Assessment focus for the whole term!!

Your assessment this term is to develop a complete marketing plan for a small to medium sized enterprise or organisation in your local area or an enterprise or organisation for which you currently work.

This will be accomplished in three stages with a project brief (Assessment 1), a situation analysis (Assessment 2) and the completed marketing plan (Assessment 3). Before you begin, ensure that you understand the requirements for each item as common data from all assessments will be integrated into your final marketing plan. Choose a small to medium sized (SME) enterprise or organisation (it can be a for-profit enterprise or a not-for-profit organisation) with which you can regularly interact – an enterprise or organisation in which you currently work is acceptable providing it is not excluded. The following companies are excluded: McDonalds, Coca Cola or Pepsi Co. or other multinational companies whose plans are accessible online or through published reports.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

You must gain approval for your company selection by end of week 2: internal students need to obtain an approval from their lecturer; Distance Education students need to email to unit coordinator with a brief description of the company they are planning to do their marketing plan for. The unit assessment is contingent upon receipt of a signed authorisation letter (on corporate letterhead) from a senior manager of the selected enterprise or organisation (template will be provided on Moodle). The letter needs to confirm that management is aware of your involvement in obtaining primary source data to develop a marketing plan, and that no part of the work is to be presented for any other purpose other than fulfilling the learning requirements of this unit. This is a Work Integrated Learning unit and as such requires that you work closely with an existing enterprise throughout the term. The unit coordinator reserves the right to make direct contact with your enterprise to confirm authorisation to proceed and that disclosure is restricted. 

Assessment Task 1 – Project Brief

Students are required to develop and present a 5-minute pitch for a real life business that they partnered with. Select a business for which you can readily access marketing information and submit a project brief. The project brief aims to ensure that you have an appropriate company selection and have gained permission both from your lecturer and from the enterprise to continue work.

The project brief comprises:

1. A title slide – your name, the company name. If you are including any company logos ensure to reference these appropriately. Give your project a title!

2. An introduction slide – provide a brief overview of your enterprise or organisation, the aims of the project brief presentation and the structure of the presentation.

3. A Company Background slide – this can include a brief historical background of the enterprise, mission statement, corporate objectives (where these are available), brand identity, and an overview of the types of products/services the enterprise carries.

4. The Pitch slide(s) – here you will discuss your proposed marketing plan for the enterprise. Indicate whether you are developing a marketing plan for the enterprise as a whole business (eg. a marketing plan for the Rockhampton Zoo) or only a part of the enterprise such as a particular service or product (eg. a marketing plan for the coffee shop within the Rockhampton zoo), or a plan to address an acknowledged business issue (eg. a plan to implement and market a new exhibit and enclosure extensions at the Rockhampton Zoo to increase tourist traffic and rebuild the zoo’s image after a natural disaster). Include an outline of the key sections of the marketing plan focusing on what your client should expect to receive in terms of the principle data gathering requirements and the outcomes they can expect.

5. A conclusion slide – this is your sales hook for the enterprise. Provide 3 key benefits that the enterprise will expect to gain from having a tailored marketing plan specific to their enterprise needs.

6. Include (attach) the signed (original) letter from senior management as required.

7. A Reference List slide – references must be included in your slides but you don’t need to say these in your presentation or voice-over. A reference list must be included as your last slide referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).

Grading information:

Your grade for this assessment is comprised of your demonstration of both your oral and written communication skills through your powerpoint slides and in your oral presentation of the information. Be professional and creative!

• title slide (10%)
• introduction and company background slides (20%)
• pitch and conclusion slides (30%)
• oral presentation skills (15%)
• evidence of research and referencing (15%)
• letter of authorisation (10%)

Assessment Task 2 – Situation Analysis

The task is now to develop a situation analysis for the enterprise or organisation that you selected for your project proposal. The situation analysis will make up the first half of your completed marketing plan (Assessment 3). Required length of the situation analysis report is 1,500-2,000 words. Ensure to adhere to the length requirement. Submit via Moodle in .doc or .docx format.

In formulating the situation analysis provide:

1. An executive summary of the report’s findings and recommendations for key areas for the final marketing plan (not an introduction, ensure to present key findings of your situation analysis report).

Structural components such as: A Table of Contents, Table of Figures & Tables, Reference List, Appendices (where appropriate) referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).

2. An introduction – provide a brief introduction/overview of your enterprise or organisation, the aims of the report and the structure of the report. 

3. Internal Environment analysis

• Company background and history, description of the enterprise or organisation based on any feedback received from your project brief, mission statement, corporate objectives (where these are available), brand identity, product or service portfolio overview; and the scope of the marketing plan – all this information is from your project brief and should take into account any feedback you have received for corrections, etc.
• Internal resources assessment – Human Resources, Financial, Management and Operational capabilities that will support (or hinder) your marketing activities. Assess the internal resources (financial, human and operational) of the company and current or future strengths and weaknesses. Information must be current and accurate to ensure the final draft is feasible.
• Overview of current (or previous) marketing mix strategies (4Ps or 7Ps) – consider everything from yellow pages to social media activity; use of corporate logo on stationery and uniforms; internet activity; traditional marketing communications (TV, radio, etc); product range; pricing; and distribution activities. Look for strengths and weaknesses.

