Assignment:
you'll complete your first Entrepreneurial Marketing Report. For this assignment I'd like you to identify a small or medium sized business that is competing effectively by applying the concepts explored in your book (Marketing That Works).
For example, one company that I think is interesting is Flatworld Knowledge. They offer low-cost text-books to professors and students. What I like about the venture is:
- The entrepreneurs have industry experience, having worked for big academic publishing companies
- They have an expert team of advisers
- They are seeking a small piece of a huge market
- They provide value to both students and professors. In fact, professors can publish their own digital text-books for their classes.
If I were writing about this company for this assignment I'd go through the text and identify areas where they are excelling. For example:
Market Driven Strategy
I don't need to tell you: The prices for textbooks are outrageous. I like the fact that these entrepreneurs are taking on the challenge and trying to provide a market-driven solution.
Entrepreneurial Pricing
They are using a penetration strategy. A lot of students (especially those from lower-income segments of society) cannot afford books and this may force them out of school. In this model, students only pay for what they need, which is innovative.
Distribution Channels
The internet allows for 24/7 access to digital texts. Since many students have lap-tops in class, the company can bypass the regular distribution channel. Of course, this may place students without a lap-top at a disadvantage.
Some areas of concern, based on what I've seen so far, is:
Public Relations & Marketing Issues.
It doesn't seem as if a value proposition has been articulated well enough. It also isn't clear that the company has really done a good job segmenting the market. They could do a better job with their target marketing. Also, the quality of the texts does not seem to be as good as that which you'd get from a $100+ text book.
Will this company be successful in the long-run? It is probably too soon to tell. However, what they are doing is very interesting and the entrepreneurs deserve a lot of credit for their efforts.
For this paper I would like you to do a 2-3 page report, which analyzes a company that you think is doing a good job of applying the entrepreneurial marketing strategies discussed in the book. You don't need to discuss all the concepts, just the 3 or 4 you believe to be the most relevant. You may also want to identify several areas where the company seems to be struggling. All growing companies have areas of strengths and weaknesses, so it is not being judgmental to point out your areas of concern.
Have fun with this assignment. You have the academic freedom to take the discussion into any area of entrepreneurial marketing you like, just be sure to stay focused on a small or mid-size company. For example, you should not discuss Google or Apple, but you could discuss a small company that is making money selling apps to Google or Apple.
There are thousands of innovative companies out there doing amazing things to differentiate themselves from bigger competitors. You could look to retailers, tech companies, service providers etc.
Discussion:
For this week's discussion board assignment I would like you to post an Executive Summary of your first Entrepreneurial Marketing report. The instructions for the report assignment are posted in the Announcements Area. This discussion board assignment will focus on the key points you'd like to share with your classmates.
Your Executive Summary should be 1 page or less (3-4 substantive paragraphs) and provide a synopsis of your completed paper. Tell your classmates:
The company (include the URL of their web-site)
Why you chose them for discussion
What they are doing well
Where they may need to improve
What we can learn from them