For each of the three marketing communications objectives written in number 2, discuss which of the promotion tools would be the best choice to reach each of the three marketing communications objective.

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Integrated Marketing Communications, and the Changing Media Landscape

Integrated Marketing Communications. Student understands how integrated marketing communications can add value for customers.
Marketing communications objectives. Student can develop marketing communications objectives using the AIDA framework.
Promotion mix. Student can select the appropriate promotion tool to be used for different marketing communications objectives.
Media strategy. Student can design a simple message and media plan for a product or service offering.

Directions

This assignment assesses your ability to relate integrated marketing communications concepts to your product or service offering and the target market you selected. Here you will let your creative side shine as you think through how you would design the marketing communications for your product or service to effectively and efficiently communicate a clear, consistent and compelling message to your target market over the next year.
The course content does not cover IMC in great detail and you may want to refer to some open source references for more information on message design. A good one is:

Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications

http://multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingcommunications/

Prepare your assignment beginning with a title page with your name and the name of your product or service. Then answer each of the following four questions (four in part 1 and there is not a part 2) in order and number the beginning of your response to each question. Although you do not need to repeat the question, headings should be used to separate the sections. The assignment has no specific page limit…demonstrate your critical thinking skills by applying the relevant concepts to each question, integrating them with your brand-name product, and elaborate on them for a comprehensive response to the questions.

Integrated Marketing Communications. Considering your new target market and any modifications, new product line extensions or new products you may have developed to serve the new target market needs, create your ‘Big Idea” (or theme of your promotional messages) to be the basis of the message strategy for all your marketing communications.

Marketing communications objectives. Write at least three marketing communications objectives using the AIDA framework discussed in the course content.

Promotion mix. For each of the three marketing communications objectives written in number 2, discuss which of the promotion tools would be the best choice to reach each of the three marketing communications objective. One tool must be advertising (traditional or online) You should have more than one promotion mix tool for any given marketing communications objective.

Media strategy. Discuss at least two of your media choices that you believe will best reach your target market with your advertising. Be specific with your media choices. (You may have to do some research on the particular media choice.) You should be using social media and discuss which social media and how they will be used to accomplish which objective.

Why do you think there is an opportunity for this product, and how is it distinct from what the company already offers?

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New-Product Development

1. Come up with a new product idea for Apple that they do not currently offer.

2. Why do you think there is an opportunity for this product, and how is it distinct from what the company already offers?

Explain what is meant by Marketing? Define the extended marketing mix and discuss the considerations an organization should give for each of the 7Ps. Explain how a business can use marketing to remain competitive?

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Assignment Guidelines Introduction to Marketing

Produce a clear and concise report using publicly available materials, journals, and the recommended core texts, address the following topics 1)

1) Explain what is meant by Marketing? (80 words) Define the extended marketing mix and discuss the considerations an organist should give for each of the 7Ps. Use examples to illustrate your points_ (270 words).   24 marks

2) Explain how a business can use marketing to remain competitive? Use SWOT analysis to explain your answer (remember, SW is internal, and OT is external). (300 words)  22 marks

3) Describe Ansoff’s growth matrix (80 words). ii. Explain how Ansoff s matrix can be used to by an organization to analyze their growth strategies? (270 words)  24 marks

4) 1. Explain how an organization can use digital marketing to improve its performance and growth_ (300 words)   22 Marks

In addition, ensure that your report includes a brief introduction, conclusion, and Table of Contents. (200words) – 6 marks for introduction & conclusion and 2 marks for Table of Contents – This assignment does not require you to include a case study on any organization. You can however, incorporate real life/business examples throughout your report.

Discuss the role of data privacy issues when collecting customer level data.

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Systematic literature review

Discuss the role of data privacy issues when collecting customer level data.

What ”product” is a college athletics department selling? Discuss how a college sports fan might go through the buying decision process, providing examples for each stage. Of the four sets of factors affecting consumer behavior, which most strongly affects how college sports fans consume a sport?

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To create value for customers and build meaningful relationships with them, marketers must first gain fresh, deep insights into what customers need and want. Such insights come from good marketing information. As a result of the recent explosion of marketing technology, companies can now obtain great quantities of information, sometimes even too much. The challenge is to transform today’s vast volume of consumer information into actionable customer and market insights. The American consumer market consists of more than 310 million people who consume more than $10 trillion worth of goods and services each year, making it one of the most attractive consumer markets in the world. The world consumer market consists of more than 6.9 billion people. The business market involves even more dollars and items than the consumer market. Understanding buyer behavior is one of the biggest challenges marketers face.

