Once a marketer has a thorough understanding of customer needs and the marketing environment, he or she needs to develop a marketing strategy.

It is time to put your research skills to good use using your textbook and articles from the library's full-text databases. Click here for the research requirements and guide for this assignment. 

Create your own marketing strategy for the product/service chosen in Week 1. Support your recommendations with concepts presented in this week's reading.
Define and describe what segmentation is and discuss different segmentation bases you could use for your product/service (pages 167-175). 
Based on your segmentation, describe each of the target markets that you would seek to reach. describe why they will be most profitable for your product/service. 
Develop a value proposition for your product/service through differentiation and positioning. Include the following: 
Introduce at least two (2) competitors and describe their current positioning in the market. (What do they promise to deliver?) 
Discuss possible competitive advantages your product/service can use to differentiate itself from these competitors (products, services, channels, service, people or image) and select which one(s) to use to build your positioning (see pages 186-189). 
Based on this differentiation, describe your value proposition (pages 190-191) and develop a positioning statement (page 192). 
Your paper MUST include a reference list. All research should be cited in the body of the paper. In-text citations and corresponding references should be included in your paper. For more information on APA, please visit the APA Lab. The paper should be written in third person; this means pronouns like "I", "we", and "you" are not appropriate. The use of direct quotes is strongly discouraged.


Your assignment should contain a cover page, an abstract page, and a reference page in addition to the body. The body of the paper should be 3 pages in length starting with a brief one paragraph introduction and ending with a short conclusion. The entire submission will be 6 pages in length.

Please submit your assignment as a Word document in APA format using the attached template. 

GRADING CRITERIA 
MKT255 Unit 2 Individual Project Possible Points
Earned Points

Definition of the segmentation bases. 30

Description of each of the target markets. 30

Analysis of 2 competitors and their positioning. 20

Analysis of competitive advantages. 25

Development of value proposition and positioning statement. 20

Grade for Unit 2 Individual Project 125


Grading will be based on content, application, research, mechanics (APA format, spelling, grammar, punctuation) and style (organization, readability, using your own words). Please click here to view the MKT255 Grading Rubric.

Points Possible: 125 
Date Due: Sunday, May 09, 2010 
Objective: describe how changes in the environment affect marketing decisions.
Discuss the importance of marketing research, and how marketing information is used.
describe buyer behavior including how and why end users buy.
Describe the steps in market segmentation, target marketing, and positioning.
Describe and apply the elements of product.
Discuss the elements of a marketing strategy.