MKTG 478 A Marketing Management

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 1 MKTG 478 A Marketing Management Late Fall Session 15-52 October 26th, 2015 December 19, 2015 Course Description Textbooks Examination of the role of the marketing manager in analyzing, planning, implementing and controlling the marketing programs of an enterprise. Case work is used. Prerequisite: MKTG 3 Proctored Exams: None Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management, 15th edition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Publishing. 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-385646-0 Textbooks for the course may be ordered from MBS Direct. You can order online at http://direct.mbsbooks.com/columbia.htm (be sure to select Online Education rather than your home campus before selecting your class) by phone at 800-325-3252 For additional information about the bookstore, visit http://www.mbsbooks.com. Course Overview This course is designed to help students learn how to manage the marketing function as applicable in a wide variety of settings: product and service firms, consumer and business markets, profit and nonprofit organizations, domestic and global companies, and small and large businesses. The course offers a systematic framework for understanding how marketing decisions are made. It focuses on formulating and implementing marketing management strategies and policies, a task undertaken in most companies at the strategic business unit level. The marketing management process is important at all levels of the organization, regardless of title applied to the activity. Each week the student will have the opportunity to apply the concepts learned to an interesting real-world scenario. The course relies heavily on cases and the text provides many examples to help bring light to the advanced principals discussed in the text. Technology Requirements Participation in this course will require the basic technology for all online classes at Columbia College: A computer with reliable Internet access, a web browser, Acrobat Reader,

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 2 Microsoft Office or another word processor such as Open Office. You can find more details about standard technical requirements for our courses on our site. Course Objectives To apply marketing theory and concepts to what marketers do in the real world. To describe and explain how marketing strategies are developed. To use marketing concepts to make business decisions. To describe and explain current topics and issues in marketing. Measurable Learning Outcomes Evaluate the role of marketing in creating global business strategies. Explain the relationship of the marketing plan to the company s strategic plan and corporate objectives. Identify and discuss environmental forces which may impact marketing strategy. Critique and select target markets. Identify and discuss the impact of consumer behavior on marketing strategy. Apply market segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies. Analyze market situations and develop plans for effective marketing strategies. Grading Grading Scale GRADE POINTS PERCENT A 450-500 90-0 B 400-449 80-89 C 350-399 70-79 D 300-349 60-69 F 0-299 0-59 Grade Weights ASSIGNMENT POINTS PERCENT Discussions 80 16% Dropbox Assignments 120 24% Final Project 0 20% Midterm Exam 0 20% Final Exam 0 20% Total 500 0%

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 3 Schedule of Due Dates WEEK ASSIGNMENT POINTS DUE DATE Introduction 0 Wednesday 1 Discussion 1 5 Wednesday Discussion 2 5 Sunday Dropbox Assignment 1 20 Sunday 2 Discussion 3 5 Wednesday Discussion 4 5 Sunday Dropbox Assignment 2 20 Sunday 3 Discussion 5 5 Wednesday Discussion 6 5 Sunday Dropbox Assignment 3 20 Sunday 4 Discussion 7 5 Wednesday Discussion 8 5 Sunday Midterm Exam 0 Sunday 5 Discussion 9 5 Wednesday Discussion 5 Sunday Dropbox Assignment 4 20 Sunday 6 Discussion 11 5 Wednesday Discussion 12 5 Sunday Dropbox Assignment 5 20 Sunday 7 Discussion 13 5 Wednesday Discussion 14 5 Sunday Dropbox Assignment 6 20 Sunday 8 Discussion 15 5 Wednesday Discussion 16 5 Friday Final Project 0 Friday Final Examination 0 Saturday Total 500 Assignment Overview Discussion: There will be two discussion topics each week to engage you in discussions of the text and outside resources. The first discussion is due by Wednesday and the second by Sunday (except in Week 8, when the second discussion is due by Friday). You are expected to give your own initial response to the questions posed and then react in a significant way to at least two of your fellow

