Assignment 10. Innovation Center IE445 / ME445 / DES431 / MKTG478

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1 Assignment 10 Description Plan A marketing plan is a written document to outline how your new product/service should be launched to maximize its performance on the market. This document will be an end-of-the semester deliverable to the mentors along with all of your other project documentation. The plan should follow the outline provided at the end of this assignment and cover the content discussed in class. The final marketing plan will be approximately single-spaced pages of text. Tables, charts, figures, and illustrations are essential and are in addition to the text requirement (i.e., they do not count towards the pages). Remember: longer does not mean better for your marketing plan. It is more important to make it succinct, clear, and compelling. If information is nice to know but not immediately relevant, don t include it. Use an appendix for nice-to-know information and label it as such. Improving readability and presentation of the marketing plan is particularly important for this assignment. While the primary responsibility for executing this plan assignment will fall to the business students on the team, the creativity in thinking about ways to effectively and successfully market the offering is the responsibility of all team members. Therefore, everybody should feel it is their obligation to contribute ideas and suggestions to the marketing plan. n a good collaborative work environment, all team members do meaningful, satisfying work to advance the project, all team members share the burden of any necessary, less satisfying work, and all team members feel fairly rewarded for their effort and contribution. Self-managed teams need a mechanism by which all team members can agree that the work is shared fairly and completed responsibly. You are required to document your effort and contribution by logging specific tasks undertaken and whether or not they are completed on time. Resources Resources Plan Handbook. Alexander Chernev (2011). The template provided in this assignment comes from this book. Powerhouse Plans: 14 Outstanding Real-Life Plans and What You Can Learn from Them to Supercharge Your Own Campaigns. W. Johnson (2004) Plans for Service Businesses: A Complete Guide. Malcolm McDonald, Adrian Payne, and Pennie Frow (2011). Effective Use of Market Research: How to Drive and Focus Better Business Decisions, (4th ed.), R. Birn (2004) Thursday, February 22 The first written draft of your team s marketing plan is to be handed in to Prof. Cui for review. It will be returned to you with written comments and suggestions for improvement at the following class session. In this draft, you should: (1) set up the outline of the document (following the template given at the end of this document); (2) complete the Situation Analysis section in full detail; (3) enter preliminary contents in the other sections (You can use bullet points for these sections). As you work on the draft, take notes of questions you have encountered, and keep track of to-dos in each section of the marketing plan. This will allow me to provide feedback on what you plan to do next as well as what you already have completed in the document.

2 Thursday, March 15 A second draft will be handed in to Prof. Cui. Once again, this second draft will be returned with written comments and suggestions the following week. Thursday, April 12 The third draft of your team s plan is to be handed in to Prof. Cui for review, with comments and final revision requirements provided by Prof. Cui. Thursday, May 3 The final version of your Plan will be delivered to your IPD faculty and to mentors on the day of final presentations. Provide Prof. Cui with electronic copies (as a Word file, by ) of your drafts on the due dates. The final Plan is to be submitted in both electronic and hard copy formats. Plan Template Plan Template 1. Executive Summary Provide a brief overview of the situation, the company s goal, and the proposed course of action 2. Situation Analysis Provide an overview of the company and the market in which it operates, and identify its target customers Company overview Outline the company s core competencies and strategic assets, its current product line, and market position Market overview Provide an overview of the markets (current/potential customers, competitors, collaborators, and context) in which the company operates and identify relevant opportunities and threats Target customers Identify customers targeted by the company s offerings. 3. Goal Identify the company s ultimate goal and market-specific objectives Ultimate goal Identify the company s ultimate goal by defining its focus (e.g., net income) and key performance benchmarks (e.g., quantify the desired net income and set the time frame for achieving it).

3 Plan Template, 3.2. Market objectives Identify the market-specific objectives that will facilitate achieving the primary goal by defining the focus and key performance benchmarks for each objective Customer objectives Define the specific goals (focus and benchmarks) to be achieved with respect to target customers (e.g., create awareness, facilitate trial by new customers, increase repeat purchase) Collaborator objectives Define the specific goals (focus and benchmarks) to be achieved with respect to collaborators (e.g., broaden the collaborator network, streamline interactions with current collaborators, and strengthen collaborators loyalty) Company objectives Define the internal goals (focus and benchmarks) for the company (e.g., lower product costs, streamline operations, and improve product quality). 4. Strategy Identify the target market and define the offering s value proposition Target market Identify the offering s target market customers, collaborators, the company, competitors, and context in which the company will launch its new offering Customers Define the need(s) to be fulfilled by the offering and identify the distinguishing characteristics (i.e., profile) of customers with such needs Collaborators Identify the key collaborators (e.g., suppliers, channel members, and communication partners) and their strategic goals Company Define the strategic business unit responsible for the offering, the relevant personnel, and key stakeholders Competitors Identify the competitive offerings that provide similar benefits to target customers and collaborators Context Evaluate the relevant economic, technological, sociocultural, regulatory, and physical context.

4 Plan Template, 4.2. Value proposition Define the offering s value proposition and positioning to target customers, collaborators, and the company Customer value Define the offering s value proposition, positioning strategy, and positioning statement to target customers Collaborator value Define the offering s value proposition, positioning strategy, and positioning statement to collaborators. 5. Tactics Outline the key aspects of the offering s marketing mix Product Define relevant product characteristics (attributes, benefits, and costs) Service Identify relevant service characteristics (attributes, benefits, and costs) Brand Determine the key elements (name, logo, symbol, slogan, jingle) and the meaning of the offering s brand Price Identify the price(s) at which the offering is provided to customers and channel members Incentives Define the incentives offered to customers (e.g., price reductions), collaborators (e.g., trade allowances), and company personnel (e.g., bonuses). Identify any proposed changes in the incentives Communications Identify the manner in which the key aspects of the offering (i.e., product, service, brand, price, and incentives) are communicated to target customers, collaborators, and company personnel and stakeholders Distribution Describe the manner in which the key aspects of the offering are delivered to target customers, collaborators, and company personnel and stakeholders.

5 Plan Template, 6. Financials Explain how the new product/service will create monetary value. Provide an estimate of future revenue and profit Revenue Determine the revenue sources of the new product/service and develop a forecast of sales and revenue Cost Provide an estimate of the cost of the new product/service Profit Provide an estimate of the gross profit of the new product/service. 7. Implementation Define the offering s implementation plan Infrastructure Outline the organizational structure of the business unit managing the offering and its relationship with collaborators, and identify potential changes Processes Outline the business processes involved in implementing the company s strategy and tactics Schedule Delineate the implementation schedule. 8. Control Identify the metrics used to measure the company s performance and monitor the environment in which the company operates Performance evaluation Define the criteria for evaluating the company s performance and progress toward its goals Environmental analysis Identify metrics for evaluating the environment in which the company operates and outline the processes for making adjustments to the plan to accommodate changes in this environment. 9. Exhibits Provide additional information to support specific aspects of the marketing plan (e.g., target market data; financial calculations; as well as details pertaining to the marketing mix, implementation, and control).