Marketing

Section

Content

Part a (20%)

After briefly introducing your organisation, this section requires you to provide a critical summary of your application and analysis of SWOT or PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces, and the marketing mix framework in the context of the organisation you used in assignment 1. The outcome of this analysis should give a clear understanding of the environment within which your organisation operates.

Part b (20%)

This section requires you to assess how the organisation currently positions itself with its target audience/market. The use of perception maps here (2) gives you the opportunity to assess the organisation’s current positioning in relation to its competitors. You should also establish the segmentation technique(s) used by your organisation. The 4 Cs of Positioning should also be used to assess the effectiveness of the organisation’s positioning strategy.

Part c (10%)

This section gives you the opportunity to make two recommendations for the future. Based on a and b, you will be required to offer two recommendations for the future marketing plan of your chosen organisation.

Part d (30%)

This section requires you to provide justification of one of the two recommendation (given in c) reinforced by the application of key strategic marketing models, i.e. the BCG Matrix and the Ansoff Matrix.

Assignment style, structure and design: (10%)

Reports can and should contain diagrams, tables and models – just make sure they are put into the context of your organisation (anyone can copy a model). The text that you write alongside the visual here adds the depth to that visual. Combining the two together increases quality of communication and reader understanding. Think: Do customers ever purchase from marketers when they do not understand what they are being told? Remember – this assignment must take the form of a professional BUSINESS REPORT which clearly communicates with the reader, i.e. the Board of Directors of the selected organisation. This assignment must NOT come across as an essay or student assignment – it should feel like a business/marketing proposal.

Academic Referencing (10%)

Academic referencing for part 2 of the assignment is to be thorough. Citing sources of concepts/theories/models is essential. The role/purpose of all models used should also be briefly explained – again this can be done via the citation of a recognised writer (from a book, journal, etc.) A simple “rule of thumb” you might wish to follow: Introduce the concept/model/theory (cite/define), Explain what purpose it serves (cite), Apply the concept (this might be from your own observations, or possibly cited from research you have uncovered) and finally discuss the Implications of the situation (cite to evidence these implications where possible). All citations should feature at the end of your work as a list of references. NOTE: sources that lack the appropriate academic integrity – e.g. Wikipedia, Mindtools, Marketing4U, Smart insights, etc, are not acceptable and may result in a loss of marks. Established concepts, theories and academic models must use sources of academic integrity – for example textbooks from the module reading list, or original journal articles.