Marketing Sample Assignment Part 3

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The following topics have been covered in this unit:

Identifying the Marketing Challenge
Corporate Capabilities & Implications
Industry Analysis & Implications
Competitive Analysis & Implications
Consumer Analysis & Implications
Target Market Selection
Marketing Mix Decisions - The 4Ps Plan: Product, Price, Placement, Promotion
Marketing Math & Financial Feasibility

1 Identifying the Marketing Challenge

A marketer is to identify and solve the marketing challenge
Consider the performance metric that the company is trying to impact:

Increase revenue?
Increase profits?
Increase customer traffic?
What are the major issues in the case?
What goals do the owners want to achieve?

2 Corporate Capabilities & Implications

How is the company performing considering the major functional areas of business:

Marketing, Finance, Operations, and Human Resources
What level of resources does the company have?
What parameters must they operate within? How will this impact your marketing mix decisions?
Be sure to be realistic in making your plan!
Think of this area as a potential constraint
Industry Analysis & Implications (PEST)
At the time of the case, what is going on in the specific industry?
PEST Analysis: political, economic, social and technological issues
Threats and opportunities?
Is this a good industry to be in?
How will this change your marketing mix decisions?
Competitive Analysis & Implications
Who are the direct and indirect competitors? What do they do well? What do they do poorly?
How is the company performing against the competition?
How should the company compete? What is their competitive advantage?
How might the competition react to your strategy?

3 Customer Analysis & Implications

Analyze the customer needs, wants and purchase motivators

Segment the market to effectively influence behaviour of the different consumer groups
What are the threats and opportunities?
What are the implications of this analysis? Who should the target market be?
Target Market Selection
Before making your marketing mix decisions, you must choose and justify a primary target market
Is there a segment of the market currently underserved that is aligned with the company's strengths?
Your entire marketing plan MUST be focused on meeting the needs and wants of this group - therefore, defining this group is the first critical step Be as specific as possible when defining your market – you may go beyond the information given in the case. Think about your TM’s characteristics.
Marketing Mix - The 4Ps: Product
Explain the product mix/service that the company is selling. What are the unique features that create demand?
Describe how the company’s product/service is positioned relative to the competition
How is this product/service perceived by potential customers?
Does the product/service need to change or be added to (design, flavor, etc.)? Why or why not?
Should event catering be offered?
Discuss the implications of this product/service choice. Why will it meet the needs and wants of the target market?

4 Marketing Mix - The 4Ps: Placement

The geographic location of the product/service

Consider:

The pros and cons of the available placement option(s)
The placement within the location as well
Is each option feasible considering the company's resources?
What are the implications of your placement choice? Why does your choice FIT with the target market?
Marketing Mix - The 4Ps: Price
You may need to determine the selling price(s) to the end consumer
Consider the margin/mark-up demands of any of the players in the trade chain
Consider contribution and overall profitability
The pricing strategy should FIT with what the customer is willing to pay, what the competition is charging and it should make sense given the cost structure of the company
Discuss how your pricing strategy will influence perception.
Why is your pricing strategy appropriate?
Marketing Mix - The 4Ps: Promotion
How will you promote the product or service?
Be sure to outline advertising and/or promotional choices in detail
Comment on frequency, timing, message, measuring success, etc.
What are the associated costs? You must justify your plan financially
The promotional strategy must focus on the target market

5 Promotional Communication Strategy

Following questions:

How will the message be communicated to the customer?
What should be said (actual message)?
How should it be said (tone of message)?
What medium should be used to convey the message?
When will it be done (timing)?
How much money will be spent?
How will you monitor the effectiveness of the campaign?
You MUST provide specific details on your strategy
Marketing Math & Financial Feasibility
It is important to determine the feasibility of your marketing plan by presenting your financial results
Consider your marketing math tool kit:
Trade chain analysis
Margins and markups
Unit contribution
Statement of earnings
Breakeven analysis
Discuss and explain the meaning of your financial results and prove the feasibility of your plan
Compare your numbers to previous results or industry data (if they are available) – are they attainable?
Sensitivity analysis is essential to making sound financial decisions
HOW TO WRITE A MARKETING REPORT

6 Case Facts vs. Implications

Do not re-organize or re-write the case
Grades are awarded for sound implications and recommendations. Based on your analysis of the case, what are your conclusions? What do the case facts tell you?
Use your analysis to draw out major implications that will lead to strong target market and 4Ps decisions. Present your findings and recommendations Contents of the Report
Your report must include the following:

An Executive Summary
The Report Body
Exhibits
Exhibits are optional
They should look presentable and publishable
FOLLOW THE FORMATTING RULES no 8-point font
WRITE YOUR SECTION NUMBER ON THE COVER PAGE OF REPORT
The Executive Summary
An executive summary
A stand-alone document
All information in the Executive Summary should be expanded upon in the report
Therefore, no new information should be included in the Executive Summary

