MARKETING PLAN PROJECT

Part 2 (covering chapters 3-4)

Your goal: To analyze the marketing environment and plan for ethics and social responsibility.

In this assignment, you'll take a closer look at the marketing environment in which your company operates. Six specific areas to examine are: competitors, the economy, political forces, legal and regulatory forces, technology, and sociocultural forces, all of which affect the marketing plan you're developing. You'll also consider the role of social responsibility and ethics in your marketing plan.

1. (15 points)
2. Next, research the economic conditions in the market where you will sell and the market where you will buy supplies or services.
3. Identify the point in the business cycle where these economies appear to be.
5. Do economic conditions constitute an opportunity or a threat?
6. Determine how much buying power customers are likely to have once they have access to your productand how willing they will be to make purchases.How many times a week, a month, a year, etc.
7. What changes in the local, national, or international economic situation could affect your marketing performance, and in what ways? Write one or two paragraphs about the current economic situation, not just in your specific business location(s) but also in the broader economic context.

1. (10 points)
2. Political forces are another key aspect of the environment to analyze. Pay close attention to the current political situation in the geographic area(s) where your product will be created and marketed. For our scenario, let's decide on California as the place the business will start first.

Think about the ways in which politics might affect the design and production of your good or service, the way you promote the product, how the product is transported and distributed, and your pricing decisions.

1. Identify at least two elements of the political situation that you must understand to successfully put your marketing plan into action.
2. (1)
3. (2)
5. Write paragraph about these political factors and the overall political situation in the areas where your plan will be implemented.

1. (15 points)
2. Find out how local, state, or federal laws and regulations might affect your ability to achieve your marketing objectives.
3. Search the Internet to find at least two federal laws that apply to your product (such as the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act, Department of Health Services, etc).
4. (1)
5. (2)
6. Look for a state or local law or regulation that applies to your product, such as needing a license to provide a certain type of service.
7. (1)
8. (2)
9. Finally, conduct a search to see whether any new laws and regulationsor major legal and regulatory changesare in the works. Write paragraph about the legal and regulatory climate for your product,including the possible effect on your marketing plan.

1. (10 points)
2. Within the technological environment,
3. What are the key trends that could be positive or negative for your product?
4. What new technologies are emerging that could influence your ability to implement your marketing plan? (for example cooking rice quicker, take out bags that keeps the product cool to prevent spoiling, etc.)
5. Are any new technologies expected to make competitive products obsolete or make it easier for customers to buy and use your product?
6. Write paragraph about how technology can help you to pursue opportunities or fend off threats, develop products, connect with stakeholders, compete more effectively, or otherwise affect your marketing plan.

1. (15 points)
2. Sociocultural forces are one final set of forces you'll need to analyze within the marketing environment.
3. How will demographic and diversity characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, and family composition affect your customers, their needs, and their buying patterns?
4. What about the effect of cultural values on your marketing plan (such as the importance of nutrition and exercise or increased interest in earth-friendly products)?
5. What changes occurring now (or projected for the near future) should you consider as you plan?
6. Write paragraph about the key sociocultural forces that affect your customers, your market(s), and your product.

1. (15 points)
2. Now it's time to focus on social responsibility and ethics.
3. What social responsibility issues are important for your product and your stakeholders (such as working with suppliers that don't hire children or using earth-friendly materials)?
4. What are competitors doing about these issues?
5. How can you address these issues in your marketing plan?(for example, as you operate the store, promote your social responsibility through publicity, etc.)
6. What ethical issues have emerged in your industry or have been linked to products like yours (such as questionable pricing practices)?
7. Are there any potential conflicts of interest you must avoid?
8. Write one or two paragraphs about how you plan to deal with ethics and social responsibility.