Assignment
This term project is designed to apply the key marketing concepts and terminology to a brand and to showcase your skills in technology and communication. You will create a blog with several entries responding to prompts about the brand, provide feedback to your classmates and create an audio/visual presentation providing commentary on the blog.
Below are the steps to complete the project:
Post 1 BRAND Selection 1) Select a brand from the list on SignUpGenius (see Canvas for details) 2) Create a free account on Tumblr. The blog is about your brand, so name it after the brand (be careful though, as most brands do not allow you to use the exact brand name). 3) POST 1 BRAND NAME - explain why you chose this brand and its importance from your perspective. www.tumblr.com; post your Tumblr blog name to Canvas.
Pet & Co
NOTE: Please start EACH Post with POST 1: "brand name"; POST 2: Brand: etc.
Post 2 Brand. Describe your brand. Is it a product? Service? What are its annual sales? Where is its corporate headquarters? Is it public? How many employees? What is its mission statement? Justify your answer with a citation.
Where to start?-- it has lots of great information.
DO NOT just answer my questions. Give me an overview of the brand. What are the important things to know? Is it owned by a larger company? Is it a new or old brand? Make this interesting.
Post 3 Strategy. What is the key differentiator for this brand? Price? Design? Distribution? Can you determine its sustainable competitive advantage? (remember the categories of customer, location, operational and product) if not, why not?
Post 4 SWOT. Conduct a SWOT analysis for this brand. Use a chart format to clearly define the brand's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. (do NOT write long paragraphs here, just use bullet points).
Based on this evaluation provide your top two recommendations to management
Post 5 Target Market. Identify and define the target market(s) for this brand. Describe the markets using at least 5 demographic and psychographic descriptors from the chapter.
Post 6 Competition. Who are the brand's key competitors? What position does the brand hold in the market? (price leader/innovation leader/??) What is the brand's market share (you may need to guess here)
Post 7 Packaging. Provide pictures of the packaging. What makes the package special? Do you think any additions/changes need to be made?
Post 8 Brand Detail. Describe the brand using at least 5 terms from the branding chapter. How does the brand fit into the product mix? Are there multiple lines?
Post 9 Services. What types of services are associated with this brand? It may just be customer service via the internet, but it may be more than just customer service. For instance, Apple has excellent customer support, which certainly adds to the value of its products.
Post 10 Trends/Pricing. What are trends in the marketplace that may pose a threat or opportunity for the brand? Describe one and explain how you think the brand might respond. Price: How is the brand priced? Use at least five marketing terms to describe the pricing of the brand in this post.
Post 11 Place (Distribution). Assess the brand's distribution strategy. Is it using intensive distribution? Exclusive distribution or something in between? What companies does it use to bring the item to its customers? If the product is sold via retailers, do an assessment of the retail strategy for the item. Does it use its own stores? Mass merchandisers? Superstores? Use at least 5 marketing terms to describe the way the item is distributed.
Post 12 Promotion. Review the social media presence for the brand. What tools is it using? Identify and briefly assess its use of a website, social media tool (Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Yelp, Pinterest etc.)
Assess the advertising efforts. What tools are being used? Print? Broadcast (TV, Radio), Out-of-Home (billboards, bus stops, taxis etc.) Are they effective?
Have you noticed any sales promotions for the item? What are they, where have you seen them and how effective do you think they are?
Can you determine if personal selling is used for this product? Do you think it would be helpful to use personal selling to help sell the item?
PRESENTATION. Take all the postings you've made so far and narrate them to tell the story of the brand. Use your phone or computer to video yourself talking about the brand. I'd suggest you use the blog itself as your visual and use Screencastomatic (if you know another tool that's accessible by all, please check with me).
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.