What type(s) of marketing research do you think will work best to get you the information you need to make informed decisions? How will you evaluate whether the research is providing you with the results you need? Will you conduct the research yourself, or hire an outside firm? Explain why.

Brand Extension Marketing Plan

1.0 Executive Summary

In 4 – 6 paragraphs, summarize your Brand Extension Marketing Plan. Be sure to include:

Product
Benefits
Target markets
Customer needs
Value proposition
How you would market on a national and global level
Show an understanding of other cultures, global relationships, and global dynamics in the marketplace

3.4 Positioning (refer to your Kotler text for definition of terms in this section)

Describe how your product/service meets the need(s) of your target market segments.
Describe how you are different from your key competition.
What is the most distinguishing feature of your new product?

3.5 Marketing Mix

Product

What makes your product different from the competition?
What gives your product more value than the competition?

Price

What price will you charge and how will you determine what price to charge for your product?
How will you determine what your product is worth?
How will your pricing strategy set you apart from your competition?

Place

How do you plan to distribute your product?
Do you have alternative delivery methods in mind? If so, describe in detail.
Will you take responsibility for distribution, or will you rely on an outside firm? How will you decide?

Promotion

What kind of promotional tools will you use? Describe in detail.
How will you determine what promotional tactics will work best?
With a limited promotional budget, how do you plan to gain market share?
How will you go about evaluating the results of your promotional campaign?

3.6 Marketing Research (refer back to Chapter 4 of your Kotler and Keller text for help with this section).

What type(s) of marketing research do you think will work best to get you the information you need to make informed decisions?
How will you evaluate whether the research is providing you with the results you need?
Will you conduct the research yourself, or hire an outside firm? Explain why.

Note: Do not forget that you need research to determine if you reached your Objectives in 3.2.

4.0 FINANCIALS

TIP: Refer to your sample marketing plan at the end of Chapter 2.

4.1 Break-Even Analysis

Explain when you will break-even.
Include a break-even table/chart.
Explain the break-even table/chart.

4.2 Sales Forecast

Include your sales forecast for the first year by month.
For the second and third years, include your forecasts by quarter.
Identify the risks you face.
Identify the most important components of sales performance.
Keep your chart(s) relatively simple and reduce the total number of categories so that your investors can quickly discern the information.

4.3 Expense Forecast

List your expenses for the following items for the next 3 years:

Website
Advertising
Printed Material
Development of retail channel
Other (list)

5.0 Controls

How will you monitor expenses/revenue?
Identify what methods/reports and how often.
How will you assess marketing effectiveness?
How will you assess changes in the market environment?

5.2 Marketing Organization

Roles and Relationships in Your Marketing Functions (who will be responsible and who will implement this Brand Extension Marketing Plan?).

5.3 Contingency Planning

Identify risks
How you will monitor risks
How you will adapt to adversity