MKTG-300 Clayton
MKTG 300.1 Candy/Gum
MKTG 300.7 Condiments
MKTG 300.8 N/A Bev
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING – BRAND ANALYSIS PROJECT
Overview
You will analyze a brand’s marketing strategy and tactics, then, based on your findings, you will make three
recommendations for improving the brand’s competitive position in the marketplace.
Objectives
In this individually-written report (note that this is not a team project), you will demonstrate your writing, research
abilities, and knowledge of concepts presented in this course. The assignment also gives you the chance to practice
using charts and exhibits. As a bonus, the completed report can serve as your writing sample for internships and jobs.
Situation & Assignment
You’ve landed your first job as an assistant to a brand manager. Your boss, Miranda Priestly, wants to make sure your
company’s brand is remaining competitive, so she assigns you this project:
• Review all publically available information related to your focal brand and the product category
• Prepare a detailed analysis of your focal brand and product category, and
• Make three recommendations to improve your focal brand’s competitive position based on the findings of your
research. (recommendations should be specific to the US market)
Important First Steps
Each student should pick a brand within the assigned product category. No two students can use the same brand so
selections will be first come first serve. For those not in class on September 14, or unable to make a selection, the signup sheet will be posted on my office door for the upcoming week.
Important Dates
Deliverables
Part 1
Due Date
9/25
Part 2
Final Report (Parts
1-5)
10/16
12/4
Description
Market analysis of product category
2 components – complete an “environmental
scan” of macro issues and complete an “industry
analysis”
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
5 parts:
1. Executive Summary
2. Market Analysis of Product Category
3. Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning
4. Brand Analysis (4 Ps)
5. Strategy followed by three
recommendations
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MKTG-300 Clayton
MKTG 300 – Writing Intensive Requirements
For each deliverable please lead with a memo to your boss, Miranda Priestly. This one-page document should
include all pertinent info: to whom, from whom, date, subject, and a brief description of what is attached, and
any pertinent info your boss should be aware of regarding your progress. This should be a stand alone page,
meaning do not start your actual report below this information. (search google for memo templates)
Remember you want to inspire confidence in your boss that you’re on the right track and will deliver the final
report on time.
Part 1: Market Analysis of Product Category—1250 words (due 9/21) – Submit via Blackboard
What is the market situation for the category and your brand? Provide a short review of the market situation
facing the brands in your competitive “space” (your brand and its direct competitors). You should examine sales
at either unit level or monetary level for the most recent 3-5 years, and trends within subsectors of your industry
and market shares of main players.
This section should address issues happening at the macro level, also known as an “environmental scan.” Topics
such as; key consumer trends, a crucial political issue, a critical technological change, a shift in the nature of the
competitive landscape, and/ or a key environmental force affecting the segment and competition. Choose issues
that generally affect the performance of all players (i.e., some brands are affected more and some less, but the
issues affect the group as a whole).
• You will want to refer primarily to the concepts discussed in Ch. 3 on Marketing Environment, Ch. 5 on
Consumer Behavior.
Part 2: Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning — 500 words (due 10/16) – Submit hard copy
Who’s currently buying your product? Where are your deficiencies and where are opportunities? You are required
to use the Simmons data for this portion of your paper. This is a natural place in your paper for multiple charts,
figures, or graphs. (Please do not use charts directly exported from Simmons as these are often contain far more
numbers then you actually need, and thus are not very user friendly. I want to see that you can identify and
correctly understand the important values. You’re encouraged to take these numbers and create some of your
own figures) Remember, at this point in the paper it’s premature to make any recommendations.
Topics in this part include, but are not limited to:
a. Segmentation and Targeting: What groups of consumers appear to have the greatest propensity to buy your
product? Discuss the segmentation approaches managers use to describe this market space (such as
demographic, psychographic, or product benefits--see Ch 9.)
b. Positioning: Discuss the brand strategies and elements of the brand used to position each brand (such as
brand personality, brand equity, positioning). Discuss competitive differences and advantages. (See Ch. 9)
Please review the last slide from Chapter 9 on how to write a positioning statement.
Parts 3/4/5 (due 12/4, along with revised versions of your previous parts to form a final paper) – submit hard
copy
Part 3: Brand Analysis of Focal Brand –1000 words (SWOT does not count towards this word count)
Analyze the marketing strategy of your brand.
• Product, Price, Place, Promotion: Discuss the key product issues (Ch. 10-12). What types of pricing strategies
are used for your brand? (See Ch. 13-14.) Discuss key distribution issues. What types of distribution
channels are used and why? Compare point of sale merchandising and promotions. (See Ch. 15-17.) Which
specific elements and tactics of the communications mix, such as advertising, public relations, sales
promotion, and direct marketing are important for your brand? (See Ch. 18-20.)
