BMK810 – Brand Strategy II and BMK811 – Brand Metrics II

Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions

Course Grading
BMK810 – Brand Strategy II
Individual Cases (15% and 25%) 40%
Group Cases (17.5% and 22.5%) 40%
Brand Strategy in BMK811 Metrics Cases (2 cases) 10%
Marketing Strategy Concept Learning Exercises 10%

BMK811 – Brand Metrics II

Individual Cases (15% and 25%) 40%
Brand Metrics in BMK810 Strategy Cases 10%
Marketplace Simulation 30%
Exam 20%

Marketing Strategy Concept Learning Exercises – 10% Of Your

Grade In BMK810
To support your learning of course concepts and prepare you for the various cases
assessments that you will be doing in the course, there will be a number of in-
class and out-of-class learning exercises that you will be graded on. Some
exercises will be done individually and some will be done in groups assigned by
the professor.

There will be a number of exercises to be completed with between 1% and 2% of

your overall grade. Examples of exercises that have been used in the past
include:
 Pricing – How Would You Price This Product I
 Pricing – How Would You Price This Product II
 Channel Management – Channel Power Analysis
 Using An Alternative Marketing Mix Framework
 Value Discipline Identification
 Competing – Identifying Offensive & Defensive Strategies
 Services – Using the 7 P’s Marketing Mix Framework
 Services – Applying the SERVQUAL/GAPS Model
 Interpreting & Using Customer Lifetime Value
 Business Model Analysis
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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
 Consumer Dynamics Lab
 Analyzing & Interpreting A Financial Model (Reynolm Industries)
 Financial Statement & Ratio Analysis Lab
 If Brand X Were A Person, How Would You Describe Them?
 Identifying & Comparing Brand Personalities
 Identifying Brand Personality Archetypes
 Brand Story Exercise
 Brand Feelings Identification Exercise
 Working With the BAV Model
 Which Brand Equity Assessment Model Is Best
 Brand Valuation Consultant Analysis Exercise

Discussion Board – 4% Bonus Mark Opportunity For Your

Grade In BMK810
Engaging with the course material, the professor and your classmates is critical to
enhancing what you learn and your learning experience. In addition to our on-
line classes, one of the primary forums we are going to use in BMK810/811 to
engage in discussions about brand, marketing, strategy and metrics issues is the
on-line discussion board. Specifically, we will use the discussion board set up in
BMK810 for this deliverable.

4 bonus marks to be applied to your final grade in the course will be allocated to
your discussion board contributions over the course of the semester. Bonus
marks only apply once you have achieved a passing grade on the regular course
deliverables. Your grade will be determined as follows:
 1%  1 posting of a relevant marketing or strategy related news item along
with some commentary or interpretation on its relevance & meaning, and 3
relevant comments (i.e. “good posting” is NOT a relevant comment) on
other student’s postings or my postings.
 2%  2 postings of a relevant marketing or strategy related news item
along with some commentary or interpretation on its relevance & meaning,
and 5 relevant comments (i.e. “good posting” is NOT a relevant comment)
on other student’s postings or my postings.
 3%  3 postings of a relevant marketing or strategy related news item
along with some commentary or interpretation on its relevance & meaning,
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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
and 7 relevant comments (i.e. “good posting” is NOT a relevant comment)
on other student’s postings or my postings.
 4%  4 postings of a relevant marketing or strategy related news item
along with some commentary or interpretation on its relevance & meaning,
and 8 relevant comments (i.e. “good posting” is NOT a relevant comment)
on other student’s postings or my postings.

Posting a link to an article or news story without any comment or interpretation

or replying “good posting” to another student’s post or one of my posts does
not qualify as an acceptable posting for grading purposes and will be
disregarded for grading purposes. Note that questions on assignments or exams
do not qualify as relevant postings or comments, and the professor will determine
if a posting or comment qualifies as relevant or not.

As the purpose and intent of the discussion board is to encourage and reward
engagement on the part of the class, if a substantial number (e.g. 50% or more)
of a student’s postings are made in the last seven days before the discussion
board closes, the student can only earn a maximum of 2 bonus marks for this
deliverable.

Note that the discussion board closes on Friday, April 14 th at 5 pm.

