Course project - Executive summary

You are the Brand Manager for the new imaginary company that you've created. Your current assignment is to put together a marketing plan for your company. In a marketing plan you will always find an Executive Summary. An Executive Summary is a brief section that summarizes the main points of the marketing plan.

A marketing plan always opens with an Executive Summary; because it acts as an overview of the entire marketing plan, typically, it's one of the last sections written. You will start your Executive Summary and submit it as a draft. Your final summary will be turned in with your final marketing plan in Module 06. In 1-2 pages, start your Executive Summary by providing the following information:

• Introduce your company. Briefly provide company background information, how long you've been in business, and any accomplishments or successes.

• Describe your business activities. What is the nature of your business? What products or services do you offer?

• What is the name and description of the product or service being introduced? Why is there a need in the market for this product?

• What are the goals for your company/product? Your goals should be in quantitative terms, where possible, to facilitate measuring the company's future performance.

o An example of a non-financial goal: "Starbucks will diversify its product lines to achieve 30 percent of sales revenue in latte products in the next three years."

o An example of a financial goal (note it is specific and measurable): "Starbucks will increase sales from $8 million in 2011 to $12 million in 2013."

Project Overview

For your course project you will develop a marketing plan. The purpose of this project is to familiarize you with the importance of market planning and the major components of a marketing plan. A detailed marketing plan is the key to properly planning for the launch of a product or growing the sales of existing products.

For your project, you will bring to market a new product or service for an imaginary company. You will invent a product or service that you feel will be successful in today's competitive environment. You will create a comprehensive marketing plan that integrates traditional and Internet marketing approaches. This plan will be utilized as a tool to successfully launch your product. Below you will find a schedule of modules and assignments that are due with each module.