INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING VBE 1005 ASSIGNMENT BRIEF: ASSESSMENT2 PART 2: INDIVIDUALWRITTENESSAY Semester 1, 2017 Prepared by: Dr Rosa E. Rios Reviewed and Revised: Trevor AtkinsonASSIGNMENT TITLE Individual Written Essay This assessment accounts for the following proportion of marks for this unit 20% LEARNING OUTCOMES BEING ASSESSED 2. Compare fundamental theories of consumer behaviour and begin to contrast how they influence marketing activities 4. Investigate basic marketing problems in general business situations and effectively identify potential solutions and target markets. 5. Formulate basic marketing objectives, develop and implement marketing mix strategies to address marketing problems 6. Demonstrate the role of the marketer and the marketer's contribution to the direction of the organisation; and 7. Demonstrate the development of key fundamental academic and professional skills required for further study and the workforce SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: You must electronically submit your paper into the Turnitin assignment submission box within the VBE 1005 VU Collaborate shell. Submissions must be in MS Word format. Please note that paper copies will not be accepted. In case of the Turnitin or VU Collaborate system being down, please email the assignment to your instructor or local unit co-ordinator as a record of on time submission. Assignments will be marked using Grademark, within VU Collaborate. You will need to log into VU Collaborate to read feedback and obtain your mark once marking is complete. Failure to meet assessment deadline(s) will incur in zero marks for the assessment. Where special consideration is not applicable, a 10% (ten percentage point) deduction for each 24 hour period after the due date is to be deducted, unless agreed upon with the unit coordinator prior to the due date. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 18:00 hours in your local time-zone on the Friday of Session in week 9 (all campuses) ASSESSMENT BRIEF MODERATED BY: Name T.L. Atkinson Signature Date:7th February 2017DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT: Identification of a marketing problem / opportunity, identify a potential target market for your business and formulate marketing strategies and establish realistic marketing objectives (Original Word count 800 - 1000 words) Background information: This is part two of your continuing assessments for this unit. In your first assessment you identified a business and performed a situation analysis for it. Your SWOT analysis gave you knowledge of the industry and your business. Role: your job is to re-assess the information obtained from assessment one and identify three a l t e r n a t i v e marketing problems/opportunities for which you have determined and working within the established Marketing Budget would significantly improve the turnover or profit of the business within the time frame established in Part One of the assignment.. You will be given time in class to discuss your potential problems with the other members of your group to assess the problems and how to improve them. However, your strategies must match your situation analysis and not your partners. To successfully complete this report you must work at home and in class. While in class, you must seek feedback from your instructor who will monitor your progress and check if you have managed to upgrade your assessment. Task: You must look at the situation analysis and SWOT table to identify real problems with feasible solutions. Identify 3 main marketing problems/opportunities and formulate detailed solutions. Once you have identified your problems and solutions for your business the next step is to detect a potential/suitable target market. Once the three problems and solutions are identified you have to identify the Target Market for each, the media and the message to reach each and research the costs involved. This then has to be compared to the risks involved and the additional profit or income that you have calculated would arise from implementing each of the three strategies and a decision/conclusion arrived at as to which strategy would be adopted and included in Assignment 3 to complete your Promotional Plan. Process: It is important to write your Essay in a flowing format, ensuring the topics raised in any section are clearly indicated with appropriate headings but not in a question-answer format. An essay is a longish piece of writing, which has to be structured with an Introduction, Body of text and summed up in a Conclusion. It cannot just be a collection of cut and pasted references from elsewhere but must contain original text, your own opinions, supported by facts and information. It should not contain information on anything that is not directly relevant to the subject of the essay. Phase Two should be approximately 800-1000 original words in length. This word count does not include text copied and pasted, but your words and ideas as you express them! As you will need to justify your choices you MUST support them with reliable and valid sources of information, properly referenced. A starting point for this assessment is Chapter. 