xP&A CX Commercial Planning - Get to know the Marketing Planning module within the Commercial Planning Content part of the xP&A Content Suite

In this step you will learn how to navigate to the folder which contains all SAP Analytic Cloud content packages.

1. Login to your SAP Analytics Cloud tenant using Google Chrome.

   INFORMATION:

   In order to get the best experience, it is recommended to use Google Chrome as it offers the best compatibility with SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC).

   Other browsers can be used as well but are not supported by SAP.

2. In the SAP Analytics Cloud Menu, navigate to the Files section.

   

3. Access the content package folder.

   • You can access the content package folder by either navigating to the Public folder first and looking for a folder named SAP_CONTENT, or by using the search function in the top-right corner.
   • In case you want to make use of the search function, simply enter the term SAP_CONTENT into the search bar.
   
   • The folder SAP_CONTENT contains all objects required to run SAC content. Here you can find your installed content from the content network provided by SAP.
   

Now that you have learned where all the SAP Analytics Cloud content packages are stored, you need to find the SAP Commercial Planning content.

1. Look for the SAP Commercial Planning content package by using the search bar.

   • In order to do so, please use the keyword xP&A or CX
   • In the result list, click on the folder SAP_CX_Commercial_Planning with the description xP&A – Commercial Planning
   

2. Run the Commercial Planning content package.

   • The Commercial Planning content package consists of three modules, which are the Marketing Planning module, the Portfolio Planning module and lastly the Sales Planning Module.
   • The folder SAP_CX_Commercial_Planning contains two folders, which are the marketing planning folder and the sales planning folder.
   • The marketing planning folder contains all stories and objects which are related to the Portfolio Planning module and the Marketing Planning module.
   • The sales planning folder contains all stories and objects which are related to the Sales Planning module.
   • To run the Commercial Planning content, please navigate to the folder SAP_MKT_Marketing_Planning and enter the folder Stories. Click on the story called Commercial Planning Overview Page (SAP_MKT_CommercialPlanning_Overview).

   INFORMATION:

   • The story Commercial Planning Overview Page (SAP_MKT_CommercialPlanning_Overview) serves as a starting point and allows you to access all resources of all modules during run time.
   • In other words, you do not need to access the remaining stories by manually launching them from the Files section. Instead, you can conveniently open them from inside the Commercial Planning Overview Page (SAP_MKT_CommercialPlanning_Overview) story.

   

3. Access the Marketing Planning content sub-package.

   
   • Now that you have opened the Commercial Planning Overview Page (SAP_MKT_CommercialPlanning_Overview) story, you can see that the screen is split into three different sections, while each section represents one of the modules of the entire Commercial Planning content package.
   • These sections are the Portfolio Planning section, the Sales Planning section and the Marketing Planning section.
   • In order to run the Marketing Planning content sub-package, click anywhere on the Marketing Planning section to open the story Marketing Planning Overview Page (SAP_MKT_MarketingPlanning_Overview). Similar to the Commercial Planing Overview Page, the Marketing Planning Overview Page serves as a starting point for all marketing planning related activities.

Before jumping into the individual stories of the Marketing Planning content sub-package, it is necessary to understand what the stories are for and which use cases they cover.

As this tutorial focuses only on the marketing planning module of the commercial planning content package, other sub-packages are not covered here.

If you wish to learn more about the portfolio planning module or the sales planning module, check out the tutorials xP&A Commercial Planning - Get to know the Portfolio Planning module and xP&A Commercial Planning - Get to know the Sales Planning module to get a full overview of the Commercial Planning content package.

1. Marketing Planning Overview Page

   
   • By having opened the application Marketing Planning Overview Page (SAP_MKT_MarketingPlanning_Overview), you entered the Home Screen of the Marketing Planning content sub-package.
   • The overview application serves as the central entry point for all personas and helps to navigate through the content package.
   • In the lower half of the story, you can see three sections which cluster the different components of the application.
   • Those sections contain hyperlinks which redirect the responsible persona (e.g. the technical administrator or the marketing planner) to the respective story.