• At the end of this section you should be able to provide a SWOT for your brand. While SWOT’s may be
identified online, you should construct your own SWOT, and the items identified in your SWOT should
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MKTG-300 Clayton
correlate with topics you have previously discussed in this and the prior section. I should not see items in
SWOT that were not previously discussed.
Part 4: Brand Recommendations for Your Focal Brand to Improve Its Competitive Position—1000 words
Based on the issues you’ve identified in parts 1-3, clearly articulate a strategy for increasing your brand’s market
share. After this brief statement, present three well-founded ideas for improving the distinctive competitive
advantage of your focal brand. Be sure to provide analysis and logic for each, along with pros and cons for
each recommendation. Your tactical recommendations should soundly link to your previously articulated strategy
and should be based on the analysis you provided earlier in the paper.
Part 5: Executive Summary—200 words
Briefly summarize your report and foreshadow your three recommendations in brief detail. This will be the last
part you write, but this should be the first page of your final project after a very brief memo to your boss,
Miranda Priestly.
NOTE: It is recommended that all students have their memo and paper reviewed by the Kogod Center for Business Communications (KCBC). The staff
of the KCBC are there to help you improve your writing and organization. For questions regarding marketing content, please consult your professor.
Additional Key Instructions:
• The report should be single-spaced with double spaces between paragraphs/sections, default margins, 11-point
font.
• Use subheadings to organize your report and provide structure for the reader.
• Bold specific marketing terms that we have covered in class lectures and are taken from your text.
• The final report must contain a minimum of five figures (charts, exhibits, graphs, tables, or useful illustrations).
These are not included in the word count. They should be embedded within your surrounding text as this will
make it easier to read for your boss.
o Make sure that you label each figure and also refer to the figure within the text (see Figure 1).
o Avoid confusing, uninformative, ill-conceived, simplistic and sloppy figures!
o You may locate a figure during your research which you wish to include. This is allowed as long as the
source is cited properly.
o I will require that at least three of your figures you create yourself. The Simmons data is a natural
source for at least two figures.
• Make sure your writing is concise and to-the-point and your claims are based on objective evidence.
• The tone of the report should be formal and professional, so choose your wording appropriately; points will be
deducted for informal writing (e.g., avoid slang, short-hand, etc.)
• Please make sure that you cite sources within the text
• Your citations should include the author(s) name(s), the title of the publication, date of the publication, the
source name, and a website (where appropriate). If you include a hyperlink to your articles, make sure this
can be accessed by all readers of the document! More information regarding citation format will be provided
by the Office of Business Communications. APA style is preferred, but other styles will be accepted.
• Remember that your overall goal is to demonstrate your writing skills and your understanding of the concepts
and principles discussed in this course.
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MKTG-300 Clayton
FAQs
MKTG-300 Project
1.
Should I use a certain organization and structure for the report?
“Yes” and “No.” First principle is to organize your report in the structure you think is most appropriate. Although you
have some flexibility here, keep in mind the bottom line - your business memos and reports should represent the highest in
professional quality, both in content and style. This is not an exercise in free or “artistic” expression. Guidelines and instruction
will be presented by Kogod’s Center for Business Communications (CBC) (KSB 14) later in the semester.
2.
What should a cover memo contain? Who is the audience? What is the tone?
Remember your assignment. Remember, executives like your boss, Miranda Priestly, are busy - -they are involved in
many projects. Thus, your memo should remind the reader of necessary background without being pedantic. Remember who your
audience is: an executive at the company who gave you this assignment. Update her on your status appropriately.
3.
Should I conduct primary research?
This is not a marketing research course so primary research is not required or expected. However, students may
supplement their “public” literature with information from an interview with a retailer or executive.
4.
Do I need to pay attention to charts and tables? … placement of exhibits?
Yes! Make your charts, exhibits, figures and tables (CEFTs) clear and informative. Good CEFTs are the marks of a good report.
Exhibits may be placed at the end of the text, but the best CEFTS are integrated within a report with corresponding text explaining
the main point of the CEFT. Please don’t include a CEFT without discussing it in your text!
5.
What things should I reference? And how?
Full and proper citation of reference material and ideas is expected. See the KSB Syllabus Statement regarding academic integrity.
Note: Keep proper citations. The instructor may request an “e-doc” version of your report; this e-doc should include “hot links” so the instructor can easily
check & read sources.
6.
Other points to remember …
Make sure that the presentation and look of your memos and reports are of the highest quality and free of mistakes. Written
expression must be clear and to-the-point. A significant portion of the evaluation is based on writing and presentation quality.
* * Due dates: A hard copy of the report is due at the beginning of class on the designated date. If you are unable to attend class
on the given date, please be sure to turn your assignment in to the instructor prior to the scheduled class period. Once the class
period has ended your paper is considered late, and you will have 24 hours to turn in your assignment at a penalty of 10% for every
24 hours that passes.
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