marketing plan

Assessment 2: Marketing Plan.

"If I'm selling to you, I speak your language. But if I'm buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen."

Willy Brandt. Former West German Chancellor – 1969-1974.

This quote by the former German Chancellor shows us how important it is for companies to be able to communicate with their customers in the customers’ language. However success in foreign markets also requires an understanding of the culture of the target market. Although, through a process of globalization, different countries share many common features, each market will show a unique style in relation to kinship patterns, lifestyles, valuation of the individual versus the collective, time-related organization patterns, aesthetic appreciation etc. Understanding these differences, and the similarities, between one market and another will help marketing managers develop effective strategies to make the most of the opportunities in new target markets.

For the second assessment for this unit you will assume the role of a marketing consultant who has knowledge of the marketing environment in a certain geographical area. You have been asked by a company to produce a Marketing Plan for a product or service the company supplies, analyzing how you would market the product or service in the English, French, Spanish, Chinese etc. markets. To do this you will need to research and analyse the target market for this product or service and recommend the appropriate strategies the company should follow based on that analysis. You should use the analytical tools studied in this unit for your analysis of the target market, but the analysis is only the basis for preparing the market strategy. The assessment is a Marketing Plan and should focus on the analysis of the market and the marketing strategies you would recommend. You should assume that the Marketing Plan will be presented to the company for their consideration, so the presentation needs to be of a high professional standard in terms of the level of research into the target market, the coherence of the strategies you propose and the layout and standard of writing. A good standard of English is important.

If you can identify a real company with a product to market then you can work with the company if they agree. We recognise the difficulty of finding a real company for which to prepare your Marketing Plan, so it is not a requirement. However, if you do find a company that is prepared to work with you must assure them that any information they might divulge which is not in the public domain will be treated as confidential and will only be seen by internal examiners and, possibly, an external examiner from another University.

Please note you should NOTchoose products/brands that already have a global presence for your Marketing Plan. If you choose brands like Coca Cola or Nike or Starbucks you will probably fail the assignment. These companies already spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on sophisticated market analysis and preparing marketing plans, so you simply cannot compete.

The plans must be fully referenced and have a full bibliography using

the APA 6th style of referencing and should be typed or word processed. Students must ensure that their HEMIS number is on each page of the plan as well as on the relevant front sheet. Please do not write your name either on the front sheet or on the pages of the plan.

The Marks for the Marketing Plan constitute 50% of the marks for the unit. Assignments must be submitted via the Turnitin Assignment Inbox on the Moodle site for the unit.

Marketing Plan Marking Scheme

For this assignment you are required to develop a marketing plan focusing on the strategies you would adopt to market the product or service that you have chosen in the market you have identified. This is basically setting the marketing objectives developed through an understanding of the target market and the formulation of plans for achieving these objectives. To complete your marketing report you will need to include most or all of the following elements:

the primary factors about and inside the organisation which is offering the product/service you are going to market, including current marketing strategies and new objectives if relevant,

A market analysis which gathers information on, describes and analyses the current state of the marketing environment relevant to the product/service being marketed, including any political, legal, environmental, competitive, social, cultural and economic forces at play in the target market that might be relevant to your product/service. Note that this assessment is NOT a PESTLE analysis but a Marketing Plan where you demonstrate an understanding of the market environment in your chosen country and identify the marketing strategies appropriate to your product/service and that target market (see 3 below). Although you may use PESTLE, SWOT or Porter’s 5 Forces etc. analyses to research your target market, any market report that consists of a PESTLE and/or SWOT analysis will probably fail the assessment.

based on your market analysis you must develop the appropriate strategic marketing mix that will satisfy the potential customers or organisations in your target market,

an assessment of the expected outcomes of your plan and any operational considerations that will need to be addressed.

Please remember that your plan must include a full bibliography and appropriate references. You must use the APA 6th edition format for your bibliography and references. Your work must be word processed and a high standard of presentation will be expected. Purely descriptive material may be included in an appendix to the main text. The Marketing Plan must include in text referencing and a full bibliography. Failure to supply a bibliography will result in a mark of zero (00) for this assignment.

Marks will be awarded on the following criteria:

70-80	The student has achieved all the relevant criteria for the plan. S/He has demonstrated an understanding of the relationship between the company and the marketing function and effectively linked the analysis of the market with the strategy designed to (re)launch the product/service in that market. The student demonstrates knowledge of the particularities of the target market and has been able to develop a coherent, effective and professional looking plan and provide a clear rationale for the strategy adopted.
60-69	Good work. Presentation and content are good, although the student may fail to link up all the elements above into an effective plan. There may, for example, be elements of (2) or (3) missing or the expected outcomes may not match up with the possibilities of the company offering the product or service or the realities of the target market.
50-59	Satisfactory but rather general approach where elements of the plan are insubstantial or missing. The rationale for actions is not always supported by evidence or the student fails to effectively link the elements outlined above. The plan is too descriptive.
40-49	The student demonstrates a very general knowledge of the target market and the range of marketing strategies that might be adopted to market the product or service. Little evidence of serious research or of any link between the different elements of the plan or too much focus on only one aspect of the plan.
Under 40	None of the elements fulfilled satisfactorily. Poor presentation and superficial or no analysis or rationale given for strategies adopted. Information taken purely from lecture notes or from secondary sources without personal input.

More details of the assessment can be found on the Moodle site for the unit and requirements for the assessments are programmed in the Seminar/Workshop sessions.