Crafting a Marketing Plan

Select a mature product and a country to export this product. (You must initiate the export process from the US). Following the outline below, your project consist in developing a comprehensive marketing plan to relaunch the product of your choice in your selected country taking into account the following requirements:

 Positioning. Rename your product. Develop a value proposition.

 Distribution. Explore E-commerce options. Consider logistics and transportation issues. List any product liability considerations (if any).

 Communications. Propose specific sales (e.g. sales agents) and promotion strategies.  Pricing. Propose specific pricing techniques in accord to your desired market. OUTLINE

I. Introduction. Briefly describe your selected product and country. Indicate the fit of selected product in the export market. Indicate what the brand stands for in the county-of-origin (US).

Criteria: An introduction section should start with appropriate (relevant) background of the product and the desired markets.

II. Situation Analysis. The situation analysis should demonstrate a thorough understanding of the situation faced by the company in the desired markets. As customary, briefly state your selected analysis tools (eg SWOT analysis) and procedure.

Criteria: A situation analysis section should use an appropriate analysis, be precise (e.g. use correct units of measurement), and be well organized (e.g. use of subheads).

III. Market Research. Conduct research online about your selected product. This section should describe the main findings about your product (e.g. market share, consumption profile, and/or sales and channel information). Summarize your findings in narrative format (e.g. text) and illustrate them, if appropriate, with figures and/or tables. (Please note that the narrative should complement any figures or tables, not repeat the same information). List all references at the end of the paper. This section should cover the "Customer Analysis".

Criteria: An market research section should illustrate the current view of the product and/or company in the country-of-origin. All findings must be relevant to the marketing plan. IV. Product Positioning and Strategy.

This section should articulate the product positioning and overall marketing strategy. The product strategy should describe the product and or product line (e.g. flavors, textures, presentations, etc.), its quality and how it is achieved, and its packaging. Consider whether a name change, package redesign, or line extension would be helpful. Based on your consideration, develop a value proposition.

This section should cover the "Customer Value Proposition", "Points of Difference" and "Product Strategy".

Criteria: An product positioning and strategy section should detail the key distinctive features or benefits of your product and integrate them into a value proposition.

V. Marketing Tactics. The tactical implications should include an integrated marketing communication plan, distribution plan, pricing plan, etc. The tactical plan should be a logical extension of the product positioning and marketing strategy. In addition, you should derive a series of realistic and measurable objectives in connection to each element of the marketing mix.

This section should cover the "Price Strategy", "Promotion Strategy" and "Distribution Strategy". Criteria: A marketing tactics section should detail for every element of the marketing mix (except for product) the requirements already indicated in the first paragraph.

VI. Evaluation. This section effectively demonstrates how the performance of the marketing strategy and tactics are to be measured and monitored through marketing indicators and benchmarks. Criteria: An evaluation section should contain a carefully detail of the measurement of the proposed tactics, addressing potential drawbacks and how to tackle them.

VII. References. List all references in alphabetic order according to a consistent format of your choice (e.g. APA, Journal of Marketing, etc.).

FORMAT  The project should be double-spaced, have 8 pages as a minimum and should not exceed 10 pages (references included).  Use of visuals is encouraged and it does not count toward the number of pages.  Suggested websites for country data: globalEdge, CIA World factbook, export.gov, World Bank.