Develop strategic marketing plans. This week you will complete and submit an

 
Develop strategic marketing plans.
This week you will complete and submit an entire Brand Extension Marketing Plan (BEMP) on the behalf of an existing for-profit organization.
Using the Marketing Plan guide found in Course Documents, you will now put it all together. Be sure to review the Sample Marketing Plan (Pegasus Sports International) in Chapter 2 of your Kotler text.
1.0 Executive Summary 
In 4–6 paragraphs, summarize your Brand Extension Marketing Plan. Be sure to include:
Product 
Benefits 
Target markets 
Customer needs 
Value proposition 
Sales projections 
When you project to break-even 
Your keys to success
2.0 Situational Analysis 
Write a 1-paragraph summary of the current situation
2.1 Market Summary 
(write this section after completing 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, and 2.2) 
In a 1–2 paragraph summary, address:
What are your target customer groups? Why? 
What are your projections for the growth of this market?
2.1.1 Market Demographics (refer to your Kotler text for helpful definitions/explanations)
Carefully define the demographic profile of your target market. 
In a similar fashion, define the geographic target area you are choosing. 
What are the behavior factors that will influence your decision-making? 
Define the values and lifestyles (psychographics) of your target market.
2.1.2 Market Needs (refer to your Kotler text to make certain you understand these terms)
What are the benefits that are important to your customer base? What needs do they have? 
Include both customer needs and the customer value assessment.
2.1.3 Market Trends
Identify and explain at least three trends that will influence how your customers view your product. These should be trends going on in the industry or the environment; these are trends that your company/product can respond to in some way. Remember: Trends are long term; fads are short term.
2.1.4 Market Growth
Is the market growing, static, or diminishing? What are the growth trends?
What is the evidence? What research are you using to determine market growth?
How will you address the market if it is growing, static, or diminishing?
2.2 SWOT Analysis (refer to Chapter 2 of your Kotler text for a thorough explanation of a SWOT analysis)
2.2.1 Strengths – list and describe at least three positive internal aspects that add value.
2.2.2 Weaknesses – list and describe at least three negative internal aspects that place you at competitive disadvantage.
2.2.3 Opportunities – list and describe at least three opportunities external to your business that will lead to your success.
2.2.4 Threats – list and describe at least three threats external to your business that will threaten your success (e.g., it is common to include unexpected acts of nature, government and regulatory concerns, and competition in this section of the SWOT).
2.3 Competition
Describe your competition. 
Why will customers prefer your product? 
How will you compete with your competition and win? 
What is the marketing mix (price, place, promotion, product, you know them as “the 4 P’s of Marketing”) of at least one of your competitors?
2.4 Product Offering
What are the current products you offer? 
How will your new product fit in with existing products? Is there a good fit between them?
2.5 Keys to Success
List and describe at least three factors that will determine your success. 
2.6 Critical Issues
How will you leverage your SWOT strengths and opportunities to your advantage?
How will you lessen the impact of your SWOT weaknesses and threats? 
Where is your product in the product life cycle and why? Refer to your Kotler text for a definition of a product life cycle
3.0 Marketing Strategy
3.1 Mission
Establish the fundamental goals for the quality of your business/product offering and customer satisfaction. 
Define your business/product offering.
What are your fundamental goals? (Fundamental goals are those that you would like to achieve with your new product, either as an individual product or as part of the overall company mission. These are directional goals that provide the overall strategic direction for management planning.)
State the value proposition. Be sure to look up this term in your Kotler text if you don’t fully understand it.
3.2 Marketing Objectives 
Include a sentence or two about each of the following:
What are your specific marketing objectives?
Market share: what is your growth objective by quarter?
Market penetration: how do you plan to gain a share in this market?
Awareness: how do you plan to gain awareness for your product?
Customer acquisition: how do you plan to grow your customer base?
Identify a specific, measurable market share and size.
Remember that your objectives need to be quantifiable. In other words, objectives need to have a base point, end point, and time frame so you can research to see if you have reached your benchmarks or if your plan needs adjustment.
3.3 Target Markets 
(refer to your Kotler text to make sure you fully understand what is meant by target market segments)
Identify the specific target market segments you have defined. What are the market niches you hope to capture? Describe. 
Include the rationale behind why these are the optimal target marketing segments. Be specific.
3.4 Positioning
(refer to your Kotler text for definition of terms in this section)
Describe how your product/service meets the need(s) of your target market segments. 
Describe how you are different from your key competition. 
What is the most distinguishing feature of your new product?
3.5 Marketing Mix
Product
What makes your product different from the competition?
What gives your product more value than the competition?
Price
What price will you charge and how will you determine what price to charge for your product?
How will you determine what your product is worth? 
How will your pricing strategy set you apart from your competition?
Place
How do you plan to distribute your product?
Do you have alternative delivery methods in mind? If so, describe in detail.
Will you take responsibility for distribution, or will you rely on an outside firm? How will you decide?
Promotion
What kind of promotional tools will you use? Describe in detail.
How will you determine what promotional tactics will work best?
With a limited promotional budget, how do you plan to gain market share? 
How will you go about evaluating the results of your promotional campaign?
3.6 Marketing Research
What type(s) of marketing research do you think will work best to get you the information you need to make informed decisions?
How will you evaluate whether the research is providing you with the results you need?
Will you conduct the research yourself, or hire an outside firm? Explain why.
Note: Do not forget that you need research to determine if you reached your Objectives in 3.2.
4.0 FINANCIALS 
TIP: Refer to your sample marketing plan at the end of Chapter 2.
4.1 Break-Even Analysis
Explain when you will break even. 
Include a break-even table/chart. 
Explain the break-even table/chart.
4.2 Sales Forecast
Include your sales forecast for the first year by month. 
For the second and third years, include your forecasts by quarter. 
Identify the risks you face. 
Identify the most important components of sales performance. 
Keep your chart(s) relatively simple and reduce the total number of categories so that your investors can quickly discern the information. Again, refer to the Sample Marketing Plan in Course Documents for assistance on this section.
4.3 Expense Forecast 
List your expenses for the following items for the next three years:
Website 
Advertising 
Printed Material 
Development of retail channel 
Other (list)
5.0 Controls
How will you monitor expenses/revenue? 
Identify what methods/reports and how often. 
How will you assess marketing effectiveness? 
How will you assess changes in the market environment?
5.2 Marketing Organization
Roles and Relationships in Your Marketing Functions (who will be responsible and who will implement this Brand Extension Marketing Plan?). 
5.3 Contingency Planning
Identify risks 
How you will monitor risks 
How you will adapt to adversity
TIPS
The guide you should use for the Brand Extension Marketing Plan is in Course Documents under Course Resources in the left navigation area.
The Kotler and Keller text will be extremely useful to you when completing your assignments. 
Be sure to review the Sample Marketing Plan (Pegasus Sports International) in Chapter 2 of your Kotler text.
Directions for Submitting your Assignment
Compose your assignment in a Word document and save it as Username GB530 Unit 5 Assignment (Example: JSmith GB530 Unit 5 Assignment.doc). Submit your file by selecting the Unit 5 Assignment Dropbox.