Marketing and Strategy
MBA 560 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
More and more firms and organizations have realized that the brand name associated with their products or services is one of the most important assets that
they own. A brand embodies a company’s identity and the quality, ideals, ethics, and customer commitment for which it stands. It is the heart and soul of the
decisions on which products are brought to market and how. It also enables management to strategically and effectively steer the destiny of a product or
company while building value.
For this summative assessment, you will imagine you are an executive in charge of branding and strategic positioning initiatives at a company of your choice. (The
company may be a place for which you currently work or have worked in the past, a company of interest, or a new business that you are creating, subject to
instructor approval.) You will build a comprehensive business plan for the launch of a new product, service, or business idea at the company. Your plan will
evaluate current branding strategies, describe the target market and its unique features, assess existing organizational strengths, weaknesses, and core
competencies with respect to the new idea, determine pricing strategies, and establish continuous improvement processes that span the life cycle of the product
or service being offered. You will also consider how consumer trends and ethical business practices might impact your plan.
Ideally, your business plan should be the next step in developing the product, service, or other business idea you started conceptualizing in the previous Business
Environment, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship course; however, you may choose a different idea with instructor approval. Note that you will continue to build
on this business plan throughout your 600-level MBA coursework, culminating in the capstone in which you will tie things together and either begin to
implement your plan (if feasible), or create a plan for implementing it (if implementation is not feasible).
The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final
submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three, Five, and Seven. The final product will be submitted in Module Nine.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Evaluate branding strategies by applying appropriate marketing and management analysis
Defend target market choices by analyzing the unique characteristics of potential markets that impact business success
Justify pricing decisions based on relevant target market analysis, business goals, and market conditions
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of organizations in strategically planning new business activities
Assess consumer trends and business ethics for determining their potential impact on branding image and business success in a global environment
Design business-wide continuous improvement processes for regularly reviewing branding and business activities and implementing needed changes
Prompt
Using your business idea from the previous Business Environment, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship course, or a new idea with instructor permission, imagine
you are an executive at the relevant company. You have decided to take this idea to the next level by producing a comprehensive business plan to present to
senior management and potential investors in order to convince them to back the project. Your plan should focus on key elements of marketing and strategy,
such as branding, customer base, existing resources and capabilities, pricing, and other factors that could affect the project’s success. It should highlight the
merits of the project based on a detailed internal analysis, showing how the idea fits with the company’s mission and vision. Remember that a well-constructed
business plan provides concise, accurate information that allows busy executives or investors to quickly grasp the essentials of your idea, the key need or want it
addresses, and how you will meet that need or want.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Executive summary. Briefly explain the key features of your business plan and why your product or service is better than that of your competition in the
eyes of the target market. Remember that your goal is to give the intended audience the most essential information up front, while convincing them to
read further for details.
II. Context. This section should provide leadership and potential investors with background information on the company’s current brand and how the new
product or service fits with that brand. Be sure to do the following:
A. Lay out the key defining features of your company’s brand and how these features drive business decisions. For example, how are these factors
an extension of the company’s mission, vision, and values? What are the non-negotiables for a product or service to carry the company name?
B. Assess how the new idea fits with the company’s existing brand and how that impacts your business plan. Support your response with relevant
research and analysis. For example, will the product or service be part of a new brand or an existing brand? How will that affect the way you
market the product both within the company and to consumers?
C. Evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s existing branding efforts (or branding efforts for similar products or services if yours is a new
company). What does the evaluation suggest for the new product or service? Support your response with relevant analysis.
III. Need. Use this section to define your target market and explain how your product or service fills a critical need or want for that market.
A. Define your target market and its unique characteristics. Be sure to discuss the following:
i. Basic demographics. What are the key demographic features of the individuals or businesses who are most likely to purchase your
product or service? Support your response with relevant market research. For example, how might age, purchasing power, decisionmaking authority, or other factors affect the product or service’s appeal to potential customers?
ii. What other behavioral or psychographic characteristics of your target market might affect their purchasing decisions? Support your
response with relevant research.