4. External Environment analysis - this is the PESTN analysis; includes a focused discussion of the political, economic, socio-cultural issues (trends), technological and natural environments associated with the company’s market environments. Consider shifts in market activity and identify possible current or future opportunities or threats.

5. A detailed customer analysis - include target market segmentation (demographics, psychographics, and so forth). Look at the basis of transactions and exchanges with the firm. Who buys, where, when and how, what is bought, to what level, and reasons for purchase. Do purchases relate to discretionary spending or not? Identify any opportunities or threats such as changes in customer demographics.

6. A detailed competitor analysis - identify local, direct and indirect competition. Determine relative (or estimated) market share for your principal competitors. Identify the basis of competition. Develop a matrix where possible to compare the features and benefits of products/product lines between your selected entity and at least 3 primary (main) competitors. Again, identify any opportunities or threats such as changes in competitors, new competition, changes in market share.

7. A SWOT analysis – briefly and concisely summarise the strengths and weaknesses from within the company and any opportunities and threats from the external environment, competitor and customer analyses. Make sure that your SWOT analysis is reflective of previous sections of the report, i.e. internal, external, customer and competitors analyses. 

8. Conclusion – introduces no new content, summarises the main findings of the report.

Make sure to include (attach) the signed (original) authorisation letter from senior management as required.

NOTE: This assessment requires a great deal of time and effort and you will need to critically analyse, interpret and incorporate a large amount of information. Consider very carefully how best to display your information in tables, charts, graphs etc. Don’t simply rely on narratives, sentences and paragraphs. You need to be concise and put your information forward in meaningful and visually useful ways so your readers (clients) can quickly and effectively understand your discussion without adding to your word count.

A brief marking criteria is provided below. A more detailed marking criteria will be provided in Moodle:

• Executive Summary and Introduction (15%)
• Internal and external environmental analysis (30%)
• Customer and competitor analysis (30%)
• SWOT Analysis (10%)
• Conclusion (5%)
• Report structure & Referencing – professional report layout including title page, executive summary, use of appropriate headings and sub headings, Table of contents, etc. (10%)
• Letter of authorisation (P - Included; F – Not included)

Finalise (as far as possible) an actionable, realistic, marketing plan for the enterprise or organisation you selected in Assessment 1. Your marketing report should be 2,000 words (not including the material from assessment 1 & 2). Submit via Moodle in .doc or .docx format.

In formulating your complete marketing plan provide the following:

1. An executive summary which highlights the key features (main findings and recommendations) of the report (NB: not an introduction). Highlight the major issues or findings linked to any recommendations to ensure both the problems and opportunities at the core of the plan are addressed.

Structural components such as: A Table of Contents, Table of Figures & Tables, Reference List, Appendices (where appropriate) referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).

2. An introduction which provides the aim and structure of the complete plan

3. A corrected situation analysis (assessment 2 incorporating feedback)

4. A product (or brand or company) lifecycle analysis (PLC) identifying what stage of PLC your company is currently at.

5. A BCG matrix showing product position relative to competition. While the BCG matrix is usually for SBU portfolio analysis, in this case conduct an analysis of your company product(s) or brand(s).

6. An Ansoff analysis with justification of selected business strategy

7. A set of at least 3 principal marketing objectives (based on your strategic analysis of the enterprise’s position from the outcomes of the PLC, the BCG and the Ansoff analysis and considering the enterprise’s corporate mission and objectives).

8. Develop a brand positioning strategy. Discuss whether you will develop a brand identity for an individual product or product portfolio or whether you will use family umbrella branding strategy. Develop a brand positioning map.

9. Develop a minimum of 4 strategies based on your objectives. Each strategy should identify a target market segment and a customised marketing mix for that segment.

10. Develop a framework of marketing metrics for your strategies – determine how you will measure success of your strategies and control the outcomes to ensure you reach your objectives.

11. A conclusion - concise summary of the main findings linked to introduction.

12. Include (attach) the signed (original) authorisation letter from senior management as required.

13. Reference List that lists all and only references used in the report.

14. Any appendices.

A brief marking criteria is provided below. A more detailed marking criteria will be provided in Moodle:

• Executive Summary and Introduction – covering the entire document (10%)
• Revised and improved situation analysis (5%)
• PLC, BCG matrix & Ansoff analysis (20%)
• 3 main marketing objectives, branding strategy and brand positioning map  (25%)
• Target market, 4 strategies and a framework of marketing metrics (25%)
• Conclusion (5%)
• Report structure & Referencing – professional report layout including title page, executive summary, use of appropriate headings and sub headings, Table of contents, etc (10%)
• Letter of authorisation (P- Included; F – Not included)