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 4 students in order to gain full credit. Dropbox Assignments: You will write six short papers in this course, referred to as dropbox assignments. Most will be 2-4 pages in length. You will find more details about the topics and expectations for these assignments in the Course Schedule section below. Final Project: The final project for this class is a marketing plan for either a company you work for, a company you wished you worked for, or a start-up company you might like to get going. You will develop the elements of the plan over the course of the class, from the initial idea to the distribution and communication plan. Your grade for each item will be based upon the thoroughness and completeness of your discussion, your ability to apply the weekly concepts to a real situation of your own choosing, and your ability to be both creative yet grounded in reality in your thinking. Make the plan a workable real life scenario. Please see and use the outline/grading rubric that appears at the end of this syllabus. The final project is due by Friday of Week 8. You will find more information about the elements of the plan and the expectations for the project in the course. Midterm and Final Exams: There will be two exams in the course covering the readings in the text. Each exam will include a combination of multiple-choice and true-false items. Course Schedule Week 1 Understanding Marketing Management Readings: Chapters 1-2 Introductions: Introduce yourself in the "Introductions" topic of our class discussion, our "virtual classroom." Please give us more than your name. Include your home town, profession, major, hobbies, pets, interest in marketing, and any other information that can help us get to know you. Discussion 1: Societal Forces. In chapter one, pages 13-19, there is a discussion regarding the new marketing realities (major societal forces). Choose two items. Include a definition of the key terms used. How does this represent a change from the past? Why do you feel it is an important change? A one page response would be appropriate. Post your response in discussion by 11:59pm Wednesday. Discussion 2: Mission and Vision play a major role in the strategic planning process. Basic questions about our business need to be confirmed (see chapter two). The mission statement provides information about the special purpose of the firm, its opportunities, and direction. A vision looks beyond the mission to envision a future; it provides added challenge and creative tension for the firm. Search for information about Starbucks. (A supplemental video is included in the Content area) and then answer the following questions. Discussion 2 is due by 11:59pm Sunday night. 1. What is the business? 2. Using Porter s generic strategies (p. 52) which strategy is Starbuck s pursuing? 3. Who is the customer? 4. What is the value provided to the customer? 5. Does the company espouse any values? 6. What societal changes might account for the success of Starbucks? 7. What is the company s mission? 8. Develop a vision for the future of Starbucks. Dropbox Assignment 1: Holistic Marketing

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 5 Define holistic marketing. Define each of the four major components of holistic marketing (p. 21-22). Search for information about Coca-Cola. (A supplemental video is included in the Content area), then describe how the company uses a holistic approach to marketing (or tell me if you feel they do not do a good job of using a holistic approach). A good paper should be at least 2 pages. Completeness and insightfulness are always appreciated. Your paper is due in the drop box by 11:59pm Sunday. Additional Task: Read Marketing Plan Please read the sample marketing plan on pages 61-65 as a prelude to beginning to write your term paper/marketing plan. See the outline of the required plan and the grading rubric that appears at the very end of this syllabus. Week 2 Capturing Marketing Insights Readings: Chapters 3-4 Discussion 3: Gathering Information and Measuring Market Demand. Go to the Sprite web site and check out the commercials, music, and ambiance of the site. Discuss the following: 1. Who is the target audience for Sprite? Discuss in detail and give your reasons. 2. Using government information or other sites, how many people in the USA are in the target audience you described above? 3. Design and discuss a research method you might use to find out if your target audience likes the taste of Sprite vs. Sierra Mist. Include the research method you might use (p2-6); your sample plan (p.1); and what types of questions you might ask (7) Your discussion is due by 11:59pm Wednesday night. Discussion 4: Neuro-marketing In chapter four (p. 111), please read the Marketing InSight titled, Understanding Brain Science. Research the concept of neuro-marketing online. Find an example of its use and provide a discussion. What do you personally think of this new approach to marketing? Your thoughts and comments are due here by 11:59pm Sunday night. Dropbox Assignment 2: Research Trends New Tools Traditional marketing research has been about asking questions of sample respondents from a well-defined sampling of your target population. In addition to traditional survey research, firms have several new tools now available to them. On page 70 there is a discussion of Big Data. The other tool is called Social Media monitoring. Check out the YouTube video demo of the Social Media Monitoring tool from Radian6 Your assignment is to define these terms. Discuss how they are different than traditional survey research. What types of information might you get from each of these tools that would be different then survey research? Finally choose a national brand and discuss the insights you might get from each of these tools. Your paper should be a minimum of 2 pages single spaced or 4 pages double-spaced. The assignment is due by 11:59pm Sunday.