B. How does the new product or service meet a specific want or need of the target market that you identified? In other words, what principal
benefits or key features would the target market find appealing? Support your response with relevant market research.
C. Based on your analysis above, why is this target market the best strategic choice for the success of your product or service?
IV. Strengths and weaknesses. In this section, you should assess the ramifications of the new business idea on branding, operations, and planning within the
organization, based on internal analysis.
A. Assess the company’s tangible and intangible strengths in providing the new product or service, along with any weaknesses or gaps. Your
response should comprehensively address different aspects of the business, establishing clear links between the strengths and weaknesses you
identify and how those affect planning for the new business activities. The factors you identify will depend on your business and idea, but might
include things such as staff capabilities and turnover, organizational culture, production capacity, location, customer loyalty, supply chain
relations, financial stability, or ability to acquire funding.
B. Assess the opportunities and threats that emerging consumer trends and company ethics may present to the success of the new idea.
i. Consumer trends. How might emerging trends in consumer preferences (e.g., buying local, support for green technologies, organic
foods, etc.) impact the branding and business success of the new product or service you are launching in the current global marketplace?
Justify your response, identifying the trends that are most relevant to your product or service and how they apply to your target market.
ii. Ethics. How might perceived ethics violations affect the branding image and ultimate success of the new product or service in a global
environment? Support your response with specific examples. For example, do different target populations have different perceptions of
what constitutes ethical behavior? How do consumers respond to those violations and what is the impact on business (e.g., product
avoidance, lobbying for new regulations, etc.)?
C. How might the factors you identified above affect branding and operations across different departments in the company? How does your
business plan take this into account? For example, does organizational structure help or hinder branding and launch activities? Do departments
have competing interests? Do they communicate effectively?
V. Core competencies. Assess aspects of the company or new idea that set you apart from the competition and provide long-term sustainability in the
market. How do those competencies affect your business plan? In other words, what things about your company, product, or service provide significant
value to the customer and are very difficult to duplicate? How can you use that strategically?
VI. Pricing. Use this section of your business plan to develop and justify a pricing strategy for the new product or service. Be sure to address the following:
A. What are the fixed and variable costs to the company of producing, marketing, and selling the new good or service, and how do those fit with the
company’s short- and long-term objectives? Support your narrative with a table showing calculations and any assumptions.
B. How much is the target market willing and able to pay for your product or service? Use target market analysis and research on competitors’
prices to support your answer.
C. Are targeted consumers willing and able to pay more for your product or service if it (or the organization, more generally) aligns with their
preferences for socially responsible and ethical behavior? Justify your response with evidence.
D. In light of your analysis, what pricing strategy and price is most appropriate for this product or service and why? For example, would skimming,
penetration, economy, or premium pricing be most appropriate? What should the initial price be?
VII. Refinement. This section should highlight processes for reviewing and refining branding and other activities surrounding the new product or service.
A. How and when will you evaluate the success of the new product or service and its branding? Be sure to suggest processes that occur at regular
intervals and extend across the business, explaining how results will impact decisions on whether to continue or to initiate exit strategies.
B. What regular, business-wide feedback loops and processes will you implement to support the new idea, keep it on track, and make mid-course
corrections as needed? For example, will you adjust business functions and/or facilitate regular communication across departments? How will
you collect relevant information and ensure its accuracy?
C. In planning for the future, how will you identify and integrate other factors that might affect implementation of the new idea into your business
decisions and planning? In other words, what other things do you need to consider when moving forward?
