Objective: This Marketing Plan assignment gives you the opportunity to practice develop an integrated business and marketing strategy for a product or service of your choice. This activity will make the course "come alive" through application of the principles from the textbook, course materials and threaded discussions. Assignments such as this also help you develop business-oriented communication skills.
The development of this Marketing Plan is an integral part of the course, and will require several weeks of research, critical analysis, critical thinking, and writing. Students tell us the only way to do well on this project is to begin early and work on it consistently throughout the entire course.You have several options when choosing a product or service for your marketing plan.
Consider choosing a new product for a new company (your own) or creating a new product for an existing company. Perhaps you would want to do a product extension of an existing product. You might consider a different approach to marketing an existing service. You can target consumers or businesses. You may choose a product or service offered by your employer or your own business, or one from another organization.
Ultimately, to maximize your learning experience, choose a product or service in which you have an interest and about which you would like to see your product or service come to the marketplace. Make sure there is information available about the industry and target market of the product or service you choose.
Remember that this is a Marketing Plan and not a Business Plan. You are not creating a business, but creating the Marketing Plan for an existing product or service. Thus, your focus should not be on the company or its products, but on how to market the product or service that you have chosen. Provide enough background and history to put the marketing plan in perspective. Do a comprehensive SWOT analysis with an in-depth and candid look at your internal and external environment.
Establish your goals and objectives. Analyze the information developed, and only then begin defining your target market, and specifying the specific marketing strategies." Do not simply report on how a company markets its goods or services. You should instead say what type of marketing you would propose. Your instructor will look at your Marketing Plan from the point of view of a business proposal. Have you thought through and considered your options? Have you provided details of your proposal? Have you looked at the entire strategy - the "big picture" - while still considering the more operational elements that make for successful implementation? How well written and persuasive is the plan?
Guidelines In developing your content, try to demonstrate clarity of thinking, understanding, and application of basic marketing principles, and creative --- but realistic -- use of marketing tools. Explorations of your options and choices are an important part of demonstration of your mastery of marketing concepts. There is seldom only one potential course of action in developing a "real" marketing plan; demonstrate that you have considered options and alternatives at each step in your plan and have chosen the best.
Review the Marketing Plan example and the Sonic Marketing Plan. The questions asked in the exercises may help you further develop your Marketing Plan.
Marketing Plan Guide -Marketing Plan Outline
1. Executive Summary - The Executive Summary appears at the beginning of the paper, but is written last. This introductory section is the hook to grab the reader's interest. This section should summarize your plan with enough information to convince the reader to keep reading. If you were showing this plan to an investor, this section may be the key to your success.
2. Situation Analysis - What critical issues do you face? What forces in the macroenvironment need to be considered? What are the company's capabilities?
2.1 Market Summary - How would you define the market? How big is the market? How fast is the market growing? What are the relevant trends?
2.2 SWOT Analysis - What are the Internal Strengths and Weaknesses, and External Opportunities and Threats?
2.3 Competition - Who are competitors? What are they doing? What is their position in the market? How do they compare?
2.4 Product (Service) Offering - What needs does the product or service fulfill or what problem does it solve? What is the product offering? What are the features, advantages and benefits?
2.5 Keys to Success - What are the most important factors to making your plan successful?
2.6 Critical Issues - How will you get your product or service to the consumer? Will you use distributors, intermediaries, warehouses, retailers, the internet, or ...?
3. Marketing Strategy - Introduce your marketing strategies; What IMC approach are you planning? What marketing strategies will you use? What advertising strategies will you use? What types of media? Why did you choose these strategies?
3.1 Mission - What is the mission of your e-business? Your organization exists to accomplish something. Who is your customer? What is of value to the customer?
3.2 Marketing Objectives - Meeting these marketing objectives should lead to sales; Objectives should be clear, be measurable, and have a stated time frame for achievement
3.3 Financial Objectives - the ultimate goal of your Marketing plan is the effect it will have on the botXXXXX XXXXXne; example: customer sales by volume and growth percentage or growth percentage by market segments
3.4 Target Markets - What general strategy will be used to reach your target market? Needs/Benefits sought by the market; Product usage; Product positioning; Consumer/Business purchasing process (decision-making); Market size estimates; This section should include extensive research, for example: Data on your product/service industry, Demographics/Psychographic profile: gender, age, occupation, education, life style geographic region, attitudes, purchasing characteristics, etc.
3.5 Positioning - What opinions does your audience already have about this type of product? Is there a gap in the consumers' needs that this product can fill? Is there a specific application that your product fits very well? Can you base the position on the uniqueness of the product, the product quality, or the pricing strategies? Is it possible to position your product based upon opportunities you found after research?
3.6 Strategies - Explain how your marketing programs will support your company's strategic plan - company uniqueness, competitive advantage, adjusting to market conditions, trends and changes.
3.7 Marketing Mix Product: brand name, features/attributes, quality, warranty, labeling, packaging, etc; Promotion: advertising, types of media, sales promotion, personal selling, publicMM522 Marketing Plan Guiderelations, your methods, message/theme, timing, budget, projected results, etc.; Place / Distribution: types of distribution channels, direct, retail, distributors, intermediaries, locations, logistics, motivating the channel partners, level of market coverage, channel distribution challenges, etc.; Price: type of strategy, list price, discounts, bundling, market segment, channels, geography, payment terms and financing options, leasing options, supply/demand, economic/legal considerations, etc.3.8 Marketing Research - Research methods to be used; Data requirements - information needed, projected results; Research responsibility - Internal, outside agency, purchased data, etc.; Limitations and challenges.
4. Controls - Controls help you measure results and indentify any problems or performance variations that may need corrective action.
4.1 Implementation - Set milestones for implementing your plan.
4.2 Marketing Organization - If you are the Chief Marketing Officer, who else is on your support team?
4.3 Contingency Planning - How will you handle difficulties, problems and risks?