Marketing Strategy

Working by yourself, choose a consumer product or service about which you either know something or on which you can find good research. This project supports all of the Terminal Course Objectives in the course. This assignment is due the end of Week 7. Please place your work in the dropbox.

Your assignment is to complete a thorough, but tightly focused, Marketing Strategy for either a product or service focusing on consumer behavior. To help you in the process, you will find an excellent document, Appendix B, which is found in your textbook on Page 738.

You may use either a product/service with which you are actively involved in your business or one from another business. Develop a tightly focused, strategically oriented paper. I will be looking for depth and breadth of your findings and arguments. When you don’t have access to inside information, I will be looking for logical, business-oriented writing that shows that you are a thinking, educated, marketer. Do not write in any section that “I couldn’t find needed information.” If you are not comfortable speculating, then choose another product or service. I encourage you to take an educated guess, and I will properly reward quality “guesses.” So, write in depth, give examples, back up your statements with logic, use citations from your research, and really pack facts into this paper.

There is an excellent document in DOC SHARING that is entitled MKTG578 Consumer Behavior Course Project — Key Content Considerations. Please download this to gain additional insights helpful to your crafting an excellent graduate-level submission.

Mechanics

• Double space, 1-inch margins with 12-point type (Times New Roman is requested).
• You must put your name and a subject title on your paper in the form of a cover sheet.
• Use the seven topics in the requirements outline as headings for clarity, as well as the subtopics as subheadings.
• This assignment is due Week 7, and it should be placed in the dropbox by Sunday of this week.

Grading

• The assignment is 20% of your course grade.
• This assignment is due when you come to class Week 7.
• Late papers are not accepted unless you have made prior arrangements with your instructor.

Requirements Outline

Use the seven topics in the requirements outline as headings for clarity, as well as the subtopics as subheadings.

1: Market Analysis Company Customers Competitors Conditions	Utilize concepts from Intro Mktg. class and Ch. 1 to complete this.
2: Market Segmentation Segmentation Criteria Segments Attractiveness Analysis Target Market	Use culture, demographics, and the other external influences, as well as self-concept and lifestyle information to accomplish this.
3: Product Positioning	Put this in the form of a “statement”
4: Impact on the Consumer Perception Learning and Memory Motivation, Personality, and Emotion Consumer Attitude Assessment Self-Concept and Lifestyle Assessment	Apply Chapters 8 through 12 for this discussion.
5: Consumer Decision Process	This is where you apply Chapters 13 through 18.
6: Marketing Mix Product Place Promotion Price Service	This is where all of your conceptual discussion comes true in the marketplace. What does your product look like? Where are you selling it? How are you communicating with your consumers? What price signals are you sending? How do you service the customer through the decision process and post purchase?
7: Market Plan Assessment Competitor Response Anticipated Results and Contingencies	Forecast the future. Finally, you get to recommend a “go” or “no go.”

Guidelines

Back to Top

• Papers must 8 to 12 pages in length (this would be roughly be one page per area included in the report), 12-point font (Times New Romanis preferred), double-spaced, include a cover page, table of contents, introduction, body of the report, summary or conclusion and works cited.
• Even though this is not a scientific-type writing assignment, and is mostly creative in nature, references are still very important. At least six authoritative, outside references are required (anonymous authors or web pages are not acceptable). These should be listed on the last page titled “Works Cited.”
• APA or MLA format and citations are required.
• All DeVry University policies are in effect, including the plagiarism policy.
• Papers aredue during Week 7of this course.
• Any questions about this paper may be discussed in the weekly Q&A threaded discussion topic.
• This paper is worth 200 total points, and it will be graded on quality of research topic, quality of paper information, use of APA or MLA citations, grammar, and sentence structure.
• No late papers will be accepted.

Grading Rubrics

Back to Top

161-200	Contributions are thoughtful, include original evaluation, synthesis or analysis of the topic Writings are relevant, meaningful, tactful, and original. All topics are included Contributions are mechanically and grammatically correct
121-160	Contributions are thoughtful, original, and have some synthesis, analysis and evaluation of topic Writings are original and thoughtful, but limited in analysis of topic Most topics are included Contributions contain few mechanical, grammatical errors
81-120	Writings give adequate, original explanation but limited analysis of topic Writings add no meaning to project repetitive of readings Frequent mechanical, grammatical writing errors
41-80	Inadequate explanation, confusing, or irrelevant writings with only repetition of readings, no original thought Significant grammatical, mechanical writing errors in postings
0-40	Writings are brief statements Writings are off topic Pervasive grammatical, mechanical writing errors in postings

Best Practices

Back to Top

The following are the best practices in preparing this paper.

• Cover Page- Include who you prepared the paper for, who prepared it, and date.
• Table of Content- List the main ideas and section of your paper and the pages in which they are located. The illustrations should be included separately.
• Introduction- Use a header on your paper. This will indicate that you are introducing your paper.
  The purpose of an introduction or opening:
  1. Introduce the subject and why the subject is important.
  2. Previews the main ideas and the order in which they will be covered.
  3. Establish a tone for the document.

  Include in the introduction a reason for the audience to read the paper. In addition, include an overview of what you are going to cover in your paper and the importance of the material (This should include or introduce the questions you are asked to answer on each assignment).

• Body of Your Report- Use a header titled with the name of your project. Example: “The Development of Hotel X – A World Class Resort.” Then proceed to break out the main ideas. State the main ideas, state major points in each idea, and provide evidence. Break out each main idea you will use in the body of your paper. Show some type of division like separate sections that are labeled; separate group of paragraphs; or headers. You would include the information you found during your research and investigation.
• Summary and Conclusion- Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and major support points from the body of your report. Minor details are left out. Summarize the benefits of the ideas and how they effect the tourism industry.
  Additional hints on preparing the best possible project.

1. 1. Apply a three-step process of writing… Plan, Write, and Complete.
   2. Prepare an outline of your research paper before you go forward.
   3. Complete a first draft and then go back to edit, evaluate, and make any changes required.
   4. Use visual communication to further clarify and support the written part of your report. Examples: graphs, diagrams, photographs, flowcharts, maps, drawings, animation, video clips, pictograms, Tables, and Gantt charts.

• Work Cited- Use APA or MLA format.