gb530 unit 2 assignment and discussion

Brand Extension Marketing Plan  

Introduction: The major project in this course is to complete a Brand Extension Marketing Plan for one new product on the behalf of an existing for-profit organization. Using the Marketing Plan guide found in Doc Sharing, complete and submit the following components of your Marketing Plan.   

Unit 2:  Identifying and Assessing Marketing Opportunities    2.0 SITUATION ANALYSIS   

Write a one-paragraph summary of the current situation – write this section after completing the following sections of the Situation Analysis, but put it in this order.   

2.1 Market Summary   

(write this section after completing 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, and 2.2)  In a 1-2 paragraph summary, address:     What are your target customer groups? Why?   What are your projections for the growth of this market?   

2.1.1 Market Demographics (refer to Chapter 8 of your Kotler text for helpful definitions/explanations)    Carefully define the demographic profile of your target market.   In a similar fashion, define the geographic target area you are choosing.   What are the behavior factors that will influence your decision-making?    Define the values and lifestyles (psychographics) of your target market.     2.1.2 Market Needs      What are the benefits that are important to your customer base?   What needs to they have and how do you know this?    2.1.3 Market Trends   

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 Identify and explain at least three trends that will influence how your customers view your product – these should be trends going on in the industry or the environment; these are trends that your company/product can respond to in some way. Remember: trends are long term; fads are short term.    

  2.1.4 Market Growth   

 Is the market growing, static, diminishing? What are the growth trends?  What is the evidence? What research are you using to determine market growth?   How will you address the market if it is growing, static, or diminishing?   

2.2 SWOT Analysis (refer back to Chapter 2 of your Kotler text for a thorough explanation of a SWOT analysis)  

2.2.1 Strengths – list and describe at least three positive internal aspects that add value   2.2.2 Weaknesses – list and describe at least three negative internal aspects that place you at competitive disadvantage   

2.2.3 Opportunities – list and describe at least three opportunities external to your business that will lead to your success  

2.2.4 Threats – list and describe at least three threats external to your business that will threaten your success (e.g., it is common to include unexpected acts of nature, government and regulatory concerns, and competition in this section of the SWOT)   

2.3 Competition   

 Describe your competition.   Why will customers prefer your product?   How will you compete with your competition and win?   What is the marketing mix (price, place, promotion, product, you know them as “the 4 P’s of Marketing”) of at least one of your competitors? 

  2.4 Product Offering (refer to your Kotler text to make certain you understand these terms)  Product/features/benefits (we particularly care about benefits as these are from the perspective of the target market)  Describe your Brand Equity Model and say how you will build brand equity for this product/service.   

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2.5 Keys to Success    List and describe at least three factors that will determine your success.   2.6 Critical Issues   

 How will you leverage your SWOT strengths and opportunities to your advantage?  How will you lessen the impact of your SWOT weaknesses and threats?   Where is your product in the product life cycle and why? Refer to your Kotler text for a definition of a product life cycle. 

Unit 2 discussions

Discussion 1

Marketers must constantly be aware of changes in their environment. Effective marketing research is key to understanding changes in a customer base. Many marketing researchers use data mining as a method to learn about their target market segments. Burke Research offers a data mining tool called Digital Dashboard.

Introduction

1. View the Burke Video Case Interview related to marketing research methods, specifically the Digital Dashboard.
2. Read about marketing research methods in our Kotler and Keller textbook.  
3. Select and review one of the following articles ( available in the Kaplan Online Library under the Find Articles & E-Books Tab. In the Searchable Article & Report Collection Links select Business Source Complete)
• Agard, B., & Kusiak, A. (2004). Data-mining-based methodology for the design of product families. International Journal of Production Research, 8/1/2004, 42(15), pp. 2955-2969.
• Chung, M. H., & Gray, P. (1999). Special section: Data mining. Journal of Management Information Systems, Summer 99, 16(1), pp.11-16.
• Chye, K. H.,& Leong, C. K. (2002). Data mining and customer relationship marketing in the banking industry. Singapore Management Review, 2nd half, 24(2), p.1.
• Hormozi, A., & M., Giles, S. (2004). Data mining: A competitive weapon for banking and retail industries. Information Systems Management, Spring 2004, 21(2), pp. 62-71.
4. Address the following questions:
   What did you learn about conducting market research? Be sure to refer to the article you chose within your response.
• Do an internet search and discuss what you find related to the Digital Dashboard. Do you find this to be a useful tool?
• Compare and contrast the research method Burke implements with the method reviewed in our text.

Discussion 2

Key to effective marketing management in a global context is keeping up with current events. As outlined in Unit 1, youneed to find a current event topic that interests you and relates to the material we are discussing. You can find an article from the Internet, the Webliography, Kaplan Library or any other reliable source. Remember that Wikipedia is NOT considered a credible source. NOTE:  The article you find must have been written within the past 90 days. Check the Extra! Extra! tab as a starting point for your research.