The Assignment
After Reading Chapter 5: Understanding Consumer and Business Buyer Behavior and viewing the Power point Presentation for Chapter Five in Power point Slides. Your Assignment for Chapter Five is to watch the video IMG Worldwide in the My Marketing Lab. then answer the following questions below.
5-15. What ”product” is a college athletics department selling?
5-16. Discuss how a college sports fan might go through the buying decision process, providing examples for each stage.
5-17. Of the four sets of factors affecting consumer behavior, which most strongly affects how college sports fans consume a sport?

Providing a real-world example, describe how Neilson might discover a consumer insight. What kinds of partnerships might Neilson need to form with other companies in order to accomplish its goals?

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Most people know Nielsen as the TV rating company. In reality, however, Nielsen is a multiplatform research company that has constantly been evolving since 1923. Its goal is to measure and track a wide range of consumer activity in order to establish a 360-degree view of individuals and market segments. To accomplish this, Nielsen has to follow consumers wherever they may be watching TV, online, in their homes, or in stores. How does Nielsen track all this activity? The veteran research firm has established effective methods of recording consumer activity, from retail scanner data to household panels to monitoring social networks. As data are captured, they are transferred to a Nielsen data warehouse, where they are matched to the right individual and added to the terabytes of information Nielsen already possesses. Through data sorting and analytics, Nielsen cuts through billions of daily transactions to deliver clear consumer insights to clients.

To create value for customers and build meaningful relationships with them, marketers must first gain fresh, deep insights into what customers need and want. Such insights comes from good marketing information. As a result of the recent explosion of marketing technology, companies can now obtain great quantities of information, sometimes even too much. The challenge is to transform today’s vast volume of consumer information into actionable customer and market insights. The American consumer market consist of more than 310 million people who consume more then $10 trillion worth of goods and services each year, making it one of the most attractive consumer markets in the world. The world consumer market consists of more than 6.9 billion people. The business market involves even more dollars and items than the consumer market. Understanding buyer behavior is one of the biggest challenges marketers face.
The Assignment

4-15. What is Nielson’s Expertise?.
4-16. Providing a real-world example, describe how Neilson might discover a consumer insight.
4-17. What kinds of partnerships might Neilson need to form with other companies in order to accomplish its goals?

What is your recommendation to firms considering using DTC marketing channels? How do you suggest they take advantage of the potential opportunities you have identified?  How should firms craft the ultimate DTC customer experience?  How should firms measure success in terms of their DTC marketing efforts?

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Cannabis Delivery

Project Assignment

The US domestic market for consumer goods and services is very dynamic. For example, what is state of the art in terms of technology may change, competitors may enter the market, or profit margins may decline.  As you may have already noted, this category is home to some of the most interesting trends in product development.

Evidence of the dynamism of the US domestic consumer goods market is seen in the disruptive effects of digital technology that permits firms to engage in Direct to Consumer (DTC) marketing. Technology permits firms to circumvent established channels of distribution to market directly to consumers.  For example, Tesla, the world leader in electric vehicle sells cars through its internet site directly to consumers without using the established franchised dealer network model.  While potential buyers are able to see and test drive vehicles at company owned stores, the role of the traditional dealer who manages sales, customer relationships, warrantee service and other customer related roles has been eliminated.  The result is a more efficient and direct sales channel that permits the Tesla to be in complete control with its relationship with its customers.

Many other firms have adopted a similar approach and now maintain websites that permit them to market directly to consumers. Industries such as winemaking, spirits, gourmet foods etc.. now offer digital store front that permit them to market directly to consumers and avoid the expense of unwanted distribution intermediaries.

This has created marketing challenges for such firms.  As they seek to invest in this increasing profitable marketing model, important questions need to be answered.  Specifically, they need to understand how to optimize the digital shopper experience and turn Direct to Consumer marketing into a profitable sales channel.

In your group, you may choose a product market (not a brand) that interests you to serve as the basis for your project. For example, the correct level of analysis would be something like gourmet cheese, automobile, wine, etc…. that is, a product market in which a number of brands are represented.

You should be able to research your chosen product market thoroughly both through primary and secondary sources of market research information.  Suggested forms of primary research include observational research, survey research, or focus group interviews among others.  Secondary sources include trade publications, annual reports, business publication, commercial information sources and other widely available forms of information.