Milestones
Milestone One: Context, Need, Pricing
In Module Three, you will submit a short paper covering context, need, and pricing. This milestone establishes your chosen organization’s direction within the
marketplace. This is important because it drives the subsequent activities, milestones, and the final project. Without a strong sense of the organization’s purpose
within the marketplace, knowledge of consumer trends, and how to meet target market needs at the appropriate price, management is less likely to maximize
the efficiency of business activities and more likely to miss fully meeting the needs of its chosen target market. This milestone establishes how the organization
will differentiate itself from its competition through branding with a unique product or service offering designed to meet specific consumer needs or desires that
are shaped by their demographics, personality, or buying style. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Strengths and Weaknesses, Core Competencies
In Module Five, you will submit a short paper covering strengths and weaknesses and core competencies. For the company you have chosen, write a short paper
that identifies and analyzes at least four, but no more than eight, strengths and weaknesses. Continue your paper by identifying and explaining three to five core
competencies for the company you have chosen. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Refinement
In Module Seven, you will submit a short paper covering refinements. Using the idea that you have chosen, write a short paper covering activities and items
upon which success will be evaluated and how these will be evaluated, timing intervals for information gathering and analyzing feedback, what feedback loops
exist or will be created, how these loops and the ensuing feedback will affect the overall organization, and what, if any, other factors should be considered as you
move forward with your new product or service. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Final Project Submission: Comprehensive Business Plan
In Module Nine, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should
reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.
Deliverables
Milestone Deliverable Module Due Grading
One Context, Need, Pricing 3 Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Two Strengths and Weaknesses, Core Competencies 5 Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three Refinement 7 Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Final Submission: Comprehensive Business Plan 9 Graded separately; Final Project Rubric
Final Project Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your business plan should be approximately 15-20 pages in length (excluding title page, table of contents, tables or
spreadsheets, and reference list) with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Use APA formatting for references and citations.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Executive Summary Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is especially well-suited
for target audience, expertly
balancing brevity with necessary
detail
Briefly explains key features of
business plan and why product
or service is better than
competition’s in eyes of target
market
Explains key features of plan and
why product or service is better
than competition’s to target
market, but explanation is
lengthy, omits essential
information, or contains
inaccuracies
Does not explain key features of
business plan and why product
or service is better than
competition’s in eyes of target
market
2
Context: Defining
Features
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates particularly keen
insight into the ways in which
branding defines a company’s
identity and drives business
decisions
Lays out the key defining
features of company’s brand and
how these features drive
business decisions
Lays out defining features of
company’s brand and how they
drive business decisions, but
response omits key features,
contains inaccuracies, or
connections between brand and
decisions are perfunctory
Does not lay out defining
features of company’s brand and
how these features drive
business decisions
5.33
Context: Fit Meets “Proficient” criteria and
application of marketing and
management analytics to
branding and other business
decisions is particularly insightful
and in-depth
Assesses how new idea fits with
company’s existing brand and
how that impacts business plan,
supported by relevant research
and analysis
Assesses how new idea fits with
company’s existing brand and
impact on business plan,
supported by research and
analysis, but response is cursory,
omits key details, contains
inaccuracies, or support is not
relevant
Does not assess how new idea
fits with company’s existing
brand or how that impacts
business plan
5.33
Context:
Effectiveness
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
draws especially well-supported
and insightful connections
between existing branding
strategies and lessons for new
products or services
Evaluates effectiveness of
existing branding efforts,
including implications for new
product or service, supported by
relevant analysis
Evaluates effectiveness of
existing branding efforts,
including implications for new
product or service, supported by
analysis, but response is cursory,
omits key details, contains
inaccuracies, or support is not
relevant
Does not evaluate effectiveness
of existing branding efforts,
including implications for new
product or service, supported by
analysis
5.34
Need: Target
Market: Basic
Demographics
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demographic features
highlighted are especially salient
for defining the unique
characteristics of the target
