Instruction:

Your lesson assignment responses should be evidenced from the course textbook and/or from

peer-reviewed sources not more than 5 years old. In general, Wikipedia is not a professionally reviewed resource and should not be used as an assignment reference. You must cite your

references so that readers can verify your conclusions, and easily determine what is your work,

and what is paraphrased or taken directly from other sources.

Submit your responses to these questions in one WORD document. List the question first, and then your response. Your response must adequately cover the question without being wordy or relying on "yes" or "no" responses.

Assignment:

Marketing Plan - Step 1: Mission Statement, Executive Summary, SWOT Analysis

1. Select and describe your fictitious company and their product(s) or services.

2. Formulate a company Mission Statement that reflects the vision of the company and

shows alignment with the offering.

1. In Executive Summary (Cover Memo) outlining the main goals and

recommendations for the product(s) or services.

Define what competitive spheres (industry, products and applications, competence,

market-segment, vertical, and geographic) your fictitious company will operate in.

Identify which of Porter's generic competitive strategies you would recommend that the

company follow in formulating overall strategy.

Some hints to use in writing an Executive Cover Memo:

Do not use terms such as increase, decrease, implement as soon as possible,

and other non-specific and non-analytical language; use very specific language

when preparing your case analyses.

Cite numbers ($ or % increase; market share growth) and attach all pertinent

documents to your report.

Do not just state, "Exhibit A shows our growth rate" without first stating the

growth rate in your paragraph.

Before submitting your document, ask yourself the question, "Does this memo

contain all of the information needed for the boss or directors of the company to

make a decision to proceed with implementing the marketing plan?" If not,

revise your memo.

4. For your fictitious company, develop a Strengths/Weaknesses Analysis and an

Opportunity/Threat matrix. Alternatively, you can develop a more simplified SWOT

analysis.

5. Can you draw an initial table of contents that outlines the rest of the plan and the supporting

rationale and operational detail.?(This will evolve as you proceed to develop your plan).

Marketing Plan - Step 2: Marketing Research and Effectiveness Metrics Submit your responses to the following questions. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. Describe the makeup of your target market. Forecast the demand for your product(s) or services. What trends might affect your target market's behavior? Consider changes in economy, demographics, technology, etc.

2. Identify and describe the primary research (online or off-line) you will need to conduct to support your marketing strategy, including product management, pricing, distribution, and marketing communication? What questions or issues will you seek to resolve using primary data? What surveys, focus groups, observation, behavioral data, or experiments will you need to support your marketing strategy? Identify two Internet sources and two non-Internet sources. Describe what you plan to draw from each source, and indicate how you will use the data in your marketing plan. Be specific about the questions or issues that you need to resolve using marketing research. For which sections of the plan will you need secondary data? Primary data? Why do you need information for each section?

3. Investigate the various ways to evaluate marketing effectiveness. Recommend three specific marketing metrics to apply in determining marketing effectiveness and efficiency.

Assignment#3

Marketing Plan - Step 3: Identifying Market Segments and Targets Submit your responses to the following questions. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. Creating Customer Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty Recommend how your fictitious company should measure total customer satisfaction.

2. Analyzing Consumer Markets What cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors have the most influence on consumers buying your product(s) or services? What research tools will help you better understand the effect of these factors on buyer attitudes and behavior? What consumer buying roles and buying behaviors are particularly relevant for your products or services?

3. Analyzing Business Markets Is there a business market for your product(s) or services? If yes, what specific types of businesses appear to fit the business market definition for your company? What needs could your product(s) or services address for these businesses? Who would participate in and influence the purchase for use in these businesses? Which environmental, interpersonal, and individual influences are likely to be most important to business buyers of your product(s) or services? Why?

4. Identifying Market Segments and Targets Which variables should you use to segment your company's consumer markets? Which variables should you use to segment its business markets? How can you evaluate the attractiveness of each identified segment? Should you pursue full market coverage, market specialization, product specialization, selective specialization, or single-segment concentration? Why?

Assignment #4

Marketing Plan - Step 4: Branding and Competitive Environment Submit your responses to the following. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. Develop a comprehensive "Branding" strategy including your product(s) or service's brand positioning.

2. In a tabular format, list competitive information. Include all relevant information on competitors such as pricing, service, market share, etc. Which firm is the market leader, and what are its objectives, strengths, and weaknesses? Include any information on the sources of your information.

