the strategic marketing plan of SKECHERS. Check the Guide line files : MKT_Assessment, p. 18-
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Assignment2. The strategic marketing plan of skechers. |
Marketing analysis for SKECHERS
Prepared for : Dr. Bruce McKenzie for MKT5000
Submitted : 15/Sep/2015
Prepared by : Hyeju Kim U1080167
Skechers is a global sport footwear firm in 1992. They have been made many models for walking and running. They have 900 stores all over the world and they sell not only footwear but also cloths for sport.
Skechers try to success as a marketing part and have some successful marketing examples. They advertised with Pop star and celebrities or have a events for announcing themselves. They definitely have a technic for shoe. They advertised it using social network society. So they manage some blog or Facebook page.
There are how they can be a global company and how can get a awareness in the world. I would like to discuss about their marketing strategy.
INDEX
- Who is SKECHERS 3
- Environment 4
- Internal
- External
- PESTEL 5
- 4Ps 6
- Targeting 7
- SWOT analysis 8
- Conclusion 9
- List of References 11
Skechers is a footwear company from Manhattan Beach, California, America in 1992(Forbes.com 2015). Furthermore, they expanded the cooperation to worldwide such as Australia, Newzealand and more. They developed and promoted by Holly wood’s Pop star ‘s wears who are Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and etc(Skecherskorea.com). The company of Skechers started produce a utility-style boots and skate shoes. They were very varied company with athletic, casual and dress styles for men, women and children also (Skechers U.S.A. Inc. 1992). The company always tries to maintain their brand image that is to be trendy and stylish by using celebrity-driven advertising.
Therefore, they supported with The Voice winner Danielle Bradbery, TV personality Brooke Burke-Charvet, marathon runner Meb Keflezighi, quarterback Joe Montana and entrepreneur Mark Cuban (Skechers U.S.A. Inc. 1992).
Skechers makes two kind of footwears : a lifestyle and relaxed fit. That kind of shoes means Gorun and Gowalk for relaxed fit.
The representative product of ‘Shape-ups’ is kind of Rocker bottom shoe. A rocker bottom shoe or rocker sole shoe is a shoe what has a thicker sole with rounded heel. It is a kind of Toning shoes that influence and lead the trendy and big issue now. This shoe is designed to help walking like Masai – walk by the heel to toe. Masai walking is good for maintaining healthy body and long distance walk.
It draws an issue in Korea that called Jung-um Hwang’s shoe. Jung-um Hwang is famous actress in Korea and brand model. She is the one of the healthy look actress. Which many people take her as their dream figured. It presents that the company’s advertising strategy.
Nowadays people can have leisure time more than before as the quality of their life is developed in general which they have a interest on not only health but also appearance. So toning shoe trend now. The word of ‘tone-ing’ regards to exercise knowledge based is to balance the body. There are three kind of toning shoe – easy tone, run tone and zigtech (Intersportkr 2011). The Shape-ups is an easy level of tone. An easy tone is what shoe makes you are hard to stand with balance. So if you try to stand with balance, It makes good looking body.
First of all, I would like to present about the internal analysis.
Skechers is a huge global recognized company. “Skechers has an extensive network of global distributors that sell its product in over 120 countries and territories, and nearly 900 SKECHERS stores around the world.”(SKECHERS USA. Inc 1992) They have been grown up with strong capital. They reached their sales at almost 400 million dollars and designed more than 900 different style shoes.
Celebrity makes their brand image. A famous Hollywood pop stars advertised them. They have a healthy and nice body. As the brand image and purpose of the product is to help exercising and maintaining good body. In other words, when we wear their shoe, it gives a feel of healthy and good looking.
Since 1992, the company has kept developing on functionally support body shoe. They know what is important. They always promote their technology for satisfying customer’s need. So they manage their blog and social networking.
Next key concern is about external analysis.
Nowadays people have a more leisure time than before and give more an attention for self-developments. And they start to have an interest on health and beauty. So many people spent their time to exercising and work out. Usually normal people are hard to exercise themselves. But many training gym have been formed these day. And many social website offer exercising video linked on Youtube. So they can exercise with trainer. They have much chance to encounter exercising easily. Moreover according to raise their income, they push themselves for more fancy and functionally stuff for exercising.
As I mentioned earlier Toning shoe is a fashion now, so many other companies offer some toning shoe. For example, It is Reetone from Reebok Representatively.
As a technic is grown up, many online shopping malls have been opened and the shipping is going to be easy. It means that customers can approach easily. And what’s more, material is getting cheap cause the shipping is going to be easy.
PESTEL is a pneumonic representing the analysis of political, economic, sociological, technological, environment and legal factors influencing the organization (John Egan 2011).