market for the specific product
or service
Analyzes key demographic
features of target market,
supported by relevant research
Analyzes demographic features
of target market, supported by
research, but response is
cursory, omits critical features,
contains inaccuracies, or support
is not relevant
Does not analyze key
demographic features of target
market
4
Need: Target
Market: Other
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
behavioral or psychographic
characteristics highlighted are
especially salient for defining the
unique characteristics of the
target market for the specific
product or service
Analyzes other behavioral or
psychographic characteristics of
target market, supported by
relevant research
Analyzes other behavioral or
psychographic characteristics of
target market, supported by
research, but response is
cursory, omits key
characteristics, contains
inaccuracies, or support is not
relevant
Does not analyze other
behavioral or psychographic
characteristics of target market
4
Need: Want or Need Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates especially keen
insight into what market
research suggests about the
needs and wants of a specific
target market
Analyzes how new product or
service meets a specific want or
need of target market,
supported by relevant market
research
Analyzes how new product or
service meets a specific want or
need of target market,
supported by market research,
but response is cursory, omits
key details, contains
inaccuracies, or support is not
relevant
Does not analyze how new
product or service meets a
specific want or need of target
market
4
Need: Why Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates particularly keen
insight into how choice of target
market and alignment with its
needs and wants impact
business decisions and success
Defends choice of target market
relative to product success,
based on analysis of target
market’s characteristics, needs,
and wants
Defends choice of target market
relative to product success based
on analysis of target market’s
characteristics, needs, and
wants, but defense is cursory,
illogical, contains inaccuracies, or
is not well-supported
Does not defend choice of target
market relative to product
success
4
Strengths and
Weaknesses: Assess
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
assessment is especially nuanced
and well aligned with decisionmaking needs in planning for the
new product or service
Comprehensively assesses
company’s tangible and
intangible strengths and
weakness related to new idea,
linking them clearly to planning
the new business activities
Assesses company’s tangible and
intangible strengths and
weakness, linking them to
planning new business activities,
but links are unclear or cursory,
or response contains
inaccuracies or omits key details
Does not assess company’s
tangible and intangible strengths
and weakness related to new
idea
5.34
Strengths and
Weaknesses:
Opportunities:
Consumer Trends
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
assessment of the links between
consumer trends and branding
choices is especially nuanced
and relevant for ensuring
business success in a global
market
Assesses how emerging
consumer trends impact
branding and success of new
product or service in current
global marketplace, identifying
most relevant trends and how
they apply to target market in
justifying response
Assesses how emerging
consumer trends impact
branding and success of new
product or service in current
global marketplace, identifying
most relevant trends for target
market in justifying response,
but response contains
inaccuracies, omits key details,
or links between trends and
impact are tenuous
Does not assess how emerging
consumer trends impact
branding and success of new
product or service in current
global marketplace
5.33
Strengths and
Weaknesses:
Opportunities: Ethics
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
analysis of links between
perceived ethics violations and
branding image is especially
nuanced and relevant for
ensuring business success in a
global environment
Analyzes how perceived ethics
violations might affect branding
and ultimate success of new
product or service in a global
environment, supported by
specific examples
Analyzes how perceived ethics
violations might affect branding
and success of new product or
service in a global environment,
but analysis is cursory, illogical,
contains inaccuracies, or is not
supported by specific examples
Does not analyze how perceived
ethics violations might affect
branding and ultimate success of
new product or service in a
global environment
5.33
Strengths and
Weaknesses: Affect
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
assessment is especially nuanced
and well-aligned with needs in
planning for the new product or
service
Assesses how factors identified
affect branding and operations
across different departments,
including how business plan
takes this into account
Assesses how factors identified
affect branding and operations
across departments, including
how business plan takes this into
account, but response contains
inaccuracies, omits key details or
link between factors and their
impact, and business planning is
tenuous
Does not assess how factors
identified affect branding and
operations across different
departments, including how
business plan takes this into
account
5.33
Core Competencies Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates keen insight in
identifying core competencies
and incorporating them
strategically in planning for the
new product or service
Assesses aspects of company or
new idea that set it apart from
the competition and provide
long-term sustainability in the
market, including how those
