Current Company Marketing Plan Objective: Each student will prepare a marketing plan, based on a new project, a current small business, civic organization, or church project, of your choosing (with instructor approval). You may be creative in selecting a product. This marketing plan is only as good as the information it contains and the effort, creativity, and thought that went into its creation. Competitive intelligence is critical for a thorough and accurate situational analysis. Managerial intuition is important in the creation and selection of marketing strategies. The goal is to generate a list of information that possesses attributes that place this information in your target analysis. Process: Creation of a marketing plan will require you to conduct a marketing analysis, which includes the following areas (please note that each area given below WILL be graded). Each of these areas are described in more detail in your textbook. Name of your new business, current small business, civic organization, or church project Brief description. Submittal date Section 1: Current Marketing Situation Situational Analysis including Threats and Opportunities Analysis and Objectives and Issues This section describes the situation surrounding your business or organization, including details of your business or organization, the general market place in which you are competing, your competition, and any other aspects that are relevant to the situation and surrounding environment. The best format for this is SWOT. Section 2: Target Marketing and Marketing Mix This section describes the need you are trying to meet with your product or service, the demand for your product, your target market and why you chose this specific target market. Be sure to read the guidelines and address the points raised on page This section describes the mix that will make you successful, including the details of your product or service, pricing, how you will advertise and attract customers. Creativity and thinking outside the box is what may mean the difference between success and failure. You should search the Internet for similar product or services to get new ideas from your competition.. Section 3: Marketing Strategy Implementation and Control Up to this point you have described your business or organization, your market place, your competition, your product or service, your target market, pricing, and how you will advertise and attract customers. Now, you need to provide a detailed timeline of tasks that must be done to get everything ready, get the right staff in place, and attract and serve your first customers. You should also provide a description and examples of projected radio, TV, and print ads. Section 4: Financial analysis -Action Programs and Budgets This section describes your projected sales, expenses, and profits. Be thorough and specific. It is important to determine how many sales you will need to make to realize a profit, after paying all salaries and expenses. Week 5 Submit First Draft of Marketing Plan (Sections 1-4) by 11:55 p.m. EST/EDT on the last day of Week 5. This is counted as an assignment (100 points) Appendix: References You must list all the references you used to determine demographics of your marketing area, competition, financial analysis, and all other details used in your marketing plan. If you referenced a book, a Web site, an article, a person, or received information from any other source, you should list them in your reference section. Other than your marketing ideas, you cannot simply make things up. Everything in a marketing plan must have a reputable source. Section 5: Executive Summary This is the last section you create) as part of the final plan. It is a 2-3 paragraph summary page that an executive might read to get the full story of your marketing plan. It is important to cover all aspects of your plan but only state the key facts. Then, if interested, the executive can find more details within your plan. Week 9 Complete Plan Due “ Final plan revised according to instructor feedback. Submit revised sections, plus Table of Contents and References, plus all other items listed above. This is worth 30% of your total grade. 200 Total Points Value 200 In addition to the above sections, the marketing plan should meet APA standards. Review your paper before submitting it to make certain that there are no spelling and grammar errors or other typos. I will count off for them. Plan must be at least 15 printed pages, plus appendices and/or attachments (if any). Brevity is highly encouraged. This marketing plan must appear as a serious marketing proposal suitable for presentation and evaluation by potential investors, Chief Executive Officers, and/or a Board of Directors. It should be typewritten in 12-point font and double-spaced. Charts, graphs, photographs, drawings, and spreadsheets”accompanied by appropriate explanatory descriptions”are an efficient, recommended means to ensure plan brevity. You will work on this plan throughout the quarter, using the terms, concepts, and knowledge gained from the course material. First drafts of each section of the plan will be periodically submitted per the rubric above. The final Marketing Plan must be received by the instructor on or before Week #9. Marketing Plan: Your project for this course involves constructing a Marketing Plan. Below you will find the elements to include in this project. Select an existing product or service. The marketing plan will be due week 9. On the cover page you will include the following: Name of the course Product Name Your Name Date Assignment is Due Situational analysis: What is your product/service? Who is your competition? What is the overall market for your product/service? Why will people be interested in your product/service? What do you offer that your competition does not offer? What other situational conditions might affect the successful launch of your product? Target marketing: Who will be your target market? What need will your product/service fulfill? What is the demand from this target market to fulfill this need? Why have you chosen this particular target market? Can you convince them to buy your product/service? Are you sure? Would you invest your own savings in this product/service? Marketing mix: What mix of marketing strategies will make your product/service launch successful? How does this compare to the marketing mix of your competitors? What are the detailed specifications of your product/service? How do these specs compare to comparable products/services that are available? How will you get people to know that your product exists? How will you advertise? Will the cost of your advertising ideas bring in enough sales to make your form of advertising worthwhile? Implementation and control: What are all of the tasks that need to be done for preparing and launching your product/service? What is your timeline for each of these tasks? Is your product/service seasonal? Does it matter on what date that you launch your product/service? What type of people do you need to hire on your staff to make this all happen on time, and successfully? What are the actual radio, TV, Internet, print ads going to look like? (Be sure to include actual copy in your plan.) Financial analysis: How much is all of this going to cost? Be sure to find out the actual costs of print, radio, TV, Interent ads. What are your actual costs of each sale (i.e. cost of goods sold, salaries, delivery costs, utilities, etc.)? How many sales do you have to make each month to pay your basic expenses (staff, advertising, delivery, utilities, etc.)? Will your customers pay enough for your product/service to make this venture worthwhile? References: Be sure to keep track of all the references you used to gather the above information and to help you think outside the box. Everything you used for research should be included as a reference. Executive summary: How can you provide an overall summary on a single page that provides an executive the total picture of everything that your marketing plan contains? This document is where you should describe your plan. It should include your plan objectives, your project description documents should include the project objective(s), criteria for success, and the steps necessary for completion. Please note that this should be the first section of your final paper.