Marketing

Overview

Over the course of the semester you will prepare a marketing plan that will demonstrate your ability to apply marketing concepts to a real-world product or service. This assessment is in lieu of a final examination and was designed to measure your performance on all course learning outcomes. 

You will submit your Marketing Plan Term Project in two parts:

Part 1: Analysis of the current situation (30 percent of final grade)

Part 2: Marketing strategy, budgets, and controls (20 percent of final grade)
(Part 2 will also include an executive summary, Part 1, incorporation of feedback from your faculty member, all footnotes, and a bibliography.)

Your marketing plan will take the form of a Word document.

You will be graded on the following criteria (refer to grading rubrics for more detailed information):

the degree to which you demonstrate your ability to conduct relevant external research

the degree to which you demonstrate application of the marketing principles covered throughout the course
the degree to which you exhibit critical-thinking skills
the degree to which you present a professional final product

Marketing Plan Term Project Requirements

Step 1: Select a Product or Service.

Due: End of week 2 (check course schedule for specific due date)

You will select a company and one of its specific products or services, for which you will prepare a marketing plan. Submit your choice to your faculty member for approval no later than the end of week 1.

Your choice of a product or service is important. Here are some tips to help you select an appropriate product or service:

Select a consumer product or service that you or your family uses regularly. This will help give you insight into customer behaviors in the purchase decision and will also make it more interesting to work on because you like the product or service.
Do not select an industrial or business-to-business good or service.
Do not select a nutritional water product, because it would be too close to the example in the textbook.
Select a product or service that is large enough to have something written about it or its industry. This will help you find industry trends and competitive information via library research.
Select a publicly held company’s product or service. Again, there is more information available that will bring depth to your analysis. You will need revenue data, market-share data, or other measures to compare against competitive offerings.
Stay with nationally known brand names so that your faculty member has some knowledge of your choice and therefore can be more helpful to you.
Select a product or service that has some competition.
Do not select a product or service idea. This must be a currently marketed product or service.
You may consider selecting your own company if it meets the requirements above. If not, do not attempt it.
Keep it simple. Do not try to tackle an entire conglomerate or company with multiple business units.

Here are some examples of products and services (or combination of product and service) that would be good choices for your Marketing Plan Term Project:

A soft drink or cola product (e.g., Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Evian bottled water, Gatorade)
A national restaurant chain (e.g., Applebee’s, Panera Bread)
Personal-care products (e.g., Colgate toothpaste, Clinique, Olay, Johnson & Johnson Baby Care) Here you can choose the entire product line that is related. In other words, you would discuss all Colgate toothpaste product-line extensions, such as whiteners, cavity fighters, “total,” children’s toothpaste, etc.
High-tech consumer products (e.g., 3D televisions, notepads, cell phones 
A service (e.g., H&R Block, a credit card, an investment firm, an insurance company)
Specific automobile models (e.g., Ford Fiesta, Toyota Prius, BMW’s M3 series)

Before the end of Week 2 prepare a one paragraph description of your choice, link the product’s website, and submit it to your faculty member in the Marketing Plan Company Selection Discussion by the end of Week 2. Your faculty member will approve your choice or make recommendations for you to consider.

Step 2: Research your product or service.

Try to complete most of your research by end of week 3.You will probably have to look for more sources as you begin to write. Your sources will be most useful in Part 1, where you are analyzing the current situation. Research will be incorporated throughout your presentation and need not be submitted separately.

Look for academic sources that use a review or editing process. This means that, although you will be using the company’s website, it should only provide background on the product; it should not be the primary source for your analysis. Most of your information will come from databases (e.g., Hoover’s), popular business publications (e.g., the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, industry trade journals), and government data (e.g., census data and trends).

You can use the UMUC virtual library in your online classroom. If you need help finding information, be sure to contact a virtual librarian or ask your faculty member for help.

