Marketing Plan and Presentation

Competency 3.4/3.5/3.7: Determine how organizations formulate marketing strategies and tactics using market and consumer data.

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct research and collect data, analyze findings, and explain how this information is used to formulate marketing strategies and tactics.

Review the topic materials “Forms of Marketing Research” and “The Marketing Research Process.” Using what you have learned about marketing research, assume the role of a marketing professional who has been tasked with completing a marketing plan for a client.

Select a publicly traded, for-profit company that will be your client. Conduct research about the company by visiting the company website and obtaining a copy of the annual report. Locate three to five additional resources that provide additional data and information about the brand. You will use this research to tell the brand story; share the company vision, mission, and marketing objectives; and describe the strategies and tactics the company is currently using to meet the marketing objectives. You will also perform SWOT analysis based on your research.

Using what you learn from your research and subsequent analysis, complete the “Marketing Plan and Presentation: Part 1 – Research Template.”

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

Communication: Reflection Creating an Assertive Message

The text points out that support material will fill out the organizational structure of our speech. In fact, since we will show our organizational skill in our speech by creating our speech and developing our main points with support material we need to choose it wisely. Support material functions to clarify our idea, to make an idea interesting and or memorable, and or to prove the truth of what we are saying.

Our text identifies several different types of support material: definition, description, analogy, anecdote, example, statistics, visual aids, testimony.

Review the material in our text on these types of support and choosing one from the list find as many strong supporting materials for the thesis as possible. Start with our library portal and see if find at least one supporting item of each type and post to the thread. Some may be possible without library resources (e.g., analogy).

After you have posted read your classmate’s posts and respond to two classmates and evaluate the merits of each individual piece of support as supporting material. Does the material provided function as listed above (clarify, make more interesting, prove the truth, or make memorable). Don’t be shy but don’t be disrespectful of each other. Let’s learn what works with supporting material and what is not really strong enough to function as support material.

Part2: respond to two classmates:

Classmate#1:Cedric

Analogy

I will be demonstrating how to properly “zero” or sight in a rifle. An analogy for this process would be like.

“Zeroing your rifle is like making sure your speedometer and steering wheel in your car actually line up with what is happening. It would certainly be possible to drive with a speedometer that shows you going thirty miles an hour over your actual speed, or a steering wheel that is always 15 degrees offset to the right, but you would never be able to be a skilled or safe driver with these limitations. In a similar fashion, making sure your point of impact and point of aim align are critical in safe, accurate target shooting.

Classmate#2: Isabella

In my speech I will be explaining the best way to analyze ballistic evidence. This is a definition that supports my speech.

After some research on Cascadia’s library, I found a definition from the National Research Council that supports my thesis, telling my viewers exactly what ballistic analysis is, “…a forensic technique that compares the elemental composition of bullets found at a crime scene to the elemental composition of bullets found in a suspect’s possession… ballistics techniques compare striations on the barrel of a gun to those on a recovered bullet…” (National Research Council 2004).

National Research Council . Committee on Scientific Assessment of Bullet Lead Elemental Composition Comparison. (2004). Forensic analysis : Weighing bullet lead evidence. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.

Strategic Marketing Plan

1. Please read the brief and comprehensive of social networking footprint as described by Nestle in the link given below and describe the concept of social networking footprint in your own words.

https://www.nestle.com/asset-library/documents/media/news-feed/readiness-for-work-hand-out-part-b-taking-care-of-your-digital-footprint.pdf

 

2. Please open the link below, containing the web analytics of Nestle Company. Analyzing the web analytic metrics, comment on, and discuss the social networking footprint of the company.

 

https://www.talkwalker.com/industry-research/food/social-media-analytics-for-nestle

1. Please read the brief and comprehensive of social networking footprint as described by Nestle in the link given below and describe the concept of social networking footprint in your own words.

https://www.nestle.com/asset-library/documents/media/news-feed/readiness-for-work-hand-out-part-b-taking-care-of-your-digital-footprint.pdf

 

2. Please open the link below, containing the web analytics of Nestle Company. Analyzing the web analytic metrics, comment on, and discuss the social networking footprint of the company.

