Grand Canyon MKT245 week 4 Marketing Analysis Research Report: Rough Draft Latest 2015 October

In this
course, you will play the role of a new assistant marketing analyst for an
advertising agency.

Your
manager has just given you the first assignment in your new job, which is to
develop a 1,500-2,000word research report of a product (a product can be a good
or service) of your choice in accepted business style, including an executive
summary. The assignment focus is to research the market for a product or
service to determine whether or not it is a product or service your company
would like to sell. The report will serve to brief your manager on critical
marketing factors relating to the product. After conducting your research, you
will make your professional recommendationas to whether or not the company sales
team should sell this product or service in both report and presentation
format.

You will
work on components of this report throughout the course and submit them in the
following order:

Please follow this outline as
you write your research report:

1. State your choice of product; provide a
rationale (i.e. explain why you chose this product).Use at least three
credible academic resources in researching your product. Wikipedia is not
considered a credible academic resource for this assignment.

2. Marketing Mix (the four Ps)

Outline the four Ps for your choice of
product or service. (Refer to page 9 in chapter 1 of the textbook for
additional explanation.)

The Four Ps

Product: a good, service, or idea to satisfy the consumer’s need

Price: what is exchanged for the
product

Promotion: a means of communication
between the seller and buyer

Place: a means of getting the
product to the consumer

3. Environmental Scan

Conduct a scan of the environmental forces
that affect your product. (Refer to page 60 in chapter 3 in the textbook for
additional explanation of an environmental scan.)

Environmental
Forces

Social

Economic

Technological

Competitive

Regulatory

4. Market Segmentation (Refer to chapter 8
in the textbook for additional information.)

Demographics and/or psychographics (choose
one or both to describe).

What are the demographics of the market segment(s)
for your product?

Describe consumers of your product using a
psychographic profile.

5. Ethical Issue

Use chapter 3 (Ethical and Social
Responsibility in Marketing) as a reference in the textbook and the list
provided on page 3 of this document. Within your product choice, there are
ethical issues. Present both the pros and cons of your choice of an ethical
issue and your position on it as it applies to your product. For example,
online retail products are impacted by privacy issues and the Internet.

6. Social Responsibility Issue

Use chapter 3 (Ethical and Social
Responsibility in Marketing) as a reference in the textbook and the list
provided on page 3 of this document. Within your product choice, there are
issues of social responsibility. Present your support or opposition to your
position on a social responsibility issue as it applies to your product. For
example, should companies that sell certain products commit to cause-marketing,
like Coca-Cola does when sponsoring local Boys and Girls Clubs?

7. Global Marketing and the Internet

Use chapters 7 (Understanding and Reaching
Global Consumers and Markets) and 18 (Implementing Interactive and Multichannel
Marketing) in the textbook as a framework to discuss how the Internet can be
used globally by a company selling your product choice in order to identify new
marketing opportunities. New marketing opportunities could include development
of new products or the extension of existing products into the marketplace.

What are the benefits? What are the potential
problems a company should consider, including cultural considerations?

8. Recommendation

Make your recommendation as to the best method for marketing the selected
product or service.

9. Executive Summary

An executive summary is a one-page report that provides the reader, usually an executive,
with a condensed version of a lengthy report. After reading the executive
summary, the reader exercises his or her judgment in deciding whether or not to
read the entire report. If the summary is comprehensive, the executive will
save time by not having to read the entire report. Write your executive summary
after you have completed the research report and present it at the beginning of
the completed document.

Executive Summary Format (One Page)

a)
State the purpose of the report.

b)
In this report, your purpose is to make a professional
recommendation,based on information gathered through your research, as to the
best method for marketing your particular product or service.

c)
Highlight the key facts (gathered through research)
that inform or influence your recommendation.

d)
Make the recommendation.

Presentation

Create
an 8-10 slide PPT presentation designed to deliver the research findings and
recommendations in your report to your manager. Your presentation should persuasively
demonstrate your position on why the sales team should or should not sell the
product or service. Include the notes you would utilize while delivering your
presentation.

Possible
Ethical Issues

Promotion of “Sin Products,” i.e., alcohol, tobacco,
gambling

·
Is it unethical to promote these products?
Should there be limits or regulations on the promotion of these products?

Advertising as a Mirror of Society

·
Does advertising reflect a society’s accepted
standards, or create new standards?

Government Regulation and a Free Market

·
Should there be regulations in such areas as
advertising, product safety, and pricing, or should market forces
“self-regulate” companies/industries?

Privacy Issues and the Internet

·
Should there be protection for the user in terms
of privacy? Are “cookies” appropriate? Should “opt-in” or “opt-out” be
required?

Privacy Issues and Marketing Research

·
What are the ethical and privacy issues in
consumer research?

Consumer “Bill of Rights”

·
A product of the early 1960s, is the Consumer
Bill of Rights still necessary? Why or why not? If it is necessary, could it be
expanded?

Advertising to Children

·
Should there be limits placed,and/or protections
enforced, when it comes to advertising to children?

Advertising to “Vulnerable” Consumers

·
What constitutes a “vulnerable” consumer? Should
firms be required to provide special considerations or accommodations for such
consumers?

Subliminal Advertising

·
What is subliminal advertising? What are the
ethical issues involved? Is it effective? Is it used? Examples?

Predatory Pricing

·
What is predatory pricing? Examples? What are
the ethical and legal issues involved?

Possible
Social Responsibility Issues

Corporate Social Responsibility

·
Should corporations b socially responsible, or
should they concern themselves with profit only?

Using Societal Marketing to Promote a
Positive Corporate Image

·
Is it appropriate for firms to burnish their
image by supporting causes?

Green Marketing

·
What is “green marketing,” and how can it benefit
a company?