MKTG:3000 Introduction to Marketing Strategy

Team Project Guidelines

Fall 2015
(Updated August 22, 2015)
Overview
A marketing plan is a key tool for any business. It not only establishes what
and how a business tries to achieve a specific marketing strategy, it explains
why the business should pursue the plan. A good marketing plan is strong in
its argument for a marketing strategy, clear in its assumptions and limitations
as it is impossible to eliminate all uncertainty, and provides a business a way
to measure how well it is doing against how well it had hoped to do by
following the plan. In short, a marketing plan provides a framework to
defend why the marketing strategy makes sense.
Over the course of the semester, you and your team will research a company's
overall marketing strategy for a product category, and then propose a new,
more sustainable product in that category with a marketing plan. Companies
are becoming more concerned with the outcomes of their marketing and
business decisions beyond just profits. Some companies are embracing calls
by consumers to be more socially responsible. But even if other companies
think they should have no goal besides shareholder value, the repercussions
and consequences of business actions that are perceived poorly by consumers
can hurt a business over the long-term, sometimes fatally. Your proposed product should reflect these
changing perceptions and expectations.
The team project is made up of three separate assignments that will help you to document how your
company markets in the product category, and then decide what a kind of new product in the category
would benefit the company and consumers.
This assignment has a few specific goals for students:
1) Understand the basic elements of a marketing plan (see diagram to the right).
2) Recognize of how these different elements inform each other.
3) Develop an understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals for a business by proposing a
more sustainable product.
4) Marketing majors will feel more comfortable creating their own marketing plan for a future employer,
possibly themselves as a small-business owner or entrepreneur.
5) Non-marketing majors will be able to interpret the quality of any marketing plan they encounter on the
job (also potentially as a small-business owner or entrepreneur), and be able to provide feedback to
improve the quality of a marketing plan.
After the first three assignments are graded, you are required to evaluate your team members. Penalties for
unsatisfactory performance, as rated by your team members, are described below.

Team Organization
Your TA will assign you to your teams early in the second week of the semester after the add/drop period
ends. Students are required to be professional in their dealings with teammates, and are expected to put
forth their fair share for each part of the team project. To document how your team expects to work with
each other, your team will need to complete a Team Charter Form and submit it on ICON within a week of
your first section. The Team Charter Form is available on ICON.
Project Team Member Peer Evaluation
~20% of the grade of each part of the project is assigned by peer evaluation. Your grade for team
assignments one through three depends on the average score you receive from your team members
regarding your contributions. Your TA will email a link to the peer evaluation that is a Qualtrics survey.
The deadline for team member peer evaluation submission is 11:59PM one week after your team receives
your assignment grade. All evaluations are confidential, and only read by the instructors. Failure to
submit the peer evaluation form by the deadline will result in the loss of all of your team assignment
points. You have to fill one peer evaluation for EACH team assignment. That means you have to submit
three peer evaluations in all.
Unsatisfactory Participation and Performance
If you receive less than 50% on your peer evaluation, we consider your participation and performance to be
unsatisfactory. Your TA will notify Professor Collins or Professor Abram of an unsatisfactory evaluation,
after which you are required to meet with your professor within one week to discuss the circumstances and
alternatives. If not, you may be removed from your team and your grade will be adversely affected.
Additionally, a team can fire a team member if multiple members of their team agree that firing is
appropriate. The firing process policy is that groups can fire a team member if team members (and/or their
section TA) warn the group member in advance that firing will result if current behavior continues. If the
behavior continues following the warning, and multiple team members (2 or more) agree that firing is still
justified after a reasonable time has elapsed (at least a week), then that individual will be removed from the
team. Dismissal from a team will result in a grade penalty for the dismissed student, and s/he must
complete all subsequent group assignments individually, which will result in a substantially increased
workload.

Team Project Assessment

1. 50% of your grade for each assignment is based on thoroughly answering all of the assignment
questions, and following the additional guidelines below. 50% will be assessed based on:
Logical reasoning and enough elaboration.
Well-supported defense and assumptions.
Explaining and supporting WHY your answers make sense as a whole.
Points will be deducted for inconsistencies, flawed reasoning, and unsupported conclusions.
In other words, if your team only turns in is a set of answers to questions without explaining why
or providing any support for your answers, YOUR TEAM WILL FAIL THAT PART OF THE
PROJECT.
Make sure to schedule enough time as a team to discuss the reasoning behind your answers based
on your research.
2. Submission
One of your team members needs to submit each assignment via dropbox on ICON by 11:59PM for
each due date.
3. Mechanics
Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuations must be followed.
Spacing, alignment, capitalization, punctuation, spelling are all correct.
Any graphs, charts, tables, etc. must have proper titles, and X and Y-axes of graphs are provided.
Styles (fonts, colors, etc.) are consistent throughout each assignment.
Graphs or charts should be used to present numeric data that shows proportions, trends, rank, or
comparison.
Assignments should read as if written by a single "voice."
Sources of information (e.g., facts, graphs, charts, etc.) are provided following APA style
(http://www.vanguard.edu/psychology/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/apastyleessentials.pdf). All
sources must be cited.
Poor spelling, grammar, etc. are usually indications that you have not put that much time and/or thought
into the assignment. Your future managers do pay attention to these details, so we enforce the same to
help you develop good habits.
Penalty for Late and Wrong Submissions
We do NOT accept late submissions. Zero points may be given for any late submissions. In addition, 10%
of earned points may be deducted for wrong dropbox submissions on ICON. As a team, you are responsible
for making sure your assignments are correctly submitted in the right dropbox on ICON

