Assessment:

Uber is often mentioned as the benchmark in a company that has used a "digital disruption" strategy http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/what-uber-tells-us-about-disruption-20150905-gjg0ln.html Others have tried to analyze on what psychological basis Uber has been successful http://wpp.com/wpp/marketing/digital/the-uberfication-of-everything/ .

Each student will work on the new service based transportation network company ‘Uber' that is suitable for review of the effectiveness of its targeting, launch and commercialization.

You should prepare recommendations for a marketing strategy for an old service company to counter the successful introduction of Uber to a particular market. Given that Uber is in many markets you can prepare this report for any market you choose - for example anywhere from Mumbai

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Will-Mumbai-too-deny-Uber-Ola-permit/articleshow/48992769.cms

to Melbourne

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/uber-melbourne-ride-sharing-service-effectively-illegal-as-driver-guilty-in-landmark-case/news- story/d262aab399caab1fc8f9e24ff687dfb4

and in between

You need to identify a close competitor to the new service. Your review needs to be undertaken from the perspective of the company producing the ‘old' service (a close competitor of Uber) and the analysis of what has made Uber successful and plans for how to react to this new product entry to their market. In conducting the review, you may examine the product in both the on and off-line environment. It is expected that you will undertake both primary research (which will involve observations of retailing of the product and of consumer consumption behaviour), and secondary research to identify any reviews of the products, in the library databases or general media.

You are required to undertake this assessment as an individual and submit an individual assignment.

Assignment Focus:

For this assignment, you will be required to write a new product/service report on a real life company. You will be required prepare it for Uber (www.uber.com). When writing the report, you will be required to access, analyse and recommend taking decisive decisions in complex situation drawn from this real life setting, taking into consideration the sustainable, social and ethical concepts of a firm. You will not only consider the effectiveness of the new product being launched, but also how the "old" product should reply / reframe its marketing.

You will be briefed further on the assessment during the class sessions. Aim: The objective of this assignment is:

- To enable you to understand marketing strategy and the elements of marketing analysis: customer analysis, company analysis and competitor analysis.

- To assist you with evaluating the elements of the marketing mix (product, pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies)

- To enhance your problem solving techniques and decision making skills by learning how to leverage strategic marketing analysis

- To inform tactical marketing mix decisions while allowing you to consider a comprehensive framework to evaluate marketing decisions and to create successful planning initiatives.

- To expand your knowledge in the area of marketing strategy while increasing your awareness of the different strategic and tactical that are available

- To be able to identify and act on sustainable, social and ethical concepts required in planning.

A major and very important requirement is that you strongly link marketing theories and concepts to the issues identified in the organisation. Theory provides the framework from which to look at and understand the assignment question and to provide a perspective for examining the research data. The text and lectures provides the basic theory about marketing and the terms used such as an explanation of the marketing environment.

Students should aim to start thinking about the marketing theory they have been learning and to begin using that marketing perspective to better understand specific Consumer Products organisations that are operating in the marketplace.

Rationale: Students will gain knowledge about marketing and also see that there is a wide range of information available from a range of sources that can be used by organisations for analysis. In writing the report students will demonstrate understanding of the concepts behind strategic planning and the need to be coherent, concise, clear, well argued, and well-presented.