Work Product:

When you have completed your project, you will submit a well- integrated, well –conceived, well-written document that includes the following:

Executive summary:

A comprehensive summary of your research outcomes and how they impact strategy and key programmatic approaches to Direct to Consumer marketing in the product market you and your group has chosen (no more than 1000 words).

Current Strategic Analysis:

The current state of Direct to Consumer marketing in your chosen product market should be analyzed in a 1000-1500 word (maximum) summary of the current market conditions.  That is, what are successful DTC marketers are doing well in the product market you’ve chosen?  What are their current strategies? E.g. what are the market and customer characteristics targeted and the strengths and weakness of the current approach as well as the various environmental factors that are present in the selected market.  In particular, consider the dynamic nature of the environment, the drivers and resisters that can impact effective targeting and positioning. What are the latest innovations in DTC marketing? Clearly, a level of detail consistent with your desire to justify your conclusions is required as is the extensive use of secondary market research data.

Customer Research

Intimate knowledge of the customer is required by every marketing firm. Accordingly, conduct a research study sufficient to build the customer knowledge essential to understanding the targeted customers and their characteristics. For example, what attracts consumers to Direct to Consumer marketing approaches? What do consumers want in a website? Then, prepare a summary research report detailing your findings regarding the consumer’s perspective on your research question.  You should describe the methods used to research your market, the results of your research process, a discussion of your findings and a conclusion.  Your conclusion should answer all questions about how to market directly to consumers. You should be able to accomplish this in 1000 to 1500 words.

Market Analysis

Based on your customer research, briefly summarize (1000 to 1500 word maximum,) the major problems and opportunities inherent in a Direct to Consumer approach in your chosen market, such as the relative positioning and strength of competitors, potential and anticipated competitive reactions, cannibalization and other strategic marketing issues.  What is the future of Direct to Consumer Marketing? How are company websites evolving? Support your observations both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Strategic Implications/Recommendations:

You will then describe your strategic approach as a result of the research you conduct. What is your recommendation to firms considering using DTC marketing channels? How do you suggest they take advantage of the potential opportunities you have identified?  How should firms craft the ultimate DTC customer experience?  How should firms measure success in terms of their DTC marketing efforts?

This section should include your justification and support for your conclusions, and key elements of forward looking strategy (promotions, brand messaging, creative strategy ) required to implement the recommendations you suggest.  You should be able to accomplish this in less than 2000 words.

In addition to your written document, you will also record a short (15 minute maximum) presentation of your project and upload it to be graded.

Research the marketing surrounding your purchase and identify any behavioral strategies you see reflected in their approach. Reflect on your own purchasing decision process and consider how these approaches may have influenced your buying behavior.

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Individual Case Study— How to Influence a Purchase

For this assignment reflect on a recent purchase and apply what you are learning about the consumer behavior strategies used to influence your buying decisions. Then write your perspective on the following:

Research the marketing surrounding your purchase and identify any behavioral strategies you see reflected in their approach.
Reflect on your own purchasing decision process and consider how these approaches may have influenced your buying behavior.
Reflect on other vendors or products that do not use these approaches and what changes they could make to gain your patronage in the future.
Research and apply what you have learned regarding consumer behavior to your personal buying behavior.
You are expected to cite relevant sources to support your analysis.

Identify at least one element of each of the SWOT categories (a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, and a threat). Explain your choice using a citation if needed. Then identify possible implications for each of the four elements.

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Principles of Marketing

Part 1 – What is Strategic Marketing?

Learning Outcomes

Creating Value for Customers: Student can demonstrate an understanding of the concept of value creation.
The Role of the Customer in the Company’s Strategic Planning. Student can assess the company’s commit to serving customer needs as evidenced in a company’s mission statement.
SWOT analysis: Student can conduct a simple SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of a product or service offering and draw inferences from an analysis of the results.
Competitive Analysis: Student can conduct a simple competitive analysis based on criteria important to the customers of the product or service.

