This course is Marketing Strategies

The company chosen is General Mills.

The new idea for the new product is breakfast sandwiches ( pork, beef, veggie and lots more)

Our competitor would be Kelloggs

Help with this project launch by answering the questions below. Please provide enough information that is helpful to this product launch project. Please and thank you.

I. Executive Summary The executive summary is a synopsis of the overall marketing plan. It should provide an overview of the major aspects of the entire plan including goals/objectives, strategy elements, implementation issues, and expected outcomes. II. Situation Analysis A. The Internal Environment Review of marketing goals and objectives Introduce the company's current business scope and mission (if available).

2 Explain your idea about the new product. Explain how the new product is consistent with the company's existing product line, recent trends in the external environment, and recent trends in the customer environment. Review of current marketing strategy and performance Describe the company's current marketing strategy with respect to products, pricing, distribution, and promotion. Which elements of the strategy are working well? Which elements are not? Describe the company's current performance (sales volume, market share, profitability, awareness, brand preference) compared to other companies in the industry. Is the performance of the industry as a whole improving or declining? Why? If the company's performance is declining, what is the most likely cause (e.g., market disruption, environmental changes, flawed strategy)? Review of current and anticipated cultural and structural issues In terms of marketing strategy development and implementation, describe the positive and negative aspects of the current and anticipated culture of the company. Examples could include: the company's overall customer orientation, emphasis on short-term versus long-term planning, position and importance of the marketing function. B. The Customer Environment (refer to Exhibit 3.4) Who are the company's current and potential customers? Describe the important identifying characteristics of the company's current and potential customers with respect to demographics, geographic location, psychographic profiles, values/lifestyles, and product usage characteristics (heavy vs. light users). Identify the important players in the purchase process for the company's products. These might include purchasers (actual act of purchase), users (actual product user), purchase influencers (influence the decision, make recommendations), and the bearer of financial responsibility (who pays the bill?). What do customers do with the company's existing products? How are the company's products connected to customer needs? What are the basic benefits provided by the company's products? How are the company's products purchased (quantities and combinations)? Is the product purchased as a part of a solution or alongside complementary products?

3 Are there issues related to the disposition of the company's products, such as waste (garbage) or recycling, which must be addressed by the company? Identify any trends in purchase patterns across these outlets (e.g., how has e- commerce changed the way the company's products are purchased?). C. The External Environment (refer to Exhibit 3.5) Competition Identify the company's major competitors (brand, product, generic, and total budget). Identify the characteristics of the company's major competitors with respect to size, growth, profitability, target markets, products, and marketing capabilities (production, distribution, promotion, pricing). What other major strengths and weaknesses do these competitors possess? List any potential future competitors not identified above. What disruptions might occur that pose new competitors not currently identified? Economic Growth and Stability Identify the general economic conditions of the country, region, state, or local area where the proposed product's are located. How are these economic conditions related to customers' ability to purchase the new product? Describe the economics of the industry within which the company operates. These issues might include the cost of raw materials, patents, merger/acquisition trends, sales trends, supply/demand issues, marketing challenges, and industry growth/decline. Political Trends Identify any political activities affecting the company or the industry with respect to changes in elected officials (domestic or foreign), potential regulations favored by elected officials, industry (lobbying) groups or political action committees, and consumer advocacy groups. Technological Advancements How have recent technological advances affected the company's customers with respect to needs/wants/preferences, access to information, the timing and location of purchase decisions, the ability to compare competing product offerings, or the ability to conduct transactions more effectively and efficiently?

4 Have customers embraced or rejected these technological advances? How is this issue related to customers' concerns over privacy and security? What future technologies offer important opportunities for the company? Identify any future technologies that may threaten the company's viability or its marketing efforts. Sociocultural Trends With respect to the company's target customers, identify changes in society's demographics, values, and lifestyles that affect the company or the industry. Explain how these changes are affecting (or may affect) the company's products (features, benefits, branding), pricing (value), distribution and supply chain (convenience, efficiency), promotion (message content, delivery, feedback), and people (human resource issues). Identify the ethical and social responsibility issues that the company or industry faces. How do these issues affect the company's customers? How are these issues expected to change in the future? III. SWOT Analysis (refer to Exhibit 4.5) A. Strengths Strength 1: _________________________________________________________ Strength 2: _________________________________________________________ (Repeat as needed to develop a complete list of strengths.) How do these strengths enable the company to meet customers' needs? How do these strengths differentiate the company from its competitors? B. Weaknesses Weakness 1: ________________________________________________________ Weakness 2: ________________________________________________________ (Repeat as needed to develop a complete list of weaknesses.) How do these weaknesses prevent the company from meeting customers' needs? How do these weaknesses negatively differentiate the company from its competitors? C. Opportunities (external situations independent of the companynot strategic options) Opportunity 1: _______________________________________________________ Opportunity 2: _______________________________________________________ (Repeat as needed to develop a complete list of opportunities.)

