Professional Documents
Culture Documents
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts
concerning SWOT analyses.
For this exercise you are to refer to the consumer product you have
chosen for your marketing plan. Please answer the following questions
about both your product and company:
What are the benefits of your product? Are any of these benefits
offered by your competitors?
Is there anything special about your product?
Do you enjoy the favor of your customer? Or do they favor one of
your competitors?
List your company’s experience, expertise, know-how, financial
resources, human resources, suppliers, etc.
The above analysis will give you some ideas about the Strengths and
Weaknesses your company/product is likely to face. Also state how you
are planning to take advantage of these strengths. Try to match your
90 GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
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strengths with your opportunities. Further, is there any way you can turn
some of the above weaknesses into strengths and if not, what are you
going to do to minimize their impact?
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning SWOT analyses.
For this exercise you are to refer to the consumer product you have
chosen for your marketing plan. Which impacts (positive and negative), if
any, do you expect the following factors to have on both your product and
company?
Social factors:
The changing role of families and working women
Demographic factors:
Preteens
Teenagers
Generation X
Baby boomers
More mature consumers
Ethnicity
Economic factors:
Rising incomes
Political and legal factors
Competitive factors
Financial factors:
Ease of getting loans
Interest rates
Special interest factors:
Consumer rights groups
Attitude of media
TOPIC IV. MARKETING PLANS, PROJECTS AND CASES 91
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The above analysis will give you some ideas about the Opportunities
and Threats your company/product is likely to face. Also state how you
are planning to take advantage of these opportunities. Further, is there any
way you can turn some of the above threats into opportunities and if not,
what are you going to do to avoid them?
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning international marketing.
For this exercise you are to refer to the consumer product or company
you have chosen for your marketing plan. You have just found out that
your manager wants you to introduce your product/company to the global
market. You are told to pick a country you are at least vaguely familiar
with and describe which of the following environmental factors need to be
considered and why:
Culture:
Values and attitudes
Verbal and nonverbal language
Family structure
Importance of family
Educational system
Religion
Social class system
Importance of personal relationships
Perception of time
Economic and technological environment
Political structure:
Legal considerations
tariff
quota
boycott
92 GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
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exchange control
market groupings
trade agreement
Demographic makeup
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning the steps in the consumer decision-making process.
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning market segmentation.
TOPIC IV. MARKETING PLANS, PROJECTS AND CASES 93
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At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning product and branding issues.
This exercise relates to product type and branding issues. Refer to the
consumer product you will be focusing on in your marketing plan and:
Decide whether your consumers will view it either as convenience
product, a shopping product (homogenous vs. heterogeneous), a
specialty product or an unsought product. Defend your reasoning.
Decide whether you will develop a brand for your product or
whether you will offer a generic product. Defend your choice.
If you decide to develop a brand, explain which of the following
branding strategies would work best for your product (here again
justify your choice):
Manufacturer’s brand: individual vs. family brand
Private brand: individual vs. family brand
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning the development and management of products.
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning channel issues.
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning sales promotion.
Business Meetings
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning advertising.
At this point in time, students should already have decided on the con-
sumer product that will be the basis of their marketing plan. This exercise
is designed to help students apply some of the theoretical concepts con-
cerning pricing issues.
it is especially useful when more than one faculty member uses this
instrument in different courses as it creates a set of standardized
expectations. You may find our evaluation instrument below. Note that
the point allocations in the instrument may be adjusted to conform to total
assignment point allocations from your course outline.
Marketing Management
DOCUMENTATION
Element NI A S /25
100 GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
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(16) Report used proper citation of sources
(17) Quality and breadth of sources ( balance of Internet & other
sources)
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Element NI A S /75
(18) Final paper shows improvement over drafts
(19) Instructor's comments & suggestions were addressed/
incorporated
Michael R. Luthy
Bellarmine College
The Socratic method and its variations have been used in the service
of education tracing back over two millennia. The “cold call” aspect, all
too familiar to those in sales where there is no advance notification of who
will be called upon, is not the necessarily the most productive technique
for building class discussion. More often that many instructors would like
to admit, it creates significant tension and stress for students that may be
counterproductive in some settings leading to class absences, lower
instructor evaluations, and poorer student learning outcomes.