7 The Executive Summary

The Executive Summary should emphasis your decisions and include:

An identification of the marketing challenge
The main recommendations of your report
These may be bulleted. You may also use headings
A brief summary of the analysis done to reach those recommendations
A conclusion statement of why your plan will work –include key financials.
The Report Body
Introduction
Summarize the marketing challenge and relevant constraints/considerations
Findings from analysis
Include relevant analysis & implications of your recommendations
Conclusions are much more important than your ability to rearrange case facts
Recommendations
Recommendations and decisions
Discuss the elements of your marketing mix – the 4Ps
Show that your 4Ps plan FITS together seamlessly!
Exhibits
not include any new information in exhibits
Exhibits should look professional and publishable
Examples include charts, advertisements, financial statements, etc.
Do not submit case analysis as an exhibit
Do not include consumer analysis/competitive analysis charts – this is “background work” – only your conclusions from this analysis are important.

8 Writing Style

Grammar, punctuation and diction 'count' towards your grade; this is a professional report
Poor grammar/spelling will negatively affect your mark because it makes it harder to understand your ideas

Use professional language
Review when to use commas, semi-colons etc.
Do not assume that I will know what you mean
Be clear and concise with your implications and recommendations
Proofread, proofread, proofread!
Ensure that your report is logical and makes sense
Worry about grammar
Do not not rely on spelled checks to catched all of your mistake
Have your report proofread by family members
Writing Style
Keeping your thoughts together is essential – use headings to structure the report
Remember paragraph and sentence structure. Avoid pages of text without paragraphs. Don’t use run-on sentences
Do not place headings at the bottom of a page –only page numbers!
Professionalism is paramount. Assume you are submitting this report to management
Writing Style
No table of contents. Professional reports must be written in the third person
Pages should be numbered, after the executive summary
The entire report should be typed

9 Plagiarism and Referencing

If you use content from a source outside the case, you must footnote these references. APA or MLA is acceptable.
If any portion of your report (including exhibits) appears in another report, you will receive a zero and face severe penalties. This is plagiarism
Evaluation of the Marketing Report
Your report will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Your ability to correctly identify the marketing challenge
Your ability to draw implications from analysis (corporate capabilities, industry, competitive, consumer)
The extent to which your recommendations address the marketing challenge identified. Not all areas of the marketing framework will be equally applicable.
The FIT of your 4Ps plan (the FIT with your implications, the FIT between each element of the marketing mix and the FIT with your target market)
The financial feasibility of your marketing plan
Your plan to monitor the success of your campaign
Evaluation of the Marketing Report
Grades will be allocated in the following manner:
Internal and External Analysis,
This includes goals and conclusions from corporate capabilities, PEST, competitive analysis and consumer analysis (not necessarily in this order)
Marketing Decisions,
This includes target market and 4Ps recommendations
Overall Quality,
This includes the overall persuasiveness of the plan and professionalism of the report

10 For More Report Writing Tips

The online library catalogue – www.lib.uwo.ca

Select Library Catalogue
Search Business Writing
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Terrific Business Writing by Marcia Layton Turner
The AMA Style Guide for Business Writing by the American Management Association
Link to books, articles and websites on business writing
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/writingforbusiness.html
Upload your entire marketing report (with the Exec. Summary and Exhibits) into one single
Word document (do not use the copy and paste box on the turnitin page)
Although content must not be altered, imperfect formatting is acceptable for turnitin.com submissions
Read and follow the submission directions posted under the marketing folder on Webct, and the report rules attached to the case
During upload, when prompted for the title box, you must enter your three digit section number (e.g. 010) as the title of your report.
You must upload on time and correctly or face late penalties
Plan ahead but don’t rush through
Read the report early but give yourself time to incorporate new concepts learned throughout the next week
You should have multiple versions and drafts before the final copy
Remember that although creativity is nice, it is not a main grading criteria
Be sure that your plan is feasible and realistic
You have all the necessary tools to earn a good grade but keep in mind that your grade is based on solid analysis and decision-making, not effort

11 any Questions?

SAMPLE MARKETING REPORT SKETCH PLAN

Executive Summary –

Summary
Report
Intro – Identify marketing challenge. Introduce purpose and contents of report.
Analysis – strengths & weaknesses, threats & opportunities, implications for marketing challenge
Corporate Capabilities
Industry Analysis
Competitive Analysis
Consumer Analysis:
Recommendations
Target Market Selection:
Product: Changes? Why? Why Not?
recommendation qualitatively and quantitatively
recommendation qualitatively and quantitatively; link to marketing challenge
Promotion: How much money will be spent? On what? Why? Why not? Objectively defend
Conclusion - Reconnect to the marketing challenge
Exhibits
Summary tables that present financial data and results
Distribution trade chains
Statement of Earnings and other financial statements
Pictures, logos, floor plans, diagrams
Sample advertisements
Bar graphs, pie charts, etc.

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