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 6 Week 3 Connecting with Customers Readings: Chapters 5-9 Discussion 5: The Lifetime Value of a Customer On pp. 138-147 there is a discussion of the lifetime value of the customer and building loyalty. Now review the article in your text about TESCO, the European grocery store (pp. 154-155). Consider the concept of lifetime value as might be applied to your favorite grocery store. Use the calculation process noted on page 139, making any assumptions you like to come to a conclusion. You may also want to try out the Customer Lifetime Value Calculator at Harvard s Business School (in the course Content area). What is your estimate of your own lifetime value (LTV) to your primary grocery store? What actions could you suggest to make your LTV increase for your grocery store? One could argue that the concept of LTV relies on long term loyalty to the store. Most loyalty programs are built on price discounts which can be easily matched. So how can you build true loyalty, like loyalty to country or family? How can you do this in business? Do some research on the general subject of loyalty as a personal value? A supplemental video is included in the Content area (optional). Use your understanding of loyalty to add to the discussion about how grocery stores can keep a customer for a lifetime. Please post your response by 11:59pm Wednesday. Discussion 6: Business Markets Buyer Behaviors Let s discuss the potential purchase of a corporate jet: a Cessna corporate jet in fact. Please review Cessna s site and answer the following questions. 1. Which buying center influences (pp. 194-195) are likely to have the strongest influences on a company s purchase of a new aircraft? 2. How can Cessna incorporate the influence of these factors in its marketing planning? 3. At what stage in the buying decision process is the web site targeted (see pp. 198-204)? Explain your response. 4. Compare and contrast this site with the site for imaging equipment marketed by General Electric. Which site serves the purchasing process better? Please post your response by 11:59pm Sunday. Dropbox Assignment 3: Segmentation, Targeting and Got Milk In this assignment we look at segmentation and minorities in the United States. To begin, please do some internet research on the California Milk Producers and the Got Milk marketing campaign. Consider the three major minority groups in the USA: Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Asian Americans. For each group, describe the segments in terms of: Overall population size (USA & California) Demographics like age, education, and income (USA and California) What are the media habits of each group (USA only) Describe the nature of families for each group (USA only) After describing each group, choose the first group you would target if you were the California Milk Producers and if the assumed goal is to increase the use of milk in California. Base your targeting on the criteria listed in your book, including accessibility, ability to buy, actionability or the responsiveness of the group you choose, overall size, and sustainability of the market over time. Please discuss your targeting in detail. Your report should be a minimum of 3 pages. Your paper is due by 11:59pm Sunday night.

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 7 Week 4 Building Strong Brands Readings: Chapters -12 Midterm Exam Discussion 7: The Branding Proposition The early part of chapter ten in your text gives you a framework for understanding what a brand is. A brand is everything the customer understands about your offering. It is the image you present in the marketplace, and that is a vital and strategic consideration. Look at the following five levels of meaning. 1. Value: The benefits to price equation. 2. Values: What do you stand for? 3. Attributes: What is it that you sell? What are the physical attributes? 4. Benefits: What do the attributes do for the consumer? 5. Personality: Can you describe your offering like a person (fast, sad, dangerous, sociable, etc)? Every brand is built on one or more of these five basic foundational elements. You can compose or decompose any brand based upon these five elements. Your discussion assignment is to find two brands that use a different major element of the five basic elements as the primary basis of the brand. Find a brand that relies on value, such as Hyundai, a brand with a persona, like Brawny, or a brand like Leica cameras, which relies on fine lenses (attribute). Describe the positioning of the brand. How is the brand positioned compared to the competition? Find a commercial for each of your chosen brands that helps to position the brand along the lines you describe and include a link to the commercial in your discussion. Post your response in the appropriate discussion topic by 11:59pm Wednesday. Discussion 8: Dealing with the Competition: The Burger Wars Dealing with the competition has been compared to the theories of war. Over 20 centuries ago, in the Art of War, Sun Tzu put down the ideas that have guided wars ever since. In one chapter, Sun Tzu discussed how the strengths and weaknesses of our enemy as well as our own should help to make clear the strategies we should use against our competitors. These techniques for battle are at the core of many business strategies as noted on pages 337-343. McDonald s has had some significant challenges recently. Please do some internet research on the current issues at McDonald s and especially their competitive challenges. If you were the vice president of marketing for Burger King, and knowing your competitor is McDonald s, how could you use two of the war techniques to win the marketing war against McDonald s? Please place your response in the appropriate discussion topic no later than 11:59pm Sunday. Your midterm exam covers chapters 1-12. Please plan to take the exam sometime between Tuesday and Sunday. The exam is 0 questions, 80 multiple choice and 20 true-false. Additional information about the exam will be given prior to the exam opening. Please contact me with questions or in case of an emergency. The midterm counts for 0 points out of 500 points for the course, 20% of your grade. Week 5 Creating Value Readings: Chapters 13-16 Discussion 9: Setting Product Strategy Review the Toyota article under Marketing Excellence on page 396. Review the concepts of