Marketing Simulation – 30% of your grade in BMK811

The Marketing Simulation is worth 30% of your final grade for BMK811 – Business
Metrics II. The Marketing Simulation will be scored out of 100 marks and your
individual grade will be your team’s overall grade subject adjusted for the
feedback from the peer review process. The 100 marks for the Marketing
Simulation will be split as follows:

 Group Relative Performance on the Marketing Simulation 50 marks

Assessed by the Professor
o As the Marketing simulation system is based on a different grading
scale than the one used by Seneca, the professor will be assessing your
team’s financial performance over the course of the simulation using a
combination of relative sales and cumulative net profit compared to
the average performance by the teams in the simulation in this and in
prior years
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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
o The assessment scale will be published before Q5 input is submitted
o A firm that is not profitable on a cumulative basis at the end of the
simulation will receive an “F” on this part of the assessment

 Microsimulations & Knowledge Checks (Individual Deliverable) 11 marks

o Note that this is an individual deliverable and must be completed by
each student within the prescribed deadline in the simulation
o The microsimulations and knowledge checks will help you and your
group perform better in the simulation.

o There are 6 microsimulations which are worth 1% of your final BMK811

grade each.
o Each microsimulation must be successfully completed with a
score of 60% or greater and it must be completed before the
quarter’s input is to be submitted
 Q2 – Product Design
 Q2 - Fundamentals of Strategic Planning
 Q3 – Internet Marketing I – The Fundamentals
 Q3 – Pricing – The Fundamentals
 Q5 – Internet Marketing II – Paid Advertising
 Q6 – Profitability Analysis
 If you miss the deadline to complete a microsimulation, you will
receive a grade of 0 for that knowledge check.

o There are also 5 knowledge checks that occur as part of the deliverables
for Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 and Q5
 Each knowledge check is also worth 1% of your final BMK811
grade each.
 Each knowledge check must be successfully completed before
Friday at 11 pm of the week it was made available
o To receive the grade for each knowledge check, you must achieve
a score of 60% or greater on that knowledge check
 If you miss the deadline to complete a knowledge check, you will
receive a grade of 0 for that knowledge check.

 Development, Evolution & Communication of Your Team’s Marketing

Strategy 20 marks

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 BMK810 – Brand Strategy II and BMK811 – Brand Metrics II
Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
o The simulation requires your team to clearly articulate an integrated
marketing strategy
o This strategy will evolve over the course of the simulation which will
need to be documented
 This will require an analysis of what’s worked and what hasn’t
worked, and the appropriate actions as a result of that analysis
o During your team’s updates to the Board of Directors, either in the
business decks submitted through SafeAssign or in-person meetings,
your team will be providing situation and company strategy updates
 Note that there will be three (3) or four (4) in-person
presentations to your firm’s Board of Directors (the professor).
 These presentations will be short (15 minute) and will require a
disciplined agenda & presentation to provide the necessary
business update
o Updates to the Board of Directors (the professor) are expected to be
demonstrate an appropriate level of quality, completeness and
professionalism
 Do they provide useful information for the Board to understand
the performance of the firm, the reasons for that performance
and any resulting future actions?
 Is the information complete?
 Is it clear and concise?
 Does it make logical sense?
 Is it presented professionally?

 Financial, Market and Other Analyses 19 marks

o As this is a course on metrics, your team will be required to
demonstrate to the Board of Directors (the professors), the metrics and
analytics that your team used to make decisions, improve the team’s
performance and track the team’s performance
o It will be up to your team to determine what analyses are required and
when they should be used
o These analyses are to be submitted as appendices to your team’s
business decisions decks
o The onus is completely on your team to prove your team’s
performance on this part of the assessment

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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
As this is a group activity, your individual mark will be determined by applying
the feedback and ratings from the peer review to the mark earned by your team.
Note that as with all group assignments, the professor has the ability to make
adjustments to either team or individual student marks based on observed
performance over the course of the assignment.

Case Assignments – Overview & Instructions

There are a total of 6 cases assigned in BMK710 – Brand Strategy I and BMK711 –
Brand Metrics I. These cases will be separated into 3 types of assessments:

 Individual cases (deck submission) - 3 to be done

 Individual case (deck submission and executive presentation) – 1 to be
done
 Group case – 2 to be done in groups of 4 or 5 as determined by the
professor

The second group case will be done as a consultant / client exercise.