Step 3: Prepare Marketing Plan Term Project, Part 1 (worth 30% of final grade)

Due: End of week 5 (check course schedule for specific due date)

A. Current Marketing Situation

1. Market description

Segmentation (describe target market using segmentation characteristics)
Marketing targeting strategy
Value proposition
Factors influencing consumer behavior of the primary target market
Buyer decision process of the primary target market

2. Product review

Levels of product/service
Type of product/service
Product/service life cycle
Benefits/features analysis
Differentiation
Branding strategy

3. Competitive review

Competitive analysis
Market share
Competitive positions and roles
Strategic sweet spot
Positioning

Distribution review
Current supply chain members and roles
Value-delivery network analysis
Current type of distribution strategy

B. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis (SWOT)

Microenvironments
Macroenvironments

Step 4: Prepare Marketing Plan Term Project, Part 2 (worth 20% of final grade)

Due: End of week 8 (check course schedule for specific due date)

Incorporate all comments provided by your faculty member in Part 1; continue with your marketing plan by completing the following sections:

C. Objectives and Issues

1. Statement of marketing objective(s) (for first year only)

2. Issues that may hinder marketing objectives

D. Marketing Strategy Recommendations

1. Positioning strategy

2. Product/Branding strategy

3. Pricing strategy

4. Distribution strategy

5. Marketing Communications objectives

6. Marketing Research

E. Action Programs

1. IMC

2. Message design, content, and structure

3. Media choices

4. Promotion mix tools

F. Budgets

1. Objective/task method

G. Controls

1. Metrics needed to monitor marketing plan progress

Finished product: Put it all together by incorporating changes to Part 1 as suggested by your faculty member’s feedback, and then add your title page, an index , an executive summary, endnotes, and a bibliography.

Marketing Plan Term Project Submission Requirements for Parts 1 and 2

Length. Minimally, you should have at least one paragraph per topic, plus your title page and source page(s). General length guidelines are:

Part 1: Approximately 25-30 paragraphs.

Reference numbers. Include the reference numbers noted in the outline for both Part 1 and Part 2 in your paper. (e.g., A.1.a; A.1.b; A.1.c, and so forth). 

Professionalism. Be sure to carefully edit your paper so that it is free of writing and typing errors. Sentence structure and grammar matter. This is a business document. The words and phrases you use should be business-like. Stay in “role”. You will be writing as the Marketing VP of your company and your document will be read by the CEO and other executives of the company. This will be part of your grade for both Part 1 and Part 2.

Citations and Bibliography. Use an acceptable style guide (e.g., APA or MLA) for citations. See UMUC’s library website for useful citation tools.

Submit for grading. Save your Word document and upload it to your Assignments Dropbox by the due date specified in the course schedule for Part 1 and Part 2.

Overview of Grading Rubric for Marketing Plan Term Project, Part 1

Content


Points

A. Current Marketing Situation (65 points)

1. Market description


20

2. Product review


20

3. Competitive review


20

4. Distribution review


5

B. SWOT Analysis (20 points)


20

Overall presentation/use of academic research (15 points)


15

TOTAL


100



Detailed Grading Criteria for Marketing Plan Term Project, Part 1

A. Current Marketing Situation (65 points maximum)

1. Market description (Section A.1, a–e) (20 points maximum)

Segmentation
Marketing targeting strategy
Value proposition
Factors influencing consumer’s behavior
Buyer decision process

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

18–20


Student demonstrates superior understanding of the marketing concepts and can apply them to the product/service scenario. Represents A-level work.

16–17


Student demonstrates good understanding of the marketing concepts and can generally apply them to the product/service scenario; may have a weak analysis of one or two of the concepts. Represents B-level work.

14–15


Student demonstrates an average understanding of the marketing concepts, may not be able to apply them in all instances, or offers analysis that is inconsistent or too generalized. Represents C-level work.

12–13


Student demonstrates a poor understanding of the marketing concepts or misses some of the concepts, relies too heavily on text language, cannot apply concepts to the product/service situation. Represents D-level work.

0–11


Student does not demonstrate an understanding of the marketing concepts. Represents failing work.

2. Product review (Section A.2, a–f) (20 points maximum)

Levels of product/service
Type of product/service
Product/service life cycle
Benefits/features analysis
Differentiation
Branding

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

18–20


Student demonstrates superior understanding of the marketing concepts and can apply them to the product/service scenario. Represents A-level work.

16–17


Student demonstrates good understanding of the marketing concepts and can generally apply them to the product/service scenario; may have a weak analysis of one or two of the concepts. Represents B-level work.

14–15


Student demonstrates an average understanding of the marketing concepts, may not be able to apply them in all instances, or offers analysis that is inconsistent or too generalized. Represents C-level work.

12–13


Student demonstrates a poor understanding of the marketing concepts or misses some of the concepts, relies too heavily on text language, cannot apply concepts to the product/service situation. Represents D-level work.

0–11


Student does not demonstrate an understanding of the marketing concepts. Represents failing work.