Directions

You are to develop a new brand-name competitive product (Good or service). The same product/service YOU develop will be used in all of the writing assignments.
You can conduct your research through the Internet and UMGC’s virtual library. Do not limit yourself to searching solely on the product or service name. Look up the industry (or product category of competitive products) it is in (Hoovers.com is a good source for this via the UMGC library) and search on that industry as well. Look up the direct competitors to determine how their products are being marketed. You can analyze their marketing efforts and activities in order to determine how YOU will market your new brand-name product. Check industry journals and the trade press. Ask your family, friends, coworkers and others what they think about the product and each of the competitors. You will want to visit a retailer to compare the products on the shelves or visit all of the websites. Keep all your research as you will need it for future writing assignments.
Prepare your assignment beginning with a title page with your name and the brand name of your product or service. Then answer each of the following eight questions (four in part 1 and four in part 2) in order and number the beginning of your response to each question. Although you do not need to repeat the question, each section should have a heading. The paper should contain approximately 5 to 8+ pages of analysis for the responses to the eight questions.
Creating Value for Customers. Consider the customers you believe will use your product or service and the definition of \marketing offered in the course content. As we begin our study of marketing, what are your preliminary thoughts as to how you think the company creates value for its customers based on the concepts in this week’s readings. Included a definitive value statement for your brand-name product in your answer.
Role of the Customer in the Company’s Strategic Plan. The readings indicate that the best marketing begins with the customer and that commitment to the customer begins with including the customer in the company’s mission statement. Develop your company’s mission statement (you can use the mission statement of competitive products as a basis for your company’s mission statement.).

SWOT analysis. Identify at least one element of each of the SWOT categories (a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, and a threat). Explain your choice using a citation if needed. Then identify possible implications for each of the four elements. Create a Table in which these elements are posted. For example, if a strength is a a strong national brand name, the implication is that the company may be able to launch other related products under the positive umbrella of the same brand name. Conversely, if a major weakness is the company is carrying a lot of debt, the implication is that the company not not be able to achieve significant growth, but may have to consider retrenchment strategies.
Competitive Analysis. Identify at least two of your major competitors or those two products that are trying to sell essentially identical products to the same type of consumer. Then, identify at least three criteria that are important to those consumers when they are making their decision as to which of the three competing offers to buy (e.g. price, specific benefit, service, warranty, convenience, specific feature, etc.). Make a little chart with the three criteria along the left-hand side and the competitor products (including your own product) across the top. Rank each of the products on a scale from 1= low to 5= high on each performs on each of the three criteria. Add down each column. Which product ranked highest overall based on the sum of the columns. Then, look at the highest score in each of the criteria boxes. Which products ranked the highest on each of the three criteria? Was it the same product, was it three different products? What do these results tell you about the competitive environment of your product category. Which product is the leader? Which product is the follower, challenger and nicher if those categories apply? Attach your chart as an exhibit.

Part 2 – Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, Management and Empowerment

Learning Outcomes

Customer empowerment. Student can identify how their chosen brand-name product or service offering uses social networks to communicate and empower customers to be part of the marketing process.
Customer satisfaction. Student can identify how customers will communicate their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with your chosen brand-name product (good or service) offering.
Customer Relationship Management. Student can explain customer lifetime value and how a customer relationship management program can have a role in attracting and retaining most valuable customers.
Customer privacy. Student can identify the product or service offerings privacy policy and analyze its effectiveness in protecting their customer’s information.

Directions

You may want to find a Most Valuable Customer (MVC) of the product or service if you are not one yourself of a competitive brand, or alternatively think like an MVC for your ow2n brand name product. What is the evidence of an MVC of your product or service? It isn’t just that the customer regularly buys the product or service. It means that the customer is treated differently — better — than other customers. It means that the MVC represents about 20% of the company’s revenues. These are the customers with whom the company regularly communicates, offers special deals, and other ways as outlined in the text and as you can find with just a little bit of googling on the internet.
You may want to calculate the lifetime value of a most valuable customer. See the discussion of the lifetime value calculation in the week’s reading, and calculate the LTV using this simple equation: LTV = (Price – cost to produce the product) * number of annual purchases * number of years expected to purchase – initial acquisition costs. For simplicity sake, you can assume your customer will have a relationship with you for ten years and you can make an educated guess as to how much the initial acquisition costs were to get him as a customer in terms of advertising or other types of promotion efforts. If you are not an MVC yourself, make and share your assumptions about your calculation. If you are not an MVC, you might want to find someone who is and ask them why they are loyal to the product or service and what they feel the company does for them that is special that they don’t do for other customers.
You may need call or visit a store to take a look at your product or service if the website does not provide you everything you need to evaluate the company’s product or service privacy policy. Usually the privacy policy is available on the website.
Answer the following four questions in order and number the beginning of your response to each question.
Customer Empowerment. How does your brand-name product or service offering empower its customers as discussed in the course readings this week? In other words, how are customers part of the marketing for your company? Identify the feedback vehicles you may use, especially social media. Do the social media efforts seem to be creating buzz marketing? If not, what could they do to generate more ‘buzz’?
Customer satisfaction. How does your product or service offering communicate ways for customers to express their dissatisfaction? If possible, outline what remedies the product or service may be taking to ensure satisfaction.
Customer Relationship Management. Does it appear that your product has a customer relationship management strategy? In other words, do they treat the top tier of customers differently than other customers? If so, what is your evidence? If not, should they have a CRM strategy? Or, are there compelling reasons why your product or service should treat all customers the same? Refer to course content concepts in your response.
Customer privacy. Review your competitor’s product or service offering’s privacy policy (usually published on its website). Analyze whether you think they do enough to protect the customer’s privacy or what steps you might suggest that should be taken to protect your customer’s privacy. Refer to the privacy policies or the information on warranties and guarantees. The company’s customer support page might also be useful. Do they publish a remedy should the customer’s privacy be breached? Should they?

