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 n 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 agroup of seven students. You will form your group during the first class, and exchange the names and contact informationwith 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.
  • Describe the product and its primary benefits to the consumers.
  • Describe the brand perception and any relevant brand related issues/challenges?
  • 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,excludingcover 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 % ofthe overall team evaluation score assigned for you.

YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE CONSUMER PRODUCTIN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES(For ideas, look at 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 . 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 2013IPAD MiniSmith”.

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 / Email
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2
3
4
5
6
7

Preference for group project (in descending order):

Company / Product / Rationale
1
2
3

1