Marketing Mid Term

Midterm Exam[footnoteRef:1] [1: Copyright, University of Maryland University College (2017) and Professor Paula O’Callaghan. Do not post or share outside of MRKT 620, Section 9040, Fall 2017.]

Fall 2017

Exam instructions. Read carefully before you begin.

This is a take-home exam. The exam is due on October 22, 2017 at 11:59pm. Early submissions are welcome, but all grades and feedback will be held until after the exam due date. Submit your exam in a Word document to the Assignment folder. This individual assignment is worth 30% of the final grade for this course. The grading rubric follows the exam.

Please note this is an individual assignment.  Any discussion or collaboration with another student regarding the assignment constitutes a violation of UMUC's Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy. Assignment will be submitted to Turnitin.com and issues with originality will be forwarded to the Dean’s Office as appropriate under the Academic Integrity process.

Format: include responses to all questions in ONE document. Format your responses in paragraph format, not in bullet format.

Suggested font size is 11-12. The best fonts for this assignment are:

· Arial

· Cambria

· Calibri

· Times New Roman

Your submission must include one reference list at the end of the document with all of the references used in your responses. In addition to the reference list, you also must provide in-text source citation for direct quotation or paraphrased source material.

Your exam submission must contain specific references to course materials such as modules and readings. Reference to additional high-quality sources is encouraged. When making reference to course materials, use properly formatted APA citations and references. The assistance of a UMUC Writing Tutor is allowed with respect to writing and format (not content) for this assignment. No other outside assistance is authorized.

End of instructions.

Exam Begins.

Question A1, Legal Issues (10 points) [350 - 500 words]

· What federal government agency is most actively involved in the regulation of marketing activities in the United States?

· Discuss two examples of enforcement actions this agency resolved within the past twelve months. Choose two different types of enforcement actions. Name the specific companies involved and describe the basic elements of the complaints. What were the outcomes of these enforcement actions?

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Question A2, Connecting with Consumers, Legal & Ethical Issues (15 points) [500 - 750 words]

View Volkswagen’s 30-second ‘Clean Diesel’ television ad (2015) here:

· Describe the consumer who is in the intended target market for Volkswagen’s 30-second ‘Clean Diesel’ television ad in terms of demographic, behavioral, geographic and/or psychographic segmentation attributes.

· Assume Volkswagen’s 30-second ‘Clean Diesel’ television ad was prepared by an outside advertising agency for Volkswagen. Now, imagine you are a member of Volkswagen’s marketing team reviewing this ad, what legal or ethical concerns do you have, if any, with this approving advertisement? Describe and discuss your concerns.

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Question B1, Connecting with Consumers (10 points) [350 - 500 words]

What are the components of brand loyalty? Why is it important? Is B2C consumer brand loyalty thought to be on the rise or decline? Does brand loyalty apply in the same way in B2B marketing?

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Question B2, Connecting with Consumers (15 points) [500 - 750 words]

This question concerns identifying potential customers for the product or service you have chosen for the marketing plan assignment you are working on for this course. If you have a B2C product/service you will be looking for customers. If you have a B2B product/service you will be looking for consumers.

· Let’s look for some potential customers/consumers for your product by geography. Go to Esri ZIP code lookup. Input your own zip code or any other US zip code you wish to use for this assignment. You may use UMUC Largo, MD zip code of 20774 if you wish. View the Esri segments for the zip code. Discuss in your response: What is the product or service you are working on for your marketing plan? Which zip code did you use? What were the segments by name? Is your product or service a good fit for these customers? Why or why not?

· Now, let’s look at Nielsen Segments. Go to Nielsen PRIZM (also known as CLARITAS) and using the tools there, create one ideal customer/consumer segment for your product or service. Discuss in your response: What is that segment? Why is it ideal for your product or service?

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Question C1, Marketing Research (10 points) [350 - 500 words]

Assume you work in marketing research and a new client comes to you. This client is a major European automaker with a generous budget, but a short six-week time-frame.

