MKTG1205 _ MARKETING PRINCIPLES

INSTRUCTIONS OF SITUATION ANALYSIS REPORT

The objectives of this assessment are the following:

1. Identify the theories learnt in class (Topic 1 – Topic 3) in a real company operating in
Vietnam and illustrate how the company is using these theories and concepts
2. Apply marketing theories and know more about the Vietnamese market, a good way
to link theories to the practical business world
3. Learn to work in teams
4. Demonstrate critical thinking
5. Demonstrate good communication skills
6. Ability to conduct secondary research

Common issues faced by students

1. Not finding the right data because students only rely on Company website
2. Not searching on the right places (only relying on Google)
3. Not having enough time to do research
4. Relying on team leaders to put everything together
5. Not informing lecturers early on where there are issues with contributions from team
members

DO’S DON’TS
 Use the external links provided on  Wait to the last minute to gather data
Blackboard to search for information and write your section
 Agree on group timeline, enough time  Not following the report structure
to revise in group and challenge your (information not well organized)
teammates’ sections  No consistency and link between
 Experience your product (store visits different sections
are recommended for specialty and  Leader doing everything by himself at
shopping products) the end (no teamwork)
 Use tutorials’ worksheets to help you
 See your lecturer ASAP after seeing
your group or team leader if you still
have problems or challenges about
understanding marketing theories
 Inform your lecturer early on if there
are any issues in the team. If
lecturers only know of this in week 5,
they will not accept any complaints or
peer evaluations

Team leader’s role?

Not responsible for the whole situation analysis report. He/she should not be the only one to
edit and review the report.

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The leaders’ role is to support, facilitate and coordinate resources, as well as being the point
of contact and work allocation between the lecturer and the team.

GROUP FORMING DEADLINE:

By the end of Week 2, please submit by email to your tutorial lecturer the following:

 Team members list plus your team leader’s name

 Product your team will work on, if it hasn’t been assigned by your tutorial lecturer

MAIN DEADLINE:

By 18:00 Sunday of Week 6, submit your Situation Analysis Report (worth 20%) on Turnitin
on Canvas (only by 1 team leader or team’s representative). You may submit your report as
many times as you wish before the deadline, in order to check the similarity of your
assignment.

The statement of authorship should be submitted too.

Page limit:

The situation analysis report will have a page limit of:

 Maximum 11 pages excluding the Cover page, Table of Contents, References and
Appendices
 The format of the report should be font Times New Roman, font size 12 with line
spacing of 1
 Reports exceeding page limit will have 5 marks (5% of 100) deducted from the total
mark given for the group
 It should look like a professional report
 Late submission: Reports submitted late will incur a penalty of 5 marks (5% of 100)
for each day submitted late for a maximum of 3 days. After 3 days the report will not
be marked and will receive a zero mark. Late submissions can be seen on Turnitin
where the file will show as "Late". If students have a valid reason for late submission,
please contact your lecturer for special consideration on a case-by-case basis,
otherwise penalty will be applied automatically.

Black list of banned brands:

 By the end of week 2 at every semester, the Course Coordinator provides a banned
list of several brands that students cannot use for their Group’s report and
presentation. Students should stay tuned and check announcement on LMS –
Canvas for more information. You should double check with your lecturer before you
start doing the assignments.

(Continue next page for full instructions of the Situation Analysis Report’s
Content).

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 SITUATION ANALYSIS REPORT

STRUCTURE (OVERVIEW)

This section presents relevant background information on the micro-environment and the
macro-environment situations. Here you should attempt to answer the question “where are
we now?” by taking a “snapshot” of the current situation and explaining not only what is
happening in this marketplace but why, who and what are the key players, forces and
dynamics that drive it.

1. Situation Analysis:

Briefly describe the company and the product for this project. Note: choose a particular
product if your company has many different products/product lines.

a. Company description (history, mission statement, CEO, when did they enter Vietnam)

b. Product description (function, features, design, market share, brand awareness) with a
focus on Vietnam.

2. Marketing Environment:

The marketing environment is important as it provides the basis for the entire Marketing
Plan. This assignment only covers the current situation analysis, therefore you do not offer
any form of solutions or recommendations here.

Key information for this section should be obtained through secondary research. We have
provided some links to market research from market research companies like TNS, Ipsos,
Cimigo and Nielsen, etc. Also, you can search industry reports from Euromonitor Passport
(GMID database) on RMIT Website. Go to: http://www1.rmit.edu.au/library , then in Search
box, type in “Euromonitor”. Click on “Passport  Online Access”. Then click on “Full text
available at Passport”. Then Log In with your student ID and accounts. Click Accept to
continue to search and download the reports. In the Search box of Passport (in the very right
up corner), you can start searching whatever content you want to search. Try different key
words to find out the results you want.

Research can be time consuming and you should be prepared to invest a reasonable
amount of effort in this. The company website is not sufficient to do the analysis for the
marketing environment. However, if there is key information that you are unable to locate it is
acceptable to make reasonable assumptions provided that you clearly state what these are.

