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Mini-Application Report Instructions and Grading Rubric
Overview:
Mini-Applications (Mini-Apps) involve the integration of (1) actual business behavior and (2) marketing concepts/theories in a
visual manner. The purpose of the Mini-Apps is to demonstrate your ability to link these two.
“Linking the two” involves modifying course-concept type figures to a specific product / organization / industry. As simple as
“modifying the figures” sounds, many students have trouble actually modifying the figures and tend just to copy them. Figures
should be modified to reflect the information provided or inferred from the reference materials you collect. The greater the
amount of detail and specificity of your modified figure, the better the grade.
You will submit two sets of four Mini-Apps (eight total). Each Mini-App is comprised of a course-concept type figure, which
is modified to a specific product, organization, or industry. Your modifications to these figures are the “value added” you
provide. Mini-Apps must draw from actual business behavior. Reference information may be drawn from the popular press
(e.g., Business Week, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Chain Store Age, Beverage World, Variety, and so
forth), or through information on a firm’s website. It should be no more than 1 year old.
Selection Criteria:
Your choice of products, organizations, or industries for your Mini-Apps may come from any industry (e.g., entertainment,
heavy equipment, fashion, consumer, transportation, or whatever you like). It is up to you but your choices must meet the
following criteria:
1. Products / Organizations / Industries used as examples in the text will not be acceptable (see the “Company, Brand, and
Organization Index” in the back of the text.
2. Products / Organizations / Industries used for Mini-Apps in recent terms may not be approved at the discretion of the
instructor.
3. No two students may use the same reference materials. Nor may the same reference materials be used by a student
more than once.
4. Half of your products, organizations, or industries need to draw on reference materials with an explicit global marketing
connection. The figure summary of all Mini-apps should touch upon the marketing strategy as it applies in a global
context (the strategic implications paragraph is a good place).
There are good examples of these marketing concepts available online. While you are welcome to review these online
examples for clarification purposes, please ensure that your submission does not resemble them too much. (Note: the model
will be the exact same, it is the application of the model that will be unique to you.) Your Mini-apps must be your own work.
Replicating the work of others is plagiarism and will not be rewarded.
Reservations:
The Discussion Board forum “Mini-App Reservations” provides a place to reserve your selections so that all other students can
see and avoid them. Products / Organizations / Industries will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve a
specific product, organization, or industry, you should paste the reference material’s title (i.e., newspaper or magazine article,
website page, 10-K title, etc.) and hyperlink (presuming one is available). You do not need to indicate for which mini-app you
will use it.
It is your responsibility to choose figures that meet the criteria provided above and which no other student has reserved.
Reservations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.
Formatting:
Text in the report should be single-spaced and written in complete sentences. Except for the title and headings, text in the
figure summaries should be of the same font style and size. Use no abbreviations in your figure summary that you have not
already defined. The entire document should use either a landscape or a portrait orientation so the figures and text on all pages
can be read from one direction (i.e., without turning the document sideways from page to page). All pages should be
numbered. Please proof your document for spelling and grammar. Remember, spell check just checks to make sure words are
spelled correctly, not whether the word is the one you wanted to use.
All figures and summaries should be done in PowerPoint (PPT). PPT Templates will be provided for some of the figures under
the “Course Documents” content heading. If a specific figure is not there, then you should develop your own in PPT.
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A list of figures for Mini-App Report 1 and Mini-App Report 2 are provided at the end of the instructions. For some figures,
what you will need in terms of reference materials to modify the figure and a link to an example article are provided.
Report Sequence:
Use the following sequence in your Mini-App Reports
• Title Page - include your name, course name / number, assignment title, submission date, and the names (and logos if
desired) of the products, organizations, or industries being used.
• Table of Contents - basically a bulleted list of the contents of your report with a one to two sentence introduction to
each figure.
• Figure Summaries and Figures - order (not entitle) your Mini-app Report as follows:
o first figure summary
o first modified figure
o first original figure (totally unchanged)
o second figure summary
o second modified figure
o second original figure (totally unchanged)
o etc.
•
Reference List - bulleted list of all reference materials, separated by figure
•
Reference Materials - photocopies of all resource materials used, separated by figure.
Figure Formatting:
Each figure should have a figure number and a title that includes the name of the model with the name of the product,
organization, or industry being used (ex. “The New Product Development Process for Toyota”). These same titles will be used
in your table of contents. Your figure should contain the complete model (i.e., all the parts), not just the part of the model you
are modifying. Figures should be derived from relevant and accurate reference materials. A single key reference should be
included below the figure (any additional references should be included on the reference list).
