trident mkt501 full course latest 2017 october

Question # 00609557 Posted By: rey_writer Updated on: 10/30/2017 04:02 AM Due on: 10/30/2017
Subject Marketing Topic Marketing Tutorials:
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Module 1 - Case

STP, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & SITUATION ANALYSIS

Assignment Overview

This Case Assignment focuses on Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and related brand management and business ethics issues.

Case Reading

A mucky business; the volkswagen scandal. (2015, Sep 26). The Economist, 416, 23-25.

Boston, W., & Houston-Waesch, M. (2015, Oct 15). Volkswagen suspends another top engineer; berlin orders recall; transport minister says recall of tainted diesel cars is mandatory. Wall Street Journal (Online).

Cremer, A. (2016, April 20). VW to pay each U.S. customer $5,000 to settle dieselgate: Die Welt. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-court-idUSKCN0XH0ZV

Danny, Hakim, Kessler, A. M., & Ewing, J. (2015, Sep 27). As VW pushed to be no. 1, ambitions fueled a scandal. New York Times. De Cremer, D., & de Bettignies, H. (2013). PRAGMATIC BUSINESS ETHICS. Business Strategy Review, 24(2), 64-67.

Ewing, J. (2016, April 21). Volkswagen Reaches Deal in U.S. Over Emissions Scandal. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/business/international/volkswagen-emissions-settlement.html?_r=0

Lane, C. (2015, Oct. 26). Emissions scandal is hurting VW owners trying to Resell. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2015/10/26/450238773/emissions-scandal-is-hurting-vw-owners-trying-to-resell.

La Monica, P.,R. (2015, Sep 23). Volkswagen has plunged 50%. will it ever recover? CNN Wire Service.

Tabuchi, H., Apuzzo, M., & Ewing, J. (2017). U.S. Charges 6 Volkswagen Executives in Emissions-Cheating Case. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/business/volkswagen-diesel-vw-settlement-charges-criminal.html?_r=0

Here are some articles on brand equity and brand management.

Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22.

Helm, S., & Tolsdorf, J. (2013). How does corporate reputation affect customer loyalty in a corporate crisis? Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management, 21 (3), p144-152.

Case Assignment

Develop a report in terms of the following guidelines. A well-written report should have a brief introduction, headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as "Brand Equity of VW”, instead of a sentence or a question. Read and cite required articles on Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, as well as additional research you have done, and address the following issues:

Briefly describe Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and provide background on the company and automobile industry.

Do you think Volkswagen’s brand reputation was severely damaged by the emissions scandal? How about its brand equity? Discuss what brand equity is, and how Volkswagen’s brand equity will be impacted.

How should Volkswagen handle the emissions scandal in an ethical way? Discuss the related ethical issues from both consumer and brand manager perspectives.

What can you learn from this case? What suggestions could you offer to executives of other car manufacturers?

Module 1 - SLP

STP, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & SITUATION ANALYSIS

Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP3 and SLP4.

It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business success in the marketplace.

Please check the outline of the marketing plan, which provides information on:

The final format for this cumulative Session Long Project;

A list of topics for the whole project;

The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-4.

In this module SLP1, identify a company and a charge (or task) for this marketing research project and conduct situation analysis related to your charge. This is the first step of this cumulative research project. You need to review all four SLPs first in order to better understand the requirements for this project.

Product Statement

In this section, describe the company and the product that is going to be the focus of interest for your marketing plan. For example, if your client is Apple, provide background information on the organization (e.g., what it is, what it does, history, success in what it is doing, etc.). If the charge is to market a new product (such as iPad 6), describe what iPad is, how long it has been around, how successful it has been, and who the target audience is. Be specific and detail-oriented, and do not assume that the reader is familiar with the company and product.

Identify a company and a charge for your research project at the very beginning, based on the detailed requirements for this cumulative Session Long Project. The new charge is a hypothetical task, which should be based on one of the company’s existing brands or products. It is also better to identify a new product charge for existing public firms so that you can find enough information for your task. For example, you may pick one of the following companies and charges.

Apple needs to increase its market share for iPhone 8.

Microsoft intends to increase sales of Xbox One S 10TB console.

Fitbit plans a successful release of Charge 3 wristband.

Ford needs to have a successful introduction of the 2018 Fusion.

Amazon wants to increase brand awareness for Echo digital media streamer in Japan.

Do not choose the product that is the basis of Case 1. It is best to check with your instructor regarding the company and the charge you choose to analyze for this project. In choosing your company and the charge, keep in mind that in order to effectively conduct your market research, you must have access to relevant information. Also note that your charge or task for this research project is what you are going to do with a brand, rather than just the brand. In other words, your charge or task is to solve a business problem faced by your client. So you need to state the business problem and your charge clearly at the beginning since it would guide the following steps of this research project.

Situation Analysis

A situation analysis may also be known as an environmental analysis. Conduct an environmental analysis including the external environment, customer environment, and internal organizational environment.

A. External Environment Analysis

In this section, identify/describe all external forces for change that might affect the company, its future, and the future of its industry. Identify the external realities upon which your plan will be based. What are the competitive, technological, economic, political/legal/regulatory, societal/lifestyle/cultural, market, buyer behavior, channel of distribution, and other industry trends that translate into external opportunities and threats? Explicitly state how each of these forces can impact your company, your charge, and the outcomes you wish to accomplish. That is, do not just list these forces; relate them to the task at hand.

