Marketing Plan Assignment: General Instructions (read all instructions first)

As a learning exercise in this introductory course, and as your Final Exam substitute, you will be required to write an abbreviated Marketing Plan to support the launch of a new product. A full-fledged Marketing Plan can run to dozens of pages. This assignment will be a very abbreviated version that will help you apply the concepts learned in class. Following the instructions is very important to the success of your plan (final grade). Please read all instructions carefully!

• This is a groupproject. You will be given some time during class periods (anywhere from 30-90 minutes) to meet with your group and work on the plan. Additional time outside of class will be necessary.

• This is a semester-long project. START EARLY.

• Objectives:

a. To help you better understand the material by relating it to the "real world" of business

b. To teach you the importance of integrating material and achieving internal consistency

c. To give you practice in writing concisely and for a specifically requested format

d. To give you actual practice in constructing a Marketing Plan

Read the Full Instructions for the Plan:There are things in later parts that you should consider first before making a firm commitment in earlier parts. Read instructions carefully.

• Recognize that when instructions say to use POINT FORM, it means "Point Form" not paragraph and not full sentences. It should be individual points preceded by a bullet. When you are asked to LIST something, you are to put it in the form of a list, not a sentence or a paragraph.

Steps: 1. Choose Your Product. Start the process of the Marketing Plan by choosing a product to market. Check below to find a list of possible product categories. Consider these product categories a starting point and then think broadly and creatively. Have some fun here: what is something your group thinks the world really needs? What is there a need for out there that no one else seems to be offering? What product seems to sell well that you could adapt for a different target market or for a different company?

Use your imaginations and your powers of observation. If you individually have something you want to market one day, you may be able to convince your group to take it on as their project. Think about opposites as well; in the category of automobiles, you not only can invent a car or any possible kind of gadget to go in one, you also could market something to reduce the use of automobiles, such as something to do with public transit.

Note that product can mean a good (hammer), service (haircut), event (The Rolling Stones' Toronto SARS Concert), person (think about how we market politicians at election time), place (vacation in Canada), an organization (Red Cross). To a Marketer, these are all products that can be marketed. If you are interested in computers, is there a related service you can think of that you'd like to see marketed? Or a socially beneficial plan to make computers available to students from low income families?

Your chosen product must be something that is not currently being sold by a particular company. For example, in a product class of soft drinks, you could be a new company bringing out a new cola or orange drink, or you could be Coca-Cola bringing out a new flavor of drink that they don't currently make, but you may not present yourself as Coca Cola developing a Marketing Plan for Diet Coke, because that particular product/brand already exists on the market.

2. Follow Format and Instructions. Read the instructions carefully as they tell you what you are supposed to do. Be sure to include everything, in the correct order, and respecting length limits. Label everything. Read the text to be sure you fully understand the terms and are using them properly. Do not define terms; just use them in a way that shows you understand them.

Write succinctly, clearly, and precisely, as if writing for a busy boss with no time to read, or an overworked loan officer who will read someone else's proposal first if yours looks too long and complicated. Decide what you will tell that boss or loan officer in your plan that will make your case quickly, succinctly, and convincingly. Plan the layout to make it enticing to read. Where instructions say LIST, do so. If you are asked for a list of three items, label them 1., 2., 3. Just about everything in this Marketing Plan is in Point Form (one exception is the Executive Summary). You are not required to put anything in double-spaced format.

You don't need to do a lot of outside research, but you may need to check out some secondary research on your target market and do some small-sample-size research to find out whether your new idea is feasible. If you cite statistics other than one of general knowledge (general knowledge statistic: the main target market for beer drinkers is young men aged 18-35), cite it briefly within the paragraph where you use it, like this: "A recent article in the Globe and Mail (6/27/03) suggested that attendance at live theatre is lower than it has been in thirty years." Note that you do not need a separate sheet for references.

Write only in your own words. I am not interested in seeing how much material you can copy from the internet. You may use the Internet for background information if you wish, and of course you will be using your textbook, but write the plan in YOUR OWN WORDS.

3. How to Prepare Your Document. When preparing the paper to hand it in, ensure that:

• All pages are single-spaced

• Use black type in 12-point font (Times New Roman is best, and use only one font)

• Have no less than 1-inch margins all around

• Use portrait format (single column)

• Keep everything as simple as possible - no fancy graphics, no charts (unless specified in the instructions), no pictures, no color - just writing.

• Write exactly the number of pages specified and as specified. Do not put your name(s) on any page other than the cover page (and the Executive Summary page where you list group member names)

Information related to above question is enclosed below:

Attachment:- MarketingPlanAssignment.rar