Figures should be on white paper without a PPT background. Colors (2 or more, not including black) should be used to
differentiate and/or emphasize portions of the figure you want to stand out. Choose contrasting colors so the text can be read
easily. I don’t want to miss information you have provided.
Figure Summary Content:
A figure summary should verbally communicate the all the key information about a marketing concept. Figures should be
presented in such a way that it may be understood by a person unfamiliar with the concept, product, organization, and/or
industry. This should be done within two pages per figure. The term “organization” is used in the instructions below but you
can substitute product or industry as needed.
Your figure summaries are not primarily a news review. The assignment has a broader purpose. Your 4 paragraphs tell me:
(1) who the focus organization is; (2) whether you understand the specific marketing concept; (3) in what way the reference
materials suggest the focus organization is applying the marketing concept; and, (4) how the marketing concept is helping the
focus organization and could potentially help other organizations.
Your figure summary should use the four headings listed below. Next to these headings is the information you should include
for each. More info is not necessarily better than less. Thoroughly address the issues under each heading - content is more
important than volume.
1. Background Information - Should include the organization’s name, location, goods/services it provides, and
something that indicates organizational size, like sales / revenue / employees. If multiple organizations are used (ex.,
an organization and its competitor), your background information should briefly introduce them both.
2. Marketing Concept Introduction - Should provide basic information about the marketing concept such as its
components and application. Use your own words. Mention no example(s), focus only on clarifying the marketing
concept.
3. Figure Description - Should clearly explain how the resource materials about the organization illustrate the marketing
concept; justify that this organization’s actions really meet the definition of that marketing concept; and, explain how
the reader will see this marketing concept specifically illustrated in the figure you created (this is where the use of color
for emphasis in your figure will be explained.
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4. Strategic Implications – Should discuss two topics: (1) How the application of the marketing concept is helping this
specific organization make better strategic decisions; and, (2) how other companies can use this marketing concept in
general to make better strategic decisions.
References:
Reference information may be drawn from the popular press (e.g., Business Week, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment
Weekly, Chain Store Age, Beverage World, Variety, and so forth), or through information on a firm’s website. In addition to
the popular press, good information can be found in corporate 10-K reports, secondary research on a particular market; and,
client testimonials/examples provided by marketing research firms or marketing communication firms.
Note: No reference materials will likely touch on all aspects of the concepts in a figure but they should touch on several aspects
to show that the organization is using those concepts in its decision-making.
A single key reference should be included below each modified figure. All references should be included on the reference list
at the end of your document. References should be less than 1 year old, not have been accessed within the past year.
Reference List:
Group the references materials associated with a particular figure together on the reference list. References on the reference
list need to be in APA format. See Purdue OWL at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ if you have formatting
questions. Include a live hyperlink for the reference so I can find the specific resource you used and better evaluate the
accuracy component of the Mini-app Grading Rubric (i.e., I want to be looking at the specific article/information that you were
looking at).
Grading Rubric:
Most criteria on the grading rubric have been clarified in these instructions. Each Mini-app is evaluated on “accuracy” and
“figure summary” as well. “Accuracy” evaluates how accurately your mini-app draws upon and reflects the reference
materials. “Figure summary” evaluates how well / thoroughly your four paragraphs address the criteria in the instructions.
Formatting of the title and headings is also considered.
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Mini-App Options for Report 1
Value
Determinants of
CustomerPerceived Value
Figure 5.2
SWOT
Opportunities &
Threats Matrices
Figure 2.4
Strategic
Planning
Six Types of
Defense
Strategies
Figure 11.2
Five Types of
General Attack
Strategies
Label as
Figure 11.8
(from pg.