As a political part, we can see the working hours. In Korea, the government start to working is available only 5 days per week. So people get some break time or leisure time on weekend. In general, in the evening around 6 pm, companies have to pay more for overtime pay which is for an exceptional case. Other than that they have a much time at afternoon. So peoples’ life quality and welfare are developed. Naturally they want to promote their level of health wellbeing and spend spare time for leisure. Moreover peoples’ average income is raised. It means they look for what is worth to wear for satisfaction. Economy is continually grown up. It makes life quality getting better, and they find the ways to use their life more effectively. In sociocultural sides, people want to be more good looking. They want to be more beautiful and healthy. It is good news for sport companies such as Skechers. Company such as Skechers, Reebok or Nike, can be developed.
Because of Skechers focus on the technical shoe, Technic’s development is too important to them. They care about how they make more comfortable and helpful shoe for foot. Recently they launched a memory foam cushion for shoe insole lately.
They explain that shoe keep comfortable feeling on your foot all day long. That product is very fit with foot and it supports our walking and running. The organization, Skechers, always try to keep in trends and design comfortable shoes to release. It is aimed what they want to going through.
Regards to 4ps strategy from McCarthy. There are 4 different of parts– Product, Price, Place and Promotion (Philip Kotler, Klk 2012, p.47). The concepts of product include the Variety, Quality, Design, Features, Brand name etc.
Skechers has all variety range of shoes which classify the customer’s aim. For example, It can be just for everyday life, fitness, walking or running. Therefore they have a specific. They built their own feedback system through continually researching technic and communicating with customers. Based on that, they have been promoted many variety shoes. Moreover they do not lose the important key concepts which are more focused on its design part.
Shape-ups model are released in the last designed same as D’light extreme model that made a big issue in Korea last year. Because of the effort Skechers can get a belief from their customer and get a brand power what do not fall behind in the design and technic.
Skechers use a low price strategy. Shape-ups’ price is about 70 percent than Reetone models. The strategy is great that maintain good quality compare with low price. If they can achieve sales volume much they want, It is better than make big margin.
As well as Skechers use loss leader strategy. a model for life style , for example like D’light extreme, is almost 20 percent cheaper than Shape-ups model. They build trust and awareness selling life style shoe what can be accessed from customer. And then they appeal Shape-ups model what has their core technic. That strategy is very intelligent.
Skechers is a global company what is started from Manhattan beach and spread all over the world. They advertised with celebrity and it makes them famous. So they use Online mall for that. All customers can buy their stuff in their home using online mall. They provide warranty system for online mall customer.(SKECHERS USA. Inc 1992)
Their offline mall is also important place for their strategy. They have been circulated to multi shop and select shop like Foot Locker, ABC mart, etc. I would like to talk about Foot locker. “Foot Locker is a leading global athletic footwear and apparel retailer. Its stores offer the latest in athletic-inspired performance products, manufactured primarily by the leading athletic brands” (Foot locker, Inc 2015)
Skechers used advertising strategy that with Pop star and celebrity. A population of them was made them famous. Beautiful body and healthy fit of them makes customer that they can be like pop star, If they use Skechers. In addition they held many events. They have been had a sale event per every season. And they held some competition for running – Skechers 6K. It is running 6km competition. They supply some of their product with the running. Then the runners can experience how the shoe is good for running or walking. It is effected very good sides. They can appeal about it to many people. They held the event every year.
In marketing area, Targeting is very important part. “Targeting is deciding how to allocate their time among prospects and customers”(Philip Kotler, Klk 2012, p.576). Skechers has been focused on making technical shoe using own technic. So their targeting strategy is very specific. We can think that Shape-ups’ target is two. One of them is who feel tired walking or running. As I mentioned before, Shape-ups model is made from Masai walking. It makes people walk or run using their whole sole. It is good for reducing tiring or pain. Second one is who want to diet. Shape-ups induce keeping one’s balance, so It supports making good result than just walking.
Skechers is one of successful marketer with QR code. They launched QR code for Shape-ups what support body controlled at September 2010. QR code is a 2-dimensional signal with matrix form. Cause they want to show variety design and technic for how they can support making good body. When people scan the code, they links to the celebrity working out video and tip for exercising. In addition, there are funny video with that and star’s photo shoot offered. If the customer watch those stuff and want to make a buying, they can surf to that site directly.
Now, check a SWOT analysis.
“The overall evaluation of a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is called SWOT analysis. It’s a way of monitoring the external and internal marketing environment.”(Philip Kotler, Klk 2012, p.70)
There are two parts – internal and external. Internal part obtains strengths and weaknesses. Others belong to external part. <Figure.1.>
The internal part is belonging to the company.