2. Configure

   
   • The section Configure contains two links, both leading to the story Marketing Planning Admin Page (SAP_MKT_Marketing_AdminPage) while each of the links opens a different page of the two-page story.
   • This story marks the start of the planning process and allows you to perform any administrative task required for the marketing planning activities.
   • Among other available actions this also includes loading list prices from SAP S/4HANA, importing baseline quantities from SAP Integrated Business Planning, initializing the plan version and exporting marketing expenses back to SAP Integrated Business Planning.
   • In addition to that you may also trigger individual Data Actions and Multi Actions manually from this screen, which by design are usually executed automatically during the marketing planning process.
   • Furthermore this story also offers a second page for debugging activities mainly designed for the marketing campaign and marketing activity planning process, where you can inspect which campaign or activity targets which products.
   • This story is mainly designed for the technical administrator.

3. Plan

   
   • The section Plan provides access to the stories Marketing Budget Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingBudgetPlanning), Marketing Demand Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingDemandPlanning) and Marketing Campaign Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingBudgetPlanning).
   • These stories are targeting use cases of the marketing budget planner persona, the marketing demand planner persona or respectively the marketing campaign planner persona.
   • Specifically, the Marketing Budget Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingBudgetPlanning) story allows you to create an overall quantity, revenue and cost budget on the version public.Budget, which then can be used as a reference in the other planning stories.
   • The Marketing Demand Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingDemandPlanning) story allows you to adjust baseline quantities and plan incremental quantities for different drivers, such as the consumer trend driver or the market share driver. It also allows you to make changes based on the revenue and recalculate the respective quantities afterwards.
   • The Marketing Campaign Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingBudgetPlanning) story is specifically designed to plan marketing campaigns and activities on a daily granularity which target specific products.

4. Report

   
   • The section Report contains two links, one leading to the story Marketing Campaign Analysis (SAP_MKT_MarketingCampaignAnalysis) and the other one to the story Marketing Performance Analysis (SAP_MKT_MarketingPerformanceAnalysis).
   • The reporting story Marketing Campaign Analysis provides insights into financial metrics related to planned campaigns, such as marketing expenses, activity costs and the ROI per product.
   • The reporting story Marketing Performance Analysis provides deeper insights into financial metrics such as the revenue per date and product or revenue per company code.

As a last preparation step, it is required to understand the navigation concept of the content package in order for you to use it properly. In this step, you will learn about the meaning and the functionality of all the buttons as well as other UI elements.

1. Main Navigation button

   • Each story apart from the Overview Pages (SAP_MKT_MarketingPlanning_Overview, SAP_MKT_PortfolioPlanning_Overview and SAP_MKT_CommercialPlanning_Overview) has a Main Navigation button located on the top-left corner.

   
   • By clicking on the Main Navigation button, a panel on the left-hand side of the story is opened.
   
   • Here you can quickly navigate to other stories of the Commercial Planning content package.

2. Expand / Collapse Section button

   • These buttons can be found in all stories apart from the Overview Pages and are located at the top-right corner of each available section.
   • The Expand Section button (with the arrows pointing to the outside) enlarges a specific section and hides the header and the remaining sections, which is quite useful in case you require more space for the planning tables or reports.
   
   • The Expand Section button changes to a Collapse Section button (with the arrows pointing to the center) after entering full screen mode. By pressing the Collapse Section button, you can unhide the header section as well as the remaining sections again and return to the default view mode.
   

3. Confirm button

   • The Confirm button can be found in each planning story of this content package and is located at the top-right corner above the tables.
   • The Confirm button lets you publish your current plan data into the public plan version.
   
   • Prior to publishing the version you will receive the following pop-up:
   
   • If there is nothing to confirm, an application warning will appear instead of the pop-up telling you that there is nothing to publish.

