The portfolio consists of eight separate sections:
1. Firm Identification
2. Sustainable Competitive Advantage
3. Mission and Objectives
4. Situation (SWOT) Analysis
5. Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning
6. Marketing Mix Strategy
7. Portfolio Analysis
8. Future Growth Strategy
Detailed explanations for each section follow:
(1) Firm Identification
1. Choose a firm which will be the subject of the portfolio. Identify the firm and share the reasons why you chose this company.
2. The firm may be real or one you could imagine starting in the future.
(2) Sustainable Competitive Advantage
1. Elaborate on the firm's sustainable competitive advantage (see pages 25-28 in the textbook).
2. State and explain what the advantage is relative to the competition and why this advantage is important to the firm's target market and is not easily copied.
3. Classify the competitive advantage as Customer, Operational, Product, or Locational Excellence--or a combination of these.
(3) Mission and Objectives
1. Define the firm's mission and objectives (see pages 28-29 in the textbook).
(4) Situation (SWOT) Analysis
1. Conduct a situation (SWOT) analysis for the firm (see pages 30-32 in the textbook).
(5) Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP)
1. Identify and evaluate at least 3 different segments that the firm should target using segmentation, targeting and positioning. Describe each of the 3 segments by giving each a profile. For example, Segment 1: Profile: men ages 25 to 40, with a college degree, who earn over $45,000 annually, and live in the Southeastern United States, and who enjoy outdoor activities, and who purchase well-known, name branded products. Also, describe the positioning the firm will use when targeting this segment--which may very well highlight the firm's sustainable competitive advantage with this segment. Positioning for Segment 1: (example) The firm will position the firm's products as being the highest quality products in the industry, only found at the the best retail stores.
(6) Marketing Mix Strategy
1. Recommend a different marketing mix strategy for each of the segments discussed in the STP section above (see pages 34-36 in the textbook).
2. Follow this format:
Segment 1 (name the segment):
Product strategy: ________________________________________________
Promotion strategy: ______________________________________________
Price strategy: __________________________________________________
Place (distribution) strategy: _______________________________________
Segment 2 (name the segment):
Product strategy: ________________________________________________
Promotion strategy: ______________________________________________
Price strategy: __________________________________________________
Place (distribution) strategy: _______________________________________
Segment 3 (name the segment):
Product strategy: ________________________________________________
Promotion strategy: ______________________________________________
Price strategy: __________________________________________________
Place (distribution) strategy: _______________________________________
(7) Portfolio Analysis
1. Conduct a portfolio analysis for the firm.
2. Identify the firm's strategic business units (SBUs) before beginning the analysis. Place each SBU for the firm into one of the four quadrants. Identify each SBU as a Question Mark, Star, Cash Cow, or Dog.
3. Next, suggest strategic marketing policies that follow from the analysis. In other words, what do you suggest the firm should do with each SBU in the next 1 to 5 years based on the BCG analysis? (Don't leave this out!)
(8) Future Growth Strategy
1. Recommend a future growth strategy for the firm.
2. Explain in detail why you chose this growth strategy. (You may use a combination of strategies if that is more appropriate for your firm.)
Review the article
Amazon.com - Portfolio Assignment
BUSN-2380-W01 Principles of Marketing
Instructor: Dr. David Gerth