Situation Analysis And Marketing Plan

The Music2Go Marketing Simulation gives you the opportunity to formulate and implement a Marketing Campaign within your own company (an MP3 Player Manufacturer). Music2Go will require you to analyze Company Reports and Market Research to implement your own Marketing Plan while keeping to a fixed budget.

Each week you will need to log into the Smartsims website, open your Music2Go company and make decisions before the Sunday midnight (MST) rollover (decision deadline). In the first decision period, you will be making decisions for the company’s only product. These decisions will be Retail Price, Retail Margin, Advertising budget, Advertising mix, and entering a Sales Forecast. In following weeks you will be able to make Sales Promotion decisions, conduct Product Development, and launch New Products. The success of your decisions will be determined by your Total Marketing Contribution (TMC) over the length of the simulation.

To begin you must first register for the Music2Go Marketing Simulation through the Smartsims website. After registration has been completed, it is strongly recommended you start by reading the Music2Go Assignment Schedule, Music2Go Player’s Manual, and view the Music2Go Tutorial Videos available through the Smartsims website.

For this assignment you are required to complete each of the following:

• Part A. Conduct a Situation Analysis
• Part B. Write a Marketing Plan

NOTE: Before completing this assignment, be sure to complete the Assignment 03.1: Music2Go Decisions before Rollover #1.

For Assignment 03.2: Music2Go Situation Analysis and Marketing Plan, follow these detailed directions:

Part A. Conduct a Situation Analysis
Your goal in Music2Go is to maximize Marketing Contribution for your MP3 Player company. Marketing Contribution is your profit after sales and marketing expenses have been deducted. At the end of the simulation, you will then be graded on your Total Marketing Contribution (TMC).

To understand the simulation and achieve the highest TMC you can, you must first conduct a Situation Analysis. To complete this written assignment you will need to have open the Music2Go Player’s Manual and be logged into your Music2Go company (log in through the Smartsims website). Part A should be two-three pages in length.

1. Using the information provided in Chapter 2 of the Music2Go Player’s Manual write a brief description of the three market segments in the Music2Go MP3 Player Market. Your answer should be half a page in length.
2. Complete a short analysis of your company by answering the short answer questions below:
   1. What was your Sales Revenue, Gross Margin and Marketing Contribution last year? (Hint: see the Industry Benchmark Report)