MARKETING PLAN GUIDELINES

Step #1: Form your team. Teams will consist of 5 students per team.

Step #2: Pick a project. This will be the project that you research and for which
you will develop a marketing plan.

Step #3: Oral Presentation of the Situation Analysis. Prepare and deliver a 5-
minute presentation (strict time limit). Use PowerPoint to present the highlights
of your analysis. All members of your team must present. Be prepared to
answer questions and explain your analysis. This Oral Presentation won't be
graded as a separate assignment but as part of your contribution to the class
learning. The purpose of this assignment is to give you feedback on how to
proceed with building your marketing plan.

Step #4: Oral Presentation of the Consumer Behavior Research and Marketing
Strategies. Prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation (strict time limit). Use
PowerPoint to present the highlights of your analysis. All members of your
team must present. Be prepared to answer questions and explain your analysis.
This Oral Presentation won't be graded as a separate assignment but as part of
your contribution to the class learning. The purpose of this assignment is to
give you feedback on how to proceed with building your marketing plan.

Step #5: Oral Presentation of the 4 P's Product, Pricing, Place and Promotion.
Prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation (strict time limit). Use PowerPoint
to present the highlights of your analysis. All members of your team must
present. Be prepared to answer questions and explain your analysis. This Oral
Presentation won't be graded as a separate assignment but as part of your
contribution to the class learning. The purpose of this assignment is to give you
feedback on how to proceed with building your marketing plan.
Step #6: Strategic Marketing Plan Paper & Oral presentation. Prepare and
deliver a 20-minute (strict time limit) oral presentation of your marketing plan,
using PowerPoint and focusing on the highlights of your marketing analysis,
plan and recommendations. All members of your team must present. The
presentation should be a logical, succinct and compelling executive summary
presentation of the situation analysis and marketing plan. You should be
prepared to answer questions and explain your recommendations. A marketing
plan starts with general information on the background necessary for
understanding the products or services the organization is offering to very
detailed information on how it is going to market the products and/or services
to its customers.

OUTLINE Three-Year Strategic Marketing Plan (10-15 pages + Appendices)

I. Executive Summary (1 page)

An executive summary provides an overview of the key findings from the
situation analysis and the marketing strategy recommendations made in the
plan. Show how the plan helps to address needs in the customer market and how
it will address competitors.

II. Company Description (0.5 Page)

This is a high-level review of the different elements of the company, its target
market, core competencies, competitive advantage, and the industry in which it
operates. This section also includes the company's mission, vision and core
values.

III. Product or Service Description (0.5 page)

This is a brief description of the company's product and/or service, including
summaries of current marketing strategies (including current target markets)
and current market performance (market share, financials, etc). In this section
you will describe the current state of the business that sets the stage for your
marketing plan.

IV. Situation Analysis (2.5 pages)

This section gives the reader information on the micro-and macro-, internal and
external environments relevant to understanding the context for and the
rationale behind the marketing plan. It is the vital background that sets the stage
for your strategic and tactical proposals. After completing each section of
analysis, be sure you are drawing out the marketing implications – don’t just list
the facts, give the analysis, and then the strategic implications. Present the data
for Macro-level external environment analysis, competitive Porters Five Forces
analysis, internal and SWOT analysis in tables, and then use your text to pull
out the strategic implications for marketing. SWOT Analysis - based on your
External, Internal and Competitive (Porter's Five Forces) Environment analysis

V. Consumer Behavior Research (2 pages)

Use this section to summarize the findings and analysis from your primary and
secondary consumer behavior research. Include: Research Methodology and
Research Limitations:
i. Primary Research
ii. Secondary Research

Key Research Findings and implications

Consumer Needs Analysis
Consumer Decision Making Process
VI. Critical Issues (0.5 page)
Based on the above analyses, what 3-5 critical issues is your company facing?
These are the issues that you will be directly addressing in the marketing plan.
This also is an extremely important section, as it provides the direct link
between your analysis and your plan.

VII. Marketing Goals and Objectives (0.5 page)

In this section list your marketing and financial goals and objectives. These
goals and objectives should be specific with respect to magnitude and time.
Objectives and goals must be arranged hierarchically, from most to least
important; they should be quantitative whenever possible, realistic and
consistent. Goals Objectives: Your marketing and financial objectives. These
could include marketing objectives such as revenue/sales, awareness, market
share, customer satisfaction, or loyalty; or financial objectives such as profit or
contribution. Usually you include some of each.

VIII. Marketing Strategies to Create Value (2 pages)

Each of the following should be described as specifically as possible, and with
strategic justification given in light of the major issues pointed out in the
previous section.

Segmentation Strategy: Divide the market into meaningful smaller markets or

submarkets based on common characteristics. Define the main segments of your
market. What characteristics define these segments? What are your
segmentation strategies?

Target Marketing: Evaluate the market segments and make decisions about
which among them is most worthy of investment for development. Who have
you identified as the most appropriate segment (target) for this product/service?
Create a profile of a typical target consumer and describe them in specific
detail. Why have you chosen this target market over others? Discuss customer
lifetime value of your segments and discuss how much marketing expenditure
you will spend on acquiring and retaining customers.

Positioning Strategy: How do you want your product to be perceived by your

target market? What are key points of competitive differentiation, highlighting
your points of difference and points of parity? Be sure you include an explicit
positioning statement here that reflects the key value proposition you are
recommending. Why is this a strong positioning strategy?

