College of Business

C O L L E G E   O F  B U S I N E S S
Department of Marketing
Product Marketing Project
Winter 2014 Term
MRKT1001
Prof. E. Carey
This term, we are focusing on the food and technology industry in our Principles of Marketing
class. These industries are some of the most active and aggressive when it comes to advertising
and marketing. Over the course of this term, we will make many references to food and beverage
and technolgoy companies, and how their actions relate to everything we discuss in this class.
Beginning this week, you will track the food, beverage or technology product of your choice
(not a company) for the duration of the trimester. We will cover the specific topics and principles
of marketing each week (as outlined on the syllabus), and you will gather information about your
product and complete each assignment, as outlined on this summary.
At the completion of the trimester, you should have core components to a product marketing plan
for your product.
Overall Product Marketing Project Guidelines:
• All weekly submissions must be typed and in a pocket folder, with your name and the
product name on the outside of the folder. Email assignments will not be accepted.
o Your submission will not be accepted in an envelope, stapled, or clipped together

•
•

•

Make sure you turn in all of your assignments, or you will not receive the whole credit for
the Product Marketing Project.
We will recap each assignment during the class, and I will be happy to answer any
questions as we move along through the trimester.
Students will be expected to share their product marketing ideas with the rest of the class
each week.

In order to effectively complete this assignment, you will need to do some research online
with news apps, online magazines/newspapers and blogs. You will also be asked to share
your ideas with the rest of the class with brief oral presentations of your submissions,
chosen at random throughout the trimester.
Also, it is very important to pick a singular technology, food or beverage product, and not
try to track a company, (like Apple as an example, but rather track the new iPad Air) as
this will make the assignment much more difficult for you. This is intended to be
somewhat fun and not a big burden for you.

Product Marketing Winter 2014
Page 1 of 4

Think about technology products you use, or see in traditional and digital media, or at
least two-three brands foods or beverage products you like, or maybe brands that you
remember as a young child, and having them as a special snack, or treat. I will allow
alcohol beverage brands for this assignment….
CHECK THE DUE DATES BELOW FOR EACH PRODUCT MARKETING PROJECT
ASSIGNMENT. YOU WILL LOSE POINTS IF YOU HAND THEM IN LATE.

Product
Marketing
Project #1
Due 12/5/13

• Think of some potential products to track; pick one and explain why you
want to track it for the trimester (about one paragraph)
o Your product must be one that is easily recognizable and
advertised/marketed so that you can complete all of the
assignments
o Don’t pick a product that is very exclusive, or barely on
the market

•
Product
Marketing
Project #2
Due 12/5/13
(From Ch. 2)

•

•

Who is the parent company of your product; i.e., who owns your
product. For example, Research in Motion (RIM) is the parent
company for Blackberry.
Find the parent company mission statement on corporate web site
or other source. If they don’t have one, attempt to write a brief one
for your product’s company.
Find one article about your product in the last two years. Using RI
Lib Guides is highly recommended.

• Provide an example of how your product may or may not include an
Product
Marketing
Project #3
(Ch. 3
Due 12/12/13

ethical or corporate social responsibility message. For example, Toyota
cars promoting hybrid technology to save the environment.
• Research one article that involves your product, or the parent
company, doing something related to ethics (good or bad) or
social responsibility. For example, SMART phone manufacturers
are often dealing with political or regulatory issues with patents,
pricing, etc. Like the Apple-Samsung lawsuit-it was unethical for
Samsung to copy Apple’s technology. RI Lib Guides resources
are best for this. Public Domain (Google, Bing) will not have as
much detail on these factors.

Product Marketing Winter 2014
Page 2 of 4

•
Product
Marketing
Project #4
Ch. 4 & 6
Due 01/09/13

Product
Marketing
Project #5
Ch. 8
Segmentation,
Targeting,
Positioning
Due 01/16/13

Product
Marketing
Project #6
Ch. 9-10
New
Products/Managin
g Products and
Brands

•

From chapter 4 discuss one of the psychological influences that
you think relates to your product. Read section on Psychological
Influences to properly complete this assignment.
Is your product marketed globally-if so, how? Cite one example
of how your product is marketed globally. Most students can find a
TV ad produced in another country, or locate a different language
version of their web site. When you locate this example, explain in
one paragraph, if you think they adapted their marketing
appropriately for this specific country, or global consumer?
• Identify your product’s key target audience, based on your own
research, and reviewing the material in Chapter 8. Are there other
audiences or other market segments that could be targeted for your
product, that perhaps haven’t been discovered yet by the company?
How would you best describe your product’s positioning to the target
audience? Write a short and original positioning statement for your
product. Do not copy something on the product’s FB page, or web site.
Be original. We will review in class before doing this assignment.
• Where is your product in the product life cycle?
• If you had to develop a new variation of your product, what might you
recommend to the product development team?
• Have some fun brainstorming about a potential new version of your
product.
• We will do some in class brainstorming on this.
Due 01/30/13
•
Product
Marketing
Project #7
Ch.11-Pricing
Due 02/06/13

Think about what type of pricing approach matches your product from
Chapter 11. You can consider any of the pricing approaches outlined
in the textbook. For example, Apple has a very profit-oriented pricing
strategy, as their products are priced on the high range in their
categories, and they know consumers are willing to pay premium price
to gain profits-they have more money in cash reserves than the U.S.
Federal Government….and now with the iPhone 5, they will have
even more!
Product Marketing Winter 2014
Page 3 of 4
• Provide a brief summary of your product’s use of media, list all of the
Product
Marketing
Project #8
Ch. 14-16
Due 02/13/13
types of media your product uses, -make sure you scan the media
environment thoroughly and read the content in the chapters and
provide two media samples. (You Tube ad, print ad, banner ad, mobile
ad, etc)
In your opinion, referencing the two media samples you have provide
and all the media your product uses to promote and advertise,
summarize if you think your product is effectively using an Integrated
Marketing Communication strategy or not. Please refer to Chapter
16, and the use of social media to connect with the consumer. How
creative is your product in connecting through social media?
Product Marketing Winter 2014