ensure timely and effective remedies? We don't hope for failure, but we must prepare for the worst outcomes. Extended Reading: -END-