Solved by verified expert :MKTG 301
Spring 2013
Group Project
Overview
You
will work with the group to develop an abridged version of a marketing plan for
the chosen company and product. The written project is worth 40 % of the total
grade.
DUE DATES AND
OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
The penultimate draft is due
on Wednesday, April 17, 11 pm for Wednesday class, and Thursday April 18,
11 pm for Thursday class.
Please ensure that the group
only sends me one version of the e-copy on the due day.
The e-copy should always be
in Microsoft word format, NOT PDF format.
The
final project is due in class of Week 15 (starting from April 29).
Please
make sure that the e-copy and the hard copy are the same document.
Please
send an e-copy of your project to my email [email protected]
on the due day.
Please
bring a hard copy of your final project to class on the due day.
Please
also bring your completed team evaluation form on the last day of class.
You
will be part of a group of seven
students. You will form your group during the first class, and exchange the
names and contact information with each other. This project allows individual
members to assume responsibility for portions and contribute equally to the
project. It is the group responsibility to ensure that
the final product integrates all components and present as one single
professional product. A team evaluation will be taken into
consideration when assigning project marks at the end of the semester. Make sure you form a group that can actually
meet regularly in person. Do not rely
on conducting group project meeting in the cyberspace alone.
Your
group should select a product and a company of interest. For purposes of this
project, I would recommend that you choose a company that is a publicly held
company so you will have access to information. Your reports must be grounded
in reality, and you’ll need to be able to determine how the product fits into
the firm’s strategies and approaches.
GROUP PROJECT
The
Report will include:
·
A
cover page, a table of contents and an executive summary: An executive
summary previews the aim, the main points and key findings of your report, and
should be single spaced and not be more than one page.
·
A
description of the product itself from marketing, not a technical,
perspective.
o
Describe
the product and its primary benefits to the consumers.
o
Describe
the brand perception and any relevant brand related issues/challenges?
o
Why
would consumers choose this product over those of the competitors’?
·
A
description of the firm and its strategy. You need to examine and should
be able to derive the strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as the
products under investigation. You should
also derive the overall strategy of the company.
·
A
description of the market trends, industry dynamics, and competition. What are the major market trends? What are the industry dynamics? Who are the competitors and what are their
strengths and weaknesses at the company level? So, you can deride the
opportunities and threats to be integrated into the SWOT table later.
·
A
concise SWOT table and analysis. What are the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats affecting this product of this firm? Your SWOT should
be fully integrated with the previous sections on the company and on the
market, industry and competitors. What
conclusions can you draw from the SWOT table?
·
Identify
potential segments
based on your segmentation approach. You should discuss the segmentation
approach you and your group use. Using
the segmentation approaches, you should develop your segments. Select your segments and decide on why are
you focusing on these segments among all possible segments? How will the chosen segment satisfy the
criteria for evaluating the attractiveness of an effective segment? Clearly substantiate the criteria that you
have chosen. How will you target the chosen segment(s)?
·
What
is the positioning for your product?
You should develop a perceptual map and come up with a positioning
statement. The positioning statement
should include the target audience, the category in which the brand competes,
the point of difference or differentiation, and the convincing proof that the
brand delivers what it promises.
·
For
the chosen segment(s), describe the elements and implementation of the
marketing mix and why that specific mix is appropriate for the target
segment(s) based on the positioning. In other words, how does the marketing mix
reinforce the positioning?
·
What
marketing metrics will you use to measure the success of the implementation
of the proposed marketing mix? And why?
·
What
do you expect will be the competitive reactions in response to your proposed
marketing mix? How will you handle their reactions?
There
is a project grading rubric posted
on the blackboard to serve as an example for a marking guide. The body of the final written report will
be maximum 18 pages, 1.5 space, Times
Roman font 12 or equivalent, excluding cover page, table of contents, executive
summary, appendices and references. References should be in APA format and
appropriately referenced in the body.
Plagiarism is not tolerated and subject to discipline.
All
written reports should be professionally presented, neatly typed, and free of
errors in grammar and spelling. Reports should have a title page showing a
title for the report, course name and number, date due and the students’ names.
All work is due at the beginning of the
class on the due date. Any work
turned in after its due date is subject to approval.
Please
provide references at the end of the report, plus appendices if so
desired. Also, please add a page
listing the specific contributions of each individual member according to the sections
listed on the project rubric. Please see table below.
Name of one member
only
Executive Summary and
Introduction
Product description,
Key users and brand factors
Company description,
competitive advantage and strategy
Market Trends
Competitor analysis
Industry dynamics
SWOT table, analysis
and interpretation
Segments selection,
evaluation and targeting
Positioning including
perceptual map and positioning statement
Marketing mix
Marketing Metrics
Competitors’ reactions
There
should only be one member’s name per section. In principle, if you have been
the leading person who has significantly contributed to that specific section,
way more than any other members in the group, then your name should be on that section. If you have significantly contributed to more
than one section, then your name should be on all corresponding sections. In any case, there can only be one member’s name per each section.
Each
section has different weight. It is
important that you do at least an average weight of the project. Please check with the project rubric posted
on the blackboard for further guidance and example of how your individual score
will be calculated. Your individual score = the average % of score(s) achieved in your
section(s) x group score x % of the overall team evaluation score assigned for
you.
YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE
CONSUMER PRODUCT IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES(For ideas, look at http://www.toptenreviews.com,
http://reviews.cnet.com,
http://www.caranddriver.com,
http://www.colgate.com,
http://www.pg.com
and etc.):
Consumer
electronics introduced in 2012
Cars
introduced in 2012 for 2013
Entertainment,
hotels, travel products
Household
goods and home appliances
Smartphones
introduced in 2012
Baby,
Oral, Personal and Home care products
Sporting
goods or shoes
Your
group will prepare a one page typewritten
project proposal containing your top 3 choices of product and firm (in
order of preference), names of your group members and contact information.
There
is a blank project proposal on the last page of this handout, and you can also
download it from the blackboard to prepare your group proposal.
My email is [email protected]. Please
name your attachment in the following format:
“MKTG 301, Spring 2013, Project Proposal Your last name”. Your last name should be the person’s last
name who submits the proposal on behalf of the group. For example, “MKTG 301 Spring 2013 IPAD Mini Smith”.
Your
last name should be the person’s last name who submits the proposal on behalf
of the group. Please also make sure that the names of all the students who have
contributed to your group project or assignment/presentation are listed on the
cover page of your project, and the cover slide of your group presentation.
Group Proposal for MKTG 301
Group Member (full name)
Phone Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Preference
for group project (in descending order):
Company
Product
Rationale
1
2
3