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 8 how products can be differentiated (pp. 370-375). Look online for information on the Toyota Tundra or another Toyota brand like Camry and discuss how they have used the principles of product differentiation. Your response is due by 11:59pm Wednesday. Discussion : The Service Element Services can either be an offering to be purchased (travel agent, bank, college, doctor, are all services offerings) or a services component to the sale of a physical product (warranty, guarantee, etc). In the last 15 years we have been interested in raising the quality level of all of our services offerings. Dr. Len Berry has done considerable research in this area and has come up with the key determinants of service quality (p. 420 at the bottom). Choose a service offering you are familiar with. Using three of the points of Dr. Berry s model, discuss how the service offering can be improved. Post your answer in the appropriate topic by 11:59pm Sunday. Dropbox Assignment: Setting and Adjusting Prices Pricing has changed in the current digital world (see page 462). There are seven points noted in the referenced section. First, discuss in detail two of the concepts noting specific examples from the internet. Next, discuss two instances where you used the internet during a purchase process. Describe both instances. Discuss for each how pricing was affected based upon the digital environment. Your paper should be a minimum of 1.5 page single-spaced or 3 pages double-spaced. Include citations of all sources. Submit your response to the drop box no later than 11:59pm Sunday. Week 6 Delivering Value Readings: Chapters 17-18 Discussion 11: Trends in Value Delivery Some of the current trends in the delivery of value (channels, logistics, supply chain) include e-commerce; VMS; use of multi-channel approaches; mobile commerce; social retailing; and more. From your own research, discuss how two companies are using are using these techniques to improve their delivery of value to consumers. Post your response no later than Wednesday at 11:59pm. Discussion 12: Packaging Going to market and working through the process of logistics and retailing requires some very important decisions about your packaging. A package serves many functions, including presenting your brand s image, protecting the product, providing special functionality and added value, carrying your advertising message, allowing special promotions, and aiding in visibility. Grab a product off your pantry shelf. Tell us the name of the manufacturer and the product. Describe the packaging. What functions does the package provide? Can you think of things the manufacturer might do to get more marketing use out of the packaging? Post your response no later than Sunday at 11:59pm Dropbox Assignment: Zara s Fast Fashion Review the Zara s case on pages 551-552. Review the video in D2L. How could the Zara s model work in another industry? Be specific about the industry and the process. Second, what are the potential social costs of the Zara s model? Reference p345 and also in the video, note the issue of disposability of clothing. Discuss in detail.

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 9 Reference your sources. Your paper should be approximately 2 pages single spaced. Submit your write up via the Dropbox by 11:59pm Sunday. Course Evaluations: You will have an opportunity to evaluate the course near the end of the session. A link will be sent to your CougarMail that will allow you to access the evaluation. Be assured that the evaluations are anonymous and that your instructor will not be able to see them until after final grades are submitted. Week 7 Communicating Value Readings: Chapters 19-22 Discussion 13: Marketing Communications Mix On page 560 the marketing communications mix is defined in terms of eight modes of communications. These eight models include: Advertising; public relations; sales promotion; events & experiences; online and social media; mobile marketing; direct and database marketing; and personal selling. Select a favorite brand that you have purchased. Find two communications modes used by your chosen brand and share with us what you can from each communication (show links to ads, promotions, PR, etc). How were you influenced by the communication? What other communication mode would you recommend they use and why? Response due by 11:59pm Wednesday night. Discussion 14: Sponsorship: Part Promotion, Part PR, Part Advertising Sponsorship has become an increasing useful form of marketing communications. In a world of cluttered media, sponsorship is highly targeted and gets to potential customers where they live, so to speak. Choose a brand that has chosen to sponsor something (example: Avon and the breast cancer walks). Why do you think they chose to affiliate with this event or property? Who is the target audience and is this a good approach to reaching the target and why? Explain your reasons thoroughly. Post your response no later than 11:59pm Sunday. Dropbox Assignments: Integrated Marketing Communication Don Schultz at Northwestern University came up with the concept of IMC during the early 1990s. It involves the active coordination of all of the communications mix to create a consistent message and to communicate value to the target customer. The eight major elements of marketing communications are described on page 560 in your text. Visit the web site for Mountain Dew and view some commercials for Mountain Dew. Also, visit a grocery store and look for the way Mountain Dew is merchandised. Describe how each communications element has been used to market Mountain Dew. How has the campaign been integrated throughout the various elements? Your report should be 1½ pages, single spaced. It is due by 11:59pm Sunday. Week 8 Conducting Marketing Responsibly for Long-Term Success Readings: Chapter 23 Discussion 15: Ethics and Social Responsibility in Marketing Define the terms ethical marketing and social responsibility in marketing. A useful article is linked here; http://ijbssnet.com/journals/vol_4_no_4_april_2013/13.pdf Discuss how the concepts are different and in some ways similar. Cite a company and or brand you feel is acting in a socially responsible manner and why.

