WRITING A MARKETING PLAN.  

The marketing plan must be typed (one-inch margins, single-spaced, 12-point font) and follow the format below.

1. Cover (1 page): Team number, members’ legal names, company name

2. Executive Summary (1 page): Overview of the entire plan

3. Table of Contents (1 page)

4. Project Description and Industry Definition (0.5 page): Provide: (a) company name; (b) why you selected this company.

5. Situation Analysis: This section consists of the following three sections.

Industry Factor (1 page): Summarize marketing activities (pricing, distribution, advertising, and promotion) in your industry and list the 3 industry factors that you think will be most influential in your planning.

Competitive Set: SWOT (1.5 pages): Focus on strengths and weaknesses of your company, and indicate any significant direct and indirect competition.

Industry Forecast (1 page): Using secondary data and your knowledge of the industry, estimate what will likely happen in the industry for the next five years. A simple extrapolation method is sufficient, although you should feel free to use a more sophisticated approach if you have the data.

6. Marketing Strategy: This section consists of the following 3 sections.

Market Research (1 page): Try to better understand what your current and/or potential customers would want from your company by collecting information. You can read articles (from credible sources) on consumers of your chosen company/industry, analyze secondary databases on consumers of your chosen company/industry (if such dabatases are available), adopt field observation (i.e., observing consumers and their behaviors during store visits), or use netnography (i.e., observing and analyzing consumers’ online behavior, comments, and reviews). Specify where (what journals, websites, databases, retail stores, social media sites, etc.) and how you collect data. Specify your sample size if applicable.

STP (1 page): Provide your benefit segmentation of the market in which you compete and indicate which segment(s) you now serve (if any). Develop positioning strategy.

Objectives & Strategy (1 page): State marketing objectives in terms of sales volume, market share, return on investment or any other objectives for your marketing plan. If you are not yet certain of numbers, provide your best estimates.

7. Marketing Mix (2 pages): In this section, you develop a marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) to solve the marketing problem and to achieve the objectives.

8. References (maximum 2 pages)

9. Appendix (maximum 4 pages): Attach any information that will support your arguments. For example, you may include an income statement for the product and some promotional material, or you may attach a hypothetical print advertisement.