questions

PART1 MATERIALS:

The best definition of marketing that I have ever heard or used comes from Malcolm MacDonald, the author of Marketing Plans. In his very complicated textbook, he offers 18 different definitions that are commonly used. The most useful one for me is:

Marketing is the intersection of a company's core competencies and the market's unmet needs.

The reason this is so powerful is it takes into account what your company is capable of doing. So, if you work for Dell Computers and see that the US is eating a lot of salsa: you WON'T recommend that Dell launch a new line of spicy condiments. Why? Because Dell does not have salsa-making as a competency. It makes and sells computer products.

Of course there are companies that "do it all." You might think that Amazon or Alibaba is one of those companies. And, in a sense you can buy almost anything from wither of those etailers. Why? Because their core competencies involve exceptional ecommerce. Another core competency is aggregating sellers or resellers. Another core competency is attracting and serving consumers. Of course, both these companies do other things - for example, Amazon sells cloud services for data storage and management. It does that largely from the same technical competencies that flow from its original ecommerce experience.

You might think of Google as a particularly complex company, because it has so many ventures (some profitable, and some not). At this point in time, Google's core competency seems to involve 1) innovation and 2) strong relationships with governments. Most of its products and services involve infrastructure or access to infrastructure, so you can see how both those two competencies (among others) are necessary for Google's success.

For your work in our course, you are likely leveraging the core competencies that successfully created your original BPS. However, with my permission as your "CEO," you are welcome to innovate beyond your company's core competencies to serve unmet market needs (and reinvent "our company" into a new frontier). Companies often have to reinvent themselves to stay relevant, which is why marketing skills create a remarkable competitive advantage for anyone in business, industry or the professions.

You'll see the Marketing Plan Template in this unit - which is meant to help you get a jump on your final marketing presentation, when the Marketing Plan Template is due. If you have time - after you have considered your revisions of past assignments, you may want to start on it during this module.

PART 2 MATERIALS:

http://hbr.org/2000/11/seven-rules-of-international-distribution (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

PART 3 MATERIALS:

The Marketing Plan Template - What You Will Turn In

BPS and IBPS: Innovations and Rationale

SUMMARIZE

Your Initial EMs Selection and Rationale for Choosing Those Markets

2 Key Market Facts of Each EM

Your TEM Selection and Rationale

Analysis of Competition – For Your IBPS

Key PEST and Marketing Attractiveness Factors - including hurdles/opportunities and your solutions/leverage

Key Success Factors

USP

2 LS by Name, Description of Key Characteristics and Behavior

Personas for each LS

Strategic Marketing Goals

Positioning

Marketing Mix Strategy and Rationale

Key Messages and Metaphors

Marketing Communications or Program Objectives

Media selection conventional and online/social media

Relevant Spokesperson and Rationale

Marketing Communication Samples - not just a description! A sample to show us is required, along with your rationale considering your LS and competitive positioning