MKTG1025 Marketing Principles

Assessment details

This second phase of the marketing planning process addresses the strategy and tactical activities utilising the marketing mix (4Ps) your brand will undertake.

Follow the sections below to complete your marketing plan. Suggested word count in brackets for each section:

More detail for each section can be found on the following pages.

Note: instruction and tips are in italics beneath the section heading or subheading.

Title page

This must include the following information:

• The company and brand name
• Your tutor's name
• Your full name (as it appears in your enrolment) and your student number (s1234567)
• Due date
• Date of submission

Executive Summary

This is a one-page summary of the key highlights of your report. Remember your audience – your manager.

1.    Business analysis

This part refers to your group assessment 2 – Business Analysis which you completed in week 6. Copy the information and update this assessment based on the tutor's comments and include it under this section (Section 1) of Assessment 3.

Follow the same headings and subheadings as per Assessment 2. Refer below:

• Company Introduction
  • Company introduction and mission
  • Brand contribution
• Competitive Market Analysis
  • Market Size

Industry and category Segment and sub segment

• Environmental Analysis
  • Macro Factors
  • Micro Factors
• Segmentation matrix
• Positioning
  • Positioning map
  • Positioning statement
• SWOT

Put your Appendix from Assessment 2 and any updated work in the appendix section of Assessment 3. Do not include the executive summary of Assessment 2, and you will be writing an executive summary applicable to Assessment 3.

Include all sections of your group assessment – making adjustments where you believe to be necessary.

You should copy the segmentation table and highlight your consumer segment. Like all other areas of the business analysis, you are allowed to edit your consumer segment if you feel you could improve on the information provided.

Regarding the positioning statement, the group likely developed a generic one or one targeting a group that is not about your consumer segment. Therefore, when editing the business analysis section, this is your opportunity to ensure you write your positioning statement for YOUR target market.

IMPORTANT: It will not be marked again or included in the word count.

Why are you asked to include this?

You are asked to include this section here because:

1. You will be using the analysis in this section to inform your current strategy
2. It will add to the portfolio of work you completed at RMIT and can be used to showcase your work to prospective employers
3. It allows you to adjust anything you felt you disagreed with when working in the
4. It provides you with the opportunity to sharpen your thinking now that you have received the feedback from your

2.    Target Market (consumer profile)

From the Segmentation matrix from Assessment 2, build a consumer persona for the segment you developed. The consumer profile will be considered your primary target market for this assessment.

Note: this is an individual assessment, and you cannot work on the same segment selected by another group member.

Remember, when identifying a primary target market, a marketer will consider many questions about the behaviours and interactions of the consumer segment (target market) - the information will be reflected in the consumer persona. For example:

• What is the problem the category solves for the consumer segment?
• How do they engage with the product category (market segment) day-to-day?
• How do they use the type of product (market subsegment)?
• What other similar or complementary brands do they purchase?
• What are their purchase behaviours toward the type of product?
• Where do they get their information about the category, products and brands – for example, who and what influences them?

The construction of your typical consumer persona will closely align with your consumer segment within your segmentation table. Indeed, the persona should bring the consumer you listed in your segmentation table column to life.

Construct a persona using the critical information supplied in the learning materials.

3.    Brand Objectives

These are specific objectives for the brand you are working on. Objectives should be SMART (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time frame specific).

Each objective should be a short sentence, not a paragraph form.

You must develop two objectives. Follow the sentencing formula available in the learning materials.

You are writing your plan for the next calendar year (January to December), therefore make the objectives to be measured by the end of December next year.

4.    Marketing strategy and tactical plan

This section is the essential part of the marketing plan. Here you should attempt to answer the question, "How will we get there?"

In this section, you must illustrate marketing strategies by using the 4P framework (how you plan to achieve your objectives by combining the following marketing mix elements?)

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion

In discussing the 4 P's strategies, consider which aspect of the 4P's have changed the most or will have the most influence in achieving your objectives and allocate the time accordingly. For instance, if you use the product's current distribution network to distribute a line extension of the current brand, more space needs to be allocated to the discussion on Product instead of Place.

All activities, strategies, tactics, and decisions must be authentic. Use visuals to support and add value to this section.

You can take pictures from retailers, websites, outdoor and indoor displays, store layouts etc You can also take screenshots of online advertisement campaigns etc. Any screenshots and photos must be referenced.

Analyse what is working well or not working well and provide analysis or application of various marketing mix models to underpin your position - find evidence to support your reasons. For instance, you could look at reviews, comments on Facebook comments or other social media, and commentary on commercial media to justify your opinions.

• In this section, you make recommendations for each of the brand's 4 P's for the next year based on the identified issues and your revised
• Recommendations should be specific and should include details about what you will implement. For example, where you recommend a new price, what should be the price range? If it's new packaging, illustrate with a drawing. If it is a new TV advertisement, you can provide some ideas on advertising appeals or the creative concept. However, you will be elaborating it under the section' Communication Program'

4.1.       Product

The product component of the strategy needs to be outlined here. This will be informed by

• your SWOT analysis
• desired positioning
• how the product offers value to your chosen target market
• links back to the persona you developed

A discussion on branding could also be included if you want in this section.