Team Project Part One due Sunday, September 27th at 11:59 PM via dropbox on ICON
(40 Points Graded, Additional Points By Peer Evaluation)
Your team will conduct market research on an industry, and one of its product categories, by analyzing the
following questions. Your TA will assign a product category and company within the industry for the
section. For this assignment, your team needs to create a PowerPoint deck that documents your market
research findings.
Any numerical data should be provided as both a table and a chart or graph. All charts and graphs you
provide must include an interpretation.
1. Describe the industry and product category using what research you can find. Then answer the
following questions, and thoroughly explain why.
a. What conclusions can you draw from the information you found?
b. Where is the industry and product category likely headed next?
2. What does the marketing environment look like?
a. What external forces are in play that are affecting the industry, category, and your company?
3. Who are the consumers in the product category?
a. What are they like? What are the demographic and/or psychographic consumer segments targeted
by the industry in the category?
b. What are their needs? Do these needs differ by segment?
c. Is there some benefit the category currently does not provide that could fulfill a need for a consumer
segment?
4. What are the sustainability and ethical challenges for the industry and product category?
a. Do consumers perceive the industry as harmful? In what way?
b. What are consumers' sustainability and ethical expectations of the industry and product category in
the future?
c. What initiatives have been taken within the industry, either by an industry association or by
individual companies, to improve their sustainability and ethical practices? How are these initiatives
measured? Have those initiatives been successful?
A substantial amount of research must be completed and documented in your slide deck before you will be
able to adequately answer these questions. Some of this can include, but is not limited to:
How big is the product category?
Is the category growing or shrinking by sales?
How does the industry segment the category, if at all? E.g. the product category could be
subcompact cars, but the automobile industry treats that as one segment of the industry
What are the demographic segments of the product category? Note that different product segments
in the category may be aimed at different consumer segments, and you should explain this.
What are the psychographic segments of the category's consumer? This includes the motives and
lifestyles of different product segments.

Team Project Part Two due Sunday, October 25th at 11:59 PM via dropbox on ICON
(55 Points Graded, Additional Points By Peer Evaluation)
Your team will conduct market research on your company and its consumers in the product category. The
information you research and develop here will help inform the marketing plan for a new product in Part
Three. For this assignment, your team will submit a PowerPoint deck.
Again, any numerical data should be provided as both a table and a chart or graph. All charts and graphs
you provide must include an interpretation.
1. Describe the company using what research you can find. Then answer the following questions, and
thoroughly explain why.
a. What is the company's place in the industry?
b. Where is the company likely to be in the category in the near future?
c. Who does the company compete against and/or collaborate with in the industry?
2. What are the sustainability and ethical challenges for the company?
a. Is the company targeting consumer segments that expect a higher standard of sustainable and/or
ethical behavior?
b. What corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are the company currently pursuing? Is CSR
new to the company, or does the company have a long CSR history?
c. How do the company's stated CSR and ethical goals affect how it participates in the product
category?
d. What are consumers' sustainability and ethical expectations of the company within product category
in the future?
3. What consumer segment(s) is/are the company focused on in the product category?
a. How does the company target those segments? Does the company use a differentiated or
undifferentiated targeting strategy?
b. Do the actions the company uses to target these consumer segments follow the company's stated
CSR and ethical/business conduct goals?
c. Is there some benefit the category currently does not provide that could fulfill a need for a consumer
segment, that the company is well situated to provide?
d. What kind of product could fulfill that need ethically and sustainably?
4. SWOT Analysis Do both a bullet-pointed chart, and a paragraph format explanation. The external
elements can draw from Part One of the Team Project.
a. Strengths are internal capabilities that can help the company reach its objectives.
b. Weaknesses are internal elements that may interfere with the companys ability to reach its
objectives.
c. Opportunities are external elements that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage.
d. Threats are current or emerging external elements that may challenge the companys performance.