Keep in mind that tables and figures cannot stand alone in any marketing plan. In other words, if you want to use tables and figures, use them as support tools to illustrate the points you are trying to make in your written text.

1. Industry Analysis: What is the current situation in the industry? This description includes the size of the particular industry, trends in the industry, the industry outlook (expanding, stagnant, or contracting), success factors and failures of the industry, and so forth. Are these trends and developments likely to affect your charge? How?

2. Competitive Analysis: There are three major types of competitive forces. Brand competitors offer similar products with similar benefits and prices (e.g., monetary cost, time, effort, etc.), and serve/target the same customers. Product competitors offer products that compete in the same product class but have different features, benefits and price. Generic competitors offer products that satisfy the same need or solve the problem, but in a different way.

For example, assume that the brand in question is Apple iPad 4 and your charge is to come up with a marketing plan of how to promote the iPad 4. In your Product Statement you will have already talked about the iPad. Brand competitors in this case would be Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Xoom, Toshiba Excite, Lenovo IdeaPad, and so on. Product competitors could include Hewlett-Packard,Sony, and Dell computers. Generic competitors of iPad could include Regal Theatres, Cox Cable and so on, which satisfy consumers’ entertainment needs.

When discussing the competitive forces, focus on the brand and product competitors and describe these competitors in more detail. How big are they? What is their market share (in comparison to that of your company)? What is their income? How is the income derived? How do they spend their moneys? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How do they pose a threat to your company? What attracts consumers to their products? A detailed description of these competitors will aid your future SWOT and Issues analyses, and will give you ideas about target market and implementation.

3. Technology not only refers to the new types of products such as computers and digital products but also means the processes by which tasks are accomplished. This section examines how changes in technology impact customers’ lives and needs and how marketers respond to their needs. Are these trends and developments likely to affect your charge? How?

4. The Economic Situation looks at the stability and growth of the market in which the firm operates—for example, country, region, state, or local area. This section may examine inflation, employment, and income levels; taxes; and consumer confidence as they impact the company and the charge of the marketing plan. Are these trends and developments likely to affect your charge? How?

5. Political Trends, Legal Trends, and Regulatory Forces: This section examines how governmental regulations may affect the company and its charge. It also looks at the company’s relationships with elected officials. Is the current administration, Congress, state legislature, county or city government likely to sponsor laws or regulatory changes that will affect the company and the charge, either favorably or negatively? Do recent court decisions have an impact on the operating environment? Do they impact how you will have to carry out your charge?

6. Cultural Trends may have a profound impact on how customers respond to the company’s offering. Examples of lifestyle trends include less leisure time; cocooning; focus on health, exercise, and nutrition; and less concern with cleanliness. Demographic trends include aging baby boomers, new boomers (Generation Y), a rise in single-person and single-parent households, more women who work, and increasing population diversity. Some changes in cultural values include less conspicuous consumption, value orientation (quality/price), environmental concern, less tolerance of public smoking, more tolerance of varying lifestyles, and giving back to the community. Are these trends and developments likely to affect your charge? How?

B. Customer Environment Analysis

This section should examine the current situation in respect to the needs of the target market, expected changes in those needs, and how the firm presently meets those needs. Make sure you answer all of the following questions. Keep in mind that this section focuses on the current target market of the company, not the market you propose to target with this marketing plan. At this point, you are still examining the status quo, which should aid your decision making in the remainder of the marketing plan. For example, if the company in question is Apple, and the charge is to promote the iPad 4, the focus in this section of the marketing plan would be on the existing target markets served by Apple and what can be learned from those targets. Consider the following issues for your analysis:

Who? Who are current and potential customers of the same customer group? What are the demographics, psychographics, and geographics? Is the buyer the user? Who influences the purchasing decision?

How many? How many customers does the company serve? How many does it have the capacity to serve?

Where? Where are products purchased? Where do customers buy the products? What are the types of intermediaries? What is the influence of electronic commerce? Where are customers doing non-store buying—Home Shopping Network, catalogs, Internet?

When? When are the products bought? What is the frequency of purchasing? Do promotional events affect purchase? How do differences in physical or social environment, time demands, or purchase task affect buying?

How and What? What are the basic need-satisfying benefits? Does a competitor’s product fit a need this product/service does not provide? What are changes in customers’ needs? How do the customers pay—cash, credit?

Why Are There Non-Customers? Needs not met? Bad fit for lifestyle/image? Price? High switching costs? Competition’s product is better? Poor distribution? They do not know about the product?