 

https://www.talkwalker.com/industry-research/food/social-media-analytics-for-nestle

Discuss Marketing consumer behavio

February 18 (by 11:59PM)

Identify the specific brand and category of the product/category that your group wants to follow. It is preferable that this brand has been around in the market for at least 5 years so that you have significant information available online about the history and performance over the years. For example, you cannot just say Pepsi Co., you need to specify that your chosen brand would be Aquafina, from the purified water product category. This will focus your data collection and making the connections that you need to make to consumer behavior concepts. Submit TWO choices with the order of preference and I will assign one of the two to your group. You will have to submit this via Canvas (look for the drop box named “Product choice”). Only one member in every group needs to submit on behalf of the group. Just giving me the names of the brand and the company are enough. For example, it is enough to say:

Group # ____, Members (name, name, name)

Choice 1 – Aquafina by Pepsi Co.

Choice 2 – BiC Mechanical pencils by MMXI Bic Inc.

You will get a reply from me via Canvas on by February 20 with the final assignment of the brand. You will work ONLY on that one brand that is assigned to your group.

Feb 21- March 31

This is the most important time that you will be working on your project. If you let this slide, it will be difficult to catch up.

  1. Your team will scour the news and tap into personal experiences to relate your specific brand to all the concepts we have discussed so far/and are discussing currently in the class. You may want to ignore some introductory topics in Chapter 1 as they may be too generic to apply. And you will have to be choosy with the actual concepts that truly apply. Only some concepts/terms will apply and you will need to provide evidence from literature to support your claim.
  2. You will have to also have to tell me why the connections that you made are important to the study of Consumer Behavior. You can add advertisements (print or video) to illustrate these connections. It will augment your arguments.
  3. Your group should collaborate through Canvas or Google docs or some such sharing mechanism in order to keep a running tab of all contributions, connections, and observations.

April 1-15

Start writing your group report on all your observations. Your written report needs to be at least 15 pages long with the following sections.

  1. Brand and product category chosen and why that specific one (1 to 2 paras)
  2. History of the company and brand in particular (2 pages max)
  3. CB terms/concepts that relate to your brand and how and why (1 page for every concept with evidence, APA style in-text citations)
  4. Observations, conclusions (2 pages min, 4 pages max)
  5. Appendices (in addition to the 15 pages)
  6. References (in addition to the 15 pages)
  7. Double spaced (or at least 1.5)
  8. I HAVE DISTRIBUTED A SAMPLE PROJECT. TRY TO DO BETTER THAN THE SAMPLE (no pressure!).

April 15-25

The Power of Presence

Case Application 2

The Power of Presence 

How do you successfully manage a growing international company? CEO Christian Chabot of Seattle-based Tableau now believes being there physically is an important piece in the often complex puzzle of international management.108 International growth is nothing new for Tableau, which was founded in 2004. As a leading provider of analytics and business intelligence software solutions, the company has more than 35,000 clients in over a dozen countries.

Tableau provides software tools and interactive dashboards that allow users to generate useful business insights through the analysis and visualization of data. The company is on the cutting edge of data-imaging solutions for end-users, creating products such as Elastic, which allows users to create graphics from spreadsheets. Despite tough competition in the market for business intelligence from software giants such as Microsoft, Tableau has continued to maintain its share of the marketplace, and the company’s value continues to grow with a 64 percent increase in revenue over last year. Much of the company’s growth is attributed to the company’s expansion into international markets, with an 86 percent increase in revenue last year from international markets, which now account for a quarter of the company’s total revenues.

With plans to hire about 1,000 more employees in the next year, the company’s projected continued success is evident. While more than half of their current 2,800 employees work in the company’s Seattle headquarters, Tableau has 14 locations around the world in places such as Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and London. About 400 of the new employees will be hired outside of the Seattle headquarters, and Tableau’s expansion will include opening new international offices.

 

 

International growth creates many challenges for companies, particularly as they open and staff branch locations in different countries. Cultural differences, time differences, and simply the geographic distance can make it difficult to sustain the same management practices at home and abroad. How has Chabot managed the quick growth of this international company? One strategy was to spend almost a year abroad working in the company’s London office. His focused time at that location helped grow regional sales, but also provided the CEO with valuable insights to support further international expansion.

