In late 1993, the General Manager, Marketing of Lotus Thread Company Limited (LTCL) was reviewing the annual marketing planning process at LTCL. Several factors had emerged recently to emphasize the importance of better planning. Firstly, the company was planning to increase its production capacity. Second, the industry leader, holding a dominant position in the thread market had become very aggressive and had started reducing prices of its products. Third, the unorganized sector companies, called rewinders, were posing a serious threat in the polyster thread market. And finally, with the liberalization of the economy, imports could pose a serious threat in the fast growing readymade garment and other industry segments. More specifically, the marketing planning process had to attempt a replication of the success achieved by LTCL in the tailoring segment to the growing readymade garment and hosiery segments.