3. Competitive review (Section A.3, a–e) (20 points maximum)

Competitor analysis
Market share
Competitive positions and roles
Strategic sweet spot
Positioning

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

18–20


Student demonstrates superior understanding of the marketing concepts and can apply them to the product/service scenario. Represents A-level work.

16–17


Student demonstrates good understanding of the marketing concepts and can generally apply them to the product/service scenario; may have a weak analysis of one or two of the concepts. Represents B-level work.

14–15


Student demonstrates an average understanding of the marketing concepts, may not be able to apply them in all instances, or offers analysis that is inconsistent or too generalized. Represents C-level work.

12–13


Student demonstrates a poor understanding of the marketing concepts or misses some of the concepts, relies too heavily on text language, cannot apply concepts to the product/service situation. Represents D-level work.

0–11


Student does not demonstrate an understanding of the marketing concepts. Represents failing work.

4. Distribution review (Section A.4, a–c) (5 points maximum)


Current supply chain members and roles
Value-delivery network analysis
Current type of distribution strategy



Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

5


Student demonstrates superior understanding of the marketing concepts and can apply them to the product/service scenario. Represents A-level work.

4


Student demonstrates good understanding of the marketing concepts and can generally apply them to the product/service scenario; may have a weak analysis of one or two of the concepts. Represents B-level work.

3


Student demonstrates an average understanding of the marketing concepts, may not be able to apply them in all instances, or offers analysis that is inconsistent or too generalized. Represents C-level work.

2


Student demonstrates a poor understanding of the marketing concepts or misses most of the concepts, relies too heavily on text language, cannot apply concepts to the product/service scenario. Represents D-level work.

0–1


Student does not demonstrate an understanding of the marketing concepts. A section is missing or incomplete. Represents failing work.

B. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT Analysis) (20 points maximum)

Microenvironments
Macroenvironments

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

18–20


Student demonstrates superior understanding of the marketing concepts and can apply them to the product/service scenario. Thoroughly understands how the concepts can be translated into a SWOT analysis. Represents A-level work.

16–17


Student demonstrates good understanding of the marketing concepts and can generally apply them to the product/service scenario; may have a weak SWOT analysis of one or two of the concepts. Represents B-level work.

14–15


Student demonstrates an average understanding of the marketing concepts, may not be able to apply them to a SWOT analysis in all instances, or offers a SWOT analysis that is inconsistent or too generalized. Represents C-level work.

12–13


Student demonstrates a poor understanding of the marketing concepts, misses some of the concepts, relies too heavily on text language, and cannot apply concepts to the product/service scenario. Represents D-level work.

0–11


Student does not demonstrate an understanding of the marketing concepts. Represents failing work.

Grammar, composition, use of external research sources, and overall presentation
(15 points maximum)

oints Awarded

Assessment Criteria

14–15


Student submits a professional presentation, relies on external research to support analysis, and minimizes use of personal opinion. Presentation is free of typos and grammatical errors. References are academic sources and are formatted as specified in an acceptable college-level style guide.

12–13


Student submits a professional presentation, relies equally on external research and unsubstantiated personal opinion. Presentation may contain a few typos and grammatical errors. References are mostly academic sources and are formatted as specified in an acceptable college-level style guide.

10–11


Student submits a basic presentation; relies mostly on personal opinion or product website for information. Presentation may have some formatting issues or overreliance on artwork over substantive analysis; may have some typos and grammatical errors. Cites few references, but follows an acceptable college-level style guide.

9


Student submits a presentation that is severely lacking in professionalism. Inconsistent formatting making it difficult to follow; contains numerous typos or grammatical errors. No references cited or used; relies solely on personal opinion and product website for information.

0–8


Student submits a presentation that is clearly deficient, does not meet the project requirements, is difficult to read and follow, contains only a partial analysis with several sections missing, or otherwise demonstrates a failing performance.



Detailed Grading Criteria for Marketing Plan Term Project, Part 2

C. Objectives and Issues (5 points maximum)

1. Statement of marketing objective(s) (for first year only)

2. Issues that may hinder marketing objectives

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

5


Student demonstrates superior performance in stating a marketing objective based on an analysis of current marketing situation. Marketing objectives and issues directly link to the situation analysis and are appropriate for the product/market situation. Clearly demonstrates the link between the current marketing situation and the establishment of new marketing objectives to move the product/service forward. Realistic issues in achieving the marketing objective are noted. Student demonstrates superior critical-thinking skills.

