MKT 574 Wk 1 – Practice: Apple’s Mobile Expansion into India and The Triple Bottom Line

Apple’s Mobile Expansion into India

Apple’s growth has slowed in the U.S. and other mature markets. India is the third-largest mobile phone market in the world, behind China and the U.S. In 2013, the Indian mobile phone market had 12% growth, with the smartphone component of the market experiencing enormous growth of 229%. Recently, Apple announced its plans to increase its focus on the Indian market.

This activity is important because marketing managers need to understand how different macro-level external environmental factors can influence the marketing decisions under consideration.

The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate an understanding of the factors that affect a company’s strategy within an international market as well as the potential ethical issues that may arise.

A company has to develop a comprehensive global marketing strategy in order to compete in global markets. International expansion requires a reassessment of existing marketing strategies. Companies often mistakenly believe they can adapt existing market strategies to new international markets. Unfortunately, successful market tactics in the company’s home market often fail to translate well into foreign markets. In addition, different kinds of ethical issues may arise when a company enters a new market or seeks to increase their presence within that market. Some of these issues may be especially murky because they may relate to practices that are perceived as acceptable within a specific country that a company is seeking to expand their presence within, but unethical within other countries that the company currently operates within. Others may be much more clear-cut for the company.

MKT 574 Wk 1 – Apply: Ethical and Socially Responsible Marketing Analysis

Read “Ethical Issues in Marketing: An Application for Understanding Ethical Decision Making” from the University Library.

Write a 350- to 575-word analysis and evaluation of a company’s effectiveness in the following areas:

• Distinguish between social responsibility, ethical, and legal issues and their effect on marketing.
• Relate the triple bottom line to an organization’s sustainability.
• Analyze consumer influence on ethical behavior in marketing.
• Assess the value of communicating ethical behavior to the public.
• Conclude how ethical issues influence legal issues in marketing.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment.

MKT 574 Wk 2 – Practice: SWOT Analysis, Psychological, and Social Factors

Situation Analysis into a SWOT Analysis

Read the overview below and complete the activities that follow.

The marketing manager must perform a complete situation analysis of the environment within which the marketing plan is being developed. Categorize the following statements into the SWOT component of the situation analysis as instructed.

This activity is important because marketing managers must be able to perform a complete situation analysis of the environment within which the marketing plan is being developed, and summarize the key findings in a SWOT analysis.

The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate an understanding of how a situation analysis can be summarized into a matrix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—a SWOT analysis.

Upon completion of the situation analysis, a convenient way to summarize key findings is into a matrix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—a SWOT analysis. Internal analysis reveals strengths and weaknesses, while external analysis points to potential opportunities and threats.

MKT 574 Wk 2 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Part A: Strategic Marketing Plan

This assessment is the start of your Strategic Marketing Plan that will be used throughout the course.

Select an actual company to use for this project.

Note: It will be to your benefit to select a company whose company information is easily accessible. While you will base your plan on the actual company, there may be parts of this assignment that will require you to use your knowledge and resources to make an informed plan.

Complete Part A of the Strategic Marketing Plan.

Submit your assignment.

Part A: Environmental Analysis and SWOT Analysis

(Due in Wk 2)

Company Description

Describe the company you are designing the plan for. Include:

• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• Product line description
• Company information, such as the size of the company

Environmental Analysis

Analyze the forces that affect the company and marketing efforts.

Competitive Forces

Analyze the company’s key competitors. You may choose to use a BCG Matrix or attribute checklist to compare your company against its competitors. Describe any strategic moves the competition has recently made. Estimate your market share. Identify key competitive advantages against your competitors.

Economic Forces

Analyze the economic environment in the areas affecting your business. Consider differences within your industry and the economic impact on suppliers.

Political Forces

Analyze relevant political forces. Examples may include an election year or a law to drastically reduce or eliminate plastic waste in your county.

Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Issues

Analyze the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues that may affect your business. Considerations may include local laws such as a ban on the use of plastic bags, the ability to post billboards, or a possible increased regulation on direct mail.

Technological Forces

Analyze whether your company will be affected by emerging technologies or trends in hardware and software industries

Social Forces

Analyze social trends and how they may affect your business. Considerations may include if your business will be affected by demographic trends, a growing dependence on computers, or whether interest in your product might be affected by growing preferences in the way things are done or changing social values.

Current Target Markets

Define the company’s current target markets. Describe the demographic, geographic, psychographic, and product usage of these targets.

Review Current Marketing

Review the company’s current marketing tactics. Consider how people find out about the product, how they get information about the product or service, what might be involved in the buying process, and what money is available for marketing. If your company is a start-up, describe your competitors’ current marketing.

SWOT Analysis

Assess your company’s strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities, and then evaluate how to address these in your marketing plan.

Strengths

Assess your company’s competitive advantage. Consider core competencies, assets, location, practices, etc. that are distinct in the way the organization meets the needs of its customers.

Weaknesses

Assess what limits the company may have in its current marketing strategy. Consider if there is a company weakness that needs to be addressed through Public Relations or Marketing.

Opportunities

Assess the opportunities you see based on trends or environmental conditions.

Threats

Assess the threats or limitations that may interfere with the company’s ability to meet its objectives or interfere with marketing plans.

Strengths to Opportunities & Converting Weaknesses and Threats

Convert weaknesses and threats to strengths, then strengths to opportunities in the marketing plan. Consider the implications for addressing supplier relationships, implementing new technologies, or changing the product line or addressing new markets.