C. Internal Environment Analysis

This section should identify/describe relevant internal aspects of the company that will help identify strengths and weaknesses in your SWOT analysis in the Module 2 SLP. This requires the identification and analysis of the organization’s past financial performance (sales, market share, profitability, etc.); marketing strategies (target market and positioning/image); marketing goals, objectives, and past performance; and marketing programs (advertising/promotion effectiveness, product/service offers, distribution effectiveness and channel programs, pricing, sales force effectiveness, sales strategy and programs, public relations/publicity, marketing research/intelligence gathering efforts, etc.). Additionally, the report may need to examine items such as production capacity, technical capabilities, management/leadership, organizational structure and culture, level of available resources and skills, financial stability, the product life cycle (i.e., is the product in introduction, growth, maturity, or decline stage?), and other relevant characteristics of the company that help develop a complete list of strengths and weaknesses in your SWOT analysis. It is important to focus on how the company is perceived by the market and its own customers as the main determinant of market-relevant strengths.

You are required to create a table to show the company’s financial performance such as its sales revenues, the profits, profit margin, market share, stock price, market cap, return on assets, operating cash flow, and so on. Also generate a histogram or a chart to show these financial numbers. Your written analysis in this subsection should be consistent with the table and histogram/chart.


Module 2 - Case

PROMOTION MANAGEMENT & SWOT ANALYSIS

Assignment Overview

Mobile marketing spending is increasing in recent years due to the popularity of smartphone and mobile commerce. Burberry is starting to use the mobile apps to reach the target market. Burberry is the first brand to use a 'Snapcode' on Snapchat as it looks to give visitors in its stores access to exclusive content. Read the following articles related to mobile app marketing campaign by Burberry, mobile app design, and the digital marketing trends. Note that you can find the articles without links in our online library databases using the search box on TLC Portal.

BI Intelligence (2015). Here's where digital ad spending is going over the next five years. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-will-drive-ad-spending-across-digitial-formats-2015-7

Burberry launches on kakao (2015). Newton: Questex Media Group LLC.

Burberry launches global partnership with line. (2015, Feb 05). M2 Presswire.

DeMers, J. (2014, Aug. 15). 10 online marketing metrics you need to be measuring. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/15/10-online-marketing-metrics-you-need-to-be-measuring/#65eec53b355f

Goodfellow, J. (2016). Burberry is printing codes on its products to encourage customers to use Snapchat in-store. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/burberry-partners-with-snapchat-discover-2016-4?nr_email_referer=1&utm_content=BISelect&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Tuesday%20Thursday%29%202016-04-05&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select

L2 think tank: Burberry runs lunar new year WeChat campaign (2016). Chatham: Newstex.

Magrath, V., & McCormick, H. (2013). Marketing design elements of mobile fashion retail apps. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 17(1), 115-134.

O'Reilly, L. (2012, Sep 20). Burberry to put mobile first in mix. Marketing Week (Online).

Roderick, L. (2015, Sep 18). Burberry in snapchat first as it premieres new fashion collection online. Marketing Week (Online).

Roderick, L. (2016, Apr 04). Burberry uses first ever snapcode to let in-store customers unlock online snapchat content. Marketing Week (Online).

Case Assignment

Imagine you have been hired as a consultant to the VP of marketing for Burberry. The VP wants to get an objective opinion from someone outside the company who is familiar with current digital marketing basics.

Your job is to write a short memo of 750 -1,500 words critically analyzing Burberry’s mobile marketing strategy. Note that the company has decided to use mobile social platforms to reach its target markets. Read and cite required articles listed above, including additional research you have done, to address the following issues:

Evaluate the assumptions behind Burberry’s mobile marketing campaigns, with a brief introduction of the company mobile marketing efforts.

Analyze the effectiveness of Burberry’s mobile marketing campaigns by applying relevant branding and promotion concepts. Also specify the criteria you use to evaluate the effectiveness.

With the increasing popularity of mobile media and social media, what would you recommend to Burberry regarding its mobile promotion strategy? Explain why.

Do not spend a lot of time digging in the company’s website and do not just rehash what the company did; instead, introduce a critical perspective. Focus on the Case articles as well as relevant background reading from Modules 1 and 2. There are no right answers; after all, you do not have inside information. You will be evaluated on your understanding of the background materials and your logic reasoning. In particular, show your understanding of the way a change in target market affects the company's promotion strategy. Also, give some thought as to how Burberry’s mobile marketing meshes with other elements of its marketing program, for example, merchandising (product management), channel management, and pricing

Module 2 - SLP

PROMOTION MANAGEMENT & SWOT ANALYSIS

Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct both secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP3 and SLP4.

It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business success in the marketplace.

Please check the outline of the marketing plan, which provides information on:

The final format for this cumulative session long project;

A list of topics for the whole project;

The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-4.

In this module SLP 2, conduct SWOT analysis for your charge based on the situation analysis in SLP1. This is the second step of this cumulative research project. Be sure to revise the sections in SLP1 and include them in this paper following the marketing plan outline provided above.

SWOT Analysis

A thorough situation analysis in the Module 1 SLP is the foundation for a SWOT analysis. Develop statements of the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. If there is any question as to whether a fact or issue is external (these lead to opportunity and threat statements) or internal (these lead to strength and weakness statements), ask this key question, “Would this issue exist if the company did not exist?” If the answer is yes, then the issue should be classified as external.

Note: Remember that alternative marketing strategies and tactics are not opportunities. Opportunities and threats exist independently of the firm. Strategies and tactics are what the firm intends to do about its opportunities and threats relative to its own strengths and weaknesses.