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e Your answers are due by 11:59pm Wednesday Discussion 16: Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Par II On page 684 in your textbook, please read the Starbuck s case. Three questions are noted at the end of the case. Please answer these in the discussion area. Post your response no later than 11:59pm Friday. Paper: Marketing Plan Final Exam The final project for this class is a marketing plan for either a company you work for, a company you wished you worked for, or a start-up company you might like to get going. Your grade for each item will be based upon the thoroughness and completeness of your discussion, your ability to apply the weekly concepts to a real situation of your own choosing, and your ability to be both creative yet grounded in reality in your thinking. Make the plan a workable real life scenario. You will find more information about the elements of the plan and the expectations for the project in the course. Submit to the Dropbox by 11:59pm Friday. The final exam will be similar to the midterm. We will cover Chapters 13-23. Please plan to take the exam sometime between Tuesday and Saturday 11:59pm. The exam will be 0 questions, 80 multiple choice and 20 true-false. Additional information about the exam will be given prior to the exam opening. The final counts for 0 points out of 500 points for the course, or is 20% of your grade. Please contact the instructor with questions or in case of an emergency. Course Policies Student Conduct All Columbia College students, whether enrolled in a land-based or online course, are responsible for behaving in a manner consistent with Columbia College's Student Conduct Code and Acceptable Use Policy. Students violating these policies will be referred to the office of Student Affairs and/or the office of Academic Affairs for possible disciplinary action. The Student Code of Conduct and the Computer Use Policy for students can be found in the Columbia College Student Handbook. The Handbook is available online; you can also obtain a copy by calling the Student Affairs office (Campus Life) at 573-875-7400. The teacher maintains the right to manage a positive learning environment, and all students must adhere to the conventions of online etiquette. Plagiarism Your grade will be based in large part on the originality of your ideas and your written presentation of these ideas. Presenting the words, ideas, or expression of another in any form as your own is plagiarism. Students who fail to properly give credit for information contained in their written work (papers, journals, exams, etc.) are violating the intellectual property rights of the original author. For proper citation of the original authors, you should reference the appropriate publication manual for your degree program or course (APA, MLA, etc.). Violations are taken seriously in higher education and may result in a failing grade on the assignment, a grade of "F" for the course, or dismissal from the College. Collaboration conducted between students without prior permission from the instructor is considered plagiarism and will be treated as such. Spouses and roommates taking the same course should be particularly careful. All required papers may be submitted for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers may be included in the Turnitin.com reference database for the

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 11 purpose of detecting plagiarism. This service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site. Non-Discrimination There will be no discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, ideology, political affiliation, veteran status, age, physical handicap, or marital status. Disability Services Students with documented disabilities who may need academic services for this course are required to register with the Coordinator for Disability Services at (573) 875-7626. Until the student has been cleared through the disability services office, accommodations do not have to be granted. If you are a student who has a documented disability, it is important for you to read the entire syllabus before enrolling in the course. The structure or the content of the course may make an accommodation not feasible. Online Participation You are expected to read the assigned texts and participate in the discussions and other course activities each week. Assignments should be posted by the due dates stated on the grading schedule in your syllabus. If an emergency arises that prevents you from participating in class, please let your instructor know as soon as possible. Attendance Policy Attendance for a week will be counted as having submitted a course assignment for which points have been earned during that week of the session or if the proctoring information has been submitted or the plagiarism quiz taken if there is no other assignment due that week. A class week is defined as the period of time between Monday and Sunday (except for Week 8, when the week and the course will end on Saturday at midnight). The course and system deadlines are all based on the Central Time Zone. Cougar E-mail All students are provided a CougarMail account when they enroll in classes at Columbia College. You are responsible for monitoring e-mail from that account for important messages from the College and from your instructor. You may forward your Cougar e-mail account to another account; however, the College cannot be held responsible for breaches in security or service interruptions with other e-mail providers. Students should use e-mail for private messages to the instructor and other students. The class discussions are for public messages so the class members can each see what others have to say about any given topic and respond. Late Assignment Policy An online class requires regular participation and a commitment to your instructor and your classmates to regularly engage in the reading, discussion and writing assignments. Although most of the online communication for this course is asynchronous, you must be able to commit to the schedule of work for the class for the next eight weeks. You must keep up with the schedule of reading and writing to successfully complete the class. No late assignments will be accepted unless the instructor receives notification of extenuating circumstances prior to the due date. Each student has the responsibility of contacting the teacher if they are unable to complete an assignment by the due date. Late assignments, when accepted, will be graded on a time available basis and will be penalized % of the grade for the item.

