Project Outline:
The following is an initial outline for the marketing plan project. There will be detailed in-class briefings prior to each assignment and students should follow these briefs carefully to receive full credit.
Students will have an opportunity to experiment with key principles, strategic tools and concepts in their weekly homework assignments. Relevant project questions should be brought to class for further discussion, and class time will also be allocated for teams to work together on their respective projects. For additional assistance students can meet with their TA, or professor during office hours. A sample marketing plan, to be used only as a reference, can also be found in Appendix 1 of the text.
Assignment 1: Company Overview
Brief: 1/25 Due: 1a: 2/8, 2/15
Identify a company you would like to analyze. Be sure to address the following points, and support your work with appropriate research. Note: be sure to cite all of your sources in a bibliography. Your bibliography should be included in your appendix and follow the approved format (refer to BB/Marketing Plan/Assignment 1 for details).
1a. Company selection; due 2/8
• Identify your company of choice
o Hand in a list of 2+ companies, in priority order, that you want to analyze
o On the assigned due date you will pitch your top selection; however it is important that all teams submit 2+ ideas to avoid potential overlap with other teams
o Be sure to include a cover page with the following information: assignment #, date, team members. Note: once approved, future assignments should also include the company name on the cover page.
o This assignment is ungraded
1b. Company overview; due 2/15
• Provide a thorough summary of your company
o HQ, primary offering(s), trading area, year established, annual revenues, recent performance, major news, etc
• Document your company’s mission statement & values. If you can not find detailed information then craft your version of a mission statement & values for your company
o Hint: leverage Chapter 2 lecture notes and/or research 2-3 mission statements of competitive companies to use as benchmarks
Sources for Company Research:
Company's web site: Start with the company’s web site; look for Investor Relations, About the Company, etc. There may be a CEO message, or you can also find mission statements, values, financial information, and other information to help you analyze the company’s strategies.
EDGAR, the web site of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the US, public companies must file information with the SEC. A 10-K is the annual filing a company must make. Click "Search for company filings" then "Company or fund name" and enter the company name. If you find reports in EDGAR, that means the company is public.
LexisNexis Academic
Use Search Company Info to search for company reports that include financials, news, analysts' reports, and other company information.
OneSource:
Use this database for company and industry data and information:
Companies: detailed financial data company financials, histories, ratios, news, and complete annual and quarterly financial reports. Includes up to 15 years of data. Also, includes subsidiaries, branches; competitors; analysts' reports; SWOT analyses.
Net Advantage
Includes research, data, and commentary on companies, industries, stocks, bonds, and funds, from popular Standard & Poor’s research products such as Industry Surveys, Stock Reports, Corporation Records, The Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, The Outlook, and Mutual Fund Reports among others.
Passport GMID
For companies: Short overviews of many companies, including strategic information, company background, and contact information.
For industries: Full-text market reports, global industry information, consumer demographics, comment from expert industry and country analysts, and much more.
Statista
A database of statistics and data on industries, companies, market share, consumers, and much, much more. Data is viewable in different graph forms, and there are industry reports for certain industries.
Hoover’s Handbook of American Business (Print) Call number: Ref HD 2741 H6754
Contains profiles of 500 major companies, including information on history, officers, products, 10-year financial statistics and list of key competitors.
Hoover’s Handbook of World Business (Print) Call number: Ref HD 2709 H675
Value Line Investment Survey (Print) On reserve, ask for this at the Circulation Desk
Includes reports on companies in about 95 industries. Information includes 11-year statistical history, recent stock prices, projections, and target price ranges. Industry information includes financial statistics and charts, updated quarterly. There is also a general weekly review and financial outlook summary. Call number: Reserve Desk (request at Circ Desk, first floor ).
Assignment 2: Market Situation
Brief: 2/15 Due: 3/8
Clearly articulate the market opportunity for your company. Be sure to address all of the following points; support your findings with research and be sure to cite all of your sources.
2a. Industry overview
• Industry within which your company competes; define the size (e.g. dollars, units), discuss growth rates, macro trends, challenges & issues, etc.
2b. Market description
• Describe all customer targets for your company; consider a “segment needs” table; refer to p.A3, Table A1.1, as a starting point
2c. Competitive review
• Provide a thorough summary of key competitors; similar to Assignment 1b; include HQ location, size, strengths, product mix/line, new products, pricing strategy, etc.; consider summarizing this information in and easy-to-read table or chart; refer to p.A4 as a starting point
Sources for Industry Descriptions and Overviews:
IBISWorld
Great information on 700 US Industries in the US economy. Each Industry Report includes overviews, data and statistics, market share, competitive landscape, major companies, outlooks and more!