306)
Figure 4.1
Research
The Marketing
Research
Process
Segmentation/T
argeting
CustomerProduct
Profitability
Analysis
Figure 5.3
CRM
Strategies to
Enhance and
Maintain
Customer
Relationships
Label as
Figure 5.5
Buyer Behavior
Model of the
Consumer
Decision
Process
Model of
Business Market
Purchase
Decision
Process
Label as
Figure 6.4
Label as
Figure 7.1
An evaluation of how customers
determine value; the info could be from
the perspective of the company trying to
meet customer needs or from the
perspective of the customer expressing
their needs; no reference is likely to
touch on each cost and benefit
A single company that is presenting
some of the opportunities and threats it
faces; you will have to use your
judgment to access: seriousness,
attractiveness, success probability and
probability of occurrence
A single company that has used a
specific defensive strategy against a
specific competitor (or group of
competitors)
A single company that has used a
specific attack strategy against a
specific competitor (or group of
competitors)
A single company that has used the
process to address a marketing problem
(reference may not fully address each
step but should hint at most of them)
A single company with multiple
products (or potential products) and
multiple customers (or potential
customers) that is trying to evaluate
profitability; you will have to use your
judgment to access: product and
customer profitability levels
How a Brazilian Cattle
Baron Shakes Up World's
Beef Trade
http://online.wsj.com/news/a
rticles/SB108785760984743
465
IPad: The PC Killer
http://www.businessweek.co
m/articles/2012-03-21/ipadthe-pc-killer
The Museum Is Watching
You
http://online.wsj.com/news/a
rticles/SB100014240527487
04554104575435463594652
730
Mercedes Revamps the SClass to Lure China's
Wealthy Buyers
http://www.businessweek.co
m/articles/2013-0516/mercedes-revamps-the-sclass-to-lure-chinas-wealthybuyers
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Mini-App Options for Report 2
Differentiation
Marketing Mix
(4Ps)
The NewProduct
Development
Decision
Process
Perceptual Map
and
Repositioning
Figure 20.1
A single company that has developed a
new product (reference may not fully
address each step but should hint at
them)
Figure 10.1
Constructing a
Brand
Positioning
Bull’s-eye
Label as
Figure 10.2
(from
Marketing
Memo pg
287)
Figure 17.3
A single company’s evaluation of its
product relative to several direct
competitors on two axes (criteria);
should show the company’s current
position and the desired position after
repositioning. The perceptual map
should use data of some kind
A single company’s evaluation of its
product relative to another product that
directly competes with it
IMC - Steps in
Developing
Effective
Communications
Pricing - The
Three C’s Model
of Price Setting
Figure 14.4
Place - Porter’s
Value Chain
Label as
Figure 2.5
(from pg.
34)
Figure 21.3
Five
International
Product and
Communication
Strategies
A single company that has used
integrated marketing communications to
effectively communicate a message; the
reference should include the various
modes of communication (Table 17.1)
used and how they were integrated
A single company’s pricing decision
and how it was impacted by costs,
competitors, and customers
As Chocolate Sags, Cadbury
Gambles On a Piece of Gum
http://online.wsj.com/news/a
rticles/SB113703349853044
508
JCPenney Re-Refreshes
Brand - Third Time's the
Charm?
http://www.brandchannel.co
m/home/post/jcpenneyrebrands-012612.aspx
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Mini-Application Report Grading Rubric
_________________________
Fatal
error
Incorrect
Figures
Already
Reserved/Used
Figure
Figure
Format
Number
Title
Complete Model
Key Reference
Usage of Color
0
0
0
0
0
Content
Accuracy
Figure Summary
Reference Materials
0 2 4 6
0 5 10 15 20
0 1 2
1
1
1 2
1
1 2
Figure
Format
Content
Number
Title
Complete Model
Key Reference
Usage of Color
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1 2
1
1 2
Accuracy
Figure Summary
Reference Materials
0 2 4 6
0 5 10 15 20
0 1 2
Number
Title
Complete Model
Key Reference
Usage of Color
0
0
0
0
0
Accuracy
Figure Summary
Reference Materials
0 2 4 6
0 5 10 15 20
0 1 2
Figure
Format
Number
Title
Complete Model
Key Reference
Usage of Color
0
0
0
0
0
Content
Accuracy
Figure Summary
Reference Materials
0 2 4 6
0 5 10 15 20
0 1 2
Title Page
Table of Contents
Page Numbers
Reference List
0
0
0
0
Report
date: _____
1
1
1 2
1
1 2
Format
Content
1
1
1 2
1
1 2
1 2
2 4
2
1 2
Other: Spelling and/or grammatical errors (-1 point each):
Not stapled (-10 points):
Handwriting (-2 points):
________
________
________
Score: _______ / 150 pts
Percent: _______ / 100%
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Nine Killer Apps for Strategic Marketing
Be able to define, illustrate and discuss the relationships between each two of the following.
SWOT
Strategic
Planning
Research
Marketing Mix
(4 Ps)
Value
Segmentation /
Targeting
Differentiation
Buyer
Behavior
Customer
Relationship
Management