Marketing Plan Assignment Homework Questions

Marketing Plan Assignment Homework Questions

The major part of the assignment will focus on what the company is or has been doing. Part four concludes with your recommendations to change something about the way the product should be marketed. The actual paper should be written in paragraphs, ie, not simply an outline with bullets. Go to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ if you need writing help, especially for an explanation of how to cite your sources using APA format. The paper should cover:

I. Situation Analysis

a.Internal Environment

i. What is the company’s mission and overall business objectives?

ii. What resources does the company have that make them unique?

iii. How is the marketing function organized (centralized? By brand or category? By market?)

b. External Environment

i. What is the overall domestic and global market for the product? What is the approximate market share?

ii. Who are the competitors? What are their marketing strategies?

iii. How does the economic environment affect demand for the product?

iv. What is happening in the social and cultural environment that affects the product?

v. What is happening in the legal and regulatory environment?

vi. How does the technological environment affect the business?

c. SWOT Analysis

i. Based on our understanding of the internal and external environments, what are the key opportunities and threats for the marketing of the brand?

II. Target Market

a. Describe the current target market(s) for the product. What segmentation variables are used to divide the market?

b. What type of targeting strategy is used? (undifferentiated, concentrated, differentiated)

c. Research additional information about this (these) target markets that would be helpful in improving the marketing mix. A business librarian may be useful in finding appropriate sources of information.

III. Current Marketing Mix

a. Product

b. Pricing strategy

c. Place or distribution

d. Promotional campaign

IV. New Directions: Based on the information you about the current marketing plan for your brand, identify a major problem or opportunity (for your company or brand) that you want to address with changes, including:

A. Marketing Objectives (list 3 or 4 outcomes that can be achieved by altering a target market, introducing a new product, or substantially changing elements of the marketing mix to address the problem or opportunity.

B. Marketing Strategies

1. Any changes in the consumer or business target markets

2. Any target market segments that will remain the same

C. Marketing Mix

1. Positioning the product and product strategies. Include packaging, branding, and introduction of any new product lines

2. Pricing strategies (using terminology from the text)

3. Promotion strategies (current and new recommendations) – (again, using terminology from the text)

4. Distribution strategies (current and new recommendations)

D. Implementation Strategies

E. Monitoring and Control Strategies