Assignment The following Assignments should be completed and submitted to the course faculty via the learning platform for evaluation and grading. Submit your responses to these questions in one WORD document. List the question first, and then your response. Your response must adequately cover the question without being wordy or relying on "yes" or "no" responses. Marketing Plan - Step 5: Product and Pricing Strategy Submit your responses to the following. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary. 1. How would you define the core benefit for your product(s) or services? What support services do buyers of your product(s) or services want and need? Consider what your competitors are doing in this area. How can you identify and manage gaps between expected and perceived service to satisfy customers? What post-sale services must you make available to your customers? What internal marketing do you need to do to implement your service strategy? 2. What should your primary pricing objective be? Why? Are your customers likely to be price-sensitive? Is demand elastic or inelastic? What are the implications of the answers for pricing decisions? What price adaptations such as discounts, allowances, and promotional pricing should you include in your marketing plan?

Assignment#5

Marketing Plan - Step 5: Product and Pricing Strategy Submit your responses to the following. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. How would you define the core benefit for your product(s) or services? What support services do buyers of your product(s) or services want and need? Consider what your competitors are doing in this area. How can you identify and manage gaps between expected and perceived service to satisfy customers? What post-sale services must you make available to your customers? What internal marketing do you need to do to implement your service strategy?

2. What should your primary pricing objective be? Why? Are your customers likely to be price-sensitive? Is demand elastic or inelastic? What are the implications of the answers for pricing decisions? What price adaptations such as discounts, allowances, and promotional pricing should you include in your marketing plan?

Assignment #6

Marketing Plan - Step 6: Marketing Channels and Sales Logistics Submit your responses to the following. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. What decisions must you make to develop the five marketing flows (physical product, title, payment, information, and promotion) for product(s) or services? How many levels would be appropriate for the consumer and business markets you are targeting? Should you plan for exclusive, selective, or intensive distribution? What decisions must you make to develop the five service outputs (lot size, waiting time, spatial convenience, product variety, and service back up? Outline your channel decisions for getting your product(s) or services to the consumer considering the questions above.

2. What types of retailers will be most appropriate for distributing your product(s) or services? What are advantages and disadvantages of selling through these types of retailers? What role should wholesalers play in your distribution strategy? Why? What market logistics issues must you consider before you launch? Given the questions above, outline the retailing, wholesaling, and logistical marketing plans for your product(s) or services. Those who are acting in the role of providing a new "service" should include their plans for locations, hours of operations, and how their "service" plan is managing demand and capacity issues.

Assignment #7

Marketing Plan - Step 7: Communications, Advertising, Promotions and PR Submit your responses to the following. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. Integrated marketing Communications Every marketing plan must include a section showing how the company will use marketing communications. The question is not whether to communicate, but rather what to say, to whom, how to say it, how often, and which promotional tools to use. Review the strategies you previously documented in the marketing plan for the targeting, positioning, branding, product management, pricing, and distribution. Consider these questions: What audience(s) should you target in your integrated marketing communications plan? What objectives are appropriate for your initial communications campaign? What message design and communication channels are likely to be most effective for the target audience? Which promotional tools would be most effective in your promotional mix? Why? How should you decide the amount to allocate to your marketing communications budget? Considering the questions above, outline and define your integrated marketing communications matrix. Include advertising programs complete with objectives, budget, advertising message, creative strategy, media decisions, sales, and promotional materials. Ensure the continuity of the message across all possible communication media. If you intend to use a direct sales force, outline the specifics (including financials) for this option.

Assignment#8

Marketing Plan - Step 8: Adoption, Global Markets and Holistic Marketing Submit your responses to the following. Also, incorporate them into your evolving Marketing Plan. Adjust the plan to incorporate any feedback from your previous assignment, and modify the Table of Contents as necessary.

1. How will the consumer learn about your offering and how quickly will they adopt it? Will it be targeted to the heavy users and early adopters' first, then early and late majorities? What is your estimated time for full adoption? Considering the questions above, compose a brief write up addressing the consumer adoption process for your product(s) or services.

2. The complexities of global marketing demand careful planning and implementation. If you intend for your product(s) or services to be exported to another country, then identify which of the five international product strategies (straight extension, communication adaptation, product adaptation, dual adaptation, product/forward invention), is most appropriate and why? Identify one international market that seems most promising for your offering. Why did you select this market as most promising?

3. Take time now to review your entire comprehensive Strategic Marketing Plan. Go back through each of the components and ensure you have communicated a complete, organized, and coherent picture. The end result should be a cohesive and well formatted package that you could present to a potential investor or CEO/Board of Directors for your fictitious company. If done correctly, this completed project is something you can use as a marketing strategy template for any product or service.