Wordcount: 2500 words maximum. No appendices or contents pages are required.
Value: 50% of the total module marks
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: MARKETING REPORT ON (COMPANY NAME)
You have been asked to produce a report that explores an organisation’s marketing environment and its marketing responses to that environment.
Choose a company from the following list.
o Appliances Online (AO)
o Hotel Chocolat
o Wonga
o MAC cosmetics
The report must be your own individual work and there should be no evidence of collusion or collaborative work with other students.
The report will contain the following 5 sections:
Task One (macro environment)
Produce an analysis of the macro environment for the company. Identify at least 3 major external factors that could help or hinder the progress of this business. You should refer to at least 2 credible research sources to justify your choice. Explain what impact these factors are likely to have on the company’s marketing programme. Include an infographic that describes the market, using relevant data you have researched.
Task Two (the target customer)
Identify one customer profile. Paint a picture of what a typical customer looks like for this company by using behavioural, demographic, geographic and lifestyle segmentation. Describe the behaviour this customer might go through when purchasing a product or service from this company based on the 5 stages of consumer buyer behaviour. Use relevant research or theory to support your argument.
Task Three (product and price)
Produce two perceptual maps that show the positioning of your company and at least four other competitors. One map must have the axes ‘price’ and ‘quality’, the other can have axes of your choice but not ‘price’ and ‘quality’. Justify, with reference to at least 2 credible research sources, why you have positioned the company and its competitors in the way you have.
Task Four (growth strategies and market research)
Using Ansoff’s Matrix choose one of the strategies for growing the business. Explain briefly, using relevant research into the company, why you have chosen this strategy. Write a market research plan which will help the company to refine this strategy using the template provided.
Task Five (communication)
Write a press release to announce your new marketing strategy in Marketing Week. The press release should describe the marketing programme including how you will implement the 4Ps. Remember who the audience is for this communication.
Report wordcount
Your report should not be more than 2500 words.
Marking criteria
Task One
Did the student:
Identify at least 3 macroenvironmental factors?
Explain the impact these factors would have on the company’s marketing programme?
Justify the inclusion of the factors by using at least 2 credible research sources?
Include a graphic representation of relevant data that describes the market?
10%
Task Two
Did the student:
Use behavioural, demographic, geographic and lifestyle segmentation to describe the customer?
Describe the customer’s behaviour when buying the company’s product, using the 5 stage model?
10%
Task Three:
Did the student:
Produce two different perceptual maps including the company and at least four of its competitors?
Justify the positioning of the company using at least 2 credible research sources?
10%
Task Four:
Did the student:
Choose a growth strategy and explain it?
Create a market research plan for the strategy?
10%
Task Five:
Did the student:
Write a press release describing to the marketing community what the implementation plans are for product, place price and promotion of the product?
10%
Critical Evaluation
Did the student:
Explain and justify (rather than just describe) what was required in each task?
20%
Integration of Research. Literature and Theory
Did the student:
Use valid, recent, reliable and scholarly research sources to support the argument?
Connect the research or theory with the commercial practice of the business under review?
20%
Presentation
Did the student:
Present the assignment in a report form, using section headings and paragraphs?
Lay the report out to a professional standard with high quality graphical information?
Write in clear, concise English, free from spelling, grammar and punctuation errors?
Write in the third person, free from personal bias or opinion?
Use the Harvard Referencing Protocol in both the body of the report and in the reference section?
Keep to the wordcount?
10%
TOTAL
100%
Tasks 1, 2, 3 and 4 should include relevant sources of research
All student work needs to be of a high academic standard, in terms of written English and use of the Harvard Referencing System (HRS). This forms part of the UH Grading Criteria. Mark schemes in Module Guides provide additional detail on what, specifically, is required of students in each module’s assessment. Students should refer to their Programme Handbook for more details on the UH Grading Criteria and the requirement to use the HRS.
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