Question: Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP3 and SLP4.
It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business success in the marketplace.
Please check the outline of the marketing plan, which provides information on:
1. The final format for this cumulative Session Long Project;
2. A list of topics for the whole project;
3. The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-4.
In this module SLP1, identify a company and a charge (or task) for this marketing research project and conduct situation analysis related to your charge. This is the first step of this cumulative research project. You need to review all four SLPs first in order to better understand the requirements for this project.
SLP Assignment Expectations: Use the following outline to organize your paper. Note that the letters "a, b, c..." and the numbers "i, ii, iii, iv..." and "1, 2, 3, 4..." below are used to show the major issues you need to include in your paper, but should not be used to format your paper.
1. Product Statement (2 pages maximum)
1. Describe the company/organization.
2. Provide brief background of the organization.
3. Describe the business problem and charge you have for this marketing plan.
4. Provide a brief overview of what issue you are studying, and how a marketing perspective can help address the issue.
2. Situation Analysis (3-6 pages)
Note: Only include sections that are relevant to your charge. The relevance of each section of analysis should be clear to the reader.
1. External Environment Analysis
1. Context Analysis
- Industry forces that might impact success of any actions taken
2. Competitor Analysis
- Any organization or message that may prevent any actions taken from being successful
3. Technological and Economical Situation Analysis
4. Political, Legal, and Cultural Analysis
2. Customer Environment Analysis
1. Customer Analysis
2. Collaborator Analysis
3. Internal Environment Analysis
1. Company Analysis (include the table and histogram/chart in the appendix)
Note: Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size. Include a title page and references.
Explain clearly and logically the facts about your company and charge, and use the required reading to support your positions on the issues. Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions) should demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented. Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas, employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely exceed five words.
Academic papers at the master's level should include citations and references. Look at different sources, especially credible and reputable ones such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, and The Economist, to find the information for your paper. Also use Trident University's online library databases such as ProQuest and EBSCO to find information for your project. Your discussion on each topic should be a synthesis of the different sources. Taking shortcuts on the number and quality of your sources will result in a poor-quality marketing plan that will be of no use to your client.
It is also important that you reference your sources throughout the text of your marketing plan. Take the following paragraph as an example:
"As a result, telephone interviewers often do not even get a chance to explain that they are conducting a survey (Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, 2003), and response rates have steadily declined (Keeter et al., 2000) to reported lows of 7% (Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, 2003). This decrease presents a problem because not only does it increase the cost of conducting telephone surveys, but it also leads to questions concerning the generalizability of the results (Struebbe, Kernan & Grogan, 1986; Tuckel & O'Neill, 2002)."
There are different citation and reference formats such as APA, MLA, or Chicago. No matter which format you adopt for your marketing plan, make it consistent throughout the plan.
The marketing plan should use third person business writing. Avoid "we," "our," and "you." Do not use contractions in business writing.
Your SLP should not simply be a list of facts. Take the facts you find about the company, the charge, and the environments that the company faces, and explain how you think those facts will affect the financial future of the product or brand in your charge. The emphasis in grading your paper will be on the breadth and depth of your discussion of each topic, critical thinking, the clarity of your discussion, and the proper organization of the paper.
Information related to above question is enclosed below:
Attachment:- Attachment.rar