Skechers’ strengths are definitely their core technic and brand power. They have many technics what about health and making good posture. Many researchers are thinking and considering about their shoe how can be more helpful for health and making good posture. Moreover they feed back with their customers by using web sites – blog, Facebook, etc. They have a recognized brand name power that Skechers is strong point for health and walking. So when customers essential need a shoe for walking and running, they chose it. The most of all, shape-ups, a model of Skechers, are fit as walking and running well. They have their own strength about their technics for walking and running shoe.
One of their weaknesses is that it is not designed to be wear for social life. It has comfortable and sporty style. That means maybe it is not suitable for their work or company. Shape-ups are a Rocker bottom shoe. So, It is hard to design for social life because of the characteristic what it has.
The other thing is also it is not attractive designed figure for male in general. Walking, Running and balancing is really important to man also. But design thing is important too. Shape-ups’ design is more focus on female than male. If Skechers is willing to draw more man customer, they have to think carefully about a design for man.
Next one is external part.
Skechers Shape-ups have really many opportunities. Regards to people try to spend their time for leisure these days. Leisure time is value more important than before. And they give more interest about health and body together. It means people start to find something like shape-ups! Skechers have been made it since 2009. What they experienced and gained information may produce for people wants and needs. As an internet technics are grown up, online mall is very common now. They are as a global company, It is really good news to them. They can advertise about released products to every country and sell their products. For promoting their shoe, they have to feed back constantly with their customers which will lead them for better.
But they also have to prepare for their competitor new release. It is threats. Reebok promotes a shoe like toning shoe. It called Reetone. They make it to keep good trendy pace with market. Reetone has three types just like as toning shoe – easy tone, run tone and zigtech. As Reebok is also one of the best famous companies in sport stuff market. Skechers need to figure out on their strategy.
Skechers Shape-ups model lunched at 2009, but now is the best time for that. An interesting about health and beautiful body is grown up now so they have to appeal them about it. If they promote it once again, they can get more good result. They have to care a part of design for man and design for social life, and then they can get more attention and good revenue. They will maintain a circulation net like now and retain their online and offline mall. Together if they promote some friendly events and interesting thing, they can settle as the best global shoe company.
Figure.1.
List of referenses :
- Egan, J 2011, Relationship marketing – Exploring relational strategies in marketing, vol. fourth, Pearson, Harlow, English.
- Foot Locker, Inc 2015, Foot Locker, Inc, viewed 11 September 2015, < http://www.footlocker-inc.com/company.cfm?page=foot-locker>
- Forbes 2007, Forbesconferences.com LLC, viewed 8 September 2015, < http://www.forbes.com/companies/skechers/>
- Funding Universe 2005, Funding Universe, South Jordan US, viewed 10 September 2015, http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/skechers-u-s-a-inc-histor//
- Intersportkr 2011, Intersportkr, seoul, Korea, viewed 8 September 2015, <http://intersportkr.blog.me/30103347671>
- Mourdoukoutas, P 2015, ‘Skechers : Another Nike of Another LA Gear?’, com, 7 August
- Philip Kotler, Klk 2012, Kotler Keller – Marketing management, vol. fourteen edition, Person, Harlow, England.
- SKECHERS USA. Inc 1992, SKECHERS USA. Inc, USA, viewed 9 September 2015, <http://skx.com>
- SKECHERS USA. Inc 1992, SKECHERS USA. Inc, USA, viewed 9 September 2015, <https://www.skechers.com/en-us/help-center>
- Wells, M 2001, ‘Sole Survivors’, com, 8 June
Assessment 1 Assessment – MKT5000 Semester 2
Assessment details
2015
| Description | Marks | Wtg (%) | Due date |
| Marketing Reflection | out of10 | 10 | 17 August 2015 |
| Assignment 1 | 100 | 40 | 15 September 2015 |
| Assignment 2 | 100 | 50 | 26 October 2015 |
Notes
- All assessment items are to be submitted through the Moodle assessment links found on the study desk.
- The marketing reflection can be submitted in any format.
- Assignments 1 and 2 are to be submitted using a Word format (2010 or
earlier). Assignments submitted in a PDF format cannot be marked and
will be returned to students un- assessed.
- Assignments 1 & 2 are expected to have a title page which includes your
student name (as it appears on your enrolment record), your student number, the course name and the assessment task as outlined in the Communications Skills Handbook.
