Foundations of Marketing MAR4002 Group Project Briefing Practicalities • Upto 4,000-word report due Monday You have been given the brief of launching a new product/service

Foundations of Marketing MAR4002 Group Project Briefing Practicalities • Upto 4,000-word report due Monday You have been given the brief of launching a new product/service. Working in groups you are asked to apply your marketing knowledge and develop a new product/service within a chosen market (e.g. the car market; the shampoo market; the study aid market). You are required to provide answers, in report format and also presenting your work in oral form during one of your last tutorial sessions, to the following questions: • Provide a brief analysis of your chosen market. This should include an overview of how it has performed over recent years and the key competitors within it (10 marks) • Identify and describe the different ways that the market is/can be segmented. (20 marks) • Choose which segment you plan to target, justifying your choice. (10marks) • Decide on and describe how you will position your product versus the competition within your chosen segment. 10 marks will be allocated for relevant application of semester 2 academic content (40 marks) Present your findings in a written report (10 marks) • Guidance CHOOSING A MARKET • You are required to pick a single market. • You are advised to choose a market that interests you. • It is also important that the market you choose is going to allow you to answer the set question. • It is recommended that within your groups you pool your ideas about your potential market choice. • Make sure that there is adequate information available upon which to base your discussion. ANALYSING THE MARKET AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION (10 MARKS) • Comment on how sizeable the market is/the characteristics of the market (e.g. Is this a growing market?); how lucrative this market is; who the key players are within this market? • You are encouraged to email your subject librarian and find market intelligence reports as sources of secondary data. The lecture session in week 2 of semester 2 is designed to help you with this) • It may help by doing some field work (i.e. looking at the products in situ), and by looking at advertising and other communication. • NB. Only use concepts/frameworks covered in lectures (e.g. Porter’s 5 forces/SWOT analysis is not expected) IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE WAYS THE MARKET IS/CAN BE SEGMENTED (20 MARKS) • You will be expected to identify and describe the key segments in your chosen market. • To do this you may start by identifying the key brands within your market and consider who they are targeted at (e.g. Head and Shoulders in the shampoo market, targeted at people with dandruff). • Segmentation is defined by the core text book as the identification of individuals or organisations with similar characteristics that have significant implications for the determination of marketing strategy. • You will also need to make reference to the segmentation bases discussed in lectures/tutorials/texts. • Consumer markets, for example, are segmented in three main ways (behavioural, psychographic, and profile) and you will be expected to identify the way(s) in which your chosen market is/can be segmented. CHOOSE WHICH SEGMENT YOU PLAN TO TARGET, JUSTIFYING YOUR CHOICE (10 MARKS) • Targeting refers to the choice of which market segment(s) you choose to serve with a tailored marketing mix. • Choose one segment to target, and describe it fully – you may choose to draw a pen portrait of the typical target consumer • Justify your choice of segment making reference to classical segmentation characteristics • For instance, comment on market factors, competitive factors and the political, social and environmental factors which make your chosen segment so attractive to target through your marketing efforts • DECIDE AND DESCRIBE HOW YOU WILL POSITION YOUR PRODUCT VERSUS THE COMPETITION WITHIN YOUR CHOSEN SEGMENT (40 MARKS) In order to do this, you should develop your discussion around marketing mix decisions (4Ps or 7Ps) • You need to use the relevant theory from lectures to support your decisions • You should produce perceptual and positioning maps, and consider potential sources of differential advantage • You should decide whether you will take a very analytical or creative focus (or both!) • Within this stage of your group project you are encouraged to consider the specialist areas of marketing (covered in semester two) in detail – upto10 marks will be awarded for relevant semester 2 content being applied • Use as many topics from semester 2 (e.g. Branding, creativity, digital marketing, ethics) that fit your project (along with the principles from semester 1 content) • PRESENT YOUR FINDINGS IN A WRITTEN REPORT (10 MARKS) • Use headings and sub-sections as necessary • Use appendices to support your work (but don’t go over the top!) • This is an applied piece of work and you are expected to reference market intelligence reports etc. which will need sourcing/citing