Four media articles will be provided on the Moodle site in week 1. For this assessment, each student will choose any TWO of the four articles provided and write a reflective analysis. This is an individual assessment with a maximum word limit of 600 words for each article analysis (1,200 words in total for both articles).

In analysing the two chosen articles, the emphasis is on identifying the marketing implications of the events or issues described in the selected articles. 

For each of the two selected articles, students are to prepare a write-up (in .doc or .docx format) answering the following question:

What are the implications of the events/incidents/issues in the articles from a marketing perspective and how will these impact (positively or negatively) relevant stakeholders?

The write-up for each article should be presented in the following format:

1. Concise summary of the key issues illustrated in the article.

2. Explanation of why the issues illustrated in the articles are important.

3. Discussion of implications of these issues from a marketing perspective.

Provide a list of at least 4 citations and references for your reflective analysis of each article (that is 8 relevant references in total for both articles). The references should consist of published academic and research papers and textbooks in the write-up to support key points. Ensure that your references are relevant to the issues discussed. You should also reference the chosen articles in the main submission document with the correct URL in the reference list section (this is additional to your academic references). Referencing should follow the APA style.

The analysis and write-up of your two chosen articles is due in week 6. Each article analysis submission is worth 10% equating to a total of 20% of the semester’s mark for the unit. Tutorial class activities in weeks 2 and 3 are designed to assist students in preparing for their week 6 submission.

Students must be prepared to discuss their analysis of the selected two articles during tutorial classes in weeks 4 and 5 respectively. Distance students will discuss their analysis of the articles in the allocated Moodle discussion forum in weeks 4 and 5, respectively.

Any assessment with a ‘Turnitin’ score of more than 20% will be checked by the marker and unit coordinator for potential plagiarism issues although it may not necessarily mean that you have plagiarised. If there is a substantial similarity score in the ‘Turnitin’ report, your assessment will be investigated for plagiarism and could be forwarded to an appropriate office/authority.

A brief marking criteria is provided below. A more detailed marking rubric will be provided on Moodle.

• Summary of key issues (10%)
• Explanations of issues’ importance (20%)
• Reflective analysis (50%)
• Writing style (10%)
• Evidence of research (10%)

Penalties apply for exceeding word limit (1% mark will be deducted from the total mark for every 100 words over the allowed 1,200 words limit).

Penalties apply for late submission (5% mark will be deducted from the total mark per day unless an approved extension has been granted).

Students are required to choose ONE of four businesses/products (a list of businesses/products will be provided on Moodle). This assessment requires students to work individually on their selected business/product to create a comprehensive strategic marketing plan with a maximum word limit of 2,500. Your assessment should be an application of relevant marketing concepts learnt in the unit. There is no need to go into details about explaining marketing concepts, rather it should be an applied discussion (i.e. do not provide definitions and descriptions of relevant concepts, instead you are required to apply those to your selected business/product; you will be assessed on the quality of your conducted analysis).

Please upload the assessment through the appropriate Moodle submission link. Each assessment must be uploaded as a .doc or .docx file (word file). 

Any assessment with a ‘Turnitin’ similarity score of more than 25% will be checked by the marker for plagiarism although it may not necessarily mean that you have plagiarised. If there is a substantial similarity score in the ‘Turnitin’ report, your assessment will be investigated for plagiarism and could be forwarded to an appropriate office/authority. 

Structure of the report:

Title page: The title page will include the title of your assignment, name of the business/product you prepared your marketing plan for, your name, student ID number, lecturer/tutor name, and unit name and code.

Table of contents: The table of contents will present each section of the report, including sub-headings, with their appropriate page number(s). Sections should be numbered with page number (e.g. 1.0 Introduction on page 1). Pages prior to the introduction should use lower case Roman numerals such as i, ii, iii, iv.

Executive summary: The executive summary contains the key points of the whole report in 3-5 paragraphs written on a single page. This is not an introduction to your assignment, ensure to present a summary of key findings of the entire report. 

Introduction: The introduction section should provide background information of the selected company and its product or service.

Situation analysis: This section should include a PESTEL analysis, a competitor analysis, and SWOT analysis.

Customer analysis: Discussion of the segmentation, targeting and positioning approach. Discuss the potential customer segments for your product or service and which one(s) you wish to target with good justifications. Also, discuss the desired positioning for the product or service and develop a clear positioning statement.

Problem Statement: Clearly identify the problems the product will face when introduced in the Australian market in 2019 based on the situation and customer analysis. Is it lack of awareness, pricing, distribution or other problems?

Objectives: Set 3 to 5 marketing objectives. Relate the objectives to your problem statement, situation and customer analysis. All objectives should be described using the SMART approach. 

Marketing mix strategy: Should cover specifics of the product, price, promotion and place aspects.

Campaign evaluation: This section should cover specific effectiveness measures for each strategy, overall control measures for the marketing plan, and contingency actions should also be identified.

Budget allocation: Your budget allocation should be reasonable. It should also linked to the objectives and the marketing mix strategy.

Conclusion: Includes a summary of the key points. 

Evidence of research: Provide a list of at least 15 (fifteen) citations and references of relevant published academic and research papers, textbooks and authentic internet sources. Referencing should follow the APA style. You will be assessed on the quality and integration of research in the writeup to support key points. Any website which is used to find statistical information is also considered as part of evidence of research. Useful websites include Australian Bureau of Statistics, Austrade, CIA Factbook, Doing Business and any state or Commonwealth Authority websites.

Report format and writing style: Use of headings, sub headings, cohesion of paragraphs need to be of high quality. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are expected to be of exceptional standard. The report is very professionally presented with superior layout and font and heading styles. Language used, sentence construction, grammar and spelling are very professional with no easily discernible errors. Professional structure, guiding the reader through a logical analysis.

You can use the example given on pages 69-73 in the textbook as a guide. However, it is highly recommended to check other sources provided on the unit’s Moodle page for examples of marketing plans.The preparation for this assessment involves extensive research and you will need to start working on this assessment as early as possible.

A brief marking criteria is provided below. A more detailed marking rubric will be provided on Moodle.

• Introductory section  (10%)
• Situation and customer analysis incl problem statement  (20%)
• Objectives and marketing strategy  (20%)
• Evaluation and budget, and conclusion  (20%)
• Evidence of research and referencing  (20%)
• Report format and writing style  (10%)

Penalties apply for exceeding word limit (1% mark will be deducted from the total mark for every 100 words over the allowed 2,500 words limit).

Penalties apply for late submission (5% mark will be deducted from the total mark per day unless an approved extension has been granted).