- Submission times and dates refer to Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
- Late submissions will incur a penalty of 5% per day unless a request for an extension has been granted prior to the due date. Note the USQ extension policy found at http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL particularly section 4.2.4 which states:
4.2.4 Late submission of Assignments
Students can apply for an extension of time to submit an Assignment at any time up to the deadline. Students are strongly advised to make a request for an extension as soon as their need becomes apparent. Delay in making a request involves the risk that there will be insufficient time (with consequential loss of Marks) if the request is refused.
The Course Examiner may grant a short extension of the deadline for submission of an Assignment. Extensions are usually granted only in cases of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances in accordance with the Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedure. Generally, extensions will be limited to a maximum of five University Business Days. A Student requiring an extension for a period of time in excess of this should consider applying for a Deferred Assessment as per
Assessment 2 section 4.4 ‘Deferred, Supplementary and Varied Assessment Items and
Special Consideration’ of these procedures.
Granting of an Assignment extension is considered a significant concession. Applications may be rejected if there is reason to believe that the Student is seeking an unfair advantage as might be suggested by a pattern of repeat requests for Assignment extensions.
Applications for extensions must be made in writing to the Course Examiner together with accompanying documentation as specified in the Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedure.
The application and all supporting documentation must be submitted electronically.
An Assignment submitted after the deadline without an approved extension of time will be penalised. The penalty for late submission without a pre- approved extension will be specified in the assignment instructions. At the very least, the penalty for late submission is a reduction by 5% of the maximum Mark applicable for the Assignment, for each University Business Day or part Business Day that the Assignment is late. An Assignment submitted more than ten University Business Days after the deadline will have a Mark of zero recorded for that Assignment.
Course Examiners may refuse to accept Assignments for Assessment purposes after Marked Assignments and/or feedback have been released. If Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances appear to exist, Course Examiners must consider these before refusing to accept an Assignment.
Assessment 3 Marketing Reflection – Explaining the concepts of Value and Exchange
for developing a marketing strategy.
Background
Reflective writing is the evidence of reflective thinking and reflective thinking is part of the critical thinking process where people analyse, evaluate and make judgements from new information and knowledge to ultimately arrive at an informed perspective. The practice of reflective writing will be introduced in this first assessment task. In this assessment you will be asked to prepare information for a business audience about the concepts of the value proposition and exchange.
The Task
At the heart of every marketing act – large or small – is something that is referred to as an exchange. An exchange occurs when something of value is obtained for something else in return. Thus the buyer receives something that satisfies their needs and the seller receives something that they are satisfied is of equivalent value.
For an exchange to occur at least two entities (people or organisations) must be willing to make a trade, and each must have something the other values. Both parties need to agree on the value of the exchange and how it will be carried out. Each party must also be free to accept or reject the other’s terms for the exchange.
The concept of value refers to the sum of the tangible and intangible benefits perceived by the market. This is not to be confused with the term value proposition – which is what is communicated to customers about what they can expect to receive with the product or service offering. Therefore whilst the value proposition is what is being promised to the customer, the term value relates to the difference between a customer’s perception of the cost versus the anticipated benefits realised. These benefits may encompass not only the direct benefits of reaching a desired goal (whiter teeth), but also the indirect benefits (ease of use). For this assignment you are required to consider the term value.
You have been asked to prepare a short commentary (500 – 700 words or equivalent 5 – 10 minute presentation) for a business audience explaining the concepts of value and exchange in such a way that business owners, who may have never had any formal marketing education, could understand the concepts and see how they are the fundamental building blocks of marketing activity and strategy.
Your commentary can take any form that would be acceptable to this audience (for example a blog, an article, newsletter item, a wikki, a short video presentation or slide share presentation). In your submission you are to conclude your discussion with at least one example of how a business could now incorporate or use this information to help them develop a marketing plan or to incorporate this approach into their marketing thinking – a sort of marketing in practice section.
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due date |
| Marketing Reflection | 10 | 10 | 17 August 2015 |
Assessment 4
Submission Instructions
All assessments are to be submitted using the link on the study desk for Marketing Reflection Assignment which you will find at the end of module 3. You can submit this task in any format you choose. If you choose to develop a video presentation then you must also upload a script and/or power point slides with notes to accompany the work.
Your work will require references to support your discussion. If you are submitting a presentation, these references need to be evident in the script or presentation notes that you also attach. Please refer to the Communications Skills Handbook (a required text for this course) for information about Harvard AGPA referencing style.
The grading rubric
Assessment 5
| Below the required standard0% – 49% | Meets the required standard50% – 80% | Exceeds the required standard81 – 100% | Total mark | |
| ContentDid the student accurately define what is meant by value and exchange in such a way that a person without university or marketing knowledge could easily understand?