5 How are these opportunities related to serving customers' needs? What is the time horizon of each opportunity? D. Threats (external situations independent of the company) Threat 1: ___________________________________________________________ Threat 2: ___________________________________________________________ (Repeat as needed to develop a complete list of threats.) How are these threats related to serving customers' needs? What is the time horizon of each threat? E. The SWOT Matrix Strengths: Opportunities: Weaknesses: Threats: F. Developing Competitive advantages of the product Describe ways that the product can match its strengths to its opportunities to create capabilities in serving customers' needs. Discuss in terms of major advantages of the product, including, but not limited to, functions, importance, superiority, affordability and profitability. G. Developing a Strategic Focus What is the overall strategic focus of the marketing plan? Does the strategic focus follow any particular direction, such as aggressiveness, diversification, turnaround, defensiveness, or niche marketing? IV. Marketing Goals and Objectives In this part, you will develop a "pilot launching" of the product in a local marketing, preferably in the state of Delaware. Assume the company decided to test the product in a small

6 market for one year and will use the data to launch it in larger markets in future. Therefore, tailor the launch in light of a local and small market. A. Marketing Goal A: __________________________________________________ (should be broad, motivational, and somewhat vague) B. Marketing Goal B: __________________________________________________ (should be broad, motivational, and somewhat vague) (Can be repeated as needed to develop a complete list of goals and objectives.) V. Marketing Strategy A. Primary (and Secondary) Target Market Primary target market Identifying characteristics (demographics, geography, values, psychographics): Basic needs, wants, preferences, or requirements: Buying habits and preferences: Consumption/disposition characteristics: Secondary target market (optional) B. Product Strategy Brand name, packaging, and logo design: Major features and benefits: Differentiation/positioning strategy: Supplemental products (including customer service strategy): Connection to value (core, supplemental, experiential/symbolic attributes): C. Pricing Strategy Overall pricing strategy and pricing objectives: Price comparison to competition: Connection to differentiation/positioning strategy: Connection to value (monetary costs): Profit margin and breakeven: Specific pricing tactics (discounts, incentives, financing, etc.): D. Distribution/Supply Chain Strategy Overall supply chain strategy (including distribution intensity):

7 Channels and intermediaries to be used: Connection to differentiation/positioning strategy: Connection to value (nonmonetary costs): Strategies to ensure channel support (slotting fees, guarantees, etc.): Tactics designed to increase time, place, and possession utility: E. Integrated Marketing Communication (Promotion) Strategy Overall IMC strategy, IMC objectives, and budget: Consumer promotion elements Advertising strategy: Public relations/publicity strategy: Personal selling strategy: Consumer sales promotion (pull) strategy: Trade (channel) promotion elements Advertising strategy: Public relations/publicity strategy: Personal selling strategy: Trade sales promotion (push) strategy: VI. Marketing Implementation A. Structural Issues Describe the overall approach to implementing the marketing strategy. Describe any changes to the company's structure needed to implement the marketing strategy (e.g., add/delete positions, change lines of authority, change reporting relationships). Describe any necessary internal marketing activities in the following areas: employee training, employee buy-in and motivation to implement the marketing strategy, overcoming resistance to change, internal communication and promotion of the marketing strategy, and coordination with other functional areas. B. Tactical Marketing Activities (be very specificthis lays out the details of the marketing strategy and how it will be executed) Specific Tactical Activities Person/Department Responsible Required Budget Completion Date Product Activities 1. 2. 3. Pricing Activities 1. 2.

3.

8 Distribution/Supply Chain Activities 1. 2. 3. IMC (Promotion) Activities 1. 2. 3. VII. Evaluation and Control (refer to Exhibit 9.5) A. Formal Controls Describe the types of input controls that must be in place before the marketing plan can be implemented. Examples include financial resources, capital expenditures, additional research and development, and additional human resources. Describe the types of process controls that will be needed during the execution of the marketing plan. Examples include management training, management commitment to the plan and to employees, revised employee evaluation/compensation systems, enhanced employee authority, and internal communication activities. Describe the types of output controls that will be used to measure marketing performance and compare it to stated marketing objectives during and after the execution of the marketing plan. Examples include sales, market share, revenue, customer satisfaction, retention, product quality, supply chain integration, brand awareness, recognition, campaign reach, impression, purchase intentions, public relations and others.