An alternative to the cold call approach is the so-called “warm call.”
Prior to the beginning of the class session students do not know who will
be called upon, thereby requiring all students to have analyzed and pre-
pared the case. This “preparation stage” is similar to the cold call
approach. But that is where the similarities end. At the start of the class
the instructor selects a student and tells them that they are in the “first
chair” for the day. The instructor informs this student that he or she will
come back to them in a few minutes and ask them to identify the signifi-
cant issues present in the case that they believe the class should discuss as
well as why they believe they are important.
The next step involves the instructor selecting another student (ideally
on the other side of the room to generate discussion later on) to be the
“second chair”. This student is instructed that after the first chair has
listed the issues they believe are important, they will be asked to add any-
thing to the list that they believe the first chair has omitted or where there
TOPIC IV. MARKETING PLANS, PROJECTS AND CASES 101
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Rosa T. Cherry
Williamsburg Technical College
MARKETING PROJECT
oral reports of its findings. These were presented to the class in the pre-
sence of several college officials.
There was great interest on the part of the students as well as on the
part of the administration. Students learned more about our college and
about the problems in promoting a school in this type location.
Rosa T. Cherry
Williamsburg Technical College
Douglas C. Livermore
Morningside College
Over the last 20 years I have found that having the students complete
a business plan as a major project for a retailing course greatly enhances
the learning that happens in the course. It is my presumption that many
business students have a secret desire to run their own business. In addi-
tion, by having sections of the plan due as rough drafts throughout the
semester, the project reinforces the topics as we are discussing them and
the plans are much more comprehensive upon completion.
I do not have the students include every possible topic in the business
TOPIC IV. MARKETING PLANS, PROJECTS AND CASES 103
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plan, but enough for it to be functional and also the topics where it is
feasible for them to get good information. The topics that I have found
that students have difficulty with are; identifying suppliers, negotiation
with suppliers, financing terms, etc. Many individuals in industry are too
busy to take time to provide information to nonclients.
Students are asked to include the following information; a definition
of the business and its goals, a description of the target market, a
substantiated sales forecast, pro forma financial statements for the first
year, a store layout, a store front, an analysis of the site selected,
promotion strategies and pricing policies.
Feedback from the students on evaluations has been positive over the
ears. They enjoy the challenge and dreaming about having their own suc-
cessful business. The question that inevitably comes up is have any of the
students ever implemented any of the plans? The answer is yes, in fact
one student did a new plan the next semester after taking retailing and
subsequently launched a business that landed him on the Fortune 500 list
of successful entrepreneurs within 6-7 years, although not challenging Bill
Gates’ position.
Kirk Smith
Boise State University
During the first class meeting I announce that twenty percent of each
student’s course grade will come from a group project: a three part
marketing plan. The students are warned that they will form groups of
three at the next meeting and each group will get a real product to work
on. Page limits, due dates, and paper formatting details are outlined in the
syllabus.
Before the second class meeting, I make a trip to the local dollar store
to purchase the most diverse set of mature or declining products
imaginable. Rubber snakes, plastic flowers, army men, belch powder, egg
beaters, refrigerator magnets and other oddities adorn my cart. I take the
treasures back to my office and make copies of the starting situation
description (attached as an appendix) for the student groups.
Toward the end of the second class meeting, I ask students to self-
select into three-person project groups and to give me a list containing
their group member names and phone numbers. I then distribute a starting
situation description (appendix) outlining the fact that their product lost
$50,000 last year, and they are to reverse that ugly trend. Next, I tell each
group to nominate a member who will come down to the front of the
classroom and blindly select the group’s product from my box. After a
product is picked, the selector must hold it up for the entire room to see.
TOPIC IV. MARKETING PLANS, PROJECTS AND CASES 105
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Everyone has a laugh and all students can see that each group got
something, as the students say, “Really lame.” This public display helps
to defuse discussions with the group that arrives at your office
complaining that their product is just impossible to save (when actually
they haven’t really tried yet). I usually respond to the impossibility
statement with something like, “Look, things could be worse. You could
have gotten the ‘Trucker’s Hits of the 70s’ cassette tape.” That generally
takes care of it.
