Submission Due date: Friday Week 3; 9:00PM AEST

Weighting: 20%

Length: 10 minute oral presentation

• All students to submit PowerPoint Slides (or similar) and script for a 10 minute presentation online via Moodle.
• Internal students will present their proposal as a 10 minute presentation in workshops during week 4 of the term.
• Distance Education students will record a 10 minute voice over with their slides uploaded into Moodle (by Friday of week 3).

Assessment focus for the whole term

Your assessment this term is to develop a complete marketing plan for an 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, Pepsi Co., Telstra, Optus, or other large national or multinational companies. These businesses are simply too large to enable you to develop an adequate marketing plan within the 12 weeks available.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The unit assessment is contingent upon receipt of a signed letter (on corporate letterhead) from a senior manager of the selected enterprise or organisation. 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.

You must gain approval for your company selection from your lecturer (internal students) or from the unit coordinator (Distance Education students).

The unit coordinator reserves the right to make direct contact to confirm authorisation to proceed and that disclosure is restricted.

TASK ASSESSMENT 1 – PROJECT PROPOSAL:

Select a business for which you can readily access marketing information and submit a project proposal. The project proposal 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 proposal comprises:

• A title slide – your name, the company name, etc. Do not include any company logos (unless you have referenced these appropriately!!!). Give your project a title!
• An introduction slide – provide a brief overview of your enterprise or organisation, the aims of the project proposal presentation and the structure of the presentation.
• 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.

• Marketing Plan Proposal slide – 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), etc. 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.
• 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.

Attachments:

1. Include (attach) the signed (original) letter from senior management as required.
2. A Reference List slide – references must be included throughout your slides (as regular in-text citations) 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).

Submission information:

• Internal students will upload a copy of your powerpoint slides, your presentation script, and a PDF copy of your signed letter of approval from your enterprise. You will then present your pitch in tutorial classes in week 4 of the term.
• Distance education students will upload your powerpoint slides with an audio voice-over of your presentation, your presentation script, and a PDF copy of your signed letter of approval from your enterprise.

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.

A1 Marking Criteria—Project Proposal

• Title Slide - nil
• Introduction, overview of your presentation Slide 5
• Company Background slide 10
• Marketing Plan Proposal Slide(s) 25
• Conclusion 'hook' & 3 key benefits Slide 10

Attachments:

• Reference List Slide(s) 10 (in-text citations are expected throughout your slides)
• Letter of authorisation 20

Professionalism:

• Professionalism (including standard of dress, delivery, audience appeal), presentation and quality of visual/written slides, and oral presentation skills 20

Total awarded out of 100 marks.

Total will be reduced to a grade out of 20.

Submission Due date: Friday Week 7; 9:00PM AEST

Weighting: 30%

Length: 3,000 words (submitted online via Moodle)

A2 TASK - 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 (see Assessment 3 for further information). In formulating the situation analysis provide:

1. An executive summary of the report’s findings and recommendations for key areas for development in the final marketing plan (HINT: consider your SWOT analysis as an excellent source of summary and recommendations for the completed marketing plan directions!!!).

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

• Company background and history: mission statement, corporate objectives (where these are available), brand identity, product or service portfolio overview; much of this information is from your project proposal and should take into account any feedback you have received for corrections, etc.

3. Internal Environment analysis

• 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) – consider everything from yellow pages 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 focussed discussion of the economic, legal, political, technological, social/cultural issues (trends) 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 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 do they buy, 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, etc.

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, etc.

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.

Attachments:

• Include (attach) the signed (original) letter from senior management as required.
• Reference list using APA referencing process

Professionalism:

You need to demonstrate excellence in report writing and communication skills including:

• 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).
• Excellent written presentation skills - English expression, grammar, syntax etc.
• Analytical skills - demonstrate through illustrations, graphs, tables, charts, report writing, etc your capacity to analyse the situation and deliver a strong SWOT analysis.

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!!!

