Go-pro Hero Camera
MKTG 301
Group Project
Overview
You will work with the group to develop an abridged version of a marketing plan for the chosen company and product. The written project is worth 40 % of the total grade.
DUE DATES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
• Please ensure that the group only sends me one version of the e-copy on the due day.
• The e-copy should always be in Microsoft word format, NOT PDF format..
• Please make sure that the e-copy and the hard copy are the same document.
• Please send an e-copy of your project to my email ccheng5@gmu.edu on the due day.
• Please bring a hard copy of your final project to class on the due day.
• Please also bring your completed team evaluation form on the last day of class.
You will be part of a group of students (number to be determined by class size). You will form your group during the first class, and exchange the names and contact information with each other. This project allows individual members to assume responsibility for portions and contribute equally to the project. It is the group responsibility to ensure that the final product integrates all components and present as one single professional product. A team evaluation will be taken into consideration when assigning project marks at the end of the semester. You must meet regularly in person as a group, do not rely on conducting group project meeting in the cyberspace alone.
Your group should select a product and a company of interest. For purposes of this project, I would recommend that you choose a company that is a publicly held company so you will have access to information. Your reports must be grounded in reality, and you’ll need to be able to determine how the product fits into the firm’s strategies and approaches.
GROUP PROJECT
The Report will include:
o A cover page, a table of contents and an executive summary: An executive summary previews the aim, the main points and key findings of your report, and should be single spaced and not be more than one page.
o A description of the product itself from marketing, not necessarily a technical, perspective.
o Describe the product and its primary benefits to the consumers.
o Describe the brand perception and any relevant brand related issues/challenges?
o Why would consumers choose this product over those of the competitors’?
o A description of the firm and its strategy. You need to examine and should be able to derive:
o The strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as the products under investigation.
o The overall strategy and sustainable competitive advantage of the company as to illustrate what makes this company successful overtime.
o A description and analysis of the market trends.
o What are the major current and emerging market trends impacting on this type of products?
o Derive the opportunities and threats to this type of products. The key opportunities and threats will be integrated into the SWOT table later.
o A description and analysis of the industry dynamics.
o What are the industry dynamics?
o Use the Porter’s Five Forces to help determine whether or not the impacts of these forces are favorable or unfavorable to the bargaining power and profitability of the company under investigation
o Derive any relevant opportunities to be integrated into the SWOT table later.
o A description and analysis of the competition
o Who are the direct competitors?
o What are the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors at the company level?
o Construct a capability profile of the competitors and draw implications based on this profile.
o Derive any relevant opportunities and threats to be integrated into the SWOT table later.
o A concise SWOT table and analysis.
o This is a summary table of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats derived from the previous sections of products, company, market trends, industry dynamics and competitor analyses. Do not construct a summary SWOT table without ensuring that the key points you put into this table are fully integrated with these previous sections.
o Analyze and discuss the interactions among the SWOT as to leverage the strengths to capture emerging opportunities, turn weaknesses into strengths, use strengths to fend off threats, and etc.
o What conclusions can you draw from the analysis of the SWOT table?
o Segmentation and Targeting.
o Discuss what segmentation approaches would be used to derive potential segments
o Once the potential segments are derived, discuss what criteria for evaluating the segment attractiveness have been used to select the final/chosen segment(s). Clearly substantiate the criteria that you have chosen and use available statistics on market size, market growth and etc.
o How will you target the chosen segment(s) and what targeting strategy will be used and why?
o What is the positioning for your product?
o Develop a perceptual map using the key determinant attributes that are important to your customers for making purchasing decisions
o Discuss the perceptual map and determine whether or not the product is currently at the ideal point
o If the product is at the ideal point, what would be your positioning strategy and why?
o If the product is not at the ideal point, what would be your repositioning strategy and why?
o Either way, come up with a positioning statement. The positioning statement should include the target audience, the category in which the brand competes, the point of difference or differentiation, and the convincing proof that the brand delivers what it promises.
o Marketing Mix. Based on the overall positioning strategy and positioning statement describe the elements and implementation of the marketing mix, explain how the marketing mix reinforces the positioning?
o In terms of product strategy, describe how the product and its features support the overall positioning?
o In terms of pricing strategy, describe the price differentials to those of the key competitors. Explain the unique value proposition in terms of value versus price. Use real prices to substantiate your discussion.
