BUS 599: Strategic Management

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Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

First Name Last Name

Strayer University

BUS 599: Strategic Management

Professor Dr. Andrea Banto

January 10, 2021

Delete the instructions in red before submitting the assignment!

Due: Week 5, worth 125 points

Length: The assignment should be 3 to 5 pages, excluding title page and reference page

This assignment consists of two documents- Word document and Excel document (you must complete the setup and the marketing budget section, but the entire Excel must be submitted) You will attach the 2 documents to the submission window and then click submit.

Important:

  • Review the description of this assignment in the course guide or Blackboard and use the tips provided along with this template to help you in your writing.
  • Be sure to review the guidelines provided : company of choice or snack-food company, as applicable.
  • Use the textbook and review the recommended pages. Note that your textbook has sample plans at the end of each paper. They are great examples of content.   
  • Review the grading rubric before writing. Know what you are graded for. Always look at the “exemplary” section.  

Notes:

  • Leave the text in black as it is. You are required to have a heading for each of the sections in your paper.
  • Use SWS format. Your will respond to each question using indented paragraphs. The preferred font is Times New Roman, size 12.
  • The references must be on a separate page at the end of the paper.
  • Check your paper for grammar, spelling, and plagiarism in Grammarly before submitting to Blackboard. You should have 100% original content. See video below on how to use Grammarly.

How to use Grammarly

Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

Target Market

  • Describe your target market (customers) in demographic terms (age range, income range, gender education, etc.) as well as the geographic, lifestyle, psychographic, purchasing patterns and buying sensitivities description.  
  • You have addressed this topic in week 3 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor as a reply to your week 3 discussion post in week 3 discussion thread and make changes as needed. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.
  • Use the bold subheadings below.

Demographic Description  

Age, income range, gender, family size, education, occupation, et cetera. Example: A likely user for X product is a male aged 25–34 who earns between $35,000 and $55,000 per year and has a four-year college degree.

Geographic Description  

Area you would like to serve, density (urban, rural), nature of location (mall, business center, et cetera), climate condition. Example: Atlanta.

Lifestyle Description  

Where do your customers shop, what do they do for leisure, what kind of clothes do they wear, what type of cars do they drive, et cetera?

Psychographic Description

How would you describe your target market, for example, socially responsible, trendsetters, or fun-seeking?

Purchasing Pattern Description

How will your target market use the product, how many times will they buy it, where do they buy the product, how do they pay for it, et cetera?

Buying Sensitivities Description

What factors are important to the customer before they buy (price, quality, customer service. packaging, et cetera)?

Market Competition

  • Outline your key competitors (at least 3) using the factors listed on page 125 in your textbook, in the “Assess the competition” table. Specify the company and product you are competing with.
  • Explain how would you differentiate yourself (your product or service) from the competitors you outlined.

Value Proposition

  • Outline the company’s value proposition (be specific to the product or service you plan to sell). The value proposition should be a brief description of how your product or service solves a problem the customers may have (or provides an improvement), should list the benefits the customers can expect, and why customers should buy your product or service instead of other similar ones on the market. You should also consider providing some evidence of your claims. The value proposition tells your customers why should they buy from you.
  • Create a marketing slogan/ tagline for your product. You must determine the message you will want to convey through your marketing vehicles.

Marketing Vehicles

Note: Include the table you completed in week 4 discussion and  then describe each marketing vehicle in detail under the table.

Marketing Vehicles Table
Marketing VehicleFrequencyCost/Month
Example 1 Social Media: Facebook and Instagram2–3 times per week$600 per month
Example 2 TV Stations: Local Station, WTC1 time per week$1,000 per month
Example 3 Free Samples2 events$500 per month
   
  • Describe each of the marketing tools you plan to use to build your brand. These are the different methods you will use to promote your product (social media, website, billboard, sampling, trade fairs, etc.) Be specific when discussing these. For example, specify what social media channels you plan to use or what local Radio or TV stations are you targeting to run your ads. Specify the approximate cost. Note that you will use a combination or tactics to reach your target market. The selection of the marketing vehicles will be based on the target market you chose. For a list of online marketing tactics, refer to the worksheet in the text (p. 177 | Online Marketing Tactics).
  • Explain why would you use each of these and why you believe they would be effective.  
  • You have written about the marketing vehicles in week 4 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor as a reply to your week 4 discussion post in week 4 discussion thread and make changes as needed. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.
  • Important! Remember to use the same marketing tools in your Excel Worksheet as you complete the Marketing Budget.

                                                                    Sources

  • Be sure to cite all your sources.
  • Use SWS to format all the references.
  • Wikipedia and other similar websites (blogs, opinions) do not quality as academic resources.
  • You can use websites as long as the source is reliable (company websites, forbes.com, fda.com, census.com, etc.)
  • For each reference you must have a corresponding in-text citation.

Below are examples of references (please delete and replace with yours).

1.   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2016. Causes of Climate Change. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-change-science/causes-climate- change_.html

2.   National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2008. Graphic: The Relentless Rise of Carbon Dioxide. https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/graphic-the- relentless-rise-of-carbon-dioxide/

3.   Ellie Zolfagharifard. 2014. Tree Roots Act as ‘Earth’s Thermostat’: Mountain Forest

Growth Has Stabilized the Earth’s Climate for Millions of Years. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2552933/Tree-roots-act-Earths-

thermostat-Mountain-forest-growth-stabilised-Earths-climate-millions-years.html

4.   Ronnie Cummins. 2013. How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming. https://www.ecowatch.com/how-factory-farming-contributes-to-global-warming-

1881690535.html