LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Analyse how the key elements of the marketing environment currently affect a business;
2. Investigate basic marketing problems in general business situations and effectively identify potential solutions and target markets.
3. Demonstrate the role of the marketer and the marketer's contribution to the direction of the organisation; and
4. Demonstrate the development of key fundamental academic and professional skills required for further study and the workforce
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The service industry in Australia is significant as it accounts for the majority of its economy. Most likely you will work or are currently working in this industry. Your task in this assessment is to identify an existing small or medium sized business in the service industry. You must choose carefully, for you must be able to find online sufficient accurate and up-to-date information to enable you to complete a Promotional Plan.
You must perform a situation analysis of your business by analysing the micro and macro environment affecting your business. The outcome of this analysis is a SWOT Analysis that must be included in the report.
A situation analysis provides a critique of the environmental factors that affect your business. It should be approximately 800-1000 words in length and should be completed individually.
It is important to write your report in a flowing format, ensuring the topics raised in any section is clearly indicated with appropriate headings but not is a question-answer format. As you are dealing with FACTS you MUST reference your work with reliable and valid sources of information.
Role: In class you will be given time to form your small discussion groups where you can disclose your problem, solutions, potential target market and SMART objectives and get feedback. Groups should comprise three or four persons each researching a different but similar business i.e. competitors. All information should be shared and great care taken to ensure all referencing is completed correctly and that there is no form of plagiarism. Rember that Ideas are just as much copyright as text or photographs. To successfully complete this report you must work at home and in class. While in class, you must seek feedback from your instructor who will monitor your progress.
A situation analysis addresses the two important marketing questions:
1. WHERE IS YOUR BUSINESS NOW?
2. WHATARE THE FORCES THAT ARE CURRENTLY AFFECTING YOUR BUSINESS?
Chapter 5 of your textbook and the corresponding session material are the best starting point of this assessment.
Your marketing research should be based on collecting marketing information, observations, brochures of the business and extensive online research.
Your Assignments 1 & 2 combine to form a single Promotional Plan and the presentation of your work should be structured on using an approved heading for each of your responses
Marketing a local product-service
2. Introduction.
Note: It is not yet possible to write the Executive Summary, which will precede this introduction in the final report.
The Introduction merely introduces:
The Purpose of the Report: including for whom it is being prepared.
The Scope of the Report: What is being covered and what is not; and the period of time the plan is in respect of.
The Methodology adopted: Detailing the sources of information used and identifying the chosen Competitors.
3. Situation Analysis
Market Analysis
a) Research whether or not your industry is growing, maturing or declining. As many companies charge for the latest market information you may rely upon the latest freely available market information.(IbisworldReports)
b) Acknowledge the problems and challenges of the marketplace you are entering.
c) Identify to what extent your market is threatened by newly emerging technologies and business approaches.
d) Your focus should also turn to the local scene, since local markets may or may not follow the greater industrytrend.
e) Recognize the position your local competitors have taken in the local market; the clientele they serve, the product they produce, the price they expect to charge for their products and services.
f) Finally, relate your own businesses position to the position of others, reflecting on the maturityand experience of your business competitors.
3.3 Company / ProductAnalysis
Long and Short-Term Company-wide goals:
In this section, the plan provides a brief description of the company, including perhaps its mission statement, background, and competitive advantages.
Product Attributes:
Describe the main product features, major benefits received by those using the product, current branding strategies, etc.
Pricing:
Describe pricing used at all distribution levels such as pricing to final users and to distributors, incentives offered, discounts, etc.
Distribution:
Describe how the product is made accessible to final users including channels used, major benefits received by distributors, how product is shipped, process for handling orders, etc. Promotion:
Describe promotional programs and strategies in terms of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations, how product is currently positioned in the market, etc. Services Offered:
Describe support services provided to final users and distributors before, during and after the sale
Environmental Analysis- Micro and Macro- Environments
Conduct an environmental analysis that looks at and comments on your local area and your network of business contacts, competitors and customers.
a) Demographics
Describe the population base that exists to support your product. Identify the market size for your product, and the people that make up your product/service's consumer group. Provide information about:
• Where they live,
• What products do theybuy,
• How much theyspend on similar products each year,
• Where they shop for these products, etc. Indicate whether or not your product is geared towards a specific age group, with spending patterns and consumer demands.
• Indicate whether this group is shrinking, expanding or yet to be tappedinto.
b) Suppliers
Identify your sources for direct purchasing by describing their locations, the frequency of your orders and the type and amount of supplies you will be ordering.
c) Social/Cultural
Explain any specialized consumer groups that can be identified apart from the general public. Identify the influence this could have on your projected sales.
Analysis of the macro-environment: includes a Political/legal, Economic, Social/cultural & Technological analysis, commonly known as a PEST analysis. In general, you must identify PEST factors that affect your business.
Conduct an environmental analysis to look at and comment on the world in which you will be operating. Opportunities and Threats due to changing environmental conditions (like unemployment, layoffs, recession, high interest rates) directly affect consumer activity, and should be identified
a) Political and Legal.
Identify the regulations, permits, insurance, liability and taxation requirements that you must follow in order to operate your business.
b) Economic Factorsinclude:
Economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates, the inflation rate. These factors greatly affect how businesses operate and make decisions. Exchange rates can affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy.
c) Social Factorsinclude:
The cultural aspects and health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. High trends in social factors affect the demand for a company's products and how that company operates.
d) Technological Factorsinclude:
Technological aspects like R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. These can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence the outsourcing decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts would affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation.
Customer Analysis
a) Identify your existing customers - when do they buy, where do theybuy, what do they buy, why do they buy, how much do they spend, how often etc.- consider their ages, backgrounds, values and lifestyles, etc. and how this might affect their buying habits.
b) Identify your target market, describing how your company will meet the needs of the consumer better than the competition does. List the expectations consumers have for your type of product. Since demands may be different, products and services will vary between competitors. Product range, size, quality, price, distribution and after sales service are just some of the areas where this difference occurs.
c) Identify the segment of the market that you aim to benefit from your product andarea of expertise as well as your approach to selling your product or service.
d) Predict the sales potential that may be realized by tapping into and holding onto your target market, and attracting others through different strategies and approaches. These different approaches can be all done at the same time or be more incremental - obtaining a core audience for your product or service first, then expanding into therest of the market. Identify the sales potential for each of these target groups.
Competitor Analysis
Identify your direct competition (for this purpose only two or a maximum of three direct competitors) by naming their business, describing, photographs are useful, their facilities and operations, identifying their share of the consumer market, realizing support for their product and by reviewing the weaknesses of their approach.
Attachment:- Assessment.rar