Depth of analysis and strategic insight

Part A: Developing a Marketing Plan (100 marks)

Length: 10 to 15 pages, using 10- to 12-point font, 1.5-line spacing, plus exhibits and appendices.

Your submission will be assessed on the following criteria:

·         Comprehensiveness of the plan

·         Depth of analysis and strategic insight

·         Extent of the rationale provided for recommendations that are made, including use of course marketing concepts and terms (included as part of question 8) (5 marks)

It is highly recommended you write a draft of your plan and then edit it to make it more succinct. Also be sure to properly cite the sources used in your marketing plan.

Choose an organization and a product in that organization you would like to analyze from a marketing perspective and develop a marketing plan for. This may be the same organization that you focused on earlier in the course or a different organization, but not one for which you currently work.

Contact your tutor by email and briefly explain why you have chosen this organization, the product market on which you want to focus, and what information sources are available on which to base your analysis. Your tutor needs to approve these choices so that a) multiple learners are not working on the same organization and product-market, and b) the tutor is comfortable that you will be able to successfully complete this assignment.

1.     Current Situation:

·         Chose one product market of this organization.

·         Conduct a SWOT analysis of the organization in this strategic context, considering both the internal and external environments.

a.     The external environment of your SWOT analysis will include:

a.     a macro environment trend analysis

b.    consumer (general)

c.     industry analysis

d.    competitor analysis

b.    In addition, be sure to assess its current strategy as part of your internal environment assessment.

·         Identify what you believe are the six most important facts or observations in the SWOT analysis

·         Explain why you think these six are particularly important to understand from a strategic perspective.

.      Include the SWOT analysis as an appendix in your marketing plan, but

a.     Be sure to include your SWOT analysis summary (the six most important considerations) in the body of the plan, as indicated in the marketing plan outline below. (10 marks)

2.     Target Market Segment: (20 marks)

·         Segment the target market (5 marks)

·         Provide a rationale for why your target market segmentation approach is reasonable or appropriate (from a marketing perspective) given your market and organization.