MOSAIC

Many business plans begin with three questions: where are we now, where are we going and how will we get there? MOSAIC turns those questions into an end-to-end planning cycle.

When to use it

• To set objectives for a current problem or opportunity and translate them into controlled action.
• To structure market-research recommendations, marketing plans and broader change initiatives.

Origins

B2B International developed MOSAIC in 1996 to help convert market research into action. Around the same period, marketing consultant Paul Smith developed SOSTAC®, a related planning framework:

• Situation – where are we now?

• Objectives – where do we want to be?

• Strategy – how do we get there?

• Tactics – how exactly will we proceed?

• Action – what will be done?

• Control – did the plan achieve its purpose?

The two frameworks use different labels but share a discipline of diagnosis, direction, execution and feedback.

What it is

MOSAIC stands for mapping, objectives, strategy, action, implementation and controls.

Mapping

Map the relevant system: market size and growth, customers and unmet needs, competition, channels, pricing, regulation, capabilities and constraints. Match depth to the stakes. Stop when additional research is unlikely to change the decision, and record important unknowns rather than delaying indefinitely.

Objectives

Convert the opportunity into specific, meaningful, measurable, achievable, agreed, relevant and time-bound outcomes. Include guardrails so hitting a target does not damage customers, employees, safety or long-term value.

Strategy

State the coherent choices that will achieve the objectives: target audience, value proposition, advantage, trade-offs and resource focus. Keep strategy clear enough to guide day-to-day decisions, and define contingency triggers rather than maintaining a ceremonial Plan B.

Action

Break strategy into work, owners, dependencies, resources, milestones and dates. Anticipate likely obstacles and specify who can resolve them.

Implementation

Execute in manageable increments, protect operating capacity and surface deviations early. Plans routinely take longer or cost more than optimistic estimates, so use evidence-based contingencies and support accountable owners.

Controls

Define leading and lagging measures, review cadence, thresholds and corrective authority before launch. Control means learning and adapting, not punishing people for reporting reality.

Developments of the model

MOSAIC and SOSTAC® are containers for other tools. PEST and SWOT can support mapping; causal analysis can test relationships; and an impact-versus-difficulty view can prioritise actions.

Difficult Easy

High Strategic Must do/

impact wins Quick hits

Impact

Low Infrastructure

Why do? impact items

Use the prioritisation grid as a conversation aid. Difficulty and impact estimates are uncertain and can hide distributional effects, prerequisites or compliance work.

How to use it

Consider Flexydie, a disguised flexible-die supplier serving printers. Its metal dies wrap around cylinders to create folds and perforations. Products sell between €60 and €600, mostly near the lower end. Customers send designs electronically and expect rapid shipment.

Mapping

The company estimated around 5, potential customers in major European markets. Large German producers and many regional suppliers competed in a relatively static market, so growth required winning share. The team should treat the malformed inherited estimate as a data-quality issue to verify before investment.

Objectives

Flexydie estimated a 5 per cent European share and sought 10 per cent over five years. The objective needed consistent market boundaries and a measure of profitable, retained share.

Strategy

The chosen position combined very fast turnaround with excellent customer service.

Action

The plan recruited and trained service personnel, assigned ownership and connected order handling with production capability.

Implementation

Early results disappointed. Printers were loyal to incumbent suppliers and switched mainly after service failure. Prices were already tight, leaving little room for discount-led acquisition.

Controls

Rather than abandon the objective reflexively, the company reviewed evidence and expanded its proposition to include rapid turnaround and innovations such as non-stick coatings. Sales moved slowly for two years and then rose sharply; the goal was reached within four years. That outcome is a case illustration, not proof that persistence always wins—controls should also define when to stop.

Some things to think about

• MOSAIC can drive action across marketing and promotional plans when each stage has evidence and ownership.

• Mapping is critical, but its value is in enabling choices. Set a decision-based stopping rule.

• Implementation is often hardest. Controls should distinguish a solvable execution problem from a flawed strategy.

Top practical tip

Keep one traceable chain from evidence to objective, strategy, action, owner and measure. If a link cannot be explained, the plan is not ready.

Top pitfall

Do not use controls merely to force the original plan through resistance. Evidence may call for adaptation, a redesigned objective or a responsible stop.

Further reading

• B2B International (nineteen ninety-six). “MOSAIC: A Framework for Turning Market Research into Action.” B2B International.
• Smith, P.R. (twenty eleven). The SOSTAC Guide to Writing the Perfect Plan. PR Smith.