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 12 Course Evaluation You will have the opportunity to evaluate the course near the end of the session. A link will be sent to your CougarMail that will allow you to access the evaluation. Be assured that the evaluations are anonymous and that your instructor will not be able to see them until after final grades are submitted. Additional Resources Orientation for New Students This course is offered online, using course management software provided by Desire2Learn and Columbia College. The Student Manual provides details about taking an online course at Columbia College. You may also want to visit the course demonstration to view a sample course before this one opens. Online Tutoring Smarthinking is a free online tutoring service available to all Columbia College students. Smarthinking provides real-time online tutoring and homework help for Math, English, and Writing. Smarthinking also provides access to live tutorials in writing and math, as well as a full range of study resources, including writing manuals, sample problems, and study skills manuals. You can access the service from wherever you have a connection to the Internet. I encourage you to take advantage of this free service provided by the college. Access Smarthinking through CougarTrack under Students->Academics->Academic Resources. Technical Support If you have problems accessing the course or posting your assignments, contact your instructor, the Columbia College Helpdesk, or the D2L Helpdesk for assistance. Contact information is also available within the online course environment. Columbia College Helpdesk: CCHelpDesk@ccis.edu 800-231-2391 ex. 4357 D2L Helpdesk: helpdesk@desire2learn.com 877-325-7778 Grading Criteria Discussion Criteria Description Points # of posts At least one main post and two responses 0.5 Original Response Replies to classmates Demonstrated synthesis of experience, new information, relevant information from the text, and other points of view. Responses contribute substantially to the discussion by highlighting valuable insights or posing questions to classmates. Punctuality All discussion items are complete and have been posted by the deadline. 0.5 Total 5 2 2 Marketing Plan Section Description Points

Columbia College Online Campus P a g e 13 Description Mission and Vision Statements Potential Market Segments Environment Target Market Product and Services Pricing Branding Distribution Strategies Communication Plan Describe the new business. Are you product or service oriented? What is the name of your company? Where are you located? Describe the scope of your business activities and the industry you intend to operate within. (1 page) Develop mission and vision statements for your firm. (1 page) List all potential market segments of interest to your firm. Describe them fully using appropriate descriptive techniques including geographics, demographics and psychographics. Give a rating to each segment for how accessible they are; how substantial they are; and how responsive they might be to your marketing activity. Give reasons for your responses. (2 pages) Detail the macro and micro environments having the most effect on your firms marketing activities. What important trends are occurring in the marketplace? Fully describe the nature of the competitive landscape. (2 pages) Select your target market(s). Why did you choose to serve these markets? Explain your reasoning fully. (1 page) Create your product and services offering for this market. What specific needs will you be fulfilling. Describe in detail the features and associates benefits of your product(s). Tell me why you feel you will be successful. (2 pages) Set your pricing. What goals are you attempting to accomplish with your pricing strategy. Will you be making future pricing adjustments? Detail your thoughts. (1 page) Create a brand image for your offering. Use the elements of value; values; personality; features and benefits as the basis for creating your proposed brand image. Describe your positioning strategy in light of the competitors in your space. Prepare a positioning map as part of the plan. (2 pages) Next, provide your thoughts on distribution strategies. Will you work through intermediaries and if so describe the delivery process in detail. If you will sell direct, describe that process in detail. How will your strategy impact your ability to control your overall marketing effort (discuss). Describe an alternative strategy if your primary strategy should fail. (2 pages) The last element required for this plan is a communication plan. Using all the available tools under the Integrated Marketing Communications discussion, develop a plan to gain the attention, interest, desire and action of your target. (2 pages) Total 0