Essay
PERSONAL MARKETING PLAN ASSIGNMENT
Purpose: The purpose of the personal marketing plan assignment is to give students the opportunity to apply the information learned in class to themselves. College students will soon be making major decisions-the search for a job, or graduate school, or even the search for a life partner-where a well-designed marketingplan could provide an advantage.
Overview: You should identify ONE decision you anticipate making in the future, either the search for a job, a grad school, or a spouse/partner. Your task will be to consider how marketing principles apply to this decision, and how you can use course concepts to improve the likely outcome. When I grade your assignment, I am looking for evidence that you understand major course concepts and can apply them effectively in a real-life decision.
Paper: The layout of the paper should be as follows:
1. Cover Page: Title of assignment, your name, date, etc.
2. Introduction: Brief description of you and the decision you are considering.
3. Situation and SWOT Analysis: In this section you should describe the environment as it exists now. For example, if you are considering your future job search, what is the environment like for jobs right now? Is it better or worse in your particular field? Is there anything that might improve/hurt your chances of getting a particular job. You should also identify any factors that will be part of a SWOT analysis. Keep in mind that this is a SWOT analysis about YOU-it will require an honest and critical assessment of both your strengths and weaknesses, and any opportunities/threats in the environment.
4. Strategic Overview (Segmentation & Targeting): Segment the market using any and all criteria you find relevant (for example, the job market can be segmented by industry, geography, skill sets, etc. The market for a life partner can be segmented by gender, looks, personality type, religious beliefs, etc. )Then describe which particular segments you plan to target.
5. Positioning Strategy: Write a positioning statement for yourself-i.e. how do you want the target to think about you relative to your competition?
The positioning statement should reflect your earlier analysis, especially your SWOT.
6. Marketing Tactics: Describe how the four P's apply to your decision. For example: you are the "product"-what decisions are you going to make about "product improvements" or "packaging" that will help to reinforce the positioning strategy you've chosen for yourself? Be sure to address EACH of the four P's in detail! This should be the longest section of your paper--at least two pages.
7. Conclusions - In this section you should describe any learning outcomes of this exercise, and any action plans you may have going forward.