Did the student provide sufficient information in their commentary about how you could incorporate this understanding of these concepts into a marketing strategy such that a business person could understand enough to make a decision on how to incorporate into their marketing efforts? |
/5 | |||
| Format and EvaluationDid the student present their work; use a communication style; and adopt a language that would be appropriate for the audience nominated?
Did the student present their work in a creative and informative manner? Did the student present their information in such a way as that they were able to confidently convince the reader/watcher that they knew what they were talking about including sufficient and appropriate theoretical evidence and support? |
/5 | |||
| Final Comment: | /10 | |||
| Total Mark /10 | ||||
Assignment 1 Marketing Audit
The Assignment – 2 options
Your first assessment task asked you to reflect on and write about the concept of the value proposition and exchange. This assignment now asks you to build on this by conducting a marketing audit and then from that information develop a marketing plan – assignment 2.
You have 2 choices for these next 2 assignments as follows:
- You can choose to complete these assignment tasks using a company with
which you are familiar,
- You can base your assignments on the case information provided here.
Both options require the same tasks and information. Once you choose an option you are not able to change it between the two assignments as assignment 2 builds on assignment 1. You do not need to declare your intent to use either method until you submit your assignment.
Before you can develop your marketing plan and recommendations you need to know more about the product offering, possible competitors, market opportunities and other environmental factors that are likely to impact your strategy and implementation plan. This review and analysis is known as a Marketing Audit. In assignment 1 you are required to conduct a Marketing Audit that includes an analysis of the internal and external factors that will be relevant to the development of a marketing strategy for either a company or product of your choice or based on the case study information provided. This assignment should be 2500 words maximum – excluding references, refer to the Communications Skills Handbook1 for more information about what is and what is not included in a word count.
or
Assessment 6
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg(%) | Due date |
| Assignment 1 – Max 2,500 words | 100 | 40 | 15 September 2015 |
1 A required text for this course.
The Assignment Task
The assignment will have four sections as follows:
Section 1 – Organisational Overview
A marketing audit should always commence with an overview of the company, its vision, mission and brand value. This information provides the reader with sufficient context to then understand and evaluate your future recommendations and analysis. In this section you should also provide sufficient information about the company and the product/service you are focusing on so that the marker can appreciate the contextual issues you explore in later sections of the assignment. It is also important that you incorporate here some insights about the value proposition for this product/service.
Section 2 – Environmental Scan
In reviewing the organisation you are studying it is also important to consider and review the organisation in terms of its internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats it faces. SWOT, TOWS and PESTEL analyses are good tools to assist this stage of your analysis as are environmental scans and it is recommended that you use some of these tools in this section to summarise and highlight relevant information. You may also use any other additional analysis tools that you deem appropriate to provide you with the information for your audit. In this section you would use tables, graphs and other ways to summarise the information – don’t forget to discuss your analysis and findings don’t just present the information and hope that the marker will understand what you think is important here.
Section 3 – Customer, Competitor and Stakeholder analysis
Next you would consider the market in which the firm operates in terms of both competitors and customers and this is done in 4 parts as outlined next:
1) A Target Market Analysis – Who are the target markets for this company and product? It is likely that you will discover more than one possible target markets from the information you source, whilst you need to list them all in this part of your audit and to analyse their priority and relevant merits, when it comes to your second assignment and to the customer analysis (the next step) you are only required to focus on ONE (1) target market. This is important – at this stage of your assignment choose ONE target market, defend that choice (justify with information from the first two sections and other sources) and then only discuss and plan for that ONE target market.
2) A Customer Analysis – Once you have selected and justified the ONE target market you wish to focus on, outline any demographic and/or behavioural
Assessment 7
Assessment 8
characteristics of this segment. You would need to comment on:
- Who is this market (demographics), where are they located, how do they spend their time and money (psychographics); what else
defines them (interests, attitudes, values and/or lifestyles);
- the relative size of the segment;
- potential market share and opportunities for growth and development;
- any other information including their likely purchase behaviour and motivations purchasing this product as well as what the product offering would be for this segment (what are they buying and why); and
- refer and reiterate how the value proposition discussed in section 1, relates to this segment with this product/service.
- 3) A Competitor Analysis – Given how you have defined the product offering and value proposition for your chosen target audience in terms of its benefits or features, this section would focus on how your product offering compares to alternative purchase choices. Remember this can be broader than just substitute brands – think more broadly here about substitute options for spending their money. So you need to also include an analysis of the products/services/substitutions that are likely to be competition for this product offering in this market segment. You are also required in this section to include an overview of the current positioning, value-chain structure, marketing channels used and relevant market drivers for this product/service.