IX. Capturing Value through the Marketing Mix (2.5 pages)

Product/Service Strategies: Define your service/product features and benefits

and performance characteristics versus competitive products.
How does the product/service fulfill the value proposition?
What product/service changes are you recommending?
What attributes do you want to add/delete to your product/service?
What do you recommend in terms of changes to package design, logos, and/or
brand identity?
This may include the service promise, including any customer service and
warranty information.
What new products/services do you want to launch under your current brand
name?
Provide rationale for your choices.

Branding Strategy: Compare the brand knowledge and brand meanings that
you want consumers to know about your brand (your brand identity) with your
existing brand image.
How will your existing brand enable and constrain you as you address your
critical issues?
What do you need to do on the branding front to achieve your goals?

Pricing Strategy: Outline your pricing objectives and explain how they relate
to your financial and marketing objectives. Present a list price for your product
that retailers will pay you. Discuss payment terms/options including any
discounts and allowances you will give to your retailer customers. Estimate
your cost of goods sold and calculate your product’s total revenue, total costs,
and gross margin. Recommend a suggested retail price for your retailers and
outline your expectations for retail pricing (both everyday and promotional) in
each channel of distribution you plan to sell your product in. Calculate each
channel’s penny profit and retailer margin rate. Discuss how you will balance
pricing issues amongst different channels. Provide rationale for your choices.

Place Strategy: Define your distribution strategy.

In which retail channels do you want to sell your product? Why?
Provide rationale for your choices.

Define your selling approach. What selling message will you use to persuade
your retail partners to carry your product?

Promotion Strategy: Outline your integrated marketing communications

(IMC) objectives.

Design promotion programs to communicate your marketing message to

consumers. Discuss if/how/why you will use the following promotion tactics:
advertising (TV, print, radio, outdoor, Internet), consumer sales promotions
(displays, price promotions, gift with purchase, sweepstakes/contests), event
marketing/sponsorships, public relations, trade show and conference
participation, direct marketing (mail, telephone, email), Internet marketing and
Web 2.0 social media programs and other forms of communication. How will
the customer receive information about the product? Be specific about what role
each medium will play in the strategy and fulfilling the overall marketing
objectives. What is the recommended timing and frequency of the marketing
communications plan? How much will you spend on marketing
communications?

X. Implementation Schedule and Financials (1 page)

In this section, you describe how you will implement the above strategy, with
specific action steps identified. This section also contains key financial
information.

Metrics: What is the Return On Marketing Investment (ROMI)? Market Size

and Market Share Analysis (Projected) (Given your projected level of sales,
what will your unit and dollar market share be?), Market Penetration, Margin on
Sale, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), etc.

Action Plan: discuss timing, decide who should be responsible for the various
aspects of implementation, and indicate the recourses necessary to implement
the marketing plan.
12 Months and 3 Years Sales Projections: Use realistic estimates. Divide your
projected monthly sales into "Categories", which are natural divisions that make
sense for your type of business. Typical categories are product types or lines.
You might also indicate departments, branch locations, customer groups,
geographical territories, or contracts, depending on your business. The forecast
should be based on your historical sales, the marketing strategies that you have
described, your market research, and industry data. Consider seasonal or other
periodic and dependable fluctuations. Be sure to build these fluctuations into
your projections for the coming 3 years. Include the actual previous sales and
the assumptions you made in projecting your future monthly and annual
projections. Marketing Budget: Forecast the needed expenditures to implement
the marketing plan that you built.

XI. Controls and Contingency Planning (1 page)

In this section, you describe how you will measure success, and also describe
your contingency plans and caveats.

Monitoring and Control: Here you would describe your marketing dashboard,
with any recommended marketing research, and ongoing data gathering,
including benchmarks and measures of success. How do you know if you are
succeeding or not? When and how do you take measures, and what measures
would you take?

Anticipated Competitive Response: Here you will outline how you expect
your competitors to respond to your marketing plan and how that will affect
your execution of the plan.

Risk Analysis and Contingency Planning: What assumptions are you

making, and what are the most crucial risks? Provide contingency plans should
your monitoring and control measures indicate a problem

XII. Conclusion (1 Page)

XIII. Appendices
These should include charts, tables, and diagrams that support your text.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Format: Follow the marketing plan outline that was provided to you. Length:
15 pages maximum for the Marketing Plan, double-spaced, not including
appendices. You are highly encouraged to include exhibits and tables for data
and numerical analysis as appendices.

Financials: The normal financial information requirements of a full-scale

marketing plan are beyond the scope of this class. However, financial analysis,
market size estimates, marketing expenses, and sales forecasts for your
marketing plan are expected. Please use secondary research to try to find
feasible numbers for your financial analyses. If you are unable to find estimates
for the numbers you will need to run your financial analyses, please make well-
informed estimates and document your assumptions.

Grading: I will be looking for completeness, internal consistency, justification,

flow and professionalism. Most important is whether you identify the most
critical issues in your analysis and if your proposed plan addresses them in a
realistic way. Your strategic marketing plan will contribute 50% to your course
grade. 20% of this will come from your marketing plan group presentation, 30%
from your marketing plan paper, and 5% will come from your teammates’
evaluation of your contribution in building the marketing plan.