What is your account balance and how did your account balance end up compared to your competitors? What is your market share and how did your market share end up compared to your competitors? What is your customer satisfaction % and how did your customer satisfaction end up compared to your competitors?

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Marketing class

PART 1: LEADERBOARD
After completing the 9 turns in the Tutorial. you will want to click on the LEADERBOARD button on the bottom right hand side of the simulation. A pop- up screen will be visible and on that screen, click on the CUMULATIVE tab and answer the following:

What is your account balance and how did your account balance end up compared to your competitors?
What is your market share and how did your market share end up compared to your competitors?
What is your customer satisfaction % and how did your customer satisfaction end up compared to your competitors?
Using the information from the leaderboard and the Market Research area, what did you do better than your competition throughout the tutorial? Please explain why you performed better.
Again using the information from the leaderboard and the Market Research area, where did your competitors do better than you? Please explain why they performed better.

PART 2: REPORTS
Next you will need to look at some key results and performance indicators. You will want to click on the REPORTS button on the bottom right hand side of the simulation and a new screen with tabs will appear – each with a lot of important information to review: To help you better understand and interpret the information in these reports, please review the MKTG 1010 Simulation Help Video at the bottom of this page and/or these tutorial tips and resources.

Did anyone else target the same segment as you? If so, did they make more money than you? To determine this, click on the CASH FLOWS tab, click turn 9 and look at “Final Balance.”
In the KPI tab, look at the first 6 measures (characteristics score, features score, average appeal score, price score, message score and interest level – there include the measurements used to determine your Customer Satisfaction Score, which is what determines your overall grade in the simulation) and answer the following:
On which scores did you perform better than your competitors?
On which scores did competitors perform better than you?
Using the information from the simulation, please analyze these results and try to determine why you received these results. Be sure to use the video and tips referenced above for further explanation.

PART 3: NEXT STEPS:
Your “Final” in this class will be an 8 Turn Simulation which will be run just like the Marketing Simulation – Tutorial assignment… however, you will have to make ALL of your initial strategic decisions (target market, product, price, placement/distribution in retailers and promotion) in one turn before ending the turn. Once you have ended your turn, you will review results, analyze your competition, make strategic changes and end the turn 7 more times, giving you 8 turns (or quarters) worth of sales data.

Note that the Marketing Simulation – Final assignment will open for you once you submit this Tutorial Analysis Assignment.

Focusing on the crucial marketing decisions that you will have to make in the first turn of the Marketing Simulation – Final assignment in Connect – and drawing on what you learned in the Mini-Sims throughout the semester and the Marketing Simulation – Tutorial assignment – please answer the following about your strategic marketing plan for that assignment:

Who do you intend to choose as your target market in Turn 1 of the Marketing Simulation – Final assignment? Why? Remember that your decisions should be based on data – things like market size, market growth, average price paid compared to cost to product a good product, etc.
What do you think is a “good” amount to spend in advertising in Turn 1? Remember that while you have $10,000 in the bank to start, that’s not your advertising budget. As mentioned above, think about your average margin, sales potential, etc.
What other elements of the 4 Ps do you need to worry about and pay attention to in Turn 1? Why?