6 of your textbook and the corresponding session material.Phase Two of your Marketing Assignment: 1. From your SWOT Analysis you must identify three alternative Problems or Opportunities to be evaluated and argue a case for each. 2. Definition of your Target Market: It is very important that your target market emerges from your situation analysis. A potential target market needs to be aware of your P/S, have access to your P/S and able to afford them. Each target market must be quantified if we are to be able to estimate the likely income or profit arising. 3. Design marketing strategies for each: In other word identify (and evidence) the media that will reach your target audience, i.e. if a newspaper, which newspaper, what readership, what size of ad, at what cost etc. Also identify the Message of your advert, given that people don’t change their behaviour or buying habits just because you advertise! 4. Set Meaningful and Measurable Marketing Objectives: you will need to draw actionable objectives that guide the marketing plan. Your objectives need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely etc. and enable you to evaluate the cost against the likely increase in Profit or Turnover. Objectives are numbered and succinct but SMART and more of this in Page 443 of your textbook. Your Task is to produce an Argumentative Essay, comparing and contrasting three alternative strategies and indicating your reason for the ONE Strategy that you will adopt and incorporate into your Assignment Part Three, thereby completing your Promotional Plan. Your Essay is not to be included within your Promotional Plan, but is a separate document and must be submitted into the Turnitin assignment submission box within the VBE 1005 VU Collaborate shell. Submissions must be in MS Word format.Essay Case Study Rubric Mechanical (1 Mark) 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Sentencesand paragraphsare difficult to read The assignment can be easily followed Writing style rambling or unfocussed The assignmenthas focused and an appropriate writing style Poor grammar There are no grammarerrors The assessmentdoes not follow the structure of the report The assessmentfollowsthe structure of the report The reportdoes not look professional The reportlooks veryprofessionalwith headings,page numbersand studentsdetails Comments: Symptom, Problem & Solution (8 Marks) 0 1.8 3.6 5.4 7.2 9 No evidence of understanding main problems Identifies and understanding of main problems No evidence of research Providesvast evidencesof research from differentsources Analysisof the facts is superficial Analysisof the facts is comprehensive Analysisprovides no supportfor the identification of problems Supportsdiagnosiswith strong argumentsand evidence to problem identification No connection between issues identified and potential solutions There is a clear connection between issues identified and potential solutions There no difference between symptoms& problems There is a clear definition between a symptom and a problem The problems& symptomsidentified bear no relevance to the actual business The problems& symptomsidentified are very relevant to the currentbusiness Comments: Target Market & Marketing Objectives (8 Marks) 0 1.8 3.6 5.4 7.2 9 Little displayof critical thought Analysisthorough and insightful Findingsdo not match a potential targetmarket Findings match a potential targetmarket The analysisdoes not reflecta targetmarket The analysisreflecta targetmarket The analysisdoes not reflect the main objectives The analysisreflectsthe main objectives The analysisdoes not generate clearsub-objectives The analysisgenerate sub-objectives The analysisdoes not draw SMART objectives The analysisdraws SMART objectives Comments: Referencing (1 Mark) 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Very limited referencesof sources such as text books,academicpeer reviewed journal Appropriate referencesfrom peer reviewed journals articles, businessmagazines, FollowsHarvard Style Inappropriate or absent referencing style. Clear linking of issues to readings Lack of reference list or reference style It containsa reference list that followsHarvard style No linking of issuesto readings There isa link between issues& readings *Thereare severepenaltiesforplagiarised work Total Mark /20%PART TWO: Symptom, Problem & Solution, Target Market & Marketing Objectives 18 marks but marked out of 90 Marking Guide Part Two - Essay Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Credit Distinction High Distinction 1. Identification of 3 Alternative Strategies Target Market 1 0-2 2-3 3 3-4 4-5 Target Market 2 0-2 2-3 3 3-4 4-5 Target Market 3 0-2 2-3 3 3-4 4-5 2. Identification of Media/Message Target Market 1 0-4 5 6 7 8-10 Target Market 2 0-4 5 6 7 8-10 Target Market 3 0.4 5 6 7 8-10 3. Alternatives properly costed Target Market 1 0-4 5 6 7 8-10 Target Market 2 0-4 5 6 7 8-10 Target Market 3 0.4 5 6 7 8-10 4. Income/Profit Calculated. Target Market 1 0-2 2-3 3 3-4 4-5 Target Market 2 0-2 2-3 3 3-4 4-5 Target Market 3 0-2 2-3 3 3-4 4-5 Total possible mark 90