- 4) A Stakeholder Analysis – You need to consider any other stakeholders who might have an interest in or be able to impact the marketing of this product offering in this segment.
Section 4 – Conclusions and recommendations for preliminary marketing strategy
Once you have completed these steps you are then required to summarise the main points and salient elements of this analysis to a concise statement of the overall strategic approach you will be recommending for your marketing and implementation plan – a preliminary marketing strategy (which is assignment 2).
Assessment 9 You need to defend your final decisions using both theory and practice references and
the content and learning activities presented in modules 1–4 will support this assessment task. You should try to have a good list of references showing where you have found your information and it is important to cite all work and websites you have visited. Check with a USQ reference librarian if you are having trouble finding appropriate information.
Report Writing
Guidelines on writing reports are provided in chapter 3 of the 4th edition of
the Communication skills handbook which is a set text for this course. For assignments 1 and 2 (not the marketing reflection) your reports should comprise:
- 2. 2.
An executive summary (no more than 1 page); An introduction (approximately 200 words);
Thebodythatincludesalltheanalysisofthecurrentmarketingandinternaland external firm environments, customer analysis, competitor analysis and any other analysis. (Approximately 2000 words); and
A conclusion. This includes the statement of the issues you have found, the gaps identified, overall strategic approach and future recommendations. (Approximately 200 – 300 words).
The report should present logical, sequential and persuasive arguments, justified or supported by secondary sources of evidence. The purpose of your audit is not to simply reword or describe the product or brand or to provide direct quotes from the literature, but to offer a thorough understanding of the marketing issues, challenges and opportunities facing your chosen organisation in their goal of growing their market share in this industry and with this product. Assignment 2 will then outline the proposed marketing plan to take the next step forward to market
In this assignment you will be assessed on:
1. The ability to locate, assess and research material related to current marketing
planning process and environmental scanning requirements. You will need to use logic and read widely to identify issues and leads to where you should research for this firm. These are important skills for a marketer to develop;
- The ability to demonstrate an understanding of the current marketing planning
- 5. 6.
Assessment 10
process and environmental scanning requirements;
The ability to identify and assess relevant theoretical and management
issues in the environmental scan and audit (SWOT, PESTEL, TOWS, customer, competitor and stakeholder analysis);
How well you present logical arguments and gap analysis and how well you defend your recommendations and conclusions.
The ability to justify your position with use of supporting references; and
The communication style you adopt, including correct spelling, grammar and referencing. Your report should be in Times New Roman 12 point with one and a half line spacing.
Assignment information
Option 1 – Your own organisation case study.
You can elect to base these next two assignments on an organisation and product/service offering of your choice.
OR
Option 2 – Class case study – The future of video content
The video and movie industry has changed radically over the last 5 years and now more than ever mobile video is where people are headed. Currently over 20% of all video viewing is happening on mobile devices with more than 77% of all tablet users watching video content (Trautman 2015) and digital video content becoming the way of the future.
Netflix is one such company that has reverse engineered Hollywood and has become a huge business success in this fickle and difficult market. Even the business model used by Netflix is unique and tailored to provide instant information and value to its customers (Madrigal 2014). Whilst there are other competitors to Netflix (Stan, Presto etc), it seems to have captured the hearts and minds of consumers with its business model and pricing strategy but the market is fierce and highly competitive (Morgan 2015).
It seems that young people are watching less TV but digital video consumption is growing, in spite of this Nielsen still shows that TV consumption is by far the dominant consumption source for video content (Nielsen 2015).
There is considerable information available from Nielsen and other trend companies about changes in viewing patterns and changes in customer preferences that you can use to understand this market and what is happening – some references have been provided to get you started here.
For this case study, you have been approached by a young entrepreneur friend of yours who believes there is a market opportunity to start up in a new venture in this live streaming video market possibly in opposition to Netflix and the like or maybe exploiting other niches. He has found out you are studying your MBA and wants you to help him validate his gut feeling and put together a marketing plan that he could then take to potential investors to support him in this venture.
You are to assume that ultimately sourcing appropriate funding and investment will not be an issue, but it is important to firstly identify if there is a market opportunity than can be exploited. You may determine that taking on these large video streaming giants head on is not smart and thus you may identify alternative and niche opportunities that your friend could exploit in this sector. You need to be creative and clever in your analysis and thinking around market opportunities and don’t forget that video streaming is not just about watching movies. This approach is more and more being used instead of mainstream marketing advertising and maybe there are opportunities for your friend in this part of the market??
Assessment 11
Assessment 12 Your task is to complete these two assignments and in doing so identify whether there is
a market opportunity that your friend can exploit with something new and different in this space.
