Exploring Current Marketing Activities

Objectives

Analyze the role marketing plays in a company 

Generalize the types of decisions marketers make

Discuss how ethical considerations impact marketing

Assignment Overview

In this assignment, you will research & analyze the role marketing plays in three different companies whose marketing activities have recently appeared in the news.

After you complete your research, you'll prepare a short report in which you:

Describe three companies' approaches to marketing as exemplified in their recent marketing activities.

From what you have learned about these three companies, generalize the reasons these marketing actions were taken.  

Identify & discuss how ethical considerations can impact marketing decisions or might impact marketing activities.  

Deliverables

A report (900 words or less) describing the companies' marketing activities. Your report should have the following headings: 

"Marketing Activities of Three Companies"

"Reasons for Marketing Decisions"

"Ethical Considerations in Marketing" 

Include a page of "Sources Consulted" from your research, which will not count toward the 900-word limit. If you uses sources directly, follow APA style (Links to an external site.) for citing references. Your references & citations will not count toward the 900-work limit. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a report? A report is a form of professional communication of progress on a task, project or activity. Concise, clear and direct language should be used. Conventions of professional communication (e.g., headings, single-spacing within paragraphs, double spacing between paragraphs) should be used. Think "business report," not research paper or college essay. 

Need guidance or direction? Use this (Links to an external site.) excellent resource from Purdue OWL. In OWL lingo, you'll be preparing an activity report (Links to an external site.) and reporting on your activities (i.e., the steps to the right -->). You also may elect to use resources available at the Writing Center on your home campus. 

Grading & scoring: Submissions will be scored on the assignment rubric. If content exceeds 900 words, scoring will cease and the excess will not be scored. That's another way to say long & verbose submissions will not be rewarded: Edit & revise your draft (Links to an external site.).

Step 1

Select three marketing topics from three different companies whose marketing activities have recently appeared in the news.

Examples of possible marketing activities might include:

Pricing 

Products or Services

Advertising 

Distribution

Supply Chain 

Target Markets (e.g., customer types, areas served) 

Customer Management 

Sustainability (e.g., reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle) 

Product Tampering 

Social Media 

Sales Promotions (e.g., coupons, contests, black Friday sales, BOGO) 

Personal Selling & Sales Force 

For example, you might choose (1) pricing of a new model of Nike pair of shoes, (2) a revamped supply chain at Pepsi, and (3) a new promotional contest from Levis. (These are only examples; you are free to choose companies and topics of interest to you from any industry.)

Topics which have been controversial in any way, perhaps by garnering unwelcome or unanticipated consumer attention and trade press, are well-suited to this assignment, although not required to complete it.

Step 2

Research each company.

You're to research & analyze the role marketing plays in each company through the lens of your chosen topic (i.e., pricing, products, services, advertising, etc.). You will summarize and describe these activities for your assignment. 

For every source you consult, record it & include it on a page titled "Sources Consulted." There is no minimum nor maximum number of sources to consult, although it's unlikely that one or two news articles would be enough. I encourage you to use online sources, such as company websites or advertisements. I also encourage you to learn what others are saying in social media, such as blogs, public facebook pages or twitter streams/hashtags, though it would be unwise to rely on them exclusively. 

Reflect on your research.

Reflect on what you've learned about the marketing strategies of these three companies. As part of your assignment, you'll generalize the reasons for the decisions marketers make & discuss how ethical considerations impact marketing.

Reasons for Marketing Decisions. Take some time to identify possible reasons why the company took the marketing action that it did. Go beyond describing the marketing actions. Ponder why a company might choose one marketing action over another. 

Ethical Considerations in Marketing. Identify and discuss ethical considerations that you think may have impacted the observed marketing strategy, or might impact marketing actions. 

You may or may not be able to determine precisely why the marketing activity has been performed or what specific ethical issues were considered. You should, however, be able to present & discuss possible reasons why companies have taken observed actions, or wheat could be potential ethical considerations.