Assignment :
Think about 3 products that you love, that you use all the time. Your goal is to uncover as much research about their brands and their competitors as possible.
a. Present the history of the brands, the characteristics of the people who buy/use these brands, their target markets (Describe the markets they are operating in), their customer segments and their competitors. (40%)
b. Compare and contrast the 3 brands in terms of their: (60%)
Product (i.e. goods and services):
List and describe the nature of goods/services being offered
Classification of the offerings
Branding Strategy
Pricing: Pricing policies and strategies, Management of pricing
Prices and how these compare with similar offerings by competitors
When and how do prices vary
Provide details of the firms pricing for all products
Promotion:
On-line and off-line marketing strategies (What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong?)
Distribution: Channel organisation and decisions
How the various products/services are delivered
Number of channel levels
Assignment Specifications of the Report
Length: 1500 words, not including title page, abstract, notes, and references.
Use of scholarly sources: You will need to use at least five (5) scholarly books/articles/reports, in addition to any materials that have already been assigned for the course.
Format and layout: Typewritten using a 12-point Times New Roman font and 1" margins throughout. Reports should include a cover sheet giving the title of the paper, the author, the name of the course, and the date submitted, as well as a 150-word abstract summarizing the contents of the report. All pages except the cover page should be numbered consecutively with numbers appearing at the bottom of each page.
Citations and references: All sources should be cited parenthetically in the text and included in a reference list at the end of the paper according to American Sociological Association style guidelines provided by the instructor. In APA citation style, all sources cited parenthetically in the text must appear in the reference list and all sources appearing in the reference list must be cited parenthetically at least once in the text. Guidelines for using APA citation style are posted to the "assignments" page of the OLS.