Unit 2 Assignment for Marketing

Cvnab1964
timer Asked: Dec 20th, 2017

Question Description

Competitive Advantage

In this Assignment, you will read a case study and do some research before responding to some questions concerning competitive advantage in a business memo format.

Reference

A business memo is a document commonly used in the workplace to convey information to company employees. In that sense, it is an internal document, which means that, generally, the audience is internal to the company; it is not a form used for outside customers or clients. The purpose of a memo, usually, is to inform employees of policies or other company-related matters, such as a change in personnel within departments, change in a process or procedure, or an upcoming company meeting.

Assignment: Read the Disney® case study: “The Happiest Brand on Earth”

In this Assignment, you will engage in the development of the following professional competencies:

  • Obtain and Process Information
  • Written Communication

These competencies also are critical to your success in most jobs. By knowing how to obtain and process information, you do not have to know everything, but you need to know where to find the most reliable information and then be able to process it — analyze and summarize the pertinent information for the task at hand, and then be able to communicate it in writing. These competencies are critical to your educational and professional success. In this Assignment, you will have the opportunity to practice obtaining vital marketing information and then summarizing it.

In this Assignment you will be doing some research on the Disney Company as the new marketing associate.

Review the grading rubric below to see the full instructions and grading rubric for this Assignment.

Rubric

Review the assignment instructions and grading rubric.

Resources

Access the case study

Document

What is a memo?

