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MARKETING PLAN GUIDELINES
Step #1: Teams of 4-5 students will be formed in week 2. You are to name your team and create a team logo. Email your team name and logo along with a list of team members to me and your coach. This is due by the end of week 2, Sunday, the end of the day. This assignment is required as part of your marketing plan. Only one member of the team needs to submit.

Step #2: Choose a product/service about which you will write your marketing plan. Explain how your product/service solves a consumer/business problem and is uniquely different from anything else in the market. The product should be realistic, useful and commercially viable. Submit a PowerPoint presentation (no more than 5 slides -strictly enforced) telling your product story.
A video that may help with this assignment is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnKeVs-_9zs. Also, present a company mission statement, vision statement (maybe the same if an entrepreneurial venture), and a list of core values (2-5). 
This assignment is required as part of your marketing plan. It is due at the end of week 2, Sunday, end-of-day. Only one member of the team needs to submit.

Step #3: Present a situation analysis. (5 or fewer PowerPoint slides). Choose at least two of the following: Macro-Level External Environmental Factors, Forces Driving Industry Competition, and/or a SWOT analysis. Help for these include the following videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYn4CyL3r5w&t=56s – Macro-Level External Environmental Factors; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thNlGrpTHlQ – Forces Driving Industry Competition; and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR9eICQJLXA&t=26s – SWOT analysis. This assignment is NOT required. The purpose of this assignment is to give you feedback on your marketing plan. While not required, you will be required to include a Situation Analysis in your marketing plan. If you chose to submit, do so by Week 3, Sunday, end-of-day. Only one member of the team needs to submit.

Step #4: Present  your consumer behavior research (chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the text). Define your target market and justify that it is potentially profitable to pursue. Also, present an prototype of your product or a service blueprint if a service (chapter 10 of the text). Your should also calculate customer lifetime value (CLV). There is an article in your Harvard Coursepack that explains how to do this. 
For secondary market research, you may find the following video helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq4wjqVIx5U&t=21s ; for drawing a prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjozqJS44M ; for drawing s service blueprint https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE_SNjP7Pik&t=17s ; 
This assignment is NOT required. The purpose of this assignment is to give you feedback on your marketing plan. While not required, you will be required to include a Situation Analysis in your marketing plan. If you chose to submit, do so by Week 4, Sunday, end-of-day.
Only one member of the team needs to submit.


Step #5: Explain your team’s marketing strategy in terms of the 4Ps. Included in this is your value proposition. Some videos that may help: for value creation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNDSYW5Zu4E&t=95s ; for co-creation of value: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIjHMK3VXh0 ; for marketing mix strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNzEXkE4M0 
This assignment is NOT required. The purpose of this assignment is to give you feedback on your marketing plan. While not required, you will be required to include a Situation Analysis in your marketing plan. If you chose to submit, do so by Week 4, Sunday, end-of-day.

Step #6: Written marketing plan. See the details below. This assignment is required and is due Week 6, Sunday, end-of-day. Only one member of the team needs to submit.

Step #7: Marketing plan presentation. This presentation can be a PowerPoint or YouTube recoding. It should be 7 minutes or less (strictly enforced). It is a summary of your plan where you highlight the product/service, show us what problem it will solve, and how it will be commercially viable. Think Shark Tank – you’re selling your idea to potential investors.
Only one member of the team needs to submit.

Outline for Marketing Plan
One-Year Strategic Marketing Plan (10-15 pages + Appendices)

I.    Executive Summary [~1 page or less]
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 consumer or business market and how it will address competitors. Write this last – it is a summary of the plan.

II.    Company Description [~1/2 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 [~1/2 page]
This is a brief description of the company’s product and/or service, including summaries of current marketing strategies (including current target markets). In this section, you will describe the current state of the business that sets the stage for your marketing plan. Your prototype drawing or service blueprint will be in the Appendix. 

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 a vital background that sets the stage for your strategic and tactical proposals. After completing each section of the 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 data for Macro-level external environmental analysis, Forces Driving Industry Competition (Porter’s Five Forces), internal and SWOT analysis in tables, and then use the text of your plan to pull out the strategic implications for marketing.

V.    Consumer Behavior Research [~2 pages]
Use this section to summarize the findings and analysis from your secondary consumer behavior research. Include:
                      -Research methodology and research implications
                      -Key research findings and implications
                -Consumer needs analysis
                      -Consumer decision-making process

VI.    Critical Issues [~1/2 page]
Based on the above analysis, what 3-5 critical issues are your company facing? These are the issues that you will be directly addressed in the marketing plan. This also is an extremely important section, as it provides a direct link between your analysis and your plan.

VII.    Marketing Goals and Objectives [~1/2 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. Examples of marketing and financial examples: Marketing objectives may include revenue/sales, awareness, market share, customer satisfaction, or loyalty; and financial objectives such as profit. 

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 the 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 the 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 a 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? If it is an entrepreneurial venture, how will you build and establish your brand?
      -Pricing Strategy: Outline your pricing objectives and explain how they relate to your financial and marketing objectives. Estimate your cost of goods sold and calculate total revenue, total costs, and grow profit margin. Explain and justify your pricing strategy (see chapter 11 of the text).
    -Place Strategy: Define your distribution strategy. What channels will you use to sell your product/service? Why? Provide a rationale for your choices. Define your selling approach. What selling message will you use to persuade your channel partners to carry your product? If selling directly, what is your sales message?
    -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 shows, and conference participation, direct marketing (mail, telephone, email), internet marketing and 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? NOTE: The key to effective marketing communication is consistency across all media.

X.    Implementation Schedule and Financials [~1 page]
In this section, 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)? [Chapter 5 in the text]. (Projected) Given your projected level of sales, what will your unit and dollar market share be?; market penetration, the margin on sale, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
    -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 sales projections: Use realistic estimates. Some secondary data research should help here.
    -Marketing budget: forecast the needed expenditures to implement the marketing plan that you build.

XI.    Controls and Contingency Planning [~1 page]
In this section, you describe how you will ensure success, and also describe your contingency plans and caveats. 
    ¬-Monitoring and Control: Here you will 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 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. The importance of this section should be obvious from the COVID-19 crisis.

XII.    Conclusion [~1 page]

XIII.    Appendices
These should include charts, tables, and diagrams that support your text.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Format: Plan is to be double-spaced, 12-size font, with 1-inch margins top/bottom and left/right. 

Length: 15 pages MAXIMUM, plus cover sheet and 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 should be included in your analysis. If you are unable to find estimates for the numbers you will need to run your financial analyses, just make well-informed estimates and document your assumptions.

Grading: We will be looking for completeness, internal consistency, justification, flow, and professionalism. 





KEY LEARNINGS GUIDELINES
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Prepare a PowerPoint presentation (5 or fewer slides) to highlight what you have learned. There will be two Key Learnings exercise. One after the case and one at the end of the course. For the one after the case, tell me the highlights of what you learned from the case analysis. For the one at the end of the course, highlight what you learned from the course. Your work should include:
-    Key learnings and main skills that you have improved, insights you have secured, or knowledge that you have gained.
-    Your plan in using these skills/insights/knowledge to achieve further academic and work-related goals.
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