In this assignment you are to write a request for a marketing budget increase. The paper should be five to six pages in length (including a small proforma ROMI, executive summary, and references).

Scenario: Imagine that you are a marketing product manager for in a company that manufactures and markets consumer products through retailers. You can pick a product category that interests you. Your company is ten years old and has experienced solid growth over the last few years. Here is the income statement (plan/budget) for the current fiscal year.

Sales (revenue)* $250 million

COGS ($162.5 million)

Gross Profit $87.5 million (35% of Sales)

SG&A** ($60 million)

Op Profit $27.5 million

* Revenue represents an 8% growth over the previous year.

**The marketing expense budget is $20 mil of SG&A.

It is the first quarter of the year and your boss, the marketing manager, has asked you to write a proposal for an additional marketing initiative that would generate more growth this year and momentum going into the next year. You asked how much you can spend (increase marketing expense), and the answer was no more than $1 million. This is pretty exciting but a bit scary as well. You have been with the company for two years, and increasingly vocal with the marketing manager about where you think the company has fallen behind. Specifically, you feel it lacks an integrated digital marketing strategy that includes social media platforms, the web site, and artificial intelligence. As you think more about this opportunity, you wonder if the marketing team can handle an additional initiative, and if upper management can be persuaded to spend another $1 million on marketing. After all, C-19 is still around, and business is a little unpredictable! Your boss would like a proposal in 30 days. You fall asleep that night thinking how would I spend $1 million on a digital strategy?