Xbox video game consoles were developed through a joint venture between Microsoft and the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). Plans were made to rush the product to market to counter new Playstation and Nintendo consoles that were also being released about the same time. Complaints about the video game began immediately after its introduction. These complaints ranged from missing parts to incorrect programming. In which phase of the strategic marketing process did the Xbox strategy fail?

A marketing plan refers to a a future course of action relating to marketing tactics a firm is planning to employ and specifies the goals and objectives which are to be achieved. It provides direction and guides marketing efforts in a single direction i.e towards attainment of marketing objectives.

A strategic marketing plan is an in-depth marketing plan which specifies the long term marketing strategies, the markets in which the firm shall compete, the target customers and the means to attain marketing goals.

Such a plan incorporates the following phases:

Analysis : It means situational analyses and assessing organizational strengths and weaknesses and matching them with environmental threats and opportunities.
Planning: This involves conducting marketing research and product testing and also planning for the price, promotion and distribution of products.
Implementation: It refers to putting the plans into action and placing the products in the market based upon the distribution channel and markets planned for in previous stages.
Control: This refers to analyzing sales, profit margins and customer satisfaction. Measuring the deviations against figures as anticipated and making necessary modifications in the marketing strategy accordingly.

In the given case, the video game company had planned well w.r.t it's joint venture and strategy but failed to implement it effectively. This points to the company failing at the implementation phase of the strategic marketing process.