This part consists of two sections:

a. Micro environment:

 Identify all the factors in Vietnam: Suppliers, Marketing Intermediaries, Customers,

Competitors and Publics. Students don’t have to analyse the company again.
 Analyse the impact these micro factors have on the product and/or the company’s
ability to operate in Vietnam. Summarize the key issues. If the factor doesn’t affect
the company, then you do not need to analyse it.

b. Macro environment:

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  Identify all the factors in Vietnam: Demographic, Economic, Natural, Technological,
Political and Cultural
 Analyse the impact these macro factors have on the product and/or the company’s
ability to operate in Vietnam. Summarize the key issues. If the factor doesn’t affect
the company, then you do not need to analyse it.

3. SWOT analysis:

 Identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

 These can apply to the company and the specific product
 Keep it focused on Vietnam

Make sure this section is integrated with the Micro and Macro environment analysis. You
should not be working independently on Micro/Macro and SWOT analysis. These two
sections go together.

The SWOT analysis is a summary of the external and internal analyses, highlighting the
critical issues that must be addressed by the marketing plan. When the SWOT analysis is
completed, the firm has a clear idea of its current situation. Strengths & Weaknesses
represent internal assessments of the firm’s current capabilities and address questions such
as:

Strengths: • What are our core competencies - what do we do best? • What advantages do
we have over competitors? • What do customers think the organisation does best?
Weaknesses: • What areas of the business need the most improvement? • How do
customers think we could improve our business? • Compared to competitors, what is the
organisation’s reputation in the marketplace? And so on.

In contrast, opportunities and threats represent external assessments of the firm’s

marketing environment. Typically, opportunities and threats emerge from environmental
forces and their potential impact on the brand’s future survival or demise. Opportunities and
threats address questions such as:

Opportunities & Threats: • Social: What major social and lifestyle trends will have an
impact on the firm? • Demographics: What impact will forecasted trends in the size, age,
profile, and distribution of population have on the firm? • Economic: What major trends in
economic policy, taxation, income sources will have an impact on the firm? • Political and
Legal: What laws are now being proposed that could affect marketing strategy and tactics? •
Competition: What new competitive trends seem likely to emerge? • Technological: What
major technological changes are occurring that affect the firm? • Ecological: Are the firm’s
products, services, and operations environmentally friendly? Etc.

4. STDP:

a. Segmentation:

 What are the different groups of customers that currently purchase and would be
interested to purchase your product?

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  Briefly describe the different segments

You can use this table as a format to present the different segments. The segments are not
limited to just 3 in the table. You can add as many as you find relevant to your product. Use
the variables that are relevant only.

Segment Demographic Psychographic Behavioural Geographic

characteristics characteristics characteristics characteristics

Identify the Describe the Describe the Describe the Describe the
segment. characteristics characteristics characteristics characteristics
Ex: Children of this segment of this segment of this segment of this segment
here in terms of here in terms of here in terms of here in terms of
relevant relevant relevant relevant
demographic psychographic behavioural geographic
factors like age, factors like factors like factors like
income level, personality, occasions, cities, provinces,
gender, family lifestyle etc. benefits sought districts etc.
size etc. etc.

Identify the
segment

Identify the
segment

b. Targeting: You are not required to make any recommendations here. You only need
to discuss who the current customer is.

 Identify which segment in the table above is currently targeted by the company. You
do not have to describe this segment again. It is already done in the previous section.
 Identify the targeting strategy used by your company
 Discuss the reasons why this segment was targeted by the company

c) Differentiation: You are not required to make any recommendations here. You only
need to discuss what is/are the competitive advantage(s) of the brand as it is now.

 Identify your brands strongest differentiation in Vietnam and explain with evidence.

d) Positioning:

Positioning maps: You should have atleast 2 different positioning maps with justification to
show how your brand compares to the competitors

• What are the attributes used? Why did you choose those attributes?
• Price is acceptable as an attribute however quality is too general, be more specific.
• Attributes chosen could be the evaluative criteria that customers typically compare
when choosing the product they want to buy. For example, common attributes to use

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 in the positioning map could be: variety of functions, number of stores, variety of
flavours, number of applications etc.
• Make sure the positioning maps are clearly labelled

Value proposition: Which value proposition strategy is currently used by the product? Give
your reasons and evidence.

5. Conclusion:

Provide a summary of your report’s key findings/analysis and what is working well, what is
not working well. Conclude with core issues you have identified in the company and what
needs immediate attention.

6. References:

You should use sources in English. The only Vietnamese references that can be used are
government sources of information about statistics, laws and legislation, and company’s
websites or local news/articles. Please follow the Harvard citing and referencing guide.

7. Appendices:

Any supporting analysis, diagrams, pictures etc. that add value to the main report should be
included in this section. However, the most important pictures and information should be
placed in the main body of your report.