The minimum you would need to do is to:

• Demonstrate an acceptable level of understanding of key terms and concepts used in marketing
• Provide a competent analysis of a given predictable business situation and present an appropriate response in the form of a simple marketing mix plan

Of course, a strong answer will go well beyond excellent presentation, particularly using lots of theory to support your case study.

YOUR CASE STUDY

The mini case study that you will write about is for an app. You have developed an app that is a guide for purchasing a type of jewellery in Dubai. Jewellery in Dubai is sold through markets and small stalls, so the app will help customers to locate the stores. You should choose a type of jewellery and therefore a type of customer.

Your task is to provide your detailed marketing mix plans for the app, justified though a clearly identified specific target market within the Dubai market place. You should include a Gantt chart covering your marketing communications activities for six weeks prior to launch and four months post-launch

Notes:

• The costs of developing the app can be considered to be sunk and therefore do not need to be accounted for.
• You should not aim your app at everyone. Be very clear about who will use your app.
• You should consider all forms of competition, and the position that your app will take in the market place
• You will need to choose an appropriate justified brand for your app.
• You may wish to include other features within your app tailored to your chosen target market.
• You need to choose whether you will make the app free, funded by advertising, or whether you will charge users. You should justify your decision.
• Your app will be made available in the usual places.

Strong answers will include a Gantt chart to overview your marketing communications proposal.

You will want to provide some information about the market for jewellery in Dubai.

This information and all sources MUST be fully referenced using the Harvard referencing

system.

As part of your product proposals, you will need to:

1. Identify the type of jewellery that your target market wants to buy.
2. Propose and justify a suitable brand name for your app.

The app has already been developed.

You do not need to account for development costs or supply an app development plan. You should treat the case as if it is a start-up company.

The key to doing well in the case study is getting the target market right.

You should NOT target everyone! Not everyone will want your app and targeting the whole of the market would be over-ambitious, particularly for a start-up company.

Research the jewellery market in Dubai and think about how best to segment the market, probably using lifestyle or benefit segmentation.

The app will help customers to locate the type of jewellery that they are interested in. You will not sell jewellery directly through the app. You may also want to include some geo-demographic information to arrive at a manageable group of customers. The more clearly defined your target market the better your response will be, even if there are other potential customers. Write a pen portrait for your ideal customer.

Consider the competition and discuss how best to position your app so that it appeals to the customer that you have identified.

Once you have done this you can make your marketing mix recommendations so that each of the elements of the marketing mix are tailored to appeal to the ideal customer that you described in your pen portrait.

You can discuss additional features of your app but do not be too distracted by this.

You will need to propose a suitable brand name and perhaps a tagline for the app but there are no marks available for visuals, so a logo/artwork is not needed. You can choose to charge for the app or to make money from advertisements on the app and make it free to users; be sure to explain your choice.

Customers will access the app through the usual app purchase channels.

Obviously, marcomms will play an important part in your plans; you have not been given a budget for marcomms, but you should make recommendations that are realistic (TV ads are unlikely to be affordable or appropriate) and suitable to reach your chosen target market. No one knows that your app exists, so how will you drive downloads, and how many downloads might you achieve?

You should provide a Gantt chart as an overview that demonstrates your stated Marcomms plans.

Some general hints and tips:

• Use the application of marketing theories when addressing this case study. Strong answers always include lots of applied, referenced supporting theory. Applied means that you do not need to explain a theory, just use it and reference it. We have explored lots of theories in the unit that you can draw on, but you can also introduce your own.
• You should give in-text references in your answers.
• A strong attempt with a clear gap supported by referenced market data.
• Demonstrates excellent understanding of how segmentation might be applied to the marketplace.
• A clear, well-defined target market is provided including all the elements needed to support marketing mix recommendations. The identification draws on theory to support discussions.
• Product discussions are clearly linked to the target market.
• Price is clearly linked to the target market, the difference between strategy and tactics are understood and the impact of recommendations is understood.
• A clear marcomms strategy is presented that is practical and understands the implications of what is being recommended.
• A marcomms Gantt is presented that links to the promotion discussion and provides a clear overview of the shape and process of the recommendations.

!!! Well referenced please.