You have until:11:59pm, one minute before midnight, Pacific Time, Wednesday February 5 , 2020 to complete and return the midterm. Read the questions carefully, a couple of times, and be sure you are addressing all parts of a question in your answer. I’m looking for clarity, depth, and your ability to show thoughtful, in-depth introspection. In Changing Minds, Howard Gardner talks in Chapter 2 of the ‘Forms of the Mind.’ Considering that the point of his book is to learn methods which may help increase the likelihood of creating mind change, describe two ways in which his techniques can be applied to the effective development of our term’s project. Also describe the part you plan to assume in manifesting the results of these applied techniques.In Chapter 1 of Changing Minds Gardner describes six factors (all begin with R) which can be used to change minds. Pick the two you think most appropriate for our project and describe how you would use their knowledge for strategic development and implementation for our project.In Chapter 1 of Changing Minds, Gardner talks about Resistances. Name one Resistance a reader of our project might experience. Describe how that resistance most likely came to be and describe how to overcome it or at least, lessen it. As a student you are a member of a community, the community of a class. You are developing materials to be used by another community, the readers and users of our terms’ work on the Blog and Website and/or Video. What intersecting similarities exist between these two groups? What differences exist between these two groups? Describe in detail how these differences and similarities help you to understand better the community of users for whom we are developing the project.The first half of the class is primarily about understanding the details and complexities, getting to know one another in the class, experimenting with the tools, and ideating what we will accomplish. The second half is primarily about implementation of the ideas we are creating now. Describe what you personally wish to accomplish in the second half of the class. What goal? How will you reach that goal? Describe the impact you want to make in the class. This can be in any one group or a combination of groups. It can be something which already has been discussed or something new. In any case, it must something that enhances the project in some way. Describe the desired enhancement you will contribute. (In the Final, I’ll be asking how you did with your goal and the important response for the grade will be what you learned from the actions you took as you either succeeded or as you attempted your stated goal).Describe in detailed fashion one way in which you specifically can do something during the course of the term to increase readership of our blog and increase widespread awareness of the topic. Helpful Hint: (Be sure to differentiate between your answers in question 5 and question 6. Question 5 is about methods, and question 6 is about results, two entirely different things). Describe two tactics you will personally try to increase communication effectiveness with those in your group and within the class between now and the end of the term, while working in an online environment. Try to think outside the box, and comment on how you will know if they are effective tactics or not. What could you try besides email? Helpful hint: (I’ll be asking about how effective these tactics were in the final, so think ahead). Of all the possible points about our topic that you could make on the final class website, or video that might influence the most readers to act, what is that point, and how will you work to make it happen? If it conflicts with other points from other students or if it is too divergent from other view, what position will you take? Defend your answer using logic and a sense of seeking the maximum possible common good from the final production made. Think about community. Think about the community of our class around this topic this term, and think on the other end of the scale about the global community of readers documented in the web analytics that find our work through online search on related topics. What other types of community exist? How can they be reached and potentially influenced to think about or act on our topic? There is not a right or wrong answer here, I am looking for the depth and clarity of your observation and analysis about what makes community and how they can be reached. (One hint - other than the ones I’ve listed here I can think of three distinct others. There are probably more!)DEADLINE11:59pm, one minute before midnight, Pacific Time, Wednesday February 5, 2020

This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a marketing plan and sales strategy, and a marketing budget. Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.For the first six (6) months your company is in business—to give you time to perfect your product and to learn from actual customers—you will start marketing and selling in your own community, a radius of twenty-five (25) miles from where you live.For most non-alcoholic beverages, marketing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is key to success. Cola drinks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many energy drinks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producing these types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through marketing and brand awareness—both of which are critical to success.Section 1: Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)Write the three to five (3-5) page Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy section of your business plan, in which you:Define your company’s target market. Analyze the types of consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zip codes).Outline the demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description). Click here for help accessing a specific page number in your eBook. Hints: At American FactFinder (http://census.gov), you will find demographic information on potential consumers in your area. If you are selling through other businesses (such as grocery stores), indicate the number of those businesses in your local area. You will find information about such businesses in your local area at County Business Patterns (http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/). Check Chapter 2 of Successful Business Plan for more research sources.Assess your company’s market competition. Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition.Defend your strategy to successfully compete against market leaders in your segment. Hints: For example, in the soft drink market, it is intimidating to try to compete against Coke and Pepsi. Newcomers in mature markets typically must pursue niche markets or even create new market categories, as Red Bull did with energy drinks.Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution). Hints: Every business faces competition and the non-alcoholic beverage market is an especially crowded market.Clarify your company’s message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F’s). Hints: Before you choose your marketing vehicles, you must determine the message you want to convey through those vehicles.Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company’s brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective. Provide examples of other non-alcoholic beverage companies that use these tactics effectively. Hints: If you plan to use online marketing tactics, refer to the worksheet in the text (p.171 | Online Marketing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if you’re selling through grocery stores you need to build your brand and social media is a major part of that in regard to beverages. Some of the marketing tactics that beverage companies use include: sampling in grocery stores, building a following on social media, sponsoring events, exhibiting at trade shows attended by retailers, and so on. You will use a combination of these tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in grocery stores, promote your sampling on your social media networks and those of the grocery store.Hints: If you are planning to distribute through resellers, describe how you plan to reach them, for example, through industry trade shows or by establishing your own sales force. For information on trade shows, visit the Trade Show News Network (http://www.tsnn.com). You can exhibit or network at these shows.Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:Cite the resources you have used to complete the exercise. Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in the exercise.Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.Section 2: Marketing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template)Section 2 uses the “Business Plan Financials” MS Excel template (see: Course Required Files in Week 1). Use the “Business Plan Financials Guide” (see: Course Required Files in Week 1) to support your development of the Marketing Budget.Complete the Marketing Budget worksheet for your company. Hints: The goal of the marketing budget is to help you determine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your sales goals.Hints: When filling out the “Marketing Budget” worksheet in the Excel spreadsheet: Begin in the current year and complete a marketing budget for the first year of your business. The information you enter in the marketing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your “Income Statement” in the Business Plan Financials.Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketing vehicles you do not intend to use.Remember that all marketing activities involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing, assume you will have cost of advertising and that should be reflected on your budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social media marketing campaigns, and will most likely pay for ads on that site.Do NOT leave the “Marketing Budget” blank, assuming you will not have any marketing costs