The SWOT will play a critical role (along with an in-depth understanding of target market needs/preferences and competition) in the development of goals, objectives, and marketing strategies and programs. Key strengths need to be matched to opportunities and converted to capabilities that help serve customer needs better and lead to competitive advantage. Goals, strategies, and program ideas stem from an attempt to convert weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities. Some alternatives will also come from thinking about how to minimize the repercussions of weaknesses and threats that cannot be converted, and/or how to avoid them altogether. Follow the instructions below to identify strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats.

A. Strengths and Weaknesses (Internal)

Think about internal conditions; those things that management has some control over that are relevant to future success and effectiveness. The task is to identify internal strengths, which must be taken into consideration as management plans for the future.

Remember, a strength is any internal characteristic that improves effectiveness. Look for factors that help the company improve positioning in the marketplace, enhance financial performance, and most importantly, fight off threats and take advantage of opportunities in the external environment.

A weakness is any internal characteristic that limits effectiveness, performance, and the ability to accomplish objectives, meet threats, and take advantage of opportunities.

It is also important to point out that a particular fact about the internal environment may have a weakness and a strength dimension. For example, we might say that the company's technical skills are of the highest quality and this is a strength, but since these skills are possessed by only a few employees, it is also a weakness in that we need more people with such skills and would be hurt if a few key people left the company.

Using the following 16 internal factors to stimulate your thinking, list all of the company strengths you can think of for each category. Then review the same list of 16 internal factors and develop a list of company weaknesses. (You may not have access to all of the information below, but try your best to identify at least five of them for your project).

Internal Factors

The following categories of internal factors are commonly used to generate a list of specific company strengths and weaknesses. This list is to be used to stimulate your thinking about internal strengths and weaknesses.

Management leadership/capabilities.

Organization structure and management systems.

Facilities, equipment, and materials.

Technical skills and expertise.

Dedication, morale, and motivation of employees.

Capacity to meet demand—production capacity, including excess available for growing demand.

Marketing effectiveness/efficiency—advertising, personal selling, public relations, products/services, prices, distribution, marketing research and planning, customer service, warranties, sales support, sales promotion, etc.

Ability to deliver what the market wants.

Ability to deliver in a timely manner.

Image and reputation as perceived by customers and within the industry.

Customer (and potential customer) perception—likes, dislikes, and perceptions of service, quality, etc.

Financial performance—sales, market share, customer satisfaction/loyalty, and profits.

Financial situation—availability of capital, internal funding, financial stability, etc.

Cost of operations—high cost vs. low cost, rising costs, costs compared to competition (manufacturing, distribution, etc.)

Geographic location(s).

Other relevant competencies/resources that translate into strengths that have not been mentioned. Also, any weaknesses we have missed related to a lack of competencies and/or resources that are needed in the future.

B. Opportunities and Threats (External)

Think about the most significant trends in the organization’s external environment that will have an impact on future success. The challenge is to identify relevant opportunities and threats outside management's control that must be taken into consideration during the planning process. You will need to list and describe the factors/issues forming industry trends that may influence future efforts one way or the other, either as a positive force (opportunity) or as a barrier (threat).

An opportunity is the result of some trend or fact in the external environment that represents a marketplace and/or financial performance advantage. It may indicate a new direction, product or service, and/or resource requirement for the company. It represents an attractive arena for marketing action in which the company would enjoy a competitive advantage.

A threat is the result of some trend or fact in the external environment that represents an area of concern for management. It represents a challenge posed by an unfavorable trend or development that would lead, in the absence of effective marketing action, to the erosion of the company's or industry's position. A threat may:

Directly or indirectly affect the business.

Indicate an area to be avoided.

Demand a strategic response.

Represent an opportunity if responded to properly.

It should be pointed out that a particular trend in the external environment (for example, mergers/acquisitions, technological advancements, and/or a recent change in the way competitors operate and what they are offering the market) can imply both a threat and an opportunity. Sometimes in strategic planning we say that behind each threat (or problem) lies an opportunity. Or an optimist in strategic planning will look at threats and try to turn them into opportunities. Thus, it should be remembered that if management can adapt properly to a threat (such as mergers and acquisitions), this trend may be viewed as an opportunity as well as a threat.

Review the following 13 categories of external environmental trend factors and list the trends or issues that are relevant to the company and industry. Then translate each factor identified into a specific opportunity and/or threat statement. That is, what are the implications of each environmental trend or issue outside the company in terms of specific opportunities and/or threats? (You may not have access to all the information below, but try your best to identify at least five of them for your project).

External Environmental Trend Factors

The following categories of external environmental trend factors are commonly considered in the planning process. They are used to develop a specific list of company opportunities and threats. This list is to be used to stimulate your thinking about opportunities and threats in the external environment.

Mergers and acquisitions—(e.g., among customers, potential customers, suppliers, competitors, and/or within the industry).

Competitive trends—specific competitive strategies and programs, or recent changes such as lower prices or new products.

Economic trends—forces and changes in the economy such as inflation, interest rates, recession.

Technological trends—new technological innovations.

Technical requirements—within the industry.

Market/industry trends—size of firm related to industry, financial performance of the industry compared with the firm, size/growth rate of current and future potential market characteristics and trends in markets and industry.