Chabot reported that the time he spent in London highlighted the importance of managing culture and people. Prior to the trip he did not have a true understanding of the challenges of international employees working for a U.S.-based company. He found that many working in international branch offices did not feel like they were taken seriously by those at the home office. Geographically remote workers can feel disconnected from a global company, particularly when they report to management they have never met in person at headquarters.

Chabot’s time working in London was valuable for employees in all locations of the company, as his actions sent the message that he feels employees outside of headquarters are important. While he spent time only in London, the fact that he spent a year away from the home office emphasized his belief that locations beyond Seattle are important for the company’s success. Chabot’s experience is having such a profound impact on the company’s success, Tableau is now encouraging other executives to spend time at international offices.

 

Discussion Questions

Blockbuster Is Fighting For Survival. Discuss

 

Blockbuster Is Fighting For Survival. Discuss

Questions:

1. How successful do you predict that Blockbuster’s recent moves (agreements with TiVo and

major movie studios) will be? Please explain.

2. Can Blockbuster avoid bankruptcy and survive? Justify your response.

3. Should Blockbuster increase its entry into international markets where digital‐on‐demand

technology is not yet available?

4. In what other ways can Blockbuster try to redefine its core business and pursue other

options in entertainment or home electronics? What strategy would you recommend to

save the business?

 

Blockbuster is Fighting for Survival

Questions:

1. How successful do you predict that Blockbuster’s recent moves (agreements with TiVo and

major movie studios) will be? Please explain.

2. Can Blockbuster avoid bankruptcy and survive? Justify your response.

3. Should Blockbuster increase its entry into international markets where digital‐on‐demand

technology is not yet available?

4. In what other ways can Blockbuster try to redefine its core business and pursue other

options in entertainment or home electronics? What strategy would you recommend to

save the business?

 

Blockbuster Is Fighting For Survival. Discuss

Questions:

1. How successful do you predict that Blockbuster’s recent moves (agreements with TiVo and

major movie studios) will be? Please explain.

2. Can Blockbuster avoid bankruptcy and survive? Justify your response.

3. Should Blockbuster increase its entry into international markets where digital‐on‐demand

technology is not yet available?

4. In what other ways can Blockbuster try to redefine its core business and pursue other

options in entertainment or home electronics? What strategy would you recommend to

save the business?

 

Blockbuster is Fighting for Survival

Questions:

1. How successful do you predict that Blockbuster’s recent moves (agreements with TiVo and

major movie studios) will be? Please explain.

2. Can Blockbuster avoid bankruptcy and survive? Justify your response.

3. Should Blockbuster increase its entry into international markets where digital‐on‐demand

technology is not yet available?

4. In what other ways can Blockbuster try to redefine its core business and pursue other

options in entertainment or home electronics? What strategy would you recommend to

save the business?

Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy

Assignment 2: Marketing Plan

Due Week 6 and worth 100 points

This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a marketing plan and sales strategy, and a marketing budget. Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

For the first six (6) months your company is in business—to give you time to perfect your product and to learn from actual customers—you will start marketing and selling in your own community, a radius of twenty-five (25) miles from where you live.

For most non-alcoholic beverages, marketing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is key to success. Cola drinks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many energy drinks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producing these types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through marketing and brand awareness—both of which are critical to success.

Section 1: Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)

Write 3-4 page Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy section of your business plan, in which you:

