It also examines the products and positions of competitors. The basic idea of the situation analysis is to let the marketers know where they stand before anything gets started. Don't get confused. At this point, we're at a more specific level than we were on with the marketing objectives. We're talking about the specific goals of specific marketing plans.
Many marketing plans combined achieve the marketing objectives.
Increasing market share or increasing sales isn't always the goal of a marketing plan. Sometimes it's something a little more mundane. Maybe the situation analysis determines that the product has an antiquated image. In this case, the goal of the marketing plan may simply be to update the product's image. As long as your goal is in line with your company's marketing objectives, the marketing plan can do just about anything.