BUS5112 - Marketing Management

Discussion Assignment:

In the discussion forum, you are expected to participate often and engage in deep levels of discourse.  Please post your initial response as early as possible and continue to participate throughout the unit. You are required to post an initial response to the question/issue presented in the Forum and then respond to at least 3 of your classmates’ initial posts.  

You should also respond to anyone who has responded to you. 

Imagine you have inherited a company. Choose a product that the company manufactures and sells. Assume that traditionally, the company has sold to commercial users such as restaurants, supermarkets, or food distributors. You have decided to expand your customer base to include non-commercial users (Consumers). For this discussion you will:

· Identify the product(s) that your company manufactures and sells

· Develop a statement of your target market(s)

· Develop a statement of your competitor’s target market(s)

· Develop a value proposition statement

In your response to your peers, compare and contrast your strategies with theirs to help strengthen the discussion even further by sharing knowledge.

Your Discussion should be a minimum of 250 words in length and not more than 750 words. Please include a word count. Use APA citations and references for the textbook and any other sources used from your research.

Written Assignment Unit 1

Pick a product or brand of your choice that is sold in your geographical location. From an examination of any marketing medium (such as advertising, packaging, or website) and reflecting on the 4P’s of marketing, construct a value proposition for the product or brand. Conduct substantial research on the product or brand in order to get a good understanding of how the brand has evolved and where it is heading.

Submit a 2-3 page paper, (independent of the title page and reference page) double-spaced in Times New Roman font which is no greater than 12 points in size. Be sure to cite any sources in APA Format. Conduct substantial research on the product or brand in order to get a good understanding of how the brand has evolved and where it is heading.

Papers will be assessed using  this rubric.

Portfolio Activity Unit 1

According to Kotler and Keller (2012), “Goals indicate what a business unit wants to achieve; strategy is a game plan for getting there. Every business must design a strategy for achieving its goals, consisting of a marketing strategy and a compatible technology strategy and sourcing strategy.” 

· An organization’s mission statement should 

· Clearly outline the main purpose of the organization, and what they do.

· Mention plans by organizations on achieving the mission statement

· Mention audience of the mission statement.

· Clearly outline the value organization provides 

For this Portfolio Assignment provide answers to below questions:

1. Amazon.com Mission statement is “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.”

· Is this mission statement market-oriented, product-oriented, production-oriented or futuristic? Why? 

2. The purpose of strategic planning is to find ways in which an organization can best use its strengths to take advantage of opportunities within the environment.

In the past, Wal-Mart mission statement was, “We deliver low prices, every day.”  Currently, Wal-Mart’s corporate mission is “to save people money so they can live better.”

· Using the knowledge from strategic formulation and unit’s reading, provide a possible reason for review of Wal-Mart’s mission statement.

The Portfolio Assignment entry should be a minimum of 500 words and not more than 750 words. Use APA citations and references if you use ideas from the readings or other sources.