4


Student demonstrates good understanding in stating a marketing objective based on an analysis of the current marketing situation. Marketing objective may be a little general based on the current situation analysis, but on-track. Issues generally support the product/market situation. Student demonstrates some critical-thinking skills.

3


Marketing objectives listed but are very general and not necessarily based on the current situation analysis. Student does not demonstrate a high level of critical thinking.

0–2


Marketing objectives are off-track, do not reflect a marketing objective. Student fails to discuss any issues; does not appear to understand the link between the current situation analysis and the development of new marketing objectives.

D. Marketing Strategy Recommendations (60 points total)

Positioning strategy (10 points)
Product and branding strategy (10 points)
Pricing strategy (10 points)
Distribution strategy (10 points)
Marketing communications strategy (10 points)
Marketing research (10 points)

The following grading criteria will be applied to each of the six sections in part D, listed above.

Points Awarded


Assessment criteria

9–10


Demonstrates superior understanding and application of the marketing concept to the product/service scenario.

8


Demonstrates good understanding and application of the marketing concept to the product/service scenario.

7


Demonstrates average understanding and application of the marketing concept to the product/service scenario.

6


Demonstrates poor understanding and application of the marketing concept to the product/service scenario.

0–5


Does not demonstrate an understanding and application of the concepts to the product/service scenario.

E. Action Programs (5 points maximum)

IMC
Message design, content, and structure
Media choices
Promotion-mix tools

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

5


Demonstrates superior understanding of how IMC can be used to support the marketing objectives of the product/service scenario and recommended marketing strategies. Applies the AIDA model to illustrate how the promotion tools would mix. Recommends message, media, and promotion-mix tools that are appropriate for the recommended marketing strategies.

4


Demonstrates good understanding of IMC to support marketing objectives of the product/service scenario; may be weak in showing connection between recommended marketing strategies and a promotion mix. May not apply the AIDA model. Recommends message, media, and promotion-mix tools that may be a little too general or off-track for the recommended marketing strategies.

3


Demonstrates an average understanding of IMC to support marketing objectives. Student does not devote much time to this section, not clearly illustrating the relationship between marketing strategy and IMC.

0–2


Does not demonstrate an understanding of IMC or its tools as they can apply to the product/service scenario.

F. Budgets (objective-and-task method) (5 points maximum)

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

5


Student provides a thorough discussion of how the objective-and-task method can be used to execute promotion strategy. Details such as media rates are not required.

4


Student briefly but accurately discusses how the objective-and-task method can be used to execute an IMC plan. Details not required.

3


Student describes the objective-and-task method but does not demonstrate how it is applicable to the promotion strategy.

0–2


Student does not demonstrate an understanding of the objective-and-task method.

G. Controls (metrics needed to monitor marketing-plan progress) (5 points maximum)

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

5


Student outlines at least three marketing metrics that can be used to monitor the marketing plan.

4


Student outlines two marketing metrics that can be used to monitor the marketing plan.

3


Student outlines one marketing metric that can be used to monitor the marketing plan.

0–2


Student does not provide any marketing metrics to support marketing plan, or the metrics provided are off-track.

Overall presentation/executive summary/style/professionalism/adherence to requirements (20 points maximum)

Points Awarded


Assessment Criteria

18–20


Student submits a professional presentation that is easy to read and follow, incorporates faculty’s comments on Part 1 and subsequent recommendations, properly cites references, and provides bibliography prepared using a college-level writing guide. Presentation is free of typographical or grammatical errors.

16–17


Student submits a professional presentation that is easy to read the follow but may not incorporate faculty comments from Part 1. Some disjoint between Part 1 and Part 2 in that student did not draw from analysis of current situation to develop new marketing strategies.

14–15


Student submits an adequate presentation but lacks sufficient depth of critical thinking, as evidenced by failure to link current marketing situation to development of new marketing strategies. Presentation may have some typographical and grammatical errors, may not demonstrate use of a college-level style guide for citations, and may be missing executive summary.

12–13


Student submits a poorly done presentation that contains numerous typographical and grammatical errors; does not site sources appropriately; does not incorporate faculty input from Part 1.

0–11


Student does not produce a unified, cohesive presentation as required. Presentation contains significant grammatical and typographical errors, lacks citations, does not indicate use of a college-level style guide, does not comply with submission requirement

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