References to get you started
The shifting landscape of digital video consumption:
http://digiday.com/publishers/shifting-state-digital-video-consumption-5-charts/
Madrigal, A, 2014, How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood, The Atlantic, January 2, http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/how-netflix-reverse- engineered-hollywood/282679/
Morgan, S, 2015, Competition forces Netflix to spend $1.5B on content this year, New York Post, March 17 http://nypost.com/2015/03/17/competition-forces-netflix-to-spend- 1-5b-on-content-this-year/
Trautman, e, 2015, 5 online video trends to look for in 2015, Forbes Magazine, {http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2014/12/08/5-online-video-trends-to-look-for- in-2015/}
Comparison with Netflix, Stan and Presto. http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2015/03/24/4203945.htm
Nielsen data: http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/are-young-people-watching- less-tv-24817/
Marking criteria for assignment 1 MKT5000
Assessment 13
| Criteria | Does not meet minimum standard required (fail).0 – 19 marks | Work is of minimum standard (pass)20 – 26 marks | Exceeds Minimum standards (distinction)27 – 33 marks | Work is of a high achievement standard.34 – 40 marks |
| Learning objective 1 – problem solving and analysis.The audit has shown understanding of the internal and external factors relevant to the organisation that will impact the development of a marketing strategy.
It has demonstrated clear problem solving and critical thinking in the analysis and choice of theory. Total Mark /40 |
Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
themes has failed to demonstrate a clear understanding of theory and the characteristics of the target market chosen.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
and themes which has demonstrated an adequate understanding of theory and the characteristics of the product. More detailed and deeper analysis would have resulted in a better score for these criteria.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
and themes has demonstrated a solid understanding of theory and the characteristics of the product.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
themes which has demonstrated a superior understanding of theory and the characteristics of the product.
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Assessment 14
| Criteria | Does not meet minimum standard required (fail).0 – 9 marks | Work is of minimum standard (pass)10 – 13 marks | Exceeds Minimum standards (distinction)14 – 16 marks | Work is of a high achievement standard.17 – 20 marks |
| Learning objective 2 – Professional Communication and academic literacyThe work is well written, uses language and style appropriate for a professional marketer.
The work is appropriately supported with relevant theory and referencing style reflects academic and professional requirements. Total mark /20 |
Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
sources of information to support their conclusions and discussions
AGPS referencing style.
the required report format
and/or spelling errors.
PESTEL, customer, stakeholder analysis, and competitor analysis) and/or have provided only cursory analysis with limited understanding of the tools used and the context of the analysis.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
sources of information to support their conclusions and discussions using the correct Harvard AGPS referencing style and in report format.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
sources of information to support conclusions and discussions using Harvard AGPS referencing style and in the required report format.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
support for their work correctly cited using Harvard AGPS referencing style and in the required report format.
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Assessment 15
| Criteria | Does not meet minimum standard required (fail).0 – 19 marks | Work is of minimum standard (pass)20 – 26 marks | Exceeds Minimum standards (distinction)27 – 33 marks | Work is of a high achievement standard.34 – 40 marks |
| Learning objective 3The work shows an understanding of the environmental and contextual issues in marketing and provides a creative presentation of conclusions.
Total Mark /40. |
Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
identify the key environmental and contextual issues relevant for the product and target market of their choice.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
contextual issues relevant for the product and market chosen have generally been identified in the report.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
contextual issues relevant for the product and market chosen have been clearly identified in the report.
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Students who are awarded a mark in this section have done one or more of the following:
contextual issues relevant for the product and market chosen have been clearly and thoroughly identified in the report.
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Final Comments:
Final mark /100
Assessment 16 Assignment 2 – The strategic marketing plan
Maximum word count 3,000 words
General overview
This assignment leads on from assignment 1. Essentially you are required to establish a marketing plan to grow the market and sales for the organisation you have chosen in the target market you have focused on and given the situational analysis you have conducted in assignment 1.
This assignment should commence with an overall summary (about one page) of the context that you established in assignment 1. This will allow the marker to come up to speed on your analysis and thinking as the baseline for your recommendations in this assignment (it is unlikely that you will have the same marker for both pieces of assessment so consider this in what you present). You DO NOT need to include the full assignment 1 here but you may wish to replicate some of the analysis tables in appendices to this assignment if they are relevant – if you do this, make sure you refer to them in your summary and highlight the key features that a reader needs to note from these tables and analysis summaries. You may make adjustments to your original analysis and conclusions here based on the marking feedback you received in the first assignment.