To inform your product strategy, you will need to draw upon the learning materials and include the following marketing frameworks (models):

• total product concept analysis
• product life cycle
• product mix (line extensions, product line filling, line stretching)

This section will also require you to illustrate the current product line for the brand and any new intended lines or products. It is essential to show where any changes will be situated in the product offering.

As this section is large, you can use subheadings.

4.2.       Price

Consider here the pricing strategies you are pursuing and the pricing method/s you will apply to determine the price of your proposed brand. Where you suggest a price change, briefly discuss the anticipated competitor's reaction.

There are many aspects of the marketing mix that can help inform your pricing decisions, including:

• The stated or future ideal position of your brand
• Market share objectives
• Sales objectives
• Intended distribution strategy

Pricing approaches you must incorporate in this section include:

• Appropriately selecting the most applicable pricing strategies, such as customer value-based, cost-based, or competition-based.
• New product pricing strategies and product mix pricing, such as product line pricing and price adjustment strategies
• Pricing across the marketing channel

It is essential to be clear on your pricing strategies and justify why you select the strategy(ies) to apply.

To assist, we recommend you include a visual representation of your price compared with the market.

4.3.       Distribution (Place)

Place or distribution is another aspect of the marketing strategy that should be included. You must explain how the brand and its product(s) will be available to your chosen target market where and when they want it. There are two aspects to be considered here – the physical movement of goods or logistics and the intermediaries used. We want you in this section to discuss both aspects.

Movement of goods:

Consider the market structure and how your brand and products will reach the target audience. Justify the levels of the marketing channel that will be utilised and why. Incorporate a diagram showing the levels applied.

Intermediaries:

Discuss the types of intermediaries your brand currently distributes its products and make recommendations for improvement. Remember to go back to your pricing section and product section to ensure this discussion aligns.

4.4.       Promotion

You need to pay particular attention to this aspect of the 4P's as it will inform the ad design outlined in the communication program below.

Here you will consider the promotion mix tools - advertising, PR, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and digital marketing, that you propose for your brand. You will also suggest other creative communication options such as viral marketing, internet influencers and sponsorships discussed in the topics on Promotion in this course.

The critical aspect of this section is to develop an integrated campaign utilising three (3) promotional mix tools. Before selecting your tools, read below on the requirements of the communication program.

Use subheadings for each promotional mix tool.

4.4.1.        Communication Program

Once you have identified the application of the promotional mix tools. You must now design the advertising copy for two of the media types as per below:

• an ad on any social media of your choice (such as Facebook)
• an ad in any traditional media advertising tool, such as magazine, TV, outdoor etc

You must decide on the advertising campaign's purpose. For example, to promote the forthcoming launch of a new range of products within the brand, re-position, relaunch of your brand in the Australian market etc.

You can use external images from free image sites such as pixabay.com, Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator, or any other free design software to design your ad (such as Canva).

Note: The ad must be presented differently based on the media used, for instance If you are doing a TV ad, you will have to use a storyboard, if you are designing a radio advertisement, you will use a script, if designing for outdoor, you need a poster etc.

You may also refer to articles on the internet on best practices for designing an ad for a particular media and demonstrate how you have used these principles in your design.

In your design, you must:

• Develop appropriate images and copy that will appeal to the target segment, their needs and the advertising strategy you recommended in your
• Support the brand positioning you have determined (refer to back to positioning and positioning statement and any brand development you have incorporated in the product section).

You must be clear about:

• What is the message that is being communicated?
• Who will be communicating the message?
• What media will be used?
• What response you want from the target audience? and
• What advertising appeal will work best?

5.    Action program (Schedule)

How will the marketing plan be put into practice must be explained, including specific steps and milestones.

Include a detailed implementation program identifying what will be done, who is responsible, marketing budgets and deadlines for a one-year plan.

Summarise the information in the form of a GANTT chart and show the workflow and what should happen when.

A simple example is below, however refer to the learning materials for more detail:

6.    Monitoring and Control

Defines how you will monitor your progress, including benchmarks/metrics, evaluation, procedures, and budgets to achieve your targets. The plan should outline the specific metrics, such as ROI or market share, that will evaluate its success. These metrics can also inform both the refinement of the current plan if necessary and the development of any future plans.

Include one metric per promotional activity.

Reference list

A reference list must be constructed applying the Harvard Referencing Style.

Appendix

Construct your appendix using appropriate headings and where the reference to the appendix is situated in the report.

For example:

Appendix 1 – Market data

Appendix 2 – Environmental analysis

etc.

As the appendix should be an analysis, and therefore a series of tables, not long written paragraphs, you do not need to intext cite applying Harvard referencing style. Supplying a URL link to where the information was derived or a statement of the document's name will be sufficient.

It is also essential in the appendix to clarify where you have made assumptions due to a lack of publicly available information.