This assignment will have you create strategies for your primary market identified in Unit 3. It is important for you to justify your strategic decisions based on relevant research from credible sources. Ultimately, you will need to convince others of your strategy. These others could be marketing managers, investors, bankers, etc. Be sure you use the supplemental text Marketing: An Introduction by: M. C. Cant and the supporting unit material in developing your strategy. These same questions can be used to evaluate competitive products and can give you a basis for analyzing their competitive strengths and weaknesses. Positioning A positioning strategy would normally be based on consumer research and the companies desired for a perceptual position in the customer's mind. Customers will normally use a multi- attribute model in their purchase decision. This basically means that there is normally more than one criterion that are used in the purchase decision. The first part of this assignment is to determine the two most important criteria used in the purchase process. The two criteria will be used in the positioning map design below. The most important part of this part of the assignment is to justify your positioning map. Table 1: Positioning Strategy I. SBU Position Desired in The Marketplace: (How should the project SBU be positioned in the marketplace? This summarizes your branding strategy.) II. Identify and justify Anchor Elements 1 & 2 for a positioning map: (Justify why you chose the anchor elements. They should be related to the primary customer choice elements identified in Unit 3. The anchors have two sides, Element 1, Element 2 opposite.): III. Justify the SBU and Competitive positions: (Place and resize the SBU bubbles. Justify why you think these positions and sizes reflect actual positions.) IV. Strategic Implications from the Positioning Map: (Describe the strategic implications from the

map you have created including recommendations for changes in position.) Positioning Map Branding Your branding strategy supports your desired SBU market position. Branding is a multi-faceted process to support your marketing mix strategy. Respond to each of the branding elements in the table below. Table 2: Branding Strategy I. Describe and evaluate the brand features for your SBU. Include: a. Brand Name (Brand Name Strategy: Corporate umbrella, Family brands, individual brands, etc.) b. Brand Mark/Packaging c. Other Brand Attributes d. Other Relevant Branding Strategies II. Describe and evaluate the brand equity strategy for your SBU. (Justify how your strategies above increase the overall value of your brand.) III. Stage in the Product Life Cycle and Strategic Implications: (Estimate the PLC location for Place Here Your Element 1 Place Here Your Element 1 Opposite Place HereYourElement 2 Place HereYourElement 2 Opposite YourSBU Competitor 1, Competitor 2

your SBU and the related current strategic issues.) Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy To this point you have evaluated the marketing mix product, price, place concepts (Unit 5) and the target market (Unit 3) for your SBU. You have also looked at your product position and branding strategy. You will now develop an integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaign to support these strategies. An effective IMC campaign should be based upon firm communication goals and objectives. The communication system for a business requires that the message should be complex and include factors such as business and product positioning, competitive advantage, competition, the segment to be to communicate to and how can that message best reach the market. The full development of promotional strategies requires setting marketing objectives and advertising objectives, developing a communication message, evaluating media, determining the communication message and developing the advertisement. Table 3: IMC Strategy I. IMC Objectives: (Describe your IMC objectives {such as to inform about X, persuade customer to..., remind about X}. Justify your objectives given your target market and SBU.) II. Communication Message: (Write out a message you would like to communicate to your market segment. This could include information from Tables 1 & 2 above such as branding, positioning, communicating a competitive advantage over competition.) III. Media Strategy: (Recommend a media strategy that would carry your message identified above. This could include a sales strategy. A media strategy should include more than just one media outlet. Identify all media you plan to use and justify your media choices.) IV. Justification: (Justify the overall rational for the IMC strategy you have recommended above. This should include references to sources of information to back up your ideas.

My SBU is insurance for Trucking companies.