This assignment should then commence with a specific statement of the marketing objective/s that will guide this plan based on the context you have set from assignment one. You will then show how each of the marketing mix elements (the 4 Ps) will contribute to the achievement of this objective in your plan. Each of the elements of the marketing mix are to be considered (product, place, price and promotion) and for each you will need to discuss the strategy you will adopt (with appropriate justification from theory and other sources), and the tactics you would recommend.
Finally, you will conclude with consideration of a timeline for this plan indicating the ordering of your tactical elements which will result in the achievement of the overall
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg(%) | Due date |
| Strategic marketing plan (modules 5 – 8) | 100 | 50 | 26 October 2015 |
Assessment 17 objectives of the plan. You also need to present a contingency plan which would
consider any threats or potential reactions from competitors that you identified in assignment one as potentially having a negative impact on your plan and how you would propose these be dealt with if and when they arise. There is no requirement in this plan to focus on or prepare and defend a budget.
Be sure to attach all pertinent documents to your report such as any relevant tables and analysis from assignment one, to support your recommendations. Before submitting your plan, ask yourself the question, “Does this contain all of the information that would be needed for someone else to make a decision in my favour and adopt the recommendations I have made?” If not, revise your work.
Assignment format
This assignment needs to be written as a formal report (refer to chapter 3 of the Communications Skills Handbook for all the required elements) and would include the following sections:
- An executive summary (no more than 1 page)
- An introduction which will be the overview or summary of assignment
one – no longer than one page (this will not be included in the word count for this assignment), the summary should briefly summarise the analysis work conducted including information about the target market you selected and the summary of the issues identified in assignment one about the product offering, the target market’s decision making process and any other psychological factors that are relevant, competitor analysis and the overall marketing objectives you suggested be adopted in the development of the marketing plan. Include any relevant tables and analysis you provided in assignment one as evidence to support your recommendations here in assignment two. These can be included either as appendices to the assignment or they can be incorporated into the body of assignment two as you deem relevant. Regardless of which approach you take, it is important that it is clear that these are the tables and analysis from assignment one.
- The Marketing plan: This represents the body of your report and would include the following sections:
- Marketing objectives: The marketing plan then needs to begin with a statement of the specific marketing objective/s for your target market.
Assessment 18 Make these objectives realistic, achievable and measurable (SMART
objectives). In writing your objectives be specific and avoid generic terms such as “increase,” “decrease,” implement as soon as possible”, and other non-specific and non-analytical language. Your objectives should align with the context established in assignment one and consider and be directed to the target market, in the location you have identified in that assignment. You also need to ensure that you have re- stated the value proposition you posed in assignment 1 here.
- Shaping the market offerings, delivering and communicating value: -The marketing objectives for this campaign will then need to be translated into specific strategies and tactics for each element of the marketing mix (the 4 Ps). Whilst you need to be reasonably specific here remember you are constrained by a word limit and we are really looking for evidence that you have considered each of the elements and that you know how and why each suggestion fits with your overall objectives and goals for this campaign and how the elements fit with and complement each other (justification is essential and use the analysis you conducted in assignment 1). You need to provide enough detail to ensure we can see your thinking. Use tables here to assist with the word count (tables are not counted in the word count but if used need to be accompanied by discussion in the text – see the Communications Skills A
- An implementation plan: Next consider the order or sequencing of activities with a marketing timeline related to your marketing tactics (i.e. what needs to occur first etc.).
- Contingencies: after you have developed your plan you then need to consider marketing contingencies, or what are the risky parts of your plan and are there any actions that need to be considered or prepared to counter these if they were to occur.
- Conclusion: Finally, provide an overall conclusion for your work (about 1 para) that brings it all together and re-enforces your case for this plan to be accepted/adopted.
Assessment 19 Marking criteria for assignment 2 – MKT5000
| Criteria | Does not meet minimum standard required (fail).0 – 19 marks | Work is of minimum standard (pass)20 – 26 marks | Exceeds Minimum standards (distinction)27 – 33 marks | Work is of a high achievement standard.34 – 40 marks |
| Learning objective 1 – critical thinking, analysis and problem solving skillsThe work shows evidence of the student’s ability to analyse information and formulate this into a coherent and relevant strategy addressing the contextual issues identified.
/80 |
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Assessment 20
| Criteria | Does not meet minimum standard required (fail).0 – 9 marks | Work is of minimum standard (pass)10 – 13 marks | Exceeds Minimum standards (distinction)14 – 16 marks | Work is of a high achievement standard.17 – 20 marks |
| Learning objective 2 – Professional communication and structureProfessional and academic standard achieved and in the required format
Total mark /10 |
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| Learning Objective 3 – Information literacy and academic integrityWork is appropriately referenced and relevant and timely information is used.
/10 |
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| Final mark /100 | ||||
Final Comments:
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