Marketing Project Guideline Essay

It is essential that all members of the squad co-operate and that no member is a passenger. During the final Tutorial, members of for each one aggroup forget be required to provide the lecturer with confidential peer group ratings on other members of the team. These giveing be taken into film in awarding the mark for the lying-in to each team member. Students should maintain close communications with other vagabond team members throughout the semester. It is imperative that students postulate team member contact details in the first lecture, as the lecturer may non able to provide this teaching to students.A study problem can occur with disgorge team dynamics if students choose to withdraw from the flying field once teams argon settled and tasks have been distributed. Students intending to withdraw from the subject must(prenominal) immediately inform their project team members and the tutor/lecturer. The written business relationship must be equivalent in quality t o a report a consultant would typically submit to a client. The report must be perfect in terms of spelling, punctuation, grammar, page numbering, referencing, footnoting and appropriate use of appendices.Imperfections give count against marks awarded for the project. The body of the report should contain the groups major findings and conclusions from their research of the grocery, the competitors and the comp whatevers capabilities (Situation summary), followed by a detailed bring up Analysis, Evaluation of Alternative Strategies and final recommended commercialiseing Strategy expressed in detail. It is recognised that research about the target market will largely constitute of secondary data gathered from published sources.The mechanism to overcome any information difficulties is to make think assumptions, and denounce in a Market enquiry brief the market research that will be required to provide the information. The detailed research material supporting the major finding s in the Situation Analysis, and any Market Research briefs, should be included in an Appendix to the report. lines will be assessed on the quality of the research and conclusions drawn, and the reason of marketing dodging and planning groundd in the preparation of the plan.The Marketing Project is essentially the development of a marketing plan for a Chinese company. Project teams will be expected to find and work with a Chinese company to develop this plan. Generally high quality interaction and co-operation between the company and the project team should lead to a higher quality final report. However, students should be aware that many of the contacts in their chosen companies will have very limited time. This operator that the project team must demonstrate that their project will add value to the company and that the contacts expenditure of time with the team will be worthwhile.Interviews with contacts in companies may have to be supplemented with clearly written faxes, let ters or e-mails to request win information and clarification. 4. PROJECT DEADLINES This ingredient outlines the signalise project deadlines and deliverables. The overall Marketing Plan Format is outlined in discussion section 6. Elements of the Marketing Plan to be holy for the Progress musical theme are described in more detail in voice 5. The Final Report details are covered in Section 7. Key deadlines for the project are i) One page Project aim to be submitted in class in 2th week for approval by the tutor (ii) Progress Report to be submitted in class in 5th week. (iii) Final Project Report to be submitted in class in 8th week. (i) Project Proposal The Proposal must contain the following Company name Product or Service description Target market to which product or dish out will be marketed, and the opportunity for the company as you see it at this early stage Company contacts Team members, with co-ordinator nominated. Teams should only go ahead with the project afte r approval.They should immediately notify their tutor if there are any alterations to their proposal once the project is underway. Should there be a change in the company involved, a new Project Proposal must be submitted to the tutor. Undertaking an assignment where the project is not approved will result in failure of this component of the subject. (ii) Progress Report Undertaking a complete Progress Report is a critical factor in producing a prosperous Final Report. The Progress Report should be of a high standard and must include the following Copy of Project Proposal Situation Analysis SWOT Analysis Evaluation of Alternative Marketing Strategies Summary of preferred schema and preliminary financial outcome Progress record of contacts and activities A project planning chart with timeline forecasts for activities to be completed as part of the project. NOTE The Situation Analysis, SWOT Analysis and Evaluation of Alternative Marketing Strategies sections of the Progress Re port will be included in the Final Report after review and revisions. (iii) Final Report (dueTutorial 8)The Final Report must be of consultant quality, at the highest standard in terms of spellchecking, grammar, paging and referencing. As a guide the report should around 25 pages (exclusive of appendices), and should follow the format shown in Section 5. For assessment, students must submit one written copy of the Final Report in class in week 8. Reports must also be submitted electronically, and students should note that these may be subjected to a plagiarism check using plagiarism-detecting software (see Section 6 of the Subject Outline Statement On Plagiarism for an story of plagiarism). Situation Analysis i. Business Environment This section is concerned with external environment factors that are likely to impact on your company and its marketing strategy for the product or service selected. You will need to identify and discuss the changes, trends, developments and key uncerta inties in the business environment that are likely to furbish up the company. Factors that you should date in this section include sparing conditions in the target market selected, and likely future trends social and cultural factors and any changes or trends emerging that could affect your product or service technological factors and likely innovations that could affect your product or service political or legal factors affecting, or likely to affect, the company, the pains/product/service, marketing activities or customers infrastructure eg ports, rail and road network, telecommunications, media and information technology environment etc demographic trendsThe above list is not exhaustive. The textbook should be consulted for other areas you should consider. Most of the information required should be able to be obtained by desk research (using secondary data sources). It is recognised that in some instances you will be unable to obtain the necessary information (but you sh ould identify where further market research is required). Tables or graphs should be used eg to show key economic indicators, demographic statistics etc. All information sources must be disclosed and referenced in this section. See Section 11 of the Subject Outline for an definition of plagiarism). This section should NOT be a compilation of every fact that you can find out about the business environment in the