1)  Part A: Executive Summary

You will create a fictional start-up company that serves the U.S. market with a product or service.

Write one to two (1-2) paragraphs in which you:

1. Provide a detailed description of your company. The description should include, at a minimum, the company’s name, its history, founders, business purpose, and mission.

2. Describe, in detail, the product or service the company produces or services. Include trademark, color, shape, packaging, labeling, and any characteristics that you deem relevant.

Part B: Targeting Customers

You will now consider who your customers are and identify your market segment.

It is vital that you clearly identify your target customers within your marketing plan. Knowing your target customers will help you to:

•pinpoint where you should spend your advertising budget

•determine the type of campaign you intend to run, and

•ensure that your marketing message speaks the customer’s language (based on their needs and wants, demographic, location, ethnicity, etc.).

Write one to two (1-2) paragraphs in which you:

3. Analyze the business customers / clients that you wish to target. Your analysis should include, but not be limited to, their:

a. demographic profile (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, etc.)

b. psychographic profile (e.g., interests, routine, habits, etc.)

c. profession (e.g., income, occupation, education)

d. geographic location (e.g., country, region, city, rural, urban, climate)

e. precise wants and needs as they relate to the products and / or services you offer.

4. Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Note: Upon completion of the journal, fill out the “Company Overview” section in the Marketing Plan Template, located in Week 4. Next, insert the information from the completed Journal 1 entry into “Section 1: Executive Summary” and “Section 2: Targeting Customers” within the provided Marketing Plan Template.

2)  You will now complete your secondary market research and consider what distinguishes your company from your competitors, their products, and / or the price of their products and services.

The key word in Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is “unique.” There are very few products or services that are truly one of a kind. In order to target the demographic for your company, you need to pinpoint what makes your business standout among the competitors (e.g., Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say he sold hope, not makeup. Neiman Marcus sells luxury and customer service. Wal-Mart sells bargains. Amazon is earth’s biggest bookstore.)

Use the Internet to research two (2) of your favorite companies and two (2) companies that are similar to your company. Identify the USPs of these companies, and consider what the USPs mean to you. Next, prepare to create a USP for your company.

Tips on creating a USP for your company:

•Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Consider what your customers really want. Consider what could make them your repeat customers and instead of your competition‘s.

•Research what motivates your customers’ behaviors and buying decisions. You need to know what drives and motivates customers.

•Uncover the real reasons why customers buy your product instead of a competitor's. As owner of a startup, ask people why they buy your future competitors’ product. This will help you uncover why they might buy yours. Ask yourself the following questions:

◦What does our product or service do better than anyone else?

◦How is our business model different from that of our competition? How could our product or service be different?

◦What market category or niche is not being served by our industry?

Write a four to six (4-6) paragraph in which you:

1. Identify the target market and your secondary market for your company. Note: Be as specific as possible (e.g., women 30-45, with a high school education and some college; people working full time and living in the Midwest, etc.).

2. Describe your unique selling proposition (USP). Explain the key factors that make your company different than competitors within your industry. Describe the primary way in which the USP for your company targets the two (2) markets you identified in Question 1.

Example of a USP:

•My product is t-shirts and coffee mugs with fun and empowering logos for women.

•My target market is women ages 35-55, college educated, working full time. My secondary market trends a little younger at 25-35, women passionate about their professional life and their personal pursuits.

•My USP is “Be Authentic, no Apologies.”

•My reasoning is I want women to buy my sassy slogans, because they want to show their authentic voice on a shirt or mug.

Note: Insert the information from the completed Journal 3 entry into “Section 3: Unique Selling Proposition” in the provided Marketing Plan Template (located in Week 4).

You will now consider your company’s strengths and weakness, along with your product or service price.

3)  Use the Internet to research strategies for conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Based on your company’s market information, consider the strengths and weakness of your company and its products or services.

Write a four to six (4-6) paragraph in which you:

1. Determine the key strengths and weaknesses of your company, as well as both the primary opportunities and threats that it faces within its industry.

2. Discuss your critical steps within your supply-chain and operational system. Explain the key aspects of your strategies for producing and distributing your products and services to both your stores and customers. Determine whether you will use an outside vendor or complete the work in house.

3. Analyze the company’s pricing strategy relative to its pricing objective. Examine major internal and major external factors that could potentially affect the pricing of the company’s products or services.

4. Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Note: Insert the information from the completed Journal 4 entry into “Section 4: Pricing and Distribution Strategy” in the provided Marketing Plan Template (located in Week 4).

4)  You will now consider mechanisms by which your customers will purchase your products and / or services (e.g., online, storefront, direct sells) and the primary manner in which you intend to reach new customers (e.g., TV, radio, social media, special events).

Consider the marketing materials that you intend to use. According to the textbook, marketing materials are collateral used to promote your business or products. Promotional strategy may include free trial offers, money-back guarantees, and buy two (2) for the price of one (1) type of deals. Write a five to seven (5-7) paragraph in which you:

1. Determine the distribution strategy relative to your target market, location, and selection of distribution channels. Indicate whether or not you will leverage the following strategies: a. use stores located in different regions b. sell online c. hire a sales team to sell directly to suppliers and door-to-door

2. Recommend three (3) strategy options that you could use in order to get your product or services out to your customer base.

3. Outline your main marketing goals for promotions, offers, and giveaways. Discuss the key types of marketing materials that you intend to develop and share.

4. Propose three (3) action steps that you can use to move your plan forward. Consider how, when, and who will be involved in the execution of this plan.

5. Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Note: Insert the information from the completed Journal 5 entry into “Section 5: Distribution Plan and Promotions Strategy” in the provided Marketing Plan Template (located in Week 4).

5)  Marketing Plan Part F: Final Marketing Plan

Assignment 1 is comprised of all of the marketing plan sections. Add any recommendations and updates based on faculty feedback and / or additional research.

Transfer related information from Journal entries 1 through 5. In this assignment you must do the following:

•cover each section in the marketing plan in detail

•update your marketing plan to reflect recommendations made by faculty, and newly researched information

Your Marketing Plan should include the following:

1. Provide a detailed description of your company in the form of an executive summary. The description should include, at a minimum, the product’s name, trademark, color, shape, packaging, labeling, and any characteristics that you deem relevant.

2.Describe the company’s target market in terms of its size, competitors, and the specific needs and wants of potential customers that your product or service is likely to satisfy.

3. Describe both the company’s Unique Selling Position (USP) and its marketing objectives.

4. Analyze the pricing strategy relative to the company’s pricing objective, and internal and external factors that could affect the pricing of the company’s products or services.

5. Determine the distribution strategy in terms of your target market, location, and selection of distribution channels.

6. Outline the promotional strategy in relation to marketing objectives, advertising program, and public relations activity.

7. Recommend three to four (3-4) action steps that you could take in order to move your plan forward.

8. Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

•Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA.

•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 assignment page length.