Why is it important for an MPR professional to clearly understand a firm's positioning and resources during the early stages of developing an MPR plan? Explain your answer in detail

What will be an ideal response?

Positioning, combined with resources—or lack thereof—affect the implementation of any MPR plan, so marketers must thoroughly understand and evaluate them before setting goals or formulating strategies or tactics. Well-marketed companies, brands, and products are consciously positioned in the marketplace in such a way that they have a sustainable advantage over competitors on some level. The firm's mission typically helps produce and support this position, so marketers endeavoring to create a successful MPR plan need to understand both the mission and the position. The marketer must also realize that any position has both benefits and challenges. (For example, a position as a low-cost leader can drive demand among price-conscious consumers, but it may also signal that the products or services are cheap or inferior to others in the market.) Along with positioning, marketers need to consider the resources they have available to them to support their efforts. Resources can be tangible, like money, a large retail presence in the market, or a large existing customer base. They can also be less tangible, like a strong brand image or a wealth of expertise within the firm.