Net Advantage
Use the Industries search to find Industry Surveys with information on about 50 US industries, including competitors, trends, market size and description, internal and external factors of companies and industries relating to success.
OneSource
Use this database for company and industry data and information:
Companies: detailed financial data; corporate family showing parent, subsidiaries, branches; competitors; analysts' reports; SWOT, etc.
Industries: market research reports; Datamonitor industry profiles; RMA Industry Norms (ratios), etc.
Passport GMID
Excellent for country, industry, and consumer statistics and market research. To get consumer information, click on Countries and Consumers, then Consumer Trends and Lifestyles. There are three places where you can get info:
Consumer Lifestyles: Report on consumers within the past year
Country Pulse: More recent, short consumer info
Consumers in 2020: Predictions for future consumer behavior
For each of these sections, use the pull down menu to select your country.
Sources for Industry News These sources can be used for company, product, and brand news too!:
ABI/Inform Complete
Includes citations and summaries and full text from about 1000 business periodicals that contain company and industry information, as well as articles on many other business topics. Includes the full text of the Wall Street Journal.
Business Source Premier
Focuses on facts, figures, events and market information about companies, industries, products and markets. It covers all industries and is international in scope. Also provides SWOT analyses for companies and industries. Includes the full text of the Harvard Business Review.
LexisNexis Academic
Use the Search the News section for business news from national and international sources.
2d. Product review
• Provide a summary of your company’s products/services; include channel summary if relevant; include a comparison vs. competition (e.g. features, pricing, distribution, technology, etc.); consider summarizing information in easy-to-read table or chart which should high-light what makes your company different or unique; refer to p.A4, A5 as a starting point
Sources for Product/Brand Research:
Your company's web site: Press releases, media, products, company history, and other information
YouTube Search for your brand to find ads and commercials
Business Rankings Annual Click the link to the left, then on the next screen click on: Connect to http://0-find.galegroup.com.ignacio.usfca.edu/gdl/start.do?prodId=GDL&userGroupName=usfca_gleeson . On the next screen, you can search by clicking on "Keyword" then putting in company, industry and product keywords.
Contains lists of ranked companies, products, services, and activities compiled from a variety of published sources.
Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands (Print) Call number: Ref HF 5415.3 .E527
An older source, but gives good history and background on how some major brands were started and developed.
Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns Click the link to the left, then click the link that says: Available for University of San Francisco via Gale Virtual Reference Library. Click here to access. This will take you to the ebook, where you can search for companies or brands in the Within Publication search box.
Search using product, brand, or company names for information on marketing campaigns and branding for a particular product or company.
Market Share Reporter Click the link to the left, then on the next screen click on: Access Internet version (through the Gale directory library) . On the next screen, you can search by clicking on "Keyword" then putting in company, industry and product keywords.
Provides the market share for many companies within an industry, shown with pie charts and graphs.
TableBase
Used for finding statistical information, including market share from journals and reports on companies, industries, products, countries and markets
The Making of a Name: The Inside Story of the Brands We Buy (Print) Call number: HD 69.B7 R58 2004
Researching Consumer Opinion on Brands:
American Customer Satisfaction Index
Presents scores based on customer evaluations of goods and services purchased in the United States. Scores are broken down by economic sector, industries, and company names, and given quarterly.
Brandz
Lists of brand rankings and information about global brands.
Interbrand
Search Knowledge for papers, articles and studies on brands and branding, search Best Global Brands, to see brands rated, articles, and more.
2e. S.W.O.T.
• Create a SWOT chart summarizing your company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external threats and opportunities
• Provide a short rationale for each quadrant of your SWOT with further detail/logic if appropriate; refer to p.A6, A7 as a starting point
2f. Statement of Opportunity
• Based on all that you have learned about your company, industry, and key competitors prepare a statement of opportunity. Note: this opportunity statement may already be articulated by your company as found through your research; or it may be the result of your team’s unique view on your company and the opportunities you believe it should focus on in the future. In either case, this statement of opportunity will form the basis of the remainder of your project and drive the marketing objectives, strategy, and marketing mix outlined in Assignment 3 & 4.
Assignment 3: Marketing Strategy
Brief: 3/8 Due: 4/5
Define a marketing strategy for your company; beginning with objectives, target definition, and positioning. Be sure to address all of the following points; support your work with solid rationale and cite your research sources.
