Assignment Task

Read the following Scenario and prepare a Report with the guidelines provided.

Scenario:

Candidates are required to apply the learning and creative marketing skills they have gained from studying this Unit to develop a marketing strategy for an organisation of their choice. You will be expected to discuss the key concepts of marketing management and use contemporary marketing models, tools and techniques in a practical context. Specifically, you will:

·         Analyse the changing business environment(s) globally and how they pose challenges to marketing management functions in organisations;

·         Develop marketing strategies with the application of appropriate marketing tools;

·         Evaluate the processes involved in brand management and how they influence consumer behavior;

·         Decide how to launch new products/services in a dynamic global marketplace.

You can choose any organisation that you have sufficient first-hand knowledge of, preferably where you are working currently or have worked in the past, or an example organization that you have chosen for the purposes of this assignment. This may be a family business, a multi-national organisation, a college or university, or any other organization that lends itself to discussion and analysis.

This is an investigative assignment/mini project which will require detailed planning to ensure that all assessment tasks are adequately researched and for data to be analysed within the timescale permitted.

You MUST follow the Project Report format, which should contain the following sections:

1.      Executive Summary: You should summarise your entire case study briefly (no more than one page of A4 paper). This should outline the key messages and be prepared in a format that would be suitable for presentation to the senior management team of the example organization. [5 Marks]

2.      Introduction: You should introduce your organization of choice, giving details, based on research, about its size, its product offering including any branding, and the market(s) in which it currently operates. [10 Marks]

3.      Literature Review: You should conduct a review of a range of relevant academic literature as well as data/information from at least three different sources and provide a critique/critical analysis of the current issues/concepts that are relevant to and potentially impact on the international marketing environment and in particular to your case study organisation. Your literature review should include at least 2-3 articles taken from reputed research journals/ article publications, as well as at least 2 secondary literature reports, company data/any other relevant data. It is expected that the findings of the literature review will be woven into the rest of the report as ccandidates are required to demonstrate critical thinking in this assignment task by applying the literature reviewed to the practical example organisation [15 Marks]

4.      Background Analysis: Candidates will critically discuss the local, national and regional context of marketing approaches employed by your chosen organization. You must then identify at least three possible international entry methods that can be used by your organization. You should evaluate the benefits of each method to the organisation in terms of indicators such as forecasted market share, targeted market segment or possible mergers or acquisition. You must then critically evaluate the influence of the changing business environment on the marketing priorities and marketing management functions of the organisation. [10 Marks]

5.      Application of Learning to Practice: You need to compare actual practice at your organisation with the key academic thinking established in the review of literature. It may point out similarities and differences, agreements and contradictions, arguments and counter arguments, and suggest explanations for these relationships.

The focus of this section will be on the following areas:

a)      Marketing Strategies: Critically discuss the role of marketing theories and principles in the selection of international market and in developing an entry strategy for the organization in an international market. As a minimum, you will discuss Porter’s Model/SWOT Analysis/PESTLE (one of these three models) and BCG Matrix/Ansoff Matrix (one of these two models). Candidates are expected to evaluate each model and tool by comparing and contrasting them in terms of their suitability for informing entry methods for your organization into international markets. You will then use each of these tools and techniques to critically analyse your organization and decide on entry criteria that would be beneficial for your organization.  The outputs of this analysis will be used to synthesize ideas and develop the entry criteria strategies you wish to adopt for the international market of your chosen organization. [15 Marks]

b)      Brand Management: Critically discuss Keller’s brand equity model and apply to your organisation’s products. Thereafter, conduct research into at least four psychological and sociological factors influencing consumer decision making and develop a branding strategy based on your research and data analysis. The strategy should propose forecasted responses and the conversion rate of prospective consumers. [15 Marks]

c)      New Product Development: Assess and evaluate at least 3 strengths and at least 3 weaknesses of the new product development process in your chosen organization and devise an international marketing strategy that will expand the business in the international marketplace. You should then include an international marketing plan for the launch of a new product or service which puts in place the recommendations of the strategy and includes timescales for completion and the area of the business responsible for the action. [15 Marks]

6.    Recommendations and Conclusion: Finally, summarise and discuss all the acquired findings and analysis and provide a conclusion. Communicate the recommendations for adequate marketing strategy for the chosen organization to expand the business in the global market. [10 Marks]

7.      Presentation & References: The whole report should be presented in a well written, structured format, and which makes correct use the Harvard Referencing System (HRS). [5 Marks]