Customer and potential customer attitudes—preferences, expectations, problems, wants, needs, etc. What changes are anticipated?

Legal trends—government regulations and policies.

Societal/lifestyle trends—changes in people's values, attitudes, and activities.

10. New products/services—on the market.

11. Supply sources.

12. Declining or increasing productivity—in the industry or economy.

13. Other industry trends not previous mentioned that are relevant to the future.

Based on the detailed discussion of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, use SWOT tables for the SWOT analysis. In other words, first state the facts based on your research, and then summarize the findings in a SWOT table. Note the examples below and follow the “best statements” to describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your company and charge in SWOT table(s).

Examples

Not Useful Statement

Better Statement

Best Statement

Internal Strengths

Customer loyalty/brand image

We have a strong brand image.

We have a 42% market share and our brand is known worldwide.

Our global market share has grown from 25% to 42% over the past four years. Independent surveys show our quality and image is rated No. 1 in our industry in the U.S. and Asia and No. 2 in Europe behind XYZ.

Sales/ Distribution

Our distribution is the best in the industry.

Our product is available in more locations than our competitors’.

Our extensive distribution network provides product within 10 miles of the home or work location of 95% of our target market. Our competitors only achieve this level for 40%-65% of the market.

Internal Weaknesses

Product cost

Our costs are high.

Our major competitors, ABC and XYZ, produce in China for less cost.

Our labor costs average $40/unit (in Detroit) vs. $12/unit for our competitors (in China). With product market prices of $120/unit we barely break even.

Product Life

We have product problems.

Our product life is less than the competition.

Typically, our product fails after one year. Our major competitor’s product lasts 2-3 years. Customers are willing to pay 50% more for our competitors’ product.

External Opportunities

Alternative Distribution College Campus

We can leverage new distribution channels.

Internet could be used to increase sales to college students.

Direct Sales (via campus Intranet) and on-campus kiosks would more than double our coverage of our targeted Generation Y market.

Export Growth via Strategic Alliances

Export markets can help us grow.

Europe and Asia provide good opportunities to grow by partnering.

Strategic alliances with ABC in Europe and XYZ in Asia would allow us to double international sales in two years.

External Threats

Substitutes

Substitutes are a threat.

ABC’s new sugar-free sweetener may hurt us.

In six months, ABC’s sugar-free sweetener has achieved 20% market share. Its share is expected to grow to 40% by next year.

Mergers

Competitor mergers could hurt us.

Competitor XYZ is expected to acquire ABC.

If XYZ acquires ABC, it will dominate the distribution network and limit our access.

Check the following link for some exercises to better understand SWOT elements.

SWOT Analysis Exercises (2010). Retrieved from http://www.cengage.com/marketing/book_content/1439039429_lamb/interactive_exercises/exercise03.html


Module 3 - Case

DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING PLAN

Assignment Overview

Online shopping has increased dramatically over the past few years, and online retailing becomes the top priority of all major grocery retailers. On one hand, retailers see the needs to offer easy and convenient shopping venues to attract and keep customers. On the other hand, the consumers take advantage of the extended product assortments and services offered by both online and traditional retailers. More and more traditional brick-and-mortar retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart, Costco, and Macy’s are becoming brick and click stores. Multichannel retailing is popular way to sell products and services nowadays. The marketing managers need to find ways to effectively and efficiently manage various distribution channels and deliver products and service through both online and offline channels. In this case, we focus on Macy’s brick-and-click channel-management issues.

Case Reading

Review the followings articles related to brick and click shopping and multichannel retailing (Use the university online library search engine and additional library resources on TLC Portal to find the articles):

Avery, J., Steenburgh, T.J., Deighton, J., & Caravella, M. (2013). Adding bricks to clicks: On the role of physical stores in a world of online shopping. GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, 5(2), 29.

Birchall, J. (2009, May 14). Macy's online sales rise 16% despite store woes. The Financial Times, pp. 16.

Clicks and bricks; retailers and the internet. (2012). The Economist, 402 (8773), 18.

Griffiths, G H & Howard, A (2008). Balancing clicks and bricks - strategies for multichannel retailers. Journal of Global Business Issues, 2(1), 69.

Katia Campo, & Els Breugelmans. (2015). Buying groceries in brick and click stores: Category allocation decisions and the moderating effect of online buying experience. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 31, 63.

Macy - online order fulfillment center expansion - Arizona. (2014). World Market Intelligence News

Macy's fights online shopping with a tablet in fitting rooms. (2015). Engadget [Engadget - BLOG]

Mixing bricks with clicks; retail. (2013). The Economist,406(8828), 70.

Newman, D. (2016). The Top 10 Trends Driving Marketing In 2017. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/10/18/the-top-10-trends-driving-marketing-in-2017/#34f633e17581

Case Assignment

Develop a report in terms of the following guidelines based on the articles listed above and other supplemental articles. At least two additional articles should be included in the analysis. A well-written report should have a brief introduction, headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as "Facts Recap," instead of a sentence or a question.

Briefly review the facts on the brick and click retailing and multichannel shopping, as reported in the articles.

Describe how Macy’s performed in online channel? How Macy’s could do a better job to manage the online and offline channels? Consider appropriate distribution concepts to support your arguments.