competencies affect business
plan
Assesses aspects of company or
new idea that set it apart from
competition and provide longterm sustainability, including
how those competencies affect
business plan, but response is
cursory, illogical, or contains
inaccuracies
Does not assess aspects of
company or new idea that set it
apart from the competition and
provide long-term sustainability
in the market
5.33
Pricing: Costs Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates especially keen
insight into how business goals
and market conditions affect
pricing decisions
Determines fixed and variable
costs associated with new good
or service and how costs fit with
company objectives, supporting
narrative with table showing
calculations and assumptions
Determines fixed and variable
costs and how they fit with
company objectives, supporting
narrative with table showing
calculations and assumptions,
but response omits key details,
contains inaccuracies, or is based
on faulty assumptions
Does not determine fixed and
variable costs associated with
new good or service and how
costs fit with company objectives
5.33
Pricing: Pay Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is particularly nuanced
and well supported by target
market analysis and research
Judges how much target market
is willing and able to pay for
product or service, using target
market analysis and research on
close competitors’ prices to
justify response
Judges how much target market
is willing and able to pay for
product or service, using target
market analysis and research on
close competitors’ prices to
justify response, but response is
cursory, contains inaccuracies, or
is not well-supported by
research and analysis
Does not judge how much target
market is willing and able to pay
for product or service
5.33
Pricing: Preferences Meets “Proficient” criteria and
discussion of the links between
consumer’s concern for ethics
and pricing decisions is
especially nuanced and well
supported by analysis and
research
Evaluates whether targeted
consumers are willing and able
to pay more for product or
service if it aligns with their
preferences for socially
responsible and ethical behavior,
justifying response with
evidence
Evaluates whether targeted
consumers are willing and able
to pay more for product or
service if it aligns with their
preferences for socially
responsible and ethical behavior,
justifying response with
evidence, but response is
cursory, contains inaccuracies, or
is not well-supported by
evidence
Does not evaluate whether
targeted consumers are willing
and able to pay more for product
or service if it aligns with their
preferences for socially
responsible and ethical behavior
5.34
Pricing: Strategy Meets “Proficient” criteria and
justification is particularly well
aligned with business goals and
supported by market analysis
Justifies pricing strategy and
price selection for new product
or service in light of analysis
Justifies pricing strategy and
price selection for new product
or service in light of analysis, but
justification is cursory, illogical,
contains inaccuracies, or is
poorly supported
Does not justify pricing strategy
and price selection for new
product or service in light of
analysis
5.34
Refinement:
Evaluate the Success
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
procedures established are
particularly conducive to
promoting regular review and
continuous improvement in the
specific company
Establishes business-wide
procedures for evaluating
success of new product or
service at regular intervals,
explaining how results will
impact decisions on whether and
how to continue or exit
Establishes procedures for
evaluating success, explaining
how results will impact decisions
to continue or exit, but
procedures do not extend across
business, do not occur at regular
intervals, or are not reasonable
for making business decisions
Does not establish procedures
for evaluating success of new
product or service, explaining
how results will impact decisions
on whether and how to continue
or exit
5.33
Refinement:
Feedback Loops
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
procedures established are
particularly conducive to
promoting regular review and
continuous improvement in the
specific company
Specifies regular, business-wide
feedback loops and other
processes to support the new
idea, keep it on track, and make
mid-course corrections as
needed
Specifies feedback loops and
other processes to support the
new idea, keep it on track, and
make mid-course corrections as
needed, but procedures do not
extend across business, do not
occur at regular intervals, or are
not reasonable for making
business decisions
Does not specify feedback loops
and other processes to support
the new idea, keep it on track,
and make mid-course
corrections as needed
5.34
Refinement: Other
Factors
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
procedures are particularly
conducive to informing planning
and fostering continuous
improvement in the specific
company
Determines procedures for
identifying other factors that
might affect new idea and
integrating them into decision
making and planning
Determines procedures for
identifying and integrating other
factors that might affect new
idea into decision making and
planning, but procedures
suggested are cursory, illogical,
or are not well-suited for
improving performance
Does not determine procedures
for identifying other factors that
might affect implementation of
new idea and integrating them
into decision making and
planning
5.33
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and organization
and is presented in a
professional and easy-to-read
format
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
2
Earned Total 100%