marketing strategy/ marketing plan

Writing Intensive Statement

This course has been approved by the Faculty Senate Writing Across the Curriculum Committee to fulfill the Writing Intensive Requirement in the Marketing major.  It does so through the completion by an individual student of a Marketing strategy/Marketing plan project that will be completed in two sections or phases – Part 1 is 1,000-words (minimum) and Part 2 is the revision and resubmission of Part 1 along with an additional 2,500 words for a total of 3,500 words for the total market plan. excluding appendices.

Prerequisite to starting the market plan, students need to submit the product(s) or brands or categories, the name of the firm and overall industry that will be researched for approval. Students receive points for the timely submission of the product and/or service, etc. for the plan.

Part 1 of the Marketing Strategy/Marketing Plan project will be completed through a draft/feedback/revision process.  After approval of the product, firm and industry and the subsequent submission of Part 1, students will receive commentary on the sections for Part 1 and a grade on content and writing related dimensions.

The final plan will include the part 1 revised submission in combination with Part 2 and is submitted in the last week of the class.  Both Part 1 and Part 2 require citations in text and a Works Cited or Bibliography using APA format. In the final paper the Works Cited is a consolidated and alphabetized list that is integrated for the entire paper.

Due dates are in the class schedule section of this syllabus. A description of the Marketing Strategy/Marketing Plan project and its fulfillment of the Writing Intensive requirement in the Marketing major follow:

Marketing Plan Topics   (adapted from Ferrell and Hartline, (2014) Marketing Strategy, Cengage.)

1. Executive Summary: A synopsis of the overall plan  and this should be written upon completion of the paper.

2. Background or Current Situation: A discussion of how the current product, service, etc., is currently being marketed, e.g. defines the “as is?”   What is the current marketing strategy with respect to the product, pricing, distribution and promotion.  Which of the elements are working and which are not?  Describe the current performance of the product or service, e.g. sales volume, market share, profitability, awareness of the product, brand preference, compared to the competition and in the industry as a whole.  Is the performance of the industry as a whole improving or declining and why?  See demand and market research in Chapter 3 of the text for additional information.  This should include the industry size in revenue and units; current and five-year forecast, performance improving or declining, competitors, along with supporting charts/trend analysis in appendix.

3. Customer Environment: This is the current segmentation, targeting and positioning of the product for the customers, either business or consumer.  A description of the important identifying characteristics of the current and potential customers with respect to demographics, geographic location, psychographic profiles, values and lifestyles, and/or product usage characteristics (heavy vs. light users).  How well is the product and firm meeting the needs of the target market and customers today.  See Chapter 4 of the text, review Blue Ocean Strategy and canvas analysis, apply marketing tools associated with STP processes, etc.

4. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Does the product, service, brand or firm have CSR and Sustainability initiatives.  If so, what are they and what is their impact on the product or firm’s performance and/or brand image?

5. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis): Identify and focus on the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) derived from the preceding situation analysis that give advantages and disadvantages to the product and firm.  At the conclusion of the SWOT, the focus of the marketing plan is to address the strategic focus and competitive advantages to be leveraged in the strategy.  Match the strengths with market opportunities to create value for the customers identified in the STP processes.

6. Marketing Goals and Objectives: Marketing goals and objectives are formal statements of the desired and expected outcomes resulting from the marketing plan.  Goals are broad, simple statements of what will be accomplished through the marketing strategy.  The goals guide the development of objectives and provide direction for resource allocation decisions.  Marketing objectives are specific and are stated in quantitative terms that permit precise measurement.  This section should set the performance targets that the firm seeks to achieve and how the progress will be measured.  The section is strengthened with forecasts for the short and long-term (5 years) generally with graphs or tables in the appendix.  Examples of goals during different stages of the PLC are in Chapter 9, others are in Chapter 11, and throughout the text relative to various market growth, penetration, profitability, and many other approaches.

7. Marketing Strategy: This section outlines how the firm will achieve its marketing objectives.  Selecting and analyzing target markets and creating and maintaining an appropriate marketing program (product, distribution, promotion, and price) to satisfy the needs of those target markets.  It is at this level where the firm will define how it will gain a competitive advantage by doing something better than the competition:  Its products must be of higher quality than competitive offerings, its prices must be consistent with the level of quality (value), its distribution methods must be as efficient as possible, and its promotions must be more effective in communication with target customers.

8. Marketing Implementation: This section describes how the program will be executed.  It answers what specific marketing activities will be undertaken?  How and when they will be performed?  Who will manage and monitor them?  What is the cost and budget?  It could be a summary timeline in the appendix with a brief summary in the body of the paper.

9. Evaluation and Control: The final section of the marketing plan details how the results of the marketing program will be evaluated and controlled.  The standards and metrics should be tied to the objectives stated in the Goals and Objectives section.

Matrix

The following matrix provides an outline of the sections of the market plan and topics (excluding the Executive Summary that will be done and added at the end) and the number of words for Parts 1 and 2:

• This does not include the appendices.  Students need to synthesize and write the paper in such a manner that it contains the important information without being wordy.

Sources of Information

Our market research should come from our library databases.   Good plans will not use sources that professionally write plans either for sale or free on the internet. Some examples but not limited to these, are Bahasian, MBASkol, Fort….University, and others. Please reference our academic integrity website or ask me, if you have questions regarding these questionable types of references and sources.

There are videos done by our business librarian, Jo Ann Henson, posted in the Market Plan course folder, that highlight the Infoguides that have been developed to assist students enrolled in this course.  They point out good sources for public and private firms, current articles, and firm performance metrics, etc.  Using these databases and synthesizing the information will give you experience that you will use as you evolve in your marketing careers.  The information is also of good quality.

Quality of Writing

A rubric to highlight the factors that are considered in the writing of excellent papers in the School of Business is included in this Market Plan section of the course.

Assurance of Learning Second Submission of Paper

Please post a second copy of your final Market Plan in Bb for our accreditation processes with AACSB, a premier global accreditation for our school.  The documentation of the extent to which this course is responsible for adding to your competence in the discipline of marketing is a central goal for the School of Business. The overall measures used to determine the extent to which this course is accomplishing assurance of learning are quizzes/exams, composing an integrated marketing plan, in-class exercises, case study analyses, and class participation.  The assurance of learning is part of our ongoing accreditation processes.

Where to submit?

Your place for submissions of these deliverables, e.g.  including the Product/Service, Firm and Industry for approval/ Part 1 of the plan, Part 2/Final Market Plan, and the 2^nd Submission of the final Market Plan for Assurance of Learning/Accreditation are in the lessons and in the Market Plan folder.