Considering the changing consumer shopping behaviors and new technology trends, how would you recommend Macy's compete with Amazon and other retailers in the future?

.

Module 3 - SLP

DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING PLAN

Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct both secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP3 and SLP4.

It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business success in the marketplace.

Please check the outline of the marketing plan, which provides information on:

The final format for this cumulative Session Long Project;

A list of topics for the whole project;

The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-4.

In this module SLP3, conduct the issue analysis based on the secondary research results in SLPs 1-2. Then develop goals and objectives, as well as the specific marketing strategies to accomplish your charge. This is the third step of this cumulative research project and you are developing marketing plans for your charge. Be sure to revise the sections in SLPs 1-2 and include them in this paper following the marketing plan outline provided above.

Issues Analysis

The situation analysis and SWOT Analysis are the basis for the Issues Analysis. Here the primary focus should be on the charge for your research project. What are the most important issues and decisions that the organization is likely to face when trying to accomplish the charge? Further, if the previous research steps (situation analysis and SWOT analysis) have shown that previous marketing efforts were unsuccessful (and why), you should include the lessons to be learned as issues.

In general, issues can include, but are not limited to (the issues depend on the charge of the respective marketing plan and are likely to differ from plan to plan):

Should the company focus on the charge in question?

What rate of growth is necessary and sustainable?

Does the company need to increase promotion to thwart the competition or to successfully reach its target market?

Does the company need to develop new promotional efforts to reach the identified target market?

What would be the most promising way of communicating with the target market?

Does the company need to increase the target market’s knowledge base?

Does the company need to address/change the target market’s belief systems?

Does the company need to develop persuasive messages tailored to the specific brand at hand?

Does the organization need to work on its reputation?

Is the company’s current distribution in order?

Should the company review its pricing strategy?

Does the company anticipate any major competitive attacks in its current markets?

Note: Be realistic when proposing issues. For example, suggesting that the company should invest funds in stocks or real estate is not appropriate for the marketing plan. First, it has nothing to do with the charge at hand; second you are unlikely to have enough information to address this issue in the following sections (i.e., goals, objectives, and implementation).

Also do not list questions in your issue analysis. Instead you should list the issues in a descriptive way based on the situation analysis and SWOT analysis results.

Goals and Objectives

Both goals and objectives need to be driven by the Issues Analysis.

Establish corporate goals: qualitative statements of desired general accomplishments that are indicative of the direction and priorities of the company or the outcome that the company hopes to accomplish (e.g., to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, increase consumer knowledge, change consumer beliefs, persuade the target audience to buy the new brand, have the most-recognized and effective advertising campaign in the industry, improve service quality, have lower prices than all competitors, increase market share, produce the most loyal customers in the industry).

Set specific measurable corporate quantitative objectives: targeted dollar amount of sales; number of iPad 4 sold; targeted market share; etc. That is, you need to express the goals you have outlined above in quantitative (numerical) terms, and you also need to place them within a time frame. In other words, the objectives are driven by the goals you outlined above. Please avoid listing objectives that have nothing to do with the identified goals.

Note: If you are dealing with a new product (i.e., your charge), please do not express objectives for the first year in percentage terms. In other words, stating that you would like to increase awareness by 5% for a new product does not make sense, because a new product will start out with a market share (or awareness) of zero and 5% of zero is still zero. In such a case, please phrase your objectives differently (e.g., the objective is to increase the brand awareness among 10% of the target market within the next 6 months).

You should have at least one goal. Please make sure that those goals (and your objectives) focus on your charge and also reflect your issues analysis. You should have at least two objectives for each goal.

The format for this section should look as follows:

Goal 1

Objective 1

Objective 2 (if applicable)

Etc.

Goal 2

Objective 1

Objective 2 (if applicable)

Etc.

Marketing Strategies

Marketing strategies encompass recommended positioning, competitive differentiation, and customer value strategy. These include a description of your target market, intended image/position in the market, and the value proposition.

A. Target Market Definition

The process of selecting a target market is one of the most important decisions an organization can make. Most organizations segment the entire population into groups with homogeneous needs. For a market segment to be viable it must be measurable, meaningful, and marketable. A segment is measurable if its size can be determined, its purchasing power can be estimated, and other characteristics can be identified. It may be difficult to segment on the basis of social class, but easy to segment along income levels. A segment is meaningful when it is large enough to have sufficient sales and growth potential to serve in the long run. A marketable segment is one that may be reached and served efficiently. In general, a company wishes to serve the largest possible homogeneous group that also seems to be most likely to be persuaded to buy the product in your charge.

When companies write the marketing plan, defining the target market often proves to be the most challenging aspect of the plan. However, if you do not choose the right markets to target, you will often never achieve complete success. Too often, companies see that their solution can serve the needs of multiple markets and they try to establish multiple markets at the same time. Ultimately, this may lead to failure because they overextended themselves and did not successfully meet the needs of any market. Choose a well-defined market when you write your marketing plan and stick to it until the market dictates a change.