market. The accusing is identify the key forces and trends likely to impact on your company and the marketing opportunity you have identified. Conclusions must be drawn to show the relevance of the information to the marketing plan. It is from this abbreviation of the external business environment that the Opportunities and Threats should emerge when subsequently carrying out the SWOT Analysis. ii.Market Analysis In this section you need to demonstrate an understanding of the target country market, and consumer and customer needs in that market. As a guide, you should at l east discuss Definition of the market in which you will be competing Market size and out examine for the product/service in the target market (ie current size of market units and values and likely future trends) Market characteristics, including distribution channels for the product or service category prices and pricing practices affecting the category Target market behaviour, including market segmentation (ie how the market is typically segmented) potential target market segment(s) for the product/service consumer/customer characteristics (eg demographics, geographic, preferences) consumer/customer purchasing behaviour. Generally the best final reports will have detailed market analyses and forecasts (either through research or through estimation) and comprehensive sections on market characteristics, trends and target market behaviour. Some market research (especially of customers and distributors) required to complete this section may be difficult to obtain.If this i nformation is not readily available then your team may note that further research may be required, and attach a Market Research brief as an Appendix. iii. Competitor Analysis The purpose of this section is to develop an understanding of the competitive environment in which the organisation will operate in the foreign market.. The ideal competitor analysis section should take the accurate market size (in terms of units and values) and further break it down by competitor market shares, with a commentary on each of the key existing and potential competitors.You should attempt to make a profile of each of the major competitors, so as to assess their products, market share and coverage, as well as their strategy. In looking at competitors you should be trying to identify whether their current skills and assets provide them with some sustainable competitive advantage that you will need to try to neutralise, or opportunities on which you may be able to capitalise, in developing your mark eting strategy.The competitor analysis should provide a major input to the Strengths and Weaknesses component of the SWOT Analysis (which assesses your companys assets and skills relative to your competitors). iv. Organisation Assets and Skills Analysis of the companys skills and assets are vital to the SWOT analysis, marketing plan and development of a SCA (sustainable competitive advantage). You should critically look at the companys skills and assets and consider how appropriate they are for the target market you plan to enter.The analysis should consider and discuss the following, where relevant technical/ achievement capabilities, production capacity and resources (including research and development capabilities and facilities, especially where continuing technology development is critical to maintain SCA), relationships with distributors (including channels typically used and margins) existing supplier or key customer relationships market shares, profit margins, cost structures for domestic and other existing export country markets company profile and financial energy company business philosophy and culture. The objective is to understand what the firm is good at, and what shortcomings or limitations might require skills or capabilities to be developed in tack to enter the target market chosen. This section must include an Organisation Chart. 5. 2 SWOT Analysis You will need to undertake a Strengths and Weaknesses analysis of the company (in comparison to competitors or its ability to compete), and a separate analysis of Opportunities and Threats in the marketplace.This analysis should be a culmination of the analysis you have undertaken in the Situation, Market, Competitor and Organisation Assets and Skills Sections, and should be drawn from these sections. You should not introduce significant new information or facts in a SWOT analysis that has not been evaluated earlier in the report. New information introduced into the SWOT without expl anation will be contradictory or confusing when viewed against your earlier analysis. After you have completed the SWOT analysis, there is a need to come to conclusions about where the firms situation lies in the spectrum of .These conclusions must be written up in an Implications of SWOT Analysis summary at the end of the SWOT, and should focus on the positive aspects ie the opportunity for the company, or remedial action required to shape the opportunity, that arises out of the analysis. 5. 3 Evaluation of Alternative Marketing Strategies This is the section in the Progress Report and Final Report that will clearly demonstrate your teams knowledge of marketing concepts and ability to apply them in a marketing context.You must complete a brief but effective evaluation of alternative marketing strategies open to the company in the following areas Target market selection, positioning and marketing intermixture options The Marketing textbook provides a useable guide to this evalua tion process. i. Alternative Target Market, Positioning and Marketing Mix Strategies it is necessary to identify several potential market segments (target markets) in the market and consider how they might be serviced with appropriate marketing mix strategies.This does not require a lot of detail, but you must show your teams understanding of the concepts involved and your ability to think through and express marketing strategy options. You should reduce the options down to a number that would be realistically implementable by your firm. As a guide you should consider at least or two or three alternative target markets (including your preferred option). In examining these alternative strategies, you must 1. Identify potential target market segments in the market. 2.Outline possible positioning strategies for each of these target markets, and link them to brief alternative marketing mix strategies, covering product, price, distribution and promotion 3. Indicate your preferred strateg y, and why. This section should NOT be merely a relieve-up of the companys preferred marketing strategy without reference to alternative marketing strategies. ii. Preferred Strategy In about one half to one page (maximum) you should now pull together and write up a summary of your recommended marketing strategy (ie target market, positioning and marketing mix) for the market..A preliminary financial outcome for the preferred strategy must(prenominal) also be included here, showing sales, profit margin and market share that you believe might be achievable in the launch course of study of your strategy, subject to a much more rigorous and detailed analysis that you will provide later in the Final Report under Section 8, Economic Evaluation. This summary will be the springboard for writing the detailed Strategy section of your Final Report.