The Reports
Grading
following:
Consistency Does the plan make sense? Is the logic valid?
Am I convinced this marketing plan might really
work?
Supportability How well are the statements and assumptions
substantiated by outside research and facts? Are
the assumptions reasonable?
Readability Is the grammar, spelling, paragraph construction
and sentence structure sound? Is the paper typed
with headings that make reading easy? Does the
report look and read like a professional piece?
2. All students will have the opportunity to evaluate the performance
of their group members. Based on these evaluations, individual
project grades might be adjusted downward as far as zero.
Appendix
(Copies of the following information are distributed at the second class meeting.)
General: Marketing plans are written strategies developed to give direction for
products and/or Strategic Business Units. Many businesses are interested in hiring
people who can create and implement effective marketing plans. This valuable skill will
be practiced here via a group project. Self-selected groups of three students will develop
TOPIC IV. MARKETING PLANS, PROJECTS AND CASES 107
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a marketing plan, albeit an abbreviated version, for a consumer product. This project will
enable the students to practice a real-world application of course material.
Groups: Students will self-select into groups of three during the second meeting
day.
Product: Each group will select an actual consumer product from the set of
products made available by the instructor. Assume your company provides no other
similar products, but is diversified into unrelated consumer goods. You have been given a
real product; all real-world attributes like the real strength of various competitors or
current changes in the economy apply.
Role: Each group acts as a single product manager working for the company with
exclusive rights to their product. You have full responsibility for all aspects of your
product including product modifications, pricing decisions, promotion, and distribution.
Your reports are addressed to me (your boss), the Vice President of Marketing. (Be
certain you always specify your product in the title of your reports. For example,
“External Environment and Competitive Analysis for Ceramic Duck Products” might be
used for the first report.)
Company Situation: The projected loss for your brand in the current fiscal year
ending 12/31/99 is $50,000 (net). Thus, management fired your predecessor and hired a
bright, young, BSU graduate--you! You promised to turn the situation around.
Last year, the variable cost to obtain a product and put it in your warehouse was
$0.50 each, whether your company was the manufacturer or contracted the manufacturing
to another company. This variable cost cannot be reduced further and should remain
constant for the next two years regardless of volume. Further, assume production can
instantly vary to any level you desire with no additional fixed costs and that your local
warehouse facility can handle any volume. All products will be shipped FOB from your
single local warehouse.
Fixed costs for your product are $250,000 annually. This amount covers salaries,
benefits, office supplies, warehouse space and other product-related expenses. It does not
include any money for promotions such as advertising, PR, or personal selling. Further,
your boss (me!) said that he wants to make about $50,000 net profit on your product
(after paying variable costs, fixed costs, and any promotional expenses) in each of the
next two years. Although this may sound like a lofty goal, your company is diversified
and other products turn a profit. Since the company is profitable, assume sufficient cash
is available to implement any program you design, provided management can see a very
rapid return on their investment.
All of your current customers are located in the U.S. or in Canada and purchase
through one of your two existing distribution channels. Ninety-five percent of your pro-
duct is sold through 100 domestic wholesalers at an average price of $0.96 each. Whole-
salers mark the product up 20% on their selling price and subsequently sell the product to
domestic retailers. Retailers mark it up 40% on their selling price and sell it to con-
sumers. Last year, retailers were primarily independent specialty stores. No promotions
of any kind were run last year. Your predecessor only talked to the wholesalers on the
phone.
The remaining 5% of your product is sold via the internet. Your company
maintains a web page and a few customers purchase the product directly from your com-
108 GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
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pany. The selling price is $1.49 each. You incur additional selling costs of $0.50/unit
when one is sold via the internet because your company must provide the functions
usually performed by wholesalers and retailers.
Time Frame: You are designing a 24-month program that will be implemented
beginning 1/1/00.
Project Reports: Marketing plans are generally presented to
management as a whole. However, for class purposes, the task has been
simplified by splitting it into three reports. Please see the syllabus for a
description of the reports, due dates, and grading information.