Bases for segmenting consumer markets include demographic, benefit, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics. Demographic segmentation includes the characteristics of age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, nationality, and social class. Benefit segmentation describes why consumers buy a product (e.g., makes me feel good, makes me feel useful, etc.). Psychographic segmentation encompasses lifestyle (e.g., outdoors, athletic), and personality (e.g., compulsive, gregarious). Behavioral characteristics include occasion (e.g., Valentine’s Day, birthday), usage rate (e.g., light, medium or heavy users), or attitude (loyalty).

Note: You do not have to use all of the above-listed bases for segmenting consumer markets. However, demographic segmentation and benefit segmentation will always have to be used. Follow the instructions below:

1. Primary (and Only) Target Market

Describe the primary target market in demographic terms (use the descriptors that are most useful in terms of your charge).

Describe the primary target market using benefits sought by that market.

Describe the primary target market using one of the following bases: geographic, psychographic, benefits sought, or usage (depends on your target and your charge).

Estimate the number of customers in your primary market.

Justify the choice of your primary target market (if applicable).

This section is very important. Do not take shortcuts.

B. Strategy Statement

1. Image/Market Position

Positioning is the act of designing the offering and its image so that both occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in the minds of the target market.

What is the intended image you wish the product to portray? What is the position you wish the product to obtain?

2. Value Proposition

Why should customers buy from the agency instead of its competitors?

What does the agency have to offer to its customers that outperforms its competitors’ products?


Module 4 - SLP

DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING PLAN

Session Long Project

Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct both secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP3 and SLP4.

It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business success in the marketplace.

Please check the outline of the marketing plan, which provides information on:

The final format for this cumulative session long project;

A list of topics for the whole project;

The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-4.

In this module SLP4, first develop action plans based on the marketing strategies developed in SLP3 and then evaluate marketing budget for the plans. This is the final step of this cumulative research project. Be sure to incorporate all the work for this Session Long Project (SLPs 1-4) into a complete marketing plan following the marketing plan outline provided above.

Marketing Implementation: Action Plans and Marketing Mix

The action plans and marketing mix are related. That is, the action plans contain a complete description of a marketing program, including its goals and objectives (as previously outlined in the section on Goals and Objectives), marketing mix activities, program evaluation mechanisms and measurements, budget and timing considerations, and quantitative assessments. (A complete description of these final dimensions follows. Follow the format below for action plan outlines.)

Before you begin working on the action plans, consider the total budget amount for your charge. Make a realistic budget estimate for your marketing plan based on the financial situation of the company and its past spending on marketing.

State for each action plan:

The goal(s) and objective(s) for the action plan.

The target market at which this action plan is aimed.

The marketing mix activities needed to implement the action plan.

Product strategy and programs require consideration of things such as brand name, product features/benefits, differentiation from competition, relationship to delivering value, logo, package design/labeling, complementary products/services, elements of customer service strategy, and programs. Also, this is where the service concept, tangibles, customer-contact employees, and so on, need to be addressed. Depending on the charge of your marketing plan, some of the above may not apply.

Price strategy and programs require consideration of things such as pricing objectives and relationship to delivering value. Keep in mind that pricing is not restricted to monetary concerns. Customers are likely to compare the perceived benefits of the new brand to the perceived benefits of the existing brand and other competitive brands. In other words, customers are likely to perform a cost-benefit analysis, which means that customers must perceive the new brand to have benefits that are equal to or exceed the perceived costs. When considering pricing issues, also include costs customers are likely to incur in terms of time, effort, and energy. Consider psychological costs (e.g., embarrassment, fear, rejection, etc.) and losses (e.g., aesthetics, familiarity, etc.), and physical discomfort or loss of pleasure.

Place or distribution strategy and programs require consideration of things such as the selection, motivation, and evaluation of channel partners (if applicable).

This is also the place to describe any direct marketing programs (mail, telemarketing, catalogs, Internet, etc.) and other accessibility issues (e.g., number of local stores, etc.).

Promotional activities

Advertising strategy and programs that require consideration of things such as advertising message (what will be said, unique selling points, benefits to be stressed, value story, points of differentiation, etc.), creative style (settings, characterization, humor or not, testimonials, etc.), media mix, media schedule, and so on.

Public relations/publicity strategy and programs that require consideration of things such as how to get press coverage, getting the company/brand name and story out to the public, event-oriented marketing, and so forth.

Sales promotion strategy and programs that require consideration of things such as contests, sweepstakes, event tie-ins, coupons, premiums (T-shirts, hats, key chains, cup holders, etc.), trade shows, consumer fairs, and so forth.

Sales force strategy and programs that require consideration of things such as size of the sales force, sales force organization (geographic territory; customer-type based, product based, or some combination; salesperson characteristics and skills to recruit and train toward; compensation; motivation), and so forth. This section will describe selling strategy in terms of sales call emphasis, selling strategy and tactics (what should sales people be doing and saying).

Other marketing programs that require consideration of methods to systematically listen to the customer, monitor customer satisfaction/loyalty, monitor competition, and become aware of trends that might impact the business. This requires some type of specific intelligence/information-gathering plan.

Describe the evaluation and measurement procedures to be used to monitor overall performance of the action plan, including quantitative measures and allowable time frames.

