Master of Business Administration

Lahore School of Economics

Master of Business AdministrationMarketing StrategyJune-2015

Project

Date for Submission & Presentation: Last week before Finals (progress to be reviewed every week)

Assignment BriefAssignment Task InstructionsFor your project part two you have to select the same brand on which you worked on the project part one, compile a SWOT analysis based on an Internal and External analysis. Develop a marketing plan for the brand to address the needs of a new strategic business unit intended to operate in a country or economic area with which you are familiar. It should be structured around the sections and sub-sections outlined below. Students should take account of the marks for each section and the marking criteria when writing their marketing plan.

Note: Strategic Business Unit Definition

A business unit within the overall corporate identity which is distinguishable from other business because it serves a defined external market where management can conduct strategic planning in relation to products and markets.

A Strategic Business Unit can encompass an entire company, or can simply be a smaller part of a company set up to perform a specific task. The SBU has its own business strategy and objectives, and these will often be different from those of the parent company."

London South East (2011). Strategic Business Unit Definition [Online].

SectionSub-SectionsCorresponding Learning Outcome(s)

Situation Analysis(30%)External Analysis: PESTLE analysis Critically evaluate the information needs of the marketing function in terms of its contribution to the strategic processes and tactical decision-making.

Internal Analysis: Analysis of the brands core competencies.

SWOT analysis: Based on the internal and external Analysis, produce a SWOT analysis

Marketing Objectives(10%)New Product: brief description of the brand.Develop and implement marketing plans for a product or service; Establish a broad base of marketing knowledge and the strategic implications.

Marketing Objectives: these should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and set within a given time frame (SMART).

Marketing Plan(50%)

Segmentation of the market: apply relevant segmentation criteria.Develop and implement marketing plans for a product or service; Reflect an international perspective and the global context of decision making in marketing planning; Evaluate the appropriateness of e-business strategies.

Target Market: describe the chosen target market, explaining why it is attractive to the brand.

Positioning and Differentiation: Explain how the target market should perceive the new product.

Marketing Mix: Outline the product, pricing strategy, promotional strategy and the distribution plans.

Marketing Mix Global and E-Business: Outline how the marketing mix could be expanded for the global market. Explain how the marketing mix will use e-business.

Marketing Budget(10%)Using your promotional plans as a basis, calculate the costs of marketing the new product. Develop and implement marketing plans for a product or service.

In addition, 10 marks will be allocated to the overall presentation of the report.

Word Limit4000 words (maximum) excluding the title page, reference list and appendices. Penalties will be applied for assignments exceeding the word limit by more than 10%. You are required to detail the exact word count on the Title Page of the assessment. Please also carefully note the University regulations on plagiarism.

Marking Criteria

Learning Outcomes assessed: allHeadingSection> 69%60 69%50 59%40 49%< 40%

Situation AnalysisExternal Analysis: consider the customers, competitors and the brands macro environment.Analysis is very methodical, uses a wide variety of sources, is relevant to university and identifies opportunities and threats.Outstanding competitive analysis. Comprehensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed product.. Well underpinned by marketing concepts.Analysis is through, uses a variety of sources, is relevant to university and identifies opportunities and threats. Excellent competitive analysis. Systematic analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed product or service and the team. Some use of relevant marketing concepts.Analysis could be more thorough, uses a range of sources, is relevant to university and identifies some opportunities and threats. Good competitive analysis. Reasonable analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed product. Few marketing concepts used.Analysis could be more thorough, uses a range of sources, is not relevant to university and identifies limited amount of opportunities and threats. Basic competitive analysis. Weak analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed product. Is overly descriptive. Lack of marketing concepts.Analysis not thorough, uses a poor range of sources, is not relevant to university and identifies limited amount of opportunities and threats.Lacking a competitive analysis. Fails to analyse the strengths and weakness of the university. No marketing concepts.

Marketing ObjectivesMarketing Objectives: these should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and set within a given time frame (SMART).New ProductObjectives are intelligently formulated; clearly presented and use SMART guidelines. Effective description of the new product. Objectives are clearly presented and use SMART guidelines. Reasonable description of the new product.Objectives are not specific or measurable. They lack a time frame. Basic description of the new product. Objectives are not specific or measurable. They lack a time frame. They are not realistic. Weak description of the new product.The objectives are missing. If present is not adequate. No description of the new product.

Marketing PlanPositioning and Differentiation: Explain how the target market should perceive the product.Excellent description of how the product should be perceived, with effective use of perceptual maps.Very good description of how the product should be perceived, with effective use of perceptual maps.Reasonable description of how the product should be perceived.Basic description of how the product should be perceived.Weak description of how the product should be perceived.

Marketing Mix: Outline the product, pricing strategy, promotional strategy and the distribution plans. The marketing mix is excellent and the 4Ps are intelligently devised after considerable research into the market. The price is realistic, the relationship with distributors is understood and there is a detailed promotional plan. The marketing mix is well done and the 4Ps are well devised after research into the market. The marketing mix is basic with little detail. There has been some research into the market. There has been little research into the market and there is a minimal description of the 4 ps.4 Ps poorly described with little or no research into the market.

Marketing Mix Global and E-Business: Outline how the marketing mix could be expanded for the global market. Explain how e-business will be built into the marketing mix.The global market has been very well researched and there has been an intelligent discussion on how the marketing mix could be tailored for the international market. E-business strategies for the new product have been very well formulated. There has been some research into the global market for the new product and some good points made on how the marketing mix could be tailored. There has been some good discussion on how the marketing could incorporate e-business. There has been a basic understanding of the global market and this is reflected in a basic discussion of how the marketing mix could be tailored. There is a limited discussion on how the marketing mix could incorporate e-business.There is a limited understanding of the global market and very little adaptation of the marketing mix to incorporate it. There are a few ideas on how e-business could be used in the marketing mix. There is limited research underpinning the answer. There has been no indication of how the marketing mi could be adapted for the global context with little or no indication of how e-business could be used in marketing.

Marketing BudgetUsing your promotional plans as a basis, calculate the costs of marketing costs of launching the new product. Excellent research into the promotional costs and very effective presentation of the figures.The promotional costs have been well researched and effectively presented. There has been some research into the promotional costs, and a reasonable presentation of the costs. Little research into the promotional costs. Basic presentation. Promotional costs estimated and poorly presented.

Overall presentation of the report. High standard of written English. Citations and list ofreferences conform to Guidelines. Excellent presentation and appropriate title, table of contents.High standard of written English. Citations, list ofreferences conform to Guidelines. Presentation good with appropriate title, table of contents

A few, minor deficiencies ofEnglish. Citations, list of references conform toGuidelines. Presentation acceptable with appropriate title, table of contentsFair number of deficiencies ofEnglish but not such as to render plan incomprehensible. Citations and list of references conform to Guidelines. Presentation acceptable but inappropriate title, table of contentsSerious inadequacies in the use of English to point where meaning is unclear or citations not in accordance with Harvard Convention or list of references does not conform to Guidelines or presentation not up to MBA standard.

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