3a. Marketing goals
i. With your opportunity statement from Assignment 2 in mind, articulate 2 or more marketing goals for your company; these should be expressed in specific terms that will allow you to measure your company’s progress. Note: these goals may apply to your entire company, or they may focus on a specific LOB or brand within the company
o Your goals should be for year 1, however, you may include additional goals for years 2+ if relevant
o Each goal should be supported with specific objectives or actions that you will take to achieve your goal
o Hint: consider using the S.M.A.R.T. format
o Note: keep in mind that you will need to create a measurement plan that ties to these goals as part of Assignment 4
3b. Target definition
• Keeping your new marketing goals in mind, clearly define your target(s) using a geographic, demographic, psychographic, or behavioral segmentation. Note: your target(s) may be slightly different than what you originally documented in Assignment 2b.
• Quantify the size of your target segment(s), e.g. units, dollars. Include a target equation. Note: refer to p.A17, chain ratio method, as well as examples discussed in class.
• Bring your target to life via a visual montage; this can be a literal or figurative picture of your ideal customer
o Hint: refer to examples shown in class
• Confirm your target definition with primary and/or secondary research
o We will explore many secondary research sources as part of our Gleeson Library research lab
o Consider conducting primary research to confirm your target and/or gain new insights
cc. Positioning
• Explain how your product/service will be uniquely positioned in the minds of your target, and will be different from your nearest competition
o Articulate a positioning for your company/LOB/brand using a classic position statement format; show how you developed this by referencing a Brand Pyramid and/or other strategic tools presented in class
o Hint: leverage the strategic tools, constructs and materials from Chapter 7
o Bring your positioning to life via a new tag line. Note: if your company already has a tag line, evaluate it and if appropriate develop an even stronger line; one that supports your new goals/target/positioning. You will incorporate this tag line in all future marketing efforts as part of Assignments 4&5.
Sources for Consumer/Target Market Demographics, Behaviors and Trends Research:
American Customer Satisfaction Index
Presents scores based on customer evaluations of goods and services purchased in the United States. Scores are broken down by economic sector, industries, and company names, and given quarterly.
American FactFinder
The database Includes demographic information on income, employment, households, gender, age, ethnicity, education, and much more. Data is arranged by nation, region, state, county, city, and more.
Association for Consumer Research (ACR)
Provides free access to newsletter, papers, and presentations from conferences on consumer research.
Consumer Expenditure Survey: Bureau of Labor Statistics: US Labor Department
Statistics and reports on consumer expenditures, unemployment rates, and much more.
Esri
This company develops geographic information systems (GIS) for many industries, including those that benefit from demographic data. On their site, they provide some of this data for free. Go to this link to access the free data. Highlights are: Demographic Maps, and Lifestyles-Esri Tapestry Segment, where you can type in a zip code and see what types of consumers are in your chosen area. To see this information graphically, you have to download Microsoft Silverlight, but if you don't want to do that, click on the link to see the information in paragraph form. The consumer segments have descriptive names created by Esri, such as Main Street USA, and Laptops and Lattes. Mouse over the chart in the center of the screen to see the characteristics for each of the 65 segments.
Nielsen PRIZM: My Best Segments
Similar to Esri, this web site groups consumers into general categories, with brief descriptions and demographic information. Use the Zip Code Look-Up to get information about consumers in a particular area in both descriptions and graphs. There are three categories of information for consumers; PRIZM, P$YCLE, which describes the financial status of consumers, and ConneXions, which describes the level of technology use and connectivity of consumers. Use Segment Explorer to view descriptions of all of the consumer segments on the web site. Use the links on the left side of the screen to search for consumer groups by age, income, and other categories.
Passport GMID
Excellent for country, industry, and consumer statistics and market research. To get consumer information, click on Countries and Consumers, then Consumer Trends and Lifestyles. There are three places where you can get info:
Consumer Lifestyles: Report on consumers within the past year
Country Pulse: More recent, short consumer info
Consumers in 2020: Predictions for future consumer behavior
For each of these sections, use the pull down menu to select your country.
Pew Research Center
A non-partisan research group that collects and presents data, opinions, and reports on American attitudes, activities, and trends.
Survey of Consumer Finance
A survey done by the U.S Federal Reserve Board every three years, to track the financial state of consumers. On the web site there are articles that analyze the data, as well as links to data sets. One helpful feature is the SCF Chartbook, which shows selected data from the Survey in charts and graphs. Another is the Working Papers, which are great for understanding the data and its meaning. Survey data on this site goes back to the 1960s.
Sustainable Communities Index
Consumer data by San Francisco neighborhood. Some data are from Census 2000 or from 2007, other data is more current. Categories of data are health-related, but have broader implications, like access to fresh food, bicycle paths, green space, etc.
Time Use Survey: Bureau of Labor Statistics: US Labor Department
Data on how American consumers use their time.
United Nations Demographic and Social Statistics
Includes information on demographics of countries, income and consumption, and more.
US Census Bureau International Data Base (IDB)
Statistical tables of demographic, and socio-economic data for 227 countries and areas of the world.