5. Objectives These must be defined in specific terms so the company can measure progress and, if
needed, take corrective action. Define what is to be accomplished through marketing activities. Must
be realistic, measurable, and time-bound.
a. Financial
b. Market
c. Social
A substantial amount of research must be completed and documented in your slide deck before you will be
able to adequately answer these questions. Some of this can include, but is not limited to:
How big is company?
Is the company growing or shrinking in terms of overall sales?
Are the company's products in the product category growing or shrinking in market share?
What other product categories and industries does the company participate in?
What are the demographic segments of the product category that the company targets?
What are the psychographic segments of the category's consumers that the company targets?
What is the stage of the product category in the product life cycle?

Team Project Part Three due Friday, November 20th at 11:59 PM via dropbox on ICON
(70 Points Graded, Additional Points By Peer Evaluation)
Your team will propose a new product in the product category that can fulfill the company's objectives,
market opportunity, and consumer need(s) identified in Part Two of the Team Project with a sustainable
focus. You will need to recommend the marketing strategy, including a marketing mix for the new product,
as well as propose how you will evaluate the success of the product as well as what you would do if
objectives were not met or exceeded. For this assignment, your team will submit a paper.
Your TA will select the two best plans. Those two teams will present their marketing plan in section the
week of 12/7, and can expect a higher grade for Part Three as a result.
1. Marketing Strategy select and describe target markets, and develop the marketing mix to meet
consumer needs.
a. Objectives Define the rationale for the product. Then create a set of three or more objectives,
at least one of which includes CSR, that are realistic, measurable, and time-bound, and that will
allow you to measure whether the product, once it has launched, has met its underlying purpose.
i. How do these objectives tie in to the company objectives in you identified in Part Two?
b. Target market strategy Define the consumer segment(s) on which you will focus. Summarize
details on these consumers you found from Parts One and Two to reinforce your case that your
product will meet the needs of these consumers. Are you going after the same or a different
consumer segment that the company already targets in the product category, and why?
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c. Marketing Mix
i. Positioning How do you want the target market to think of your product?
1. Identify your company's competitive advantage.
2. Does targeting this market this follow the company's stated CSR and
ethical/business conduct goals?
3. What are the meaningful differences, supported by appropriate strategy and
implementation, which can help build a competitive advantage with your new
product?
4. How does the positioning meet the opportunities identified in your SWOT
analysis in Part Two?
5. State and defend what the company will achieve by targeting this new market.
6. How will the product be positioned against the companies existing product(s) in
the category?
ii. Product What are your current offerings and how do they meet the needs of the target
market? How does your new product fit within these offerings?
1. What products are currently being offered by the company within the category?
2. What is the new product you are recommending? Write a description of the
product, and define its features and benefits.
3. How does the product meet the needs or wants of the target market? What
strengths apply to the product strategy? What weaknesses and threats pose risks,
and how can they be minimized? How do the products features and benefits
provide value for consumers? How does the product compare to competitors?
4. How does your product meet the proposed positioning in a sustainable and ethical
way?
5. How is the product itself more sustainable, e.g. in terms of its components,
packaging, etc.?
iii. Price How do you plan to manage your prices?
1. Does your product operate in a category with strong price competition? How
elastic is demand in the product category? What factors influence elasticity? How
elastic is demand likely to be for your proposed product?
2. What is the pricing strategy for your proposed product that you will pursue, and
why? Use examples from the category to help explain why.
3. What does the organization want its pricing strategy to achieve? Will your
strategy be to use pricing as a competitive weapon to gain market share, or will
you be using prestige pricing to target specific consumer segments, etc.
4. How does the organizations prices serve the needs and wants of the target
market?
5. How will consumers perceive the balance between product price and benefits?
iv. Place (Distribution) Products are available where and when consumers want them.
1. How do consumers expect or prefer to get access to the product?
2. How does your distribution plan meet those needs or wants?
3. What sustainable practices will you use to reach your target consumer segments,
e.g. storage, warehousing, transportation, etc.?
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v. Promotion What activities (advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal

selling) are being used? What are your plans for the future?
1. What are the target markets communications needs, preferences, habits, profile,
and media usage? What does the audience respond to in terms of promotion
tools, message strategy, media and timing of communications? Explain why this
is the best way to reach these consumers in the context of what you documented
in Part Two of the team project.
2. Strategically, what marketing channels (e.g. direct mail, TV advertising) should
be used to promote your proposed product to its target market? A creative agency
is expected to work with your strategic direction, so focus on the strategic
elements, and stay away from describing any creative.
2. Evaluation
a. Specifically, how will you measure the extent to which each of the objectives from above has
been achieved by your new product?
b. What metrics will help track progress of marketing mix programs toward achieving the
objectives?
3. Control
a. What corrective measures will be implemented to correct those objectives that are unmet?
b. What will you do if objectives are being exceeded?