4. Reset button

   • The Reset button can be found in each planning story of this content package and is located at the top-right corner above the tables.

   
   • Prior to reverting the plan version you will receive the following pop-up:
   
   • If there is nothing to reset, an application warning will appear instead of the pop-up telling you that there is nothing to revert.

5. Table Settings button

   • Some of the planning stories have a Table Settings button which can be found on the top-right corner above the table.

   
   • By pressing on this button, a pop-up is opened where you can select different measures to be displayed in your table.
   • Depending on the story the offered selection of measures might differ.
   

6. Instructions section

   
   • Such a text field can be found in each story of this content package and is located in the left-side panel, indicated by the info icon.
   • This description field serves as a rough guideline and describes the intended user workflow within each of the planning stories.

7. Filter section

   • This section can be found in each story apart from the overview pages of this content package and is located in the left-side panel, indicated by the filter icon.

   
   • By using the drop down widgets, you can filter all tables and charts down to specific members of the given dimensions for an eased data entry and reporting.
   • By clicking on the little arrow icon, you can collapse the side panel in order to create more space for your planning tables or charts.
   
   • You can then reopen the side panel by clicking on the reversed arrow icon.
   

   INFORMATION:

   • Be aware that some widgets are disconnected from the input controls and thus do not take into consideration the settings from the filter panel.
   • This is because some charts are specifically designed to only show data for one specific version or member of a dimension.
   • Please also note that collapsing and expanding the side panel works for every section of the left side panel, not just the filter section.

8. Help section

   
   • This section can be found in each story apart from the overview pages of this content package and is located in the left-side panel, indicated by the question mark icon.
   • The content help section contains useful links for the user, which for instance redirect you to the official documentation or provide you with contact details so you can get in touch with the developers.

9. Comment section

   
   • This section can only be found in each story apart from the overview pages of this content package and is located in the left-side panel.
   • By clicking on the comment icon, the comment panel is opened where you can leave comments for yourself or the other planners.

10. Driver panel

    
    • This section can only be found in the Marketing Demand Planning story and is located in the left-side panel.
    • By clicking on the configuration icon, the driver panel is opened where you can enter impact percentages for the consumer trend and the market share driver on a product group level.

11. Reference Version drop-down

    
    • This drop-down widget can be found in some of the stories of this content package.
    • By using this drop-down widget, you can define the reference version against which you would like to compare your plan data.

12. Hide / Unhide Section button

    
    • In case a story contains multiple sections, you can choose to hide specific parts of the story by using the Hide Section button or respectively unhide the section by using the Unhide Section button.
    • Both of these buttons can be found on the top left corner of each section.

13. Initialize Version button

    
    • The button Initialize Version can be found on the top right corner above the table in the Marketing Budget Panning story.
    • By pressing on this button, a pop-up is opened where you can select a start date and an end date to start a copy operation from another version, which in the scope of this content is the Financial Target version.

14. Recalculate Quantities button

    
    • The button Recalculate Quantities can be found on the top right corner above the table in the Marketing Budget Planning story.
    • By pressing on this button, a recalculation of quantities is triggered as this planning story allows you to make changes on the budgeted revenue. In order to keep data consistent and correct, you need to recalculate the quantities based on your new revenue entries.

15. Select Action drop down

    
    • This drop down can be found in the Marketing Campaign Planning story and is located on the top right corner above the planning table.
    • The drop down lets you select between different actions, while each selection opens a different pop-up.
    

16. Switch to ROI view and Switch to Chart view buttons

    
    • The Switch to ROI view button can be found in the Marketing Campaign Analysis story and is located on the top right corner above the reporting section.
    • As the name suggests, clicking on this button will change the view to display information in a tabular view where the focus lies on reporting the ROI per product.
    • Once the view is changed, the button will be replaced by the button Switch to Chart view.
    
