Part A

In Unit 3 of the ilearn learning materials you will have discovered the basis of the 4Ps (the basic marketing mix) as well as the ‘extended’ 7Ps. (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5)

You should identify two competing products or services that aim at different market segments. Ideally one of these should be a domestic product and another should be based in a different country. For ex you might compare a local beer or type of food stuff with an international brand, or a domestic airline with an international airline. These are exs only and you will be able to think of others. You should then discuss how the two businesses use the marketing mix. The easiest way to do this is in a table, such as that shown below -

                                 Business A /Product or Service A                                   Business B /Product or Service B
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Physical Evidence
Process

Scenario

‘Tots & Teens Fashion’ is a small business based in Birmingham, UK. It is owned by Amara and her husband Tariq who started the business 2 years ago. The business supplies a range of designer clothes for babies and children up to 15 years of age and is run from a small stall in the city’s thriving Bull Ring Shopping Centre. The couple spend a lot of time buying clothes from up and coming, less well known fashion designers and very often travel to London to fashion colleges and fashion exhibitions to source stock for their stall. However, the recent ‘credit crunch’ has meant that families have less money to spend on ‘luxuries’ such as designer clothes for their children and so the 2011/2012 income for the business was low and the couple have noticed that there is a lot of unused stock that really needs to be sold. Amara has decided that the business cannot continue on this basis wants to formulate a plan to ensure the prosperity of the business for her and her husband.

Instead of selling specifically to the ‘local market’ Amara and Tariq will supply designer clothes, shoes and accessories to a much wider market by setting up an online retail business which could supply the clothes etc. via their own local delivery service (within a 50 mile radius of the centre of Birmingham) or via a courier service for further distances.

All of the clothes etc. are to be sourced from up and coming fashion designers and as such are likely to be ‘one off’ items or ‘exclusive designs’ and this would mean that the prices would be higher than those retailers providing ‘mass produced’ clothing and accessories, and Amara believes that customers would be willing to pay more for the unique clothing and associated accessories. Amara and Tariq think the customers most likely to be interested in their clothing range would be affluent families who like their children to wear unique clothing to stand out from their peers.

(NB Amara and Tariq are already aware of other companies selling designer children clothing and accessories for ex see http://www.littlefashiongallery.com)
Amara and Tariq are also aware that not all customers will be willing to pay a premium price and to cater for these customers Amara is considering designing / making some of her own designs / clothes ranges and offer these at a lower price.

In an attempt to promote the business Amara and Tariq organised an open day in a local college but it was poorly attended and only around 20 people (mostly family and friends) visited the open day. Amaras’ response to any criticism on the day was that the students at the college were not the market / customers that they were aiming at anyway.

Amara and Tariq now realise that they need help if they are to make the business a success and as they have no real understanding of marketing Amara has asked if you will meet with her and Tariq to discuss / describe what marketing is and what the key marketing issues that they need to consider for their business are.

Assignment Task

Using the information that you already know about the business and its products, and through consideration of the PEST and SWOT factors, you are required to prepare a brief marketing plan document that you are going to use in your discussion with Amara and Tariq.
Using the following headings to produce the marketing plan for Tots & Teens Fashion:

Section 1 – Marketing Context

• An explanation of the marketing process
• Evaluation of the costs and benefits associated in adopting a marketing approach
• An explanation of factors to consider in a PEST analysis
• An explanation of factors to consider in a SWOT analysis

Section 2 – Marketing Mix

• Mission Statement and Objectives
This will set out who the business is, what the business is trying to achieve, and why people should choose the business instead of a competitors
• Marketing Mix
You should construct a marketing mix for each of the following potential markets:

(The table format as attached at the end of this assignment brief may help with this task)

- Affluent families who frequently shop in Birmingham
- Teenagers who have a limited budget
- Independent retailers throughout Europe who wish to sell British designer clothes / accessories
- One other consumer market segment that you should identify yourself

Section 3 - Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

You are required to select ONE of the above target markets to help describe to Amara and Tariq how segmentation criteria and positioning* should be used for the products being offered to the market, and to summarise how buyer behaviour affects marketing activities.

* Please adapt fig 2.2.9 (Unit - Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning/Lesson - Market Segmentation, page 7 of 8, in the ilearn learning materials) to show the positioning of the new product / service in the overall market.

Student Guidelines

1. You should prepare the answers to PART A and PART B in the format requested (e.g. table / answers to tasks / diagram etc.) You should produce a coherently written document i.e. ‘bullet points’ alone or other ‘note’ format will not be acceptable, and you should prepare your answers taking care to describe, justify and evaluate your ideas and knowledge of how the theories and concepts studied in the QCF Marketing Principles module apply to the case scenario. You should also underpin your analysis with relevant references to theory whilst at the same time ensuring that you prepare your assignment in your own words as far as is possible.

2. You should use diagrams and tables of figures where appropriate ensuring to reference their source.

3. You should include a reference list AND a bibliography list using the Harvard referencing system.

4. WORD LIMITS

The word limit for PART A is 800 words maximum
The word limit for PART B is 3000 words maximum

HoThese suggested word limits have been set in order for your research and summarising skills to be developed, and to allow your time management skills to be developed.

Please note that the following elements of your written work are NOT included in the word count:

Title page, Contents page, repeated assignment problems, tables of figures, reference & bibliography lists, appendices.

Recommended Additional Resources

Textbooks
• Marketing: An Introduction by Gary Armstrong, et al (2009)
• Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 1 edition (30 April 2009) ISBN-10: 0273713957 ISBN-13: 978-0273713951
• EBSCO Business Source Complete – Online ‘library’ resource available via ilearn

Websites
www.cim.co.uk The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s site contains a useful knowledge centre
www.ft.com The Financial Times business sections