Assignment 1

Preparation

For this assessment, refer to the REI Case Study - Research Guide, linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading. In addition, conduct independent research to develop a case study based on REI.

Your research resources should include the REI organization's Web site, but you are also expected to use information about REI that has been gathered by organizations that are devoted to marketing research. These organizations are referred to as a secondary sources. A short list of secondary sources is provided for you in the REI Case Study - Research Guide. Use these sites to get your research started. You are encouraged to explore further secondary sources.

Conduct your research on REI, include the following topics:

• How does the current U.S. economy affect REI retail operations?

• How does the current global economy affect REI retail operations?

• What types of legal and regulatory forces affect REI in the U.S.?

• What types of social and culture trends affect REI?

• What types of technology changes affect REI?

Organizational Profile Development

Based on your research, develop an organizational profile for REI's marketing environment, analyzing the key environmental factors of the U.S. economy, global economy, legal and regulatory environment, socio-cultural forces, and technological forces.

• Identify three or more of the secondary sources of information available for conducting market research on REI.

• Develop a short analysis of the value of these secondary sources, specifically in gathering information on REI.

o How might these secondary sources be used to develop an integrated marketing plan?

o How valuable would their information be in developing a marketing plan that would contribute to the company's economic success?

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting.Include any in-text citation.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

• Pages: No set page requirement, just include detailed information

Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

• REI. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.rei.com.

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

• Marketing Power, Inc. (2013). American Marketing Association. Retrieved from http://www.marketingpower.com/Pages/default.aspx

• Hoover's, Inc. (2013). Hoovers. Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com

• The Ad Age Group. (2014). AdvertisingAge. Retrieved from http://adage.com

• Direct Marketing Association. (2013). DMA: Advancing and protecting responsible data-driven marketing. Retrieved from http://thedma.org

• Concept Marketing Group Inc. (2013). Concept Marketing Group. Retrieved from http://www.marketingsource.com

Tutorials: You are encouraged to use the following resources.

• KnowThis LLC. (2013). KnowThis.com. Retrieved from http://www.knowthis.com/index.php.

• KnowThis LLC. (2013). How to write a marketing plan. Retrieved from http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/how-to-write-a-marketing-plan

o For the focus of this assessment, you may want to examine the following sections of the How to Write a Marketing Plantutorial from the site's Principles of Marketing Tutorials list. Part 1 (Purpose and Mission) and Part 2 (Situational Analysis) are recommended.
Secondary Marketing Resources: The following Web sites are recommended as secondary sources for your research on the REI case study.

• National Sporting Goods Association. (2013). NSGA. Retrieved from https://www.nsga.org/

• Sports and Fitness Industry Association. (2013). SFIA. Retrieved from http://www.sfia.org

• Internet Archive. (2013). Wayback machine. Retrieved from http://archive.org/web/web.php