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Writing a Memo A memo is a document commonly used in the workplace to convey information to company employees. In that sense, it is an internal document, which means that, generally, the audience is internal to the company; it is not a form used for outside customers or clients. The purpose of a memo, usually, is to inform employees of policies or other company-related matters, such as a change in personnel within departments, change in a process or procedure, or an upcoming company meeting. Each company you work for may have its own particular format for a memo, but generally, a memo is written in the following format. Date: April 25, 2017 (if you are addressing employees in a foreign branch of the company, you might want to use this format for the date: 25 April 2017, which is more common overseas). To: List the names of employees that this memo is addressed to. If you are sending it to an entire department, you can list the department title here, such as All English Faculty and Staff. Consider the order of people. Will you alphabetize or should you go by rank/position within the company listing the most senior personnel first? From: List the contact person’s name and title, such as Diane Martinez, Writing Specialist Subject: Make this brief but descriptive of the memo contents, such as Resource Development Procedure Changes The content of the memo begins here. Generally, a memo is single-spaced. For a memo written to an American audience, you would state the purpose of the memo in the opening paragraph. Body paragraphs of a memo contain the details of the news you are informing employees about. Generally, you want to keep the information in a memo brief, or at least concise, providing only facts that are needed to understand the main message of the memo. However, there are times when a memo may be a longer document, such as when writing a memo proposal or a strategy memo. If the memo is particularly long, you might consider using subheadings for easier reading since you will likely be addressing different topics in the longer memo. A conclusion paragraph ends the correspondence and generally provides readers with contact information. Remember that a memo is a business document so the language should be formal and the tone professional. The next page shows an example of a memo. Writing Center Resource Library  Writing a Business Memo  May 2011 © 2011, Writing Center, All Rights Reserved Example Memo Date: April 25,2011 To: Academic Advisors; Susan Campbell; Darleen Harding; James Russell From: Kimberly Sullivan Subject: New Communications Degree Training We are pleased to announce the addition of a new technical communication degree in the School of Humanities. All academic advisors are required to attend the training session on Monday, May 2, 2017, at 10:00 AM ET in the Laguna Conference Room. The Bachelor of Science in Technical Communication is a new degree program that will be launched May 15, 2011, in the School of Humanities. Because this degree is new and many faculty and staff are unclear as to what this program is about, as well as career opportunities for graduates with this degree, Kimberly Sullivan will conduct an hour-long training that will give you information about the degree and career options. Please plan on attending this training. One make up session will be given on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at 10:00 AM ET in the Laguna Conference Room for those employees that are out on Monday. If you have any questions or concerns about this new degree program or the training, please contact Kimberly at x123 or ksullivan@abcuniversity.edu. Writing Center Resource Library  Writing a Business Memo  May 2011 © 2011, Writing Center, All Rights Reserved Case studY Chapter 2 Disney © iStockphoto.com/Bill Noll / © iStockphoto.com/OSTILL The Happiest Brand on Earth In 2006, Disney’s Pixar released the hit movie Cars, which grossed $462 million worldwide. Since then, Cars merchandise has generated over $2 billion in sales each year. Pixar has since created a series of Cars shorts to be aired on the Disney Channel with a subsequent DVD release. A Cars sequel was released in 2011 along with an online virtual gaming world on its Web site to help build hype. In 2012, Disney’s California Adventure theme park opened its 12‑acre Cars Land attraction. At Disney, the brand is the name of the game, and the cross-platform success of the Cars franchise is by no means an exception to the rule. Disney also has the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, the Disney Princesses, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the list goes on and on. The man behind the magic is Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, who has lead a dramatic revitalization of the Disney brand since succeeding longtime head Michael Eisner in 2005. When he first took the post, his strategy shifted Disney’s focus to its stable of “franchises.” These franchises are distributed across Disney’s multiple company platforms and divisions, such as Disney’s various television broadcast platforms (the Disney Channel, ABC, ESPN), its consumer products business, theme parks, Disney’s Hollywood Records music label, and Disney’s publishing arm in Hyperion, just to name a few. Iger’s franchise strategy has been supported by the other major move he made upon first becoming CEO. On his first day on the job, Iger told the board that revitalizing Disney’s animation business was a top priority, which would be improved through the purchase of Pixar. As part of Iger’s franchise strategy the deal made perfect sense, as many of Disney’s latest television shows, theme park rides, and merchandise were based on Pixar characters. Finding a new market to push the Disney franchise into became a priority as well. With the Walt Disney Company experiencing flat growth, it was becoming evident that Disney had missed some opportunities for broader success due to a narrowing of its target market, which was at the time largely associated with younger children. Iger’s first move was to broaden Disney’s viewership by moving the Disney Channel from premium to basic cable and launching local versions in key global markets. Then, Disney began pushing franchises to capture the rapidly growing tween market. Putting its support behind the Disney Channel’s High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and the Jonas Brothers (who were emerging out of Disney’s music label), Disney quickly generated a series of franchise juggernauts in the tween-girl market. Though Disney’s focus has remained on familyfriendly fare, Iger has shown a new willingness to look to even broader markets, if it fits with the Disney brand. Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, the first Disney film with a PG-13 rating, played a major role in refocusing the brand, being based on the classic theme park ride, and it also helped expand the Disney appeal to older kids and even adults. The Pirates and Cars franchises also provided preliminary steps for Disney’s latest endeavors to crack the tween-boy (age 6 to 14) market, one traditionally difficult for media companies to sustainably capture. Their efforts focus around the new Disney XD channel, with a broad range of offerings, such as potential new franchises like the science fiction action-adventure show Aaron Stone and showcases of new musical talent. Disney will also be able to leverage ESPN to create original sports-based programming. The recent acquisition of Marvel Entertainment also provided Disney with a broad stable of material to create content for that platform. The channel is accompanied by a Disney XD Web site, which will promote the channel’s programs, as well as offer games and original videos, social networking, and online community opportunities. As it continues to expand and provide new fran­chise offerings, Disney looks to have relatively strong momentum. The success of its cross-platform franchise strategy has certainly helped it weather the economic downturn as the CASE STUDIES 1 effects of the recession continue to recede. Disney plans to continue that strategy with the release of many film franchise sequels, including new Cars, Pirates, and Monsters, Inc. films. As the late Steve Jobs, former Apple CEO and Pixar stakeholder, commented, “Family is a renewable resource,” and right now, Disney is making the most of it. Sources: Richard Siklos, “Bob Iger Rocks Disney,” Fortune, January 19, 2009, 80–86; Peter Sanders, “Disney Focuses on Boys,” Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article /SB123137513996262627.html (Accessed November 8, 2012); Ethan Smith, “‘Alice’ Boosts Disney; Theme Parks Disappoint,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2010, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487042 50104575238640 019592022.html (Accessed November 8, 2012). 2 CASE STUDIES Assignment 2: Competitive Advantage Scenario: You are a new marketing associate working for a growing Hollywood movie production company named Movie Insights, Inc. Your marketing manager is working on a quarterly update to the marketing plan for the company. The marketing manager assigns you the task of researching the success of the Disney Company under the direction of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bob Iger during the years 2006–2012. You have 7 days to conduct your research and report your findings. Directions for completing this assignment: Before beginning this Assignment, make sure to review the Learning Activities pertaining to the target market and marketing mix which will help you to be more successful in completing this Assignment. Write a 2-page, business memo answering the following questions. For assistance with your Assignment, please use your textbook and library research resources. The directions for you to execute this task are as follows: 1. Read “Disney®: The Happiest Place on Earth” case study 2. Learn how to write a Business Memo by downloading the short explanation on the document icon and looking at the business memo example in Course Documents. 3. Use APA format and citation style to avoid plagiarism (See Course Documents). Include in-text citations and a References page. Use a minimum of two References resources, including your textbook. 4. Select a Disney franchise mentioned in the case study. 5. In your business memo, summarize the following marketing strategy components of your selected Disney franchise by addressing the following items: Checklist:  Summarize the marketing strategy for one of Disney’s franchises mentioned in the case study during the years 2006–2012.  Describe the target marketing strategy used.  Describe the components of the marketing mix. Directions for Submitting this Assignment: Review the grading rubric below before beginning this activity. Compose your Assignment as a Microsoft Word document and save it as (Example: TAllen-MT219 Assignment-Unit 2.docx). Submit your file to the Unit 2 Assignment Dropbox before the end of the unit. Unit 2 Assignment: Percent possible Points possible Competitive Advantage Content per Checklists Answer provides complete information demonstrating analysis and critical thinking in response to the following Checklist items: Summarize the marketing strategy for one of Disney’s franchises mentioned in the case study during the years 2006–2012. 100% 50 80%  Describe the target marketing strategy used. 20  Describe the components of the marketing mix. 20 Subtotal: Provides a 2-page business memo using correct grammar, spelling, and APA format and citation style. Includes a minimum of 2 references including the textbook. 80% 40 20% 10 Percent Your Assignment Score: 100% Total Points possible 50 Points Earned Comments
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