Business project

STEPS 1-9 should not exceed two written pages unless include figures, graphs, etc. which do not count towards limit

STEP 2: What is the title of your project? (make it strategic)

STEP 3: Which organization/industry is your project about? My project is about Mearth Technology, an Australian based company that specializes in manufacturing electric scooters and electric bikes. This is a small startup venture because currently, it has no more than ten employees. The mission of Mearth is to create values on the high-tech perspective and deliver the values to the end-users. The main problem facing the company is low brand recognition of the electric scooters, and this has led to low sales and little revenue.

STEP 4: Do you work for, or know managers at, this organization?

I do not work for this organization; I have communicated with manager in this organization.

STEP 5: Do you have permission to do this research?

Is this project sponsored or funded in any way?

The permission to undertake this research has been granted by the University of Technology Sydney ethics committee. This project is not funded by an organization and thus will use own means of financing to ensure the success of the project.

STEP 6: Describe a short market background based on your own research. State what the business problem is. Outline the research question. List the specific research objectives you will try to address.

One of the most significant problems facing Mearth Technology is low brand awareness of the electric scooters. The low brand recognition works to the advantage of major competitors in the Australian market; the Ninebot-Segway and Xiaomi. Segway is the biggest competitor and operates similar to Mearth in terms of product and functions. Xiaomi is a Chinese technology firm and ranks second in terms of market share, whereas Mearth comes third. Following the low brand awareness and increased competition from giant companies, (share does not equate to awareness which are you concerned about?) how can Mearth Technology increase the brand awareness of e-scooters? The main objective of this project is to create a systematic digital marketing campaign for Mearth Technology. The project will examine the effectiveness of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms in increasing the popularity of the brand.(too ambitious I think for the timeframe rather you should aim to identify some strategic approaches for their digital communications)

STEP 7: Which marketing theories will you refer to and use?

I would prefer to use some main marketing theories, namely the SWOT analysis (SWOT are tools not theories ), motivation and affect and the brand positioning map. In the SWOT, I will analysis the environment of market. It can provide the more detail about market, competitor and segment. In the Motivation and affect, I will analysis some good selling or Ads methods to motivate consumers. The brand positioning map will allow me to visualize the relative position of the e-scooters brand relative to that of Ninebot-Segway and Xiaomi by analyzing the customer perceptions of the brand and competitor brands against the features that drive purchase (Jun and Park, 2017).( This section needs more clarity and depth in your discussion. As it is it is rather confused) (light of references, I was expecting more depth)

STEP 8: How do you propose to collect and analyse data?

The data for this project will be collected through conducting an in-depth interview with the firm CEO-Mr. Ye. I will use thematic content analysis to analyze the information collected through the interviews. I will be aiming at establishing common patterns across the data by following various steps. These include:

· Familiarizing myself with data through reading and re-reading.

· Coding or labeling the data.

· Identifying themes that have broader patterns of meaning.

· Reviewing themes to ensure they are relevant to the topic

· Defining and labeling themes

· Reporting the themes (Braun et al., 2018). (This section needs more clarity and depth in your discussion. As it is it is rather confused)

Besides, a survey will be conducted to determine the target market’s awareness of the electric scooters. By capturing key demographic data, the survey will enable me to do a detailed analysis of how customers view the brand of the electric scooter and how the company can improve its positioning among the college and university students who are the main customers. (How will you recruit your sample? Who is you sample? How will you access them? How many will you access? And what form of analysis will you use.)The data collected will be analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) (it is a tool not an approach )to determine various characteristics of the brand such as brand recall, (will your questionnaire/ guidelines be poloted? How will you develop the questions? You need to allow for this in your schedule)b rand recognition, brand identity, brand image, brand trust, brand loyalty, and customer profile.(very ambitious)

STEP 9: What will the organization gain from the project that you propose to undertake?

The problem will enable Mearth Technology to gain some insights of increasing the brand awareness of electric scooters; thereby helping the company to boost its sales and revenue. The increased revenue would enable the company to grow and expand hence venturing into other markets.

STEP 10: A line about understanding your ethical and social responsibility to the client, customer, and UTS.

As an ethical marketing expert, I should uphold various values to the clients, customers, and UTS, including safety, honesty, transparency, and respecting the privacy of the customers (Frynas and Yamahaki, 2016). These virtues will enable Mearth to gain respect and trust of the consumers, which would allow the business to operate in a healthy environment.

(You need to specify which ethics guidelines will be followed: ESOMAR UTS, NSW Privacy Principles)

If you are recording interviews or making any other form of recording, you will need to be familiar with the UTS ethics guidelines and the ESOMAR guidelines, likewise if you are interviewing children aged under 18. Although you do not need specific ethics approval from the HREC as your research is for coursework. See https://www.esomar.org/what-we-do/code-guidelines.

STEP 11: (ONE PAGE ONLY) Provide a plan for your project, including timelines and key activities

STEP 12: Provide a list of any references to which you have referred (use Harvard (UTS) referencing style) does not count towards your page limit

Frynas, J.G. and Yamahaki, C., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: Review and roadmap of theoretical perspectives. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(3), pp.258-285.

Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N. and Terry, G., 2018. Thematic analysis. Handbook of research methods in health social sciences, pp.1-18.

Shao, A.T. and Bao, Y., 2015. Unique positioning to an elusive market: Targeting teenagers. In New Meanings for Marketing in a New Millennium (pp. 111-117). Springer, Cham.

Jun, S.P. and Park, D.H., 2017. Visualization of brand positioning based on consumer web search information: Using social network analysis. Internet Research, 27(2), pp.381-407.