The research objective established by the client is to:

Gather information from a sample representative of the U.S. population among those who are ‘very likely’ to purchase an automobile within the next 12 months, which assesses preferences (measured on a 1–5 scale ranging from ‘very likely to buy’ to ‘not likely at all to buy’) for an all-electric subcompact model at three different price levels. (Based on Burns & Bush, 2010, as cited in Marketing Principles).

· What are the specific research methods you would recommend for this research question? Discuss all the specific methods you recommend and why they are the most appropriate ones for this research objective.

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Question C2, Product Strategy (10 points) [350 - 500 words]

This is Instant Pot, the programmable pressure cooker. You can learn more this product from the Instant Pot Company (IPC) and from the BBC.

Source: Instantpot.com

Discuss the following aspects of the strategy for the Instant Pot:

· Which marketing strategy would Professor Michael Porter say Instant Pot Company (IPC) is using for this product (see, W6 Module)?

· How does IPC communicate the positioning strategy to consumers?

· How successful do you think this strategy will be over time?

· Do you recommend a different marketing strategy for this product now or in the future?

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Question D, Product Strategy (10 points) [350 - 500 words]

This question concerns the three product levels (i.e., core, augmented, symbolic) explained in the W6 content and show below.

· For the product or service you have chosen for your marketing plan assignment, identify and explain each of the three product levels.

· How would an understanding of the product levels help you as the marketing manager for this product or service?

Discuss your responses in paragraph format. Support your views with specific references to the readings and course materials.

Exam ends. Grading Rubric Follows.

Grading Rubric

Scoring Categories	Excellent 90-100%	Good – Very Good 80-89.99%	Needs Improvement 70-79.99%	Unsatisfactory Below 70%
Content: 80 points	Demonstrates mastery of analysis and the ability to apply marketing principles to a specific situation. Analysis is logical and well-reasoned. All information is correct and relevant. Analysis is supported by ample evidence and citation of legal and/or ethical principles. Ideas are supported by references to the readings. Original insights are included.	Demonstrates satisfactory understanding of the subject matter and the ability to apply marketing principles to the facts of the situations. Analysis, though satisfactory, may be lacking in thorough understanding of marketing principles, may lack clarity, or may require additional support for assertions. There may be some minor misunderstandings regarding application of the laws or ethical principles to the fact situations.	Demonstrates some limited understanding of the subject matter and the ability to apply marketing principles to the facts of the situations. Analysis, though satisfactory, is lacking in thorough understanding of marketing principles, may lack clarity, or may require additional support for assertions. There may be some major misunderstanding regarding application of the law or ethical principles to the fact situations.	Does not demonstrate a sufficient level of understanding of the subject matter and/or the ability to apply marketing principles to the facts of the situations. Responses indicate lack of understanding of the issue and/or are descriptive rather than analytical; arguments are not well supported.
Question	Possible Points Excellent	Your Points	Possible Points Good-VG	Your Points	Possible Points Needs Improvement	Your Points	Possible Points Unsatisfactory	Your Points
A1	9-10		8-8.99		7-7.99		Under 7
A2	13.5-15		12-13.49		12-13.49		Under 10.5
B1	9-10		8-8.99		7-7.99		Under 7
B2	13.5-15		12-13.49		12-13.49		Under 10.5
C1	9-10		8-8.99		7-7.99		Under 7
C2	9-10		8-8.99		7-7.99		Under 7
D	9-10		8-8.99		7-7.99		Under 7
Column totals
Your Total Content Grade
Format: 20 points	Graduate level writing is reflected in all responses. Responses are well organized; paragraphs flow smoothly. There are few or no errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, word usage and sentence structure. Citations are properly used (APA format), and all sources are identified and cited properly in the text and on the reference list.	Writing is acceptable, but several minor errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and/or sentence structure, and/or minor errors in citation identification and/or format.	Many minor errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and/or sentence structure, and several errors in citation identification and/or format.	Writing does not meet graduate standards. Unacceptable number of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, and/or citation placement, style and format.
Form Grade:	18-20	16-17.99	14-15.99	Under 14
Your form grade
Total Grade: Content + Form

Comments:

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