  1. Define your company’s target market.
    • Analyze the types of consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zip codes).
    • Outline the demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description).
      • Hints: At American FactFinder (http://census.gov), you will find demographic information on potential consumers in your area. If you are selling through other businesses (such as grocery stores), indicate the number of those businesses in your local area. You will find information about such businesses in your local area at County Business Patterns (http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/). Check Chapter 2 of Successful Business Plan for more research sources.
  2. Assess your company’s market competition.
    • Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition.
    • Defend your strategy to successfully compete against market leaders in your segment.
      • Hints: For example, in the soft drink market, it is intimidating to try to compete against Coke and Pepsi. Newcomers in mature markets typically must pursue niche markets or even create new market categories, as Red Bull did with energy drinks.
    • Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution).
      • Hints: Every business faces competition and the non-alcoholic beverage market is an especially crowded market.
  1. Clarify your company’s message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F’s).
      • Hints: Before you choose your marketing vehicles, you must determine the message you want to convey through those vehicles.
  2. Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company’s brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective. Provide examples of other non-alcoholic beverage companies that use these tactics effectively.
      • Hints: If you plan to use online marketing tactics, refer to the worksheet in the text (p.171 | Online Marketing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if you’re selling through grocery stores you need to build your brand and social media is a major part of that in regard to beverages. Some of the marketing tactics that beverage companies use include: sampling in grocery stores, building a following on social media, sponsoring events, exhibiting at trade shows attended by retailers, and so on. You will use a combination of these tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in grocery stores, promote your sampling on your social media networks and those of the grocery store.
      • Hints: If you are planning to distribute through resellers, describe how you plan to reach them, for example, through industry trade shows or by establishing your own sales force. For information on trade shows, visit the Trade Show News Network (http://www.tsnn.com). You can exhibit or network at these shows.
  1. Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:
  1. Cite the resources you have used to complete the exercise. Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in the exercise.
  2. Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  3. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

Section 2: Marketing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template)

Section 2 uses the “Business Plan Financials” MS Excel template (see: Course Required Files in Week 1). Use the “Business Plan Financials Guide” (see: Course Required Files in Week 1) to support your development of the Marketing Budget.

  1. Complete the Marketing Budget worksheet for your company.
      • Hints: The goal of the marketing budget is to help you determine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your sales goals.
      • Hints: When filling out the “Marketing Budget” worksheet in the Excel spreadsheet:
        • Begin in the current year and complete a marketing budget for the first year of your business. The information you enter in the marketing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your “Income Statement” in the Business Plan Financials.
        • Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketing vehicles you do not intend to use.
        • Remember that all marketing activities involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing, assume you will have cost of advertising and that should be reflected on your budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social media marketing campaigns, and will most likely pay for ads on that site.
        • Do NOT leave the “Marketing Budget” blank, assuming you will not have any marketing costs.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  • Recommend effective business strategies based on an analysis of domestic and global operating environments, market dynamics, and internal capabilities.
  • Analyze competitive positions including foreign market entry and the resulting impact on business strategy.
  • Use technology and information resources to research issues in strategic management.
  • Write clearly and concisely about strategic management using proper writing mechanics.

The sensitivity of consumers to price changes is measured by the

1) The sensitivity of consumers to price changes is measured by the ________.

2) A relatively small percentage change in the price of a computer results in large percentage changes in the number of units purchased for a retailer. The price elasticity of demand for computers can be described as ________.

3) When the price elasticity of demand is high and prices go up, total ________.

4) When the price elasticity of demand is unitary and prices go down, total ________.

5) Price elasticity of demand is negative since ________.

6) Horizontal price fixing involves an agreement ________.

7) In vertical price fixing, ________.

8) The intent of vertical price-fixing legislation was to protect ________.

9) Manufacturers and wholesalers can legally control retail prices by ________.

10) Price-discrimination legislation is designed to limit the ability of ________.

11) Price discrimination is legal under the Robinson-Patman Act when ________.

12) In predatory pricing, large retailers attempt to destroy smaller retailers by ________.

13) Retailers typically use loss leaders to ________.

14) Unit pricing laws are necessary because of ________.

15) Item price removal enables supermarkets to ________.

16) A retailer typically has no intention of selling a promoted good or service in ________.

17) Which strategy does not enable a retailer to control retail prices?

18) In selling against the brand, ________.

19) In price guarantees, a manufacturer protects a retailer by ________.

20) Individual retailers have no control over the setting of retail prices in ________.

21) A retailer able to develop a strongly differentiated retail mix can utilize ________.

22) An aggressive low-price strategy designed to sell a high volume of goods is ________.

23) Market penetration is an appropriate strategy when ________.

24) The price floor represents the ________.

25) Which of the following suggests that too low a price may hinder demand?

26) The most widely practiced retail pricing technique is ________.

27) Markups in retailing are typically computed on the basis of ________.

28) The difference between initial markups and maintained markups is due to ________.

