Due Date and Grading

This assignment is due by 11:59 p.m. on Feb, 09, 2023 in the course Dropbox entitled Group Assignment #1

This assignment is worth 5% of the final grade.

This is a group assignment. All members of a group receive the same grade for the assignment.

Instructions

Each group will create a fictional company and act as the Marketing team for that company.

Over the course of three group assignments and the final group project, each group will go through the process of defining the company, its customers, competition, positioning, and branding. In the final group assignment, groups will create a digital marketing plan and campaign based on the previously defined persona, positioning, branding, etc.

Your first task as a group is to invent a fictional company that your group will be the Marketing team for. You can create whatever kind of company you want but it's a good idea to go with something in an industry that you already have some interest in or familiarity with. Once you have decided what your company will be, you can begin Assignment #1.

In Assignment #1, groups create a company description, positioning, perceptual map and customer persona for their company using the Assignment #1 Submission Template at the end of this document.

Company Description (4 marks)

This is a basic description of the company you have created: what kind of company it is/what industry it operates in, what its value proposition is, and what target market the value proposition is aimed at.

The value proposition in this section is a concise version of the more detailed one you will do in the next section. Think of this version as the elevator pitch version of your value proposition. Once you have finished the more detailed version of your value proposition its a good idea to come back to the Company Description to see if the concise version you have in this section needs to be refined.

The target market can also be thought of as a concise version of the persona. It describes the group of people that the persona is created to represent.

Positioning and Perceptual Map (10 marks)

Positioning should focus on how the company is going to attempt to create a unique image of product or service in a customers mind. This would also include the tactics and strategies used by the company to create a distinct image than that of the competitors. You also need to learn about the positioning tactic/strategy used by your nearest competitor. Once you learn about the positioning and competitors positioning, you need to make a perceptual map, for reference see the appendix.

For example: A TV maker may position its TV as the most innovative, modern, and cutting-edge

Benefit: what specific benefit that the customer cares about does your offering deliver?

Type of Benefit: for each of the benefits that your offering delivers, identify which of following types of benefit it is and why.

Functional benefit - the basic job that the offering does

Emotional benefit - how the offering makes the customer feel

Economic benefit - how the offering saves or makes the customer money

Self-expressive benefit - how the offering makes the customer appear to others

Social benefit - how the offering creates a social good

Environmental benefit - how the offering preserves, cleans up or otherwise improves the environment

Customer Persona (11 marks)

Remember that personas are specific and not intended to represent all the different groups of people who could be customers of your company. Create your customer persona by focusing on one target market your company would serve.

Persona Name: Give your persona a name that expresses who they are. The persona names in Stukent Social are good examples of expressive persona names.

Persona Characteristics: for each Demographic, Psychographic, Geographic and Behavioural characteristic you list, you need to give specifics (example - Age: 20-35, or Values: environmentally conscious) and you need to explain why it is relevant. In other words, why do you think this characteristic is particularly important for defining and segmenting your target market? Marks in this section are given not for the characteristic you choose but for the explanation of why the characteristic is relevant to the market you want to target for your offering.

Demographic Characteristics: Age, Gender, Education, Occupation, Income, Marital status, Ethnicity, Religion, Family life cycle

Psychographic Characteristics: Personality, Attitudes, Beliefs, Values, Interests and hobbies, Lifestyle

Geographic Characteristics: Location (local, provincial, national, global), Region (urban, rural, suburban), Climate (cold, warm)

Behavioural Characteristics: Brand loyalty, Spending habits, Purchase frequency, Customer journey stage, Benefits sought

Goal: what does your persona want that your offering can provide for them?

Pain Point: what frustration or barrier does your customer face that your offering can solve for them?

Preferred Channels: where does your persona go when they are looking for information about things like your offering? Remember that people seek out information in different places depending on what their goal is.

Assignment#1 Submission Template

Company Description (4 marks)

[Company Name] is a [Type of Business] providing [Value Proposition] to [Target Market].

Company Name:

Type of Business:

Value Proposition:

Target Market:

Positioning and Perceptual Map (10 marks)

Positioning of your company:

Benefit to your company:

Positioning of nearest competitor:

Benefit to the competitor:

Perceptual Map (You may take the required space to accommodate the perceptual map)

Customer Persona (11 marks)

Your Personas Name (1 mark)

Name:

Your Personas Picture (1 mark)

2 Demographic Characteristics of Your Persona: (2 marks)

Characteristic #1:

Relevance:

Characteristic #2:

Relevance:

2 Psychographic Characteristics of Your Persona: (2 marks)

Characteristic #1:

Relevance:

Characteristic #2:

Relevance:

1 Geographic Characteristic of Your Persona: (1 mark)

Characteristic:

Relevance:

1 Behavioural Characteristic of Your Persona (1 mark)

Characteristic:

Relevance:

Your Personas Goal (1 mark)

Goal:

Your Personas Pain Point (1 mark)

Pain Point:

Your Personas Preferred Channels and Sources of Information (1 mark)

Channel #1:

Channel #2:

References (As per the APA guidelines):

Appendix: The perceptual map, sample image.

This image is for reference only. You may discuss more with your instructor regarding the perceptual map.