    • By clicking on this button, you will return to the default view mode of this story.

17. Tabular View and Graphical View buttons

    
    • The Tabular View button can be found in the Marketing Performance Analysis story and is located on the top right corner above the reporting section.
    • As the name suggests, clicking on this button will change the view to display information in a tabular view.
    • Once the view is changed, the button will be replaced by the button Graphical View.
    
    • By clicking in this button, you will return to the default view mode of this story.

Now that you are familiar with the basics and the navigation concept, you will learn in more detail how to use the different stories.

This step focuses on the story Marketing Planning Admin Page (SAP_MKT_Marketing_AdminPage).

You will learn how to open the story (Tab 1), how to integrate all relevant data from different data sources into the data model (Tab 2), how to initialize the plan version (Tab 3). what other actions you can trigger from the admin page (Tab 4) and lastly how to enter the debugging report section for marketing campaigns (Tab 5).

As you have now integrated all relevant data and initialized your plan version, you can continue with the actual planning activities.

In this step, the Marketing Budget Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingBudgetPlanning) story of this content package is introduced.

You will learn how to open the story (Tab 1) and how to enter your budget(Tab 2).

Now that the budget is planned, you can continue with your planning activities on the Plan version. Please note that the overall planning process is not considered to be linear or to be performed successively. It is rather an iterative process, so it does not matter whether you start your planning activities by using this story or any other planning story of this content package.

In this step, the Marketing Demand Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingDemandPlanning) story of this content package is introduced.

You will learn how to open the story (Tab 1) and how to enter your planning assumptions (Tab 2).

In this step, the Marketing Campaign Planning (SAP_MKT_MarketingCampaignPlanning) story of this content package is introduced.

You will learn how to open the story (Tab 1) and how to create, modify and delete marketing campaigns and marketing activities (Tab 2).

In this step the Marketing Campaign Analysis (SAP_MKT_MarketingCampaignAnalysis) story of this content package is introduced.

Here you will learn how to open the story (Tab 1) and how to consume the different reports to get an overview about your marketing campaigns, activities and your financial metrics (Tab 2).

In this step the Marketing Performance Analysis (SAP_MKT_MarketingPerformanceAnalysis) story of this content package is introduced.

Here you will learn how to open the story (Tab 1) and how to consume the different reports to get an overview about your marketing performance and all important financial metrics (Tab 2).

Congratulations! You have finished the introduction tutorial and are now able to use the Marketing Planning content like an expert.

If you want to learn more about the other modules of this content package, check out the following tutorials:

• xP&A Commercial Planning - Get to know the Sales Planning module
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Get to know the Portfolio Planning module

If you want to customize the content and adjust it according to your own business requirements, the following resources might be helpful:

• xP&A Commercial Planning - Introduction to the Data Model
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Understanding the technical structure of Stories
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Data Integration
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Manage data loads
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Add additional sections to a story
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Add an additional story to the Navigation Menu
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Customize Default Settings
• xP&A Commercial Planning - Customize Table Settings Dialogue
• xP&A Commercial Planning (Marketing) - Add a new Driver
• xP&A Commercial Planning (Marketing) - Add a new Version
• xP&A Commercial Planning (Marketing) - Extend activity spend dates
• xP&A Commercial Planning (Sales) - Add a new Version
• xP&A Commercial Planning (Sales) - Add a new Tactic
• xP&A Commercial Planning (Sales) - Add a new Spend Type

If you want to get an overview of the entire xP&A Commercial Planning content package, make sure to check out the Mission.

For the full xP&A experience and to complement the commercial planning process with a dedicated revenue planning process, make sure to check out the SAP Consensus Net Revenue Planning content package as well! More details about this content package can be found in the xP&A Consensus Net Revenue - Get to know the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Content part of the xP&A Content Suite introduction tutorial.

Interested in more xP&A topics and related business content packages? Visit our community page Extended Planning & Analysis Business Content.