o In terms of distribution strategy, explain what distribution strategy you would use and why? What tradition channel as well as online distribution would you use and why? Give real life examples.
o In terms of promotion, what would be the purpose of your overall promotional campaign and why? What would be the central message? Any slogans or tag lines? What would be the promotional schedule and other related promotional tactics to support your overall promotional campaign?
o Marketing Metrics
o Based on your proposed marketing mix, what marketing metrics will you use to measure the success of the implementation of the proposed marketing mix? And why?
o Do not discuss what happened in the past. Your metrics are based on what you anticipate might happen in the immediate future once you have implemented your proposed marketing mix.
o Competitor Reactions
o What do you expect will be the competitive reactions in response to your proposed marketing mix?
o How will you handle their reactions?
INDIVIDUAL SCORE
There is a project grading rubric posted on the blackboard to serve as an example for a marking guide.
Your individual score will be calculated based on the grading rubric.
Your individual score = the average % of the score(s) achieved in your section(s) x the group score; or, the average % of the score(s) achieved in your section(s) x % of the overall team evaluation score assigned for you by your group members’ team evaluation at the end of the semester, whichever is less.
If you have actively contributed to your group project and your group members have substantiated your contributions in the team evaluation, the maximum score will be the score achieved by the group project.
If you do not support your group efforts, your individual score will be based on the % you have achieved in your sections x the group score; or based on % provided by the group members on the team evaluation, whichever is less.
So, it pays to participate in and contribute actively to your group project throughout the semester.
The body of the final written report will be maximum 18 pages, 1.5 space, Times Roman font 12 or equivalent, excluding cover page, table of contents, executive summary, appendices and references. References should be in APA format and appropriately referenced in the body. Plagiarism is not tolerated and subject to discipline.
All written reports should be professionally presented, neatly typed, and free of errors in grammar and spelling. Reports should have a title page showing a title for the report, course name and number, date due and the students’ names. All work is due at the beginning of the class on the due date. Any work turned in after its due date is subject to approval.
Please provide references at the end of the report, plus appendices if so desired. Also, please add a page listing the specific contributions of each individual member according to the sections listed on the project rubric. Please see table below.
Name of one member only
Executive Summary and Introduction
Product description, Key users and brand factors
Company description, competitive advantage and strategy
Market Trends
Competitor analysis
Industry dynamics
SWOT table, analysis and interpretation
Segments selection, evaluation and targeting
Positioning including perceptual map and positioning statement
Marketing mix
Marketing Metrics
Competitors’ reactions
There should only be one member’s name per section. In principle, if you have been the leading person who has significantly contributed to that specific section, way more than any other members in the group, then your name should be on that section. If you have significantly contributed to more than one section, then your name should be on all corresponding sections. In any case, there can only be one member’s name per each section.
It is important that you do at least an average weight of the project. Please check with the project rubric posted on the blackboard for further guidance and example of how your individual score will be calculated.
YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE CONSUMER PRODUCT IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES (For ideas, look at http://www.toptenreviews.com, http://reviews.cnet.com, http://www.caranddriver.com, and etc.):
• Consumer electronics, including smart phones, introduced in second half of 2014 and 2015
• Cars introduced in the second half of 2014 for 2015
• Entertainment, hotels, travel products
• Household goods and home appliances
• Baby, Oral, Personal and Home care products
• Sporting goods or shoes
Your group will prepare a one page typewritten project proposal containing your top 3 choices of product and firm (in order of preference), names of your group members and contact information.
There is a blank project proposal on the last page of this handout, and you can also download it from the blackboard to prepare your group proposal.
My email is ccheng5@gmu.edu. Please name your attachment in the following format: “MKTG 301 Spring 2015 Project Proposal Your last name”. Your last name should be the person’s last name who submits the proposal on behalf of the group. For example, “MKTG 301 Spring 2015 Samsung Galaxy F Smith”.
Your last name should be the person’s last name who submits the proposal on behalf of the group. Please also make sure that the names of all the students who have contributed to your group project or assignment/presentation are listed on the cover page of your project, and the cover slide of your group presentation.
Group Proposal for MKTG 301
Group Member (full name) Phone Number Email
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Preference for group project (in descending order):
Company Product Rationale