Assessment focus for the whole term!!

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

This will be accomplished in three stages with a project brief presentation (Assessment 1), a situation analysis report (Assessment 2) and a 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 an Australian-based small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) or organisation (it can be a for-profit enterprise or a not-for-profit organisation) in your local area with which you can regularly interact. Alternatively, an enterprise or organisation in which you currently work is also acceptable. The following companies are excluded: Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Nike, Pepsi Co., Samsung, and Sony or any other multinational companies whose marketing plans are accessible online or through published reports.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

You must gain approval for your Australian-based small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) or organisation in your local area or an enterprise or organisation in which you currently work by the end of week 2: Students need to email the unit coordinator (or their lead lecturer) with a brief description of whom 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 (a 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.

In special circumstances, the unit coordinator (or lead lecturer) may accept only a signed declaration from students that information obtained or presented will only be used for academic purposes and will not be divulged to any other third party without the consent of the owner/manager of the entity.

This is a Work-Integrated Learning unit and as such requires that you work closely with an existing enterprise or organisation throughout the term. The unit coordinator (or lead lecturer) reserves the right to make direct contact with your enterprise or organisation to confirm authorisation to proceed, and that disclosure is restricted.

Assessment Task 1 – Project Brief Presentation

Students are required to develop and present a 5-minute pitch on the enterprise or organisation they have partnered with. Select an enterprise or organisation for which you can readily access marketing information and submit a project brief. The project brief aims to ensure that you have an appropriate enterprise or organisation selected and have gained permission from your unit coordinator (or lead lecturer) and from the enterprise or organisation to continue work.

Your final grade for this assessment comprises your demonstration of both your oral and written communication skills through a PowerPoint presentation. Be professional and creative!

Your project brief will need to address the following criteria:

1. A title slide – your name, the enterprise, or organisation name. If you are including any 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 or organisation, mission statement, corporate objectives (where these are available), brand identity, and an overview of the types of products/services the enterprise or organisation carries.
4. The Pitch slide(s) – here you will discuss your proposed marketing plan for the enterprise or organisation. Indicate whether you are developing a marketing plan for the enterprise or organisation as a whole business (e.g., a marketing plan for the Rockhampton Zoo) or only a part of the enterprise or organisation such as a particular product or service (e.g., a marketing plan for the coffee shop within the Rockhampton Zoo), or a plan to address an acknowledged business issue (e.g., 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 principal data gathering requirements and the outcomes they can expect.
5. A conclusion slide – this is your sales hook for the enterprise or organisation. Provide 3 key benefits that the enterprise or organisation will expect to gain from having a tailored marketing plan specific to their needs.
6. Include (attach) the signed (original) letter from senior management or signed declaration as required.
7. A Reference List slide – minimum of 5 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).

Instructions

• This is an individual assessment (no groups).
• The presentation will be in PowerPoint format with recorded voice-over addressing the 7 criteria listed above.
• Recorded voice-over should be no longer than 5 minutes in duration.
• A written script should be visible for each slide in the add notes section on PowerPoint.
• Submit your PowerPoint presentation through the unit Moodle site.
  

• Title slide (1 mark).
  
• Introduction and company background slides (2 marks).
  
• Pitch and conclusion slides (3 marks).
  
• Voice-over is clear and fluent (1.5 marks).
  
• Evidence of research and referencing (1.5 marks).
  
• Letter of authorisation or signed declaration (1 mark).
• Total: 10 marks.
  

Assessment Task 2 – Situation Analysis Report

Your task now is to develop a situation analysis report for the enterprise or organisation that you selected for your project brief (Assessment 1). The situation analysis report 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.

Your situation analysis report will need to address the following criteria:

1. Structural components – Title page, Table of Contents, Table of Figures & Tables, Reference List, Appendices (where appropriate), and referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).
2. An executive summary – of the report’s findings and key recommendations.
3. An introduction – provide a brief introduction/overview of your enterprise or organisation, the aims of the report and the structure of the report.
4. Internal Analysis – factors within the enterprise or organisation such as its resources, competencies, and competitive advantages currently considered strengths and weaknesses.
5. External Environment analysis – this is the PESTN analysis; includes a focused discussion of the political, economic, sociocultural issues (trends), technological and natural environments associated with the enterprise's or organisation's market environments. Consider shifts in market activity and identify possible current or future opportunities or threats.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. A SWOT analysis – briefly and concisely summarise the strengths and weaknesses from within the enterprise or organisation 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.
9. Conclusion – introduces no new content, summarises the main findings of the report.
10. A Reference List – minimum of 10 references must be used in your report, referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).

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

NOTE: This assessment requires 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.

Instructions

• This is an individual assessment (no groups).
• Situation Analysis Report to be presented as a single Word document (no PDF) that addresses each of the 10 criteria listed above.
• Submit your Word document through the unit Moodle site.

• Executive Summary and Introduction (6 marks).
  
• Internal and external environmental analysis (12 marks).
  
• Customer and competitor analysis (12 marks).
  
• SWOT Analysis (4 marks).
  
• Conclusion (2 marks).
  
• Report structure & Referencing – professional report layout including title page, executive summary, use of appropriate headings and subheadings, Table of contents, etc. (4 marks).
  
• Total: 40 marks.
  

Assessment Task 3 – Marketing Plan

Finalise (as far as possible) an actionable, realistic, marketing plan written as a formal business report for the enterprise or organisation you selected in Assessment 1. Your marketing plan should be 3,500-4,000 words. Remember, your situation analysis report (Assessment 2) will essentially make up the first half of your completed marketing plan.

Your marketing plan will need to address the following criteria:

1. Structural components – Table of Contents, Table of Figures & Tables, Reference List, Appendices (where appropriate), and referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).
2. An executive summary – highlights main findings and recommendations of the marketing plan.
3. An introduction – provides the aim and structure of the marketing plan.
4. A corrected situation analysis – based on Assessment 2 feedback.
5. A product (or brand or company) lifecycle analysis (PLC) – identifying what stage of PLC your enterprise or organisation is currently at.
6. A BCG matrix – showing product position relative to competition, in this case conduct an analysis of your company product(s) or brand(s).
7. An Ansoff analysis – with justification of selected business strategy.
8. A set of at least three (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.
9. 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 a family umbrella branding strategy (including a brand positioning map).
10. Develop a minimum of four (4) strategies – based on your objectives, each strategy should identify a target market segment and a customised marketing mix for that segment.
11. 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.
12. A conclusion – concise summary of the main findings linked to the introduction.
13. Include (attach) the signed (original) authorisation letter from senior management or signed declaration as required.
14. A Reference List – minimum of 10 references must be used in your marketing plan, referenced according to APA referencing requirements (See the APA Guide provided in Moodle).
15. Any appendices.

Instructions

• This is an individual assessment (no groups).
• Marketing Plan to be presented as a single Word document (no PDF) that addresses each of the 15 criteria listed above.
• Submit your Word document through the unit Moodle site.

• Executive Summary and Introduction – covering the entire document (5 marks).
  
• Revised and improved situation analysis (2.5 marks).
  
• PLC, BCG matrix & Ansoff analysis (10 marks).
  
• Three (3) main marketing objectives, branding strategy and brand positioning map (12.5 marks).
  
• Target market, 4 strategies and a framework of marketing metrics (12.5 marks).
  
• Conclusion (2.5 marks).
  
• Report structure & Referencing – professional report layout including title page, executive summary, use of appropriate headings and subheadings, Table of contents, etc (5 marks).
• Total: 50 marks.