A2 Marking Criteria - Situation Analysis

1. Executive Summary (10 marks)
2. Introduction – overview, report aim, structure, scope, company background (5 marks)
3. Internal environmental analysis (10 marks)
4. External environmental analysis (15 marks)
5. Customer analysis (15 marks)
6. Competitor analysis (15 marks)
7. SWOT Analysis (10 marks)
8. Attachments: Letter of approval/authorisation; reference list (10 marks)
9. Professionalism: 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). Excellent written presentation skills - English expression, grammar, syntax etc. Analytical skills - demonstrate through illustrations, graphs, tables, charts, report writing, etc your capacity to analyse the situation and deliver a strong SWOT analysis. (10 marks)

Submission Due date: Friday Week 12 (completed marketing plan uploaded into moodle) by 9:00PM AEST; presentations will be held during weeks 11 and 12 to be advised. 

Weighting: 50% (30% for the Report component; 20% for the presentation component)

Length: 2,000-2,500 words Report (not including the material from assessments 1 & 2 submitted online via Moodle); 15 minute presentation

TASK ASSESSMENT 3 – MARKETING PLAN REPORT & PRESENTATION

Finalise (as far as possible) an actionable, realistic, marketing plan for the enterprise or organisation you selected in Assessment 1.

NOTE:

The corrected draft of Assessment 2 must be submitted as the first half of Assessment 3 (it DOES NOT count as part of the word limit for assessment item 3). Turnitin results will only be taken into consideration for new material added to the report so your Turnitin score based on material from A1 and A2 submissions of your own previously submitted work in this unit will not be included in our grading for your A3 paper.

The marketing plan is to be presented as one single, complete document including the following sections:

1. Executive Summary (covering the entire marketing plan)
2. Introduction (A2)
3. Situational analysis (A2),
4. Marketing Decision Tools (A3)
5. Marketing objectives (A3)
6. Marketing strategies (A3)
7. Implementation plans and marketing metrics framework (A3)
8. Attachment of your letter of approval
9. Reference List
10. Appendices

In formulating your complete marketing plan report 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.

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

3. Situation Analysis

• Insert a corrected final version of the situation analysis (assessment 2) incorporating any feedback provided

4. Marketing Decision Tools

• A product (or brand or company) lifecycle analysis (PLC).
• 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).
• An Ansoff analysis

5. Marketing Objectives

• Develop 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 (where these have been identified).

6. Marketing Strategies

• Develop a brand positioning strategy statement and a brand positioning map. 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.

• Develop a minimum of 4 marketing strategies linking specifically to one or more of your marketing objectives based on any/all of the 7 Ps. Each of these strategies should identify a specific target market segment and a customised marketing mix for that segment.

7. Implementation plans and marketing metrics framework

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

8. Reference List

9. Attachments:

• Include (attach) the signed (original) letter from senior management as required.
• Any appendices.

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).

PRESENTATION

In weeks 11 and/or 12 of the term, students are required to present a 15 minute overview of their marketing plan in a professional seminar delivery. This may include delivery to Faculty, Students and Industry partners where appropriate.

Further information will be provided in Week 4 and 5 of the term in Moodle once student numbers and times/dates have been finalised.

A3 Marking Criteria—Marketing Plan & Presentation

1. Executive Summary – covering the entire document (20 marks)
2. Introduction – overview, report aim, structure and scope (0 marks)
3. Product Life cycle analysis (or brand life cycle) (10 marks)
4. BCG matrix & Ansoff analysis (10 marks)
5. 3 main marketing objectives (as a minimum - based on the PLC, BCG and Ansoff analysis). (15 marks)
6. Branding strategy and brand positioning map (10 marks)
7. 4 Marketing Strategies - Selection of target market and development of at least 4 strategies based on the objectives and considering the marketing mix. (15 marks)
8. Implementation plans and framework of marketing metrics. (10 marks)
9. Referencing using correct APA format. (10 marks)

10. Attachments:

    • Letter of authorisation attached
    • Appendices (as needed)

11. Professionalism: professional report layout and style including title page, executive summary, use of appropriate headings and sub headings, Table of contents, Tables of figures and tables, English expression and grammar, creativity, use of tables, charts, graphs, analytical skills, communication skills. (10 marks)

Total for Written Marketing Plan Report to be marked out of 100.

Marks will be reduced to a Grade out of 30.

A3 Oral Presentation Marking Criteria

Professionalism and Presentation skills: Presentation was Engaging, well presented, excellent voice clarity, pace, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar (40 marks)

Content: Material was engaging, used appropriate graphics and illustrations, provided clear, achievable marketing plan overview for the enterprise (60 marks)

Total Grade for Presentation 100

Marks will be reduced to a Grade out of 20.