29) Direct product profitability (DPP) is an example of ________.

30) Which pricing strategy seeks to stabilize demand throughout the year?

31) A retailer that seeks to alter prices to reflect fluctuations in costs or consumer demand should practice ________.

32) The opposite of setting prices by negotiation or bargaining is ________.

33) In which pricing technique does a retailer advertise and sell key items in the product assortment at less than the usual profit margin?

34) A retailer sells men’s suits for $179, $229, $309, and $359. This illustrates ________.

35) A major advantage of an early markdown policy is that ________.

36) Price elasticity is ________ when the urgency for a purchase is low and the number of acceptable substitutes is high.

37) Total demand for a movie drops from 400 to 350 units when a theater operator increases the ticket price for a popular movie from $7 to $9. Price elasticity of demand (expressed as a positive number) equals ________.

38) When a stationery store increases its price for a popular computer notebook from $1,000 to $1,250, its quantity demanded decreases from 400 to 250 per month. Its price elasticity of demand (expressed as a positive number) equals ________.

39) A negatively-sloped demand curve means that ________.

40) The difference between horizontal price fixing and vertical price fixing is based on ________.

41) Many manufacturers feel that vertical price fixing should be legal since it protects ________.

42) The Robinson-Patman Act was developed to ________.

43) Loss leaders are viewed as being particularly attractive by many retailers since they ________.

44) A key difference between a loss leader and leader pricing is based upon whether ________.

45) A key difference between loss leaders and bait-and-switch advertising is based upon whether ________.

46) The key difference between bait-and-switch advertising and “trading the customer up” to a more expensive substitute is that in “trading the customer up,” the advertised low-price good ________.

47) Selling against the brand and private labels are two strategies retailers use to ________.

48) A retailer has the least control over retail price setting in ________.

49) Administered pricing utilizes ________.

50) Administered pricing can be used in association with ________.

 

What is the importance of having a Marketing Plan

What is the importance of having a Marketing Plan

Summarize primary control measures within the plan, such as review dates, how the plan’s progress, actions, or contingency plans will be monitored for risks or difficulties encountered within the plan.

 

I will need this work done by Tuesday 1800 hrs (6 pm). The essay included is for assistance in making the Control Measure Plan.  This work is part of the attached essay and must be cohesive.  Will need to have at least 1.5 – 2 pages of information.

Summarize primary control measures within the plan, such as review dates, how the plan’s progress, actions, or contingency plans will be monitored for risks or difficulties encountered within the plan.

 

I will need this work done by Tuesday 1800 hrs (6 pm). The essay included is for assistance in making the Control Measure Plan.  This work is part of the attached essay and must be cohesive.  Will need to have at least 1.5 – 2 pages of information.

The 4 utilities of value

Required Resources

Text Chapters

White, S. (2012). Principles of marketing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://ashford.content.edu

Chapter 1: Marketing Fundamentals

This chapter relates to Discussion 1. In this first chapter, we explore the foundations of marketing as well as its history and evolution. Key concepts:

  • The fundamental concept on which all marketing is based
  • The 4 eras of marketing history and the changes that ushered them in (and out)
  • The 4 P’s of marketing
  • The 4 utilities of value

In the case study, you’ll learn more about the craft brewery movement and one brand’s bold efforts to communicate value and differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace. And don’t forget to check out the short embedded videos where you’ll witness the emergence of homo industrialus!

Chapter 2: The Marketing Process

This chapter relates to Discussion 2. Explore the stages of the marketing process from situation analysis to strategy formulation to campaign development to execution to measurement. Key concepts:

  • Microenvironment versus macroenvironment influences
  • The 5 stages of the market research process
  • Qualitative vs. quantitative research
  • Mass marketing vs. one-to-one marketing

In the featured case study, you’ll see the marketing process in action with Project Flogton (a little backwards spelling reveals all!) and its efforts to inject more fun and broaden interest in a popular —if rather staid— pastime.

Article

Oliver Wight Americas, Inc. (2012). New white paper – Marketing’s role in the integrated business planning process: An advanced version of sales and operations planning (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/news/marketing-role-integrated-business-planning.htm

Multimedia