Marketing Objectives

Establish marketing objectives based on the results from the SWOT analysis. Marketing objectives must align with corporate objectives, modified by the company’s resources. Objectives should include a date for the completion of the objective and the way in which success will be measured. For example: The company will expand its marketing efforts to include a new market segment of 21- to 29-year-olds. This will entail the development of a customized product by June 2020 that will address the specific psychographic and technological needs of this age group. This strategy is expected to attain a 20% growth in overall sales by January 2020. Customer loyalty (willingness to recommend the product) will increase by 30%.

MKT 574 Wk 3 – Practice: Planning and the Marketing Mix Simulation

MKT 574 Wk 3 – Apply: Market Research Simulation

MKT 574 Wk 4 – Practice: Implementing the Marketing Mix Case Study

Outline:

Introduction

1. Practice Case
2. Practice Questions

1. Introduction

Customers have more access to information, reviews, and competitive products than ever before. A good marketing plan frequently uses the process of reviewing some form of the four Ps—product, place, price, promotion to enhance the marketing mix. Considering each aspect of the four Ps will help you better define your options and ultimately make better marketing decisions. Understanding the four Ps helps business owners and entrepreneurs really speak to the right audience with the right message to solve the right problem and reach them in the right way.

MKT 574 Wk 4 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Part B: Strategic Marketing Plan

Complete Part B of the Strategic Marketing Plan.

Submit your assignment.

Part B: Marketing Data Analysis

(Due in Wk 4)

Internal Data

Evaluate internal sources of information available to you inside the organization and what information you will receive from each source. Identify 3-6 sources of internal data. Insert or remove rows as needed.

Secondary Data

Evaluate secondary data sources and the specific information you need from each source. Insert or remove rows as needed.

Primary Data

Evaluate primary data needs to create and evaluate the marketing plan. Insert or remove rows as needed.

Customer Relationship Management

Establish customer touchpoints and develop appropriate CRM events for customer acquisition, retention, and profitability. Insert or remove rows as needed.

MKT 574 Wk 5 – Practice: SBC Video Case

Social/Mobile/Online: SBC

Read the overview below and complete the activities that follow.

Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc. (SBC) caters to the cycling enthusiast. The company uses social media in a variety of ways, seeking to engage riders interested in various aspects of biking. This video explains SBC’s philosophy for social media use, and offers several examples.

This activity is important because effective use of social media is crucial for companies in today’s world, allowing a brand to express its image and values, and allowing interaction with customers.

The goal of this exercise is to test your understanding of concepts related to social media by applying them to the SBC examples.

The ability for people to come together online has moved the conversation about an organization and its offerings away from the organization as initiator and into the hands of the public. Customers speak directly to each other about the good and bad of their product and service experiences. Organizations can monitor, participate, and respond but they cannot control this external dialogue, thus creating both opportunities and threats for organizations as they look to first understand the impact of social media on their business and then to develop effective marketing strategies to manage it. The key forms of social media most relevant to marketers are social networks and viral marketing, product/service review sites, and online brand communities.

MKT 574 Wk 5 – Apply: Digital and Social Media Strategies Presentation

Many digital and social media sites are widely used in marketing strategies.

Prepare a 10- to 15-slide presentation with detailed speaker’s notes and visuals elements.

Complete the following in your presentation:

• Identify a company that could benefit from better use of social media.
• Analyze at least 10 digital and social media channels and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each of these as a marketing tool for this company.
• Design an online strategy that maximizes the use of some or all of the digital and social media channels, as appropriate, based on your analysis.
• Determine key performance indicators to measure the success of the online strategy.

Format your citations according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment.

MKT 574 Wk 6 – Practice: Evaluating Performance Using Marketing Metrics Case Study

Outline:

1. Introduction
2. Sample Case
3. Practice Case 

1. Introduction

One aspect of the overall marketing plan that is frequently overlooked or minimized is the evaluation. Without that piece it is difficult to determine how successful the campaign has been. Knowing the return on investment (R.O.I.) on a campaign helps businesses make more fiscally informed decisions on where to put their marketing efforts.

Why This Matters: When companies spend money on marketing campaigns, it may be viewed as non-essential funds—or even sometimes frivolous spending. Setting up performance metrics allows the marketing team to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of the marketing plan. It’s also important to be able to measure what’s really happening with the marketing plan to know when/if to make modifications as well as determine future spending in each of the measured areas. With budgets becoming increasingly tight, it is imperative to use metrics that demonstrate the benefits, or return on the investments of marketing dollars.

MKT 574 Wk 6 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Part C: Strategic Marketing Plan

Complete Part C of the Strategic Marketing Plan.

Submit your assignment.

Part C: Market Strategy, Marketing Channels, Implementation, and Monitoring

(Due in Wk 6)

New Customer Segments

Determine any new customer segments for your strategy and describe how you will provide value to each segment.

Marketing Mix for New Customer Segments

Determine adaptions for each new customer segment.

• Products
• Price
• Distribution
• Traditional Promotion
• Online Promotion

Marketing Implementation

Create the implementation for your marketing plan. Describe how you will organize and implement the plan, such as whether it will be organized by market, geography, and who is responsible for marketing decisions.

Marketing Communication Channels

Evaluate the marketing communication channels you will use to reach selected audiences. Include Internet and traditional communication channels to convey key messages. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each channel you select. Insert or remove rows as needed.

Strategic Actions

Develop specific activities required to implement the marketing plan. Identify the person or role who will be responsible for each action, when it will be complete, and what standard or metric indicate that the activity is complete. Insert or remove rows as needed.

Monitoring

Develop the measurement to identify how you know you have been successful for each strategic action. Specify the measures to track performance against goals. Identify standard reports from your online and traditional marketing efforts. Insert or remove rows as needed.