The second group report is focused on applying course concepts to create a viable and effective

marketing strategy for your company. Business strategy is often conceptualized at the level of

the business division so for report $2$ you will first start by picking among one of the business

divisions in your company $($note: some companies may only have a single business division$).$ At

the level of the business division, what can the company do$,$ to ensure future success in a

competitive marketplace?

$1.$ Introduction $$ State what business division of your company you are focusing on$.$ Make

sure that it is B$2$C $($the business division has at least one product$/$service which consumers

can purchase$).$ Refer to the lecture where we went over how to find your business

division.

$2.$ STP $$The first thing you will need to do is to identify who will be your customers. As

part of the STP process we first start with the entire population of potential consumers and

then we identify market segments, choose a target market and develop a positioning

strategy for that target market. For this report, you will follow the $5$ steps in STP as laid

out in Chapter $6$ of the textbook and the Chapter $6$ lectures.

Segmentation:

Step $1-$Objective$/$business strategy

Step $2-$Segmentation bases $$ Clear state your overall strategy$/$objectives$.$ Identify relevant

segmentation bases with justification. Using a good mix of segmentation bases, identify

several viable market segments for the business division. Stronger groups will provide

secondary research as support$/$justification for market segments identified.

Targeting:

Step $3-$Evaluate market segments on Segment attractiveness on the basis of: Identifiable,

Reachable, Substantial and Profitable and Responsiveness.

Step $4-$Select a single target market for the report with clear reasoning and justification. If

you would have recommended a different targeting strategy, you can mention it here.

However, for the purposes of this report, coming out of stage $4$ you should have picked a

single market segment to focus on as your target market.

Positioning:

Step $5-$Identify and develop a positioning strategy for your business division that you

believe will best resonate with your target market. Be sure to provide a clear explanation

for why the specific positioning strategy was chosen, as well as why this positioning will

be competitive in the market. As part of this section, be sure to provide rationale,

justification and$/$or support for the positioning strategy $($this could include a positioning

statement, value proposition, a perceptual map and$/$or external research to support

positioning$).$

$3.$ Marketing Mix $$ Now that you have a target market and positioning, it is time to build

your marketing mix. The marketing mix will describe the $4$Ps$.$ Refer to the specific

chapters for each of the $4$Ps for more information. Page $67$ of your textbook provides an

example of the marketing mix; however, you may find that you will need to include

additional information to meet the requirements for this assignment. Each component of

the marketing mix will be evaluated on the strategic elements proposed as well as

their justification and rationale. It is not enough to simply state the strategy without

providing justification. As you are creating your marketing mix, be sure to keep in mind

the important work you did in the previous section relating to your target market and

positioning. Every element of the marketing mix should be consistent with your target

market and positioning strategy.

Product: Discuss the overall product strategy for the business division. As part of this

section, you can discuss the complexity$/$type of product$($s$),$ the product mix breadth and

depth, as well as branding. A business division will oftentimes have multiple

products$/$brands in its portfolio. Which do you think the business division should

prioritize? You might also want to consider if there are any gaps in the product

assortment that you believe could be filled with a new product$/$service$.$

Place: It is important to realize that place is not just about locations, but also about

distribution channels. Retail companies can also discuss retail strategy. As part of this

section, you can discuss the channel structure, channel strategy and distribution intensity.

Price: Discuss your overall pricing strategy. As part of this section, you can discuss the

pricing method, the pricing strategies and any pricing tactics that you will be using.

Promotion: Discuss your overall promotions strategy. Will you be making use of an

integrated marketing communications campaign? What types of promotion will you be

using? This section should answer the question of how you will communicate and appeal

to your target market.

$4.$ Conclusion $$ Very short conclusion to end the report.

The page limit for Report $2$ is $10$ pages double$-$spaced