Elaborate on the specifics of plan implementation and quantitative projections. This includes people responsible for programs, budgets, other resources needed, target completion dates, timetables, and so forth. This requires a consideration of who does what, when, and for how much.

Quantitative assessment includes projections of sales dollars and volume, and market share, costs, and so forth.

Format: Action Plan Outline (please use a table format, such as in the example given below)

Title: The title of the action plan should describe the content.

Goal and Objective: What will this action plan accomplish? Which of the goals and objectives does this plan support? Here you need to go back to your Goals and Objectives section and make sure you develop at least one action plan for each of the goals and objectives you have previously outlined. In other words, you do not need to have seven goals in your Goals and Objectives section, a lesser number is acceptable if you develop more than one action plan for specific goals and objectives.

Target Market: At which market is this action plan aimed? Stick to your primary target market. Do not include any “new” target markets here.

Description of the Action Plan: What are the steps being taken to accomplish the objective? This section refers to the marketing mix activities deemed best to accomplish the objective. A rich, detailed description is required.

Who: Who is responsible for carrying out this program? (Name of person or job title)

Timing: When will the program take place? (Start and stop dates)

Budget and Estimated Profitability: How much will the program cost? Give details of the budgetary items for this action plan. Also, you need to include estimated profits and/or expected return on investment.

Measurement: How will the effectiveness of the action plan be measured? How will the organization know that it was successful? Measurement of effectiveness is always quantitative, and may include (depends on your objective) dollar sales, market share, expected customer satisfaction, advertising effectiveness measures, etc., in addition to a time line (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.).

Marketing Budget

Use the objective and task method and rank the action plans in order of importance. You also need to defend the budget request. The defense should be a strong persuasive argument with a clear rationale. Make sure that you include the profit potential as part of your justification. The defense should be for the total budget amount requested, not for individual action plans.

What We Learned

What did the process of writing a marketing plan teach you? How would you apply what you learned from this process to your current or future career?

Module 1 discussion

Branding in the Digital Age

Branding strategies are changing due to the popularity of the Internet and changing consumer behavior. There are various functions of branding. Branding is not only utilized to differentiate the focal brand from the competing ones, but also to increase brand/product awareness, change consumer attitudes, and encourage purchases. On the other hand, consumer brand experience and online consumer reviews are increasingly influencing branding strategies in the digital age.

Read the following articles:

Edelman, D. C. (2010). Branding in the digital age: You’re spending your money in all the wrong places. Harvard Business Review, December, retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age-youre-spending-your-money-in-all-the-wrong-places

Anderson, M. (2014, July 7). 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendation. Retrieved from http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803

Please address the following issues regarding online consumer reviews and brand management in the digital age.

Evaluate the pros and cons of online consumer reviews from the consumer’s perspective.

Discuss the use of online consumer reviews from the brand manager’s perspective.

Note: Please check the Discussion grading rubrics to better understand the requirements for Discussions.

Module 2 discussion

Competitive Advantages through Online Promotion

According to the following article, about 77% of luxury advertisers are expected to increase their investments in online marketing in 2012: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/8806/luxury-brands-boosting-online-marketing-spend#ixzz28gVdyP98

In addition, Manta's Small Business Survey found that 78% of surveyed online small business achieved at least 25% of their new business leads via online and social channels in 2012.

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/8966/9-in-10-online-small-businesses-network-online-8-in-10-gain-new-business#ixzz28gWpw1hh

What do you think of the effectiveness of online marketing? How could the firms use online marketing channels to gain competitive advantages?

Note: Please check the Discussion grading rubrics to better understand the requirements for Discussions.

Module 3 discussion

Online Distribution

The Discussion for Module 3 explores online distribution. First, check out the following news articles on Amazon's online grocery service.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100916844

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/companies-and-industries/a-new-threat-for-big-grocery-2/

Then, answer the following questions:

What do you think of Amazon's move to online grocery delivery? Does it give the company a competitive advantage?

Identify one of your favorite grocery stores. What attracts you to it? Can you think of anything the store has done to draw your patronage and stop you from buying online? Is there anything further they could do to retain your loyalty?

Note: Please check the Discussion grading rubrics to better understand the requirements for Discussions.

Module 4 discussion

Free Offers and Pricing

A survey from MARC Research found that among a variety of holiday specials and shopping tactics, store coupons and free-shipping offers were the two incentives most used by shoppers during the fourth-quarter 2009 holiday-shopping season.

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2010/3542/shoppers-seek-coupons-and-free-shipping-offers#ixzz28gf7i57W

In addition, read the article below on the importance of “free” in online commerce:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/2555/the-importance-of-free#ixzz28gdt7f4u

Based on these articles and other readings you may find, what do you think of the “free” offers used by online retailers or marketer? Do you think the “free” offers would be more effective than coupons? Use some concepts you learned from module 5, as well as other modules to discuss these issues.

Note: Please check the Discussion grading rubrics to better understand the requirements for Discussions.

Module 4 reflective discussion

End of Session Self-Reflection

Given the Case and SLP outcomes that appear at the beginning of every home page of every module, identify and briefly discuss two learning outcomes you achieved which are applicable to your current or desired career or professional objective. For each identified learning outcome, explain why achieving that outcome is applicable to your current or desired profession.

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