Assignment:
Product
This section has a LIMIT of five pages (one point deducted for exceeding this limit).
In the Product section, describe UP TO THREE of the following factors related to the current Product (NOT past variations of the Product), as discussed in Chapters 2, 8 & 9. Only describe those that apply to the product/service assigned.
- market strategy planning
- element of product planning for Goods & service
- product management and new product development
NOTE: If your team has been assigned a retailer such as Toys "R" Us, you must remember that they are a SERVICE company, not a manufacturer of a type of product. Thus, you must analyze their complete product offering as a whole, NOT one product they sell such as "Tickle Me Elmo" or one department such as the electronics department.
You must FIRST determine what, exactly, they sell AS A WHOLE. In other words, what TYPE of products, collectively, do they sell? Toys "R" Us does not sell the same product offering as Macy's, who does not sell the same product offering as Starbucks. Define this BEFORE beginning your analysis.
As this is a RESEARCH paper, the writing should always be in third person (e.g. "The Company markets their products to...") and NOT in first person (e.g. "I found that the company markets their products to...") or second person (e.g. "When you see their products, you will notice their products are...").
References Notes:
• Refer to the school's website for a review of the consequences of plagiarism and how to avoid it.
• Throughout the paper, use APA format in-text citations to identify sources.
• Substantiate all of your personal opinions of students by identifying the third party, credible source evidence that led to such conclusions.
• Verify that source listings in the References Section correspond with the in-text citations. If I cannot determine which in-text citations correspond with the listings in the Reference section, the paper may not get credit for the source.
• Credible sources are sources dated post-January 1, 2012. Credible sources do not include personal interviews of company employees, blogs, Wikis (including Wikipedia), student papers or presentations, and discussion boards.
• Sources from the company itself (e.g. websites, annual reports, sales literature, etc.) are only counted as ONE source for a section even though it might be cited several times.
Select UP TO THREE of the following topics to report on and label each section (using the highlighted phrase - one point deducted for not doing this):
Target Markets: Describe the target market(s) they pursue and the needs each target market seeks to satisfy with the product.
Branding: Describe the product's branding, trademark protection, and/or logo design.
Product Positioning: Describe how the product compares to its competition AND how it compares to other products offered within the company's own product line.
Packaging: Describe packaging/labeling specifics and related legalities.
Product Life Cycle: Describe the current product life-cycle stage of the industry the product is sold within.
Warranty: Describe the details of the product's warranty/guarantee.
Product Development: Describe the processes/strategies used by the company in developing their product/product line.