MB902 – Group Assignment Brief (2023)

Marketing Management Assignment

Class Code MB902

Academic Year 2023

Module co-ordinator:
Mr Thomas McAlinden
Dept of Marketing, Strathclyde Business School, Stenhouse Wing (SW534), Extension: 3249.

Email: thomas.mcalinden@strath.ac.uk

Assignment type: Written report

Word limit: 3500 words (+/-10%)
Type: Group work (Maximum team members – 5; Minimum team members - 4)
Final Submission Date: See myplace

Instructions:
This group assignment – to provide a marketing plan for a company to compete effectively in the UK
market is worth 60% of the final mark for the course.

Please refer to the following text to assist you in the creation of the Marketing Plan:

McDonald, M., Wilson, H. (2011) Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them; How To Use Them, 7 th
Edition, Hobjoken, N.J., Wiley.

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Task
You as a team are to provide a marketing plan for the brand below:

Olipop - https://drinkolipop.com/
Challenge: A company that has a vision of a healthier, tastier future and who are on a quest to
undermine the old guard of the soda behemoths have created Olipop – a crafted tonic that found its
taste in wholesome, hardworking ingredients instead of spoonfuls of sugar.

Your challenge is to produce a marketing plan for Olipop that will help them establish their presence
within the UK and grow over the next year. It is up to you and your group to decide the best course
of action but all decisions that are recommended need to justified and supported with evidence. .

Your role (as a team), is to act as a group of marketing consultants, and advise the company of the
best course of action and provide a marketing plan. As such, you should:

- Analyse what the company is currently doing / has been doing to get it to its current state
- Undertake an evaluation of the respective market and environment (ie trends, competitors,
customers and the brand itself vs others in the marketplace etc)
- Find, review and use specific data to help inform your recommendations
- Provide a sound and viable marketing plan for Olipop which will enable them to succeed.

Your role is to advise the company and whatever marketing strategy you deem suitable, needs to be
based on sound findings, analysis and needs to be sufficiently justified from analysis, evidence and
reasoning. This group exercise requires you to collect your own secondary data from multiple online
and offline sources in order to understand the environment, the company as well as the consumer
and also the company itself. You will be provided with various reports including Mintel Reports,
Euromonitor Reports, IBIS world reports amongst others. You may also find it useful to have a look
at potential reports on http://guides.lib.strath.ac.uk/az.php?a=all . But you are free to undertake
your own secondary research and secondary data collection. The collation, analysis and use of
secondary data is also what you are being graded against. So ensure you and your team members
spend time on gathering pertinent information.

You MUST NOT contact the business or any associated staff/employees of the business or
undertake any Primary Research of any kind. This is not allowed.
You should make use of a variety of strategic marketing analytical tools covered in class. It is your job
to determine what is most apt for the challenge faced by the organisation and from what insight you
have uncovered from your research. When you suggest your overall strategic path, you should explain
the details of the marketing mix as well including for example their range of products, pricing,
distribution, communication, etc.

Please note that students must utilise the plagiarism software ‘Turnitin’ in advance of the
submission of their assignment.

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The Written Report
The written report must not exceed 3500 words (+/-10%) (excluding executive summary, appendices
and references). It is quality of writing, not quantity that is important.

Structure your report based on the following but remember this is a business report, so please ensure
you make the report visually attractive and like a proper business report. Do not simply have black
and white text throughout. Make use of visuals throughout including data and the report itself. Make
a reader want to read the work you have produced.

Cover/Title page:
To include:
- Title of report
- Class code and title (ie MB902 Marketing Management)
- Names of all group members and registration numbers
- Word count

Main Body (do not use ‘Main Body’ as a heading)

- Use appropriate headings and subheadings (if necessary) to communicate your message clearly with
your reader.
- You may structure each part of your proposal according the requirements of the assignment brief
in the previous section.
- Conclusion: briefly (short paragraph) conclude your report by highlighting what you did in this report
- Recommendations – ensure these are clearly derived from your findings.

References: follow Harvard Referencing System and list the key references you have used in your
report. This includes both academic references and also others (e.g., database, website, blog, journal
articles etc). Please refer to guidelines. You are graded on referencing. So pay attention to this.

Appendices:
Do not use a large number of appendices. You can use for example charts and tables that summarise
your analyses as appendices. You can also use statistical tables and similar data as your appendices.
Keep your appendices as concise and short as possible. If it is important, it should be in the main

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report and discussed. These appendices MUST be referred to in your report. Anything which isn’t will
be discounted.