Assignment 1: Marketing Value Introduction

This assignment has been designed to help you integrate and apply the marketing concepts you have learned up to this point. These concepts provide a foundation on which other course concepts are built. Assessing your comprehension will help ensure that you are on track to successfully complete the course. This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade in the course.

1.1: Marketing Concept

Length: Please write your response in essay format and in point form as appropriate and limit your response to 2 pages using 1.5 line-spacing.

Consider an organization of interest to you. This might be a church, a club, a service organization, a sports organization, a company that you would like to work for, or simply an organization that you admire or want to understand better. This should not be a company with whom you are currently employed. It would be helpful if the organization you choose has a website that describes it and its products in some detail.

1. Based on your own understanding of this organization, assess the extent to which it follows the philosophy behind the marketing concept and new-era orientation. What specific observations or findings led you to draw your conclusions?

2. What type of marketing value does this organization create for customers? What marketing mix (product, price, distribution, and communication) decisions has it made to create this value?

3. Describe two ethical and/or social issues that affect this organization. What, if anything, does this organization do to respond to or address these issues? What else could it do to be more socially or ethically responsible?

1.2: SWOT Analysis

Length: Please write your response in point form and limit your response to 2 pages using 1.5 line-spacing.

Read the Marketing in Action Case, "Real Choices at Mega Bloks" in Chapter 2 on pages 83-84 in your textbook. Go to the organization's website at http://www.megabloks.com to learn more about the company. The company is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange as Mega Brands Inc. (MB). You can do a search on the company to gain additional information on the organization. You may also want to read their Blog, or comments posted on Twitter and facebook.

Using the SWOT framework described in Chapter 2, do a SWOT Analysis of this company, identifying at least six relevant factors (facts or observations) in the internal environment (indicating which ones are strengths and which ones are weaknesses) and six relevant factors in the external environment (indicating which ones are opportunities and which ones are threats).

As you complete your SWOT Analysis, be sure to describe the marketing mix implication of each of the facts or observations you think are important in the internal and external environment. Overall, which four facts or observations do you think are the most important to understand when developing a strategy for the Mega Bloks Company, and why?

1.3: Segmentation & Positioning Concepts

Length: Please write your response in essay format and in point form as appropriate and limit your response to five (5) pages using 1.5 line-spacing.

Reflect on the automobile industry in your country of residence.
1. Decide on a segmentation approach for the automobile industry in your country of residence, identifying at least four different target market segments of that approach. Justify (from a marketing perspective) why your segmentation approach is an appropriate one, using the criteria in Chapter 6, page 177 in Figure 6.2 in your textbook.

2. Choose three of the target market segments you identified and develop a rich detailed profile for each of these segments in point-form, using the major headings in Chapter 6, page 195 in Figure 6.7 in the textbook. Indicate with an asterisk (*) the characteristics or attributes of each segment that are assumptions that you would want to test with research.

3. Generate at least three ideas for how the marketing mix strategy of an auto manufacturer might be different for each of these three target market segments based on your profiles.

4. Assume the role of the marketing manager for a car brand. (You can decide which one and whether is it a model brand like Honda Civic or a variant like a Honda Civic LX.) Choose which target market segment you would focus on as your primary segment (target audience). Provide rationale (from a marketing perspective) for why this segment is more attractive than alternative segments you rejected.

5. Identify three car brands/models that are currently positioned to be attractive in one of the target market segments you profiled in 1.3.b. Describe how these brands/models are positioned by identifying:

1) at least three ways in which the brands/models uniquely appeal to customers in this segment or are more attractive than their competitors and

2) at least three ways the three brands/models in this segment differ from brands/models competing in other segments.

6. Based on your answer to question 1.3.e, develop two positioning maps that illustrate how these car brands/models are positioned in your country.

1.4: Report Structure and Presentation

Remember, you will be judged by the structure, clarity, presentation, and quality of your work, which in this case are your assignments and your Final Project. The assignments are to be prepared and presented in a formal manner suitable for business.

To ensure the quality of your written work, refer to the Assignment and Final Project Structure under the Assignments Section on the course left-navigation bar in Blackboard.

Knowledge -Demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, skills and perspectives on the course's learning materials by applying them in the assignment. Link theory and practice by applying what you learned from the readings, reflections, and practical application of your new marketing skills and from discussions with your fellow students.

Theory & Practice -Demonstrate the connections between the work of others (course materials, readings, activities, and discussions) and actual organizational principles, practices, and processes. Go beyond general descriptions. Be thoughtful and critical in your analyses, conclusions, and recommendations.

Critical Thinking -Use reflective, logical, and rational thinking to gather, combine, process, interpret, and analyze the information to develop a reasonable conclusion. Provide examples to support your comments and observations. Be specific and concrete. Tell a complete story. Avoid generalizations. Support a statement with a specific example that demonstrates your understanding and skill.