 In one of the cases, your group will take on the role of a consultant
team.
i. When you are taking on the consultant role, your team will be
responsible for thoroughly analyzing the case and preparing a
deck which provides your team’s recommended course of
action with justification
ii. Your team will also be making a 30 – 40 minute “pitch” to a
“client” team for each case
iii. The “client” will be providing feedback to the CEO (i.e. the
professor) on your team’s analysis, recommendation and
presentation
iv. Each consultant team will also be tasked with providing
feedback on each member of their “client” team in terms of
their understanding of the case situation, and the quality of
their engagement and questions.
 In the other case, your group will take on the role of the client.
i. When you take on the client role, you will be receiving a
consultant “pitch” for that specific case

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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
ii. You will be required to evaluate the proposed solution and the
consultant’s analysis that led them to that solution and provide
feedback to the professor on the quality of that consultant
team’s analysis, recommendation and presentation
iii. Obviously, you will not be able to do this without developing
your own understanding of the case prior to the consultant
meeting

For all group assessments with groups of 3 or more, there will be a peer
assessment and marks will be adjusted as a result of the feedback from each peer
review. The professor, also, always reserves the right to adjust individual student
marks in group situations for observed material differences in group contribution
that aren’t captured by the peer review, either positively or negatively.

Time will be provided in the weekly schedule to debrief and discuss most of the
courses’ cases which could include randomly selected students presenting their
case submission. The debrief and discussion process is an important part of the
learning process in this course which requires your thoughtful and enthusiastic
participation in each of the discussion sessions.

Your overall grade on cases (excepting the major group project) can be adjusted
+/- 10% of the total marks available for the case by the professor to reflect the
quality and quantity of your participation in class sessions (e.g. on-line lectures
& workshops), class discussions and class activities (e.g. online discussion
boards, wiki’s, etc.).

Groups

For the first group case, you will be assigned to a group by the professor.

For the second group case, you will select your own group members subject to
review, approval and adjustment by the professor. Normally, the groups in the
second case are the same groups formed for the Marketing Simulation.

Due Dates
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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions

Each case will have a minimum of two submissions.

 The first submission will be made through SafeAssign in Blackboard of a PDF
containing your complete deck.
 The second submission will be an email to the professor
(duncan.reith@senecacollege.ca) of a power point file containing your
complete deck and your excel file if required in the specific instructions for
that case.

Your submission must follow these instructions:

 The first page of your powerpoint / pdf slide deck to be a cover page which
includes your name(s), student number(s), email address(es), professor’s
name, course code & section, and date.
 The file is to be in the following format:
Year Month Date First Name Last Name Case Name
Example: 2017 02 01 Duncan Reith The Fashion Channel
 For group cases, only 1 submission per group is required.

If the case requires any financial analysis, the relevant materials (i.e.
spreadsheets) should be seamlessly and professionally incorporated into your
deck. If you are required to send the spreadsheet to the professor, the file should
be sent in the same format (Year Month Date First Name Last Name Case
Name) as the powerpoint file and should be sent via email to
duncan.reith@senecacollege.ca. Please do not submit spreadsheets through
SafeAssign. Note that while the professor will always answer questions related to
the cases and course material, the professor will not review draft spreadsheets in
advance for accuracy.

Case Group Comments SafeAssign

Size Deadline
Case I Individual 5% of BMK810 Grade Sunday, January
Pricing, Marketing Channels, Competitive 29th at 11 pm
Strategy 15% of BMK811 Grade

Atlantic Computers: A Bundle of Pricing

Options
Case II Individual 15% of BMK810 Grade Tuesday,
Marketing Channels, Pricing, STP Decisions February 14th at

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 BMK810 – Brand Strategy II and BMK811 – Brand Metrics II
Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
Case Group Comments SafeAssign
Size Deadline
& Branding 5% of BMK811 Grade 11 pm

Natureview Farm
Case III Groups 17.5% of BMK810 Sunday,
Business Models, Segments, Jobs Theory, of 4/5 Grade February 26th at
Channel Power, Services Marketing 5% of BMK811 Grade 11 pm

Sworkit: Taking the Free Out Of Freemium

Case IV Individual 5% of BMK810 Grade Tuesday, March
Pricing & CLTV 14th at 11 pm
Includes 25% of BMK811 Grade
Virgin Mobile USA: Pricing For The Very First Executive
Time Presenta
tion
Case V Groups 22.5% of BMK810 Sunday, April 2nd
Comprehensive Including Brand Image, of 4/5 at 11 pm
Meaning & Equity Groups will do 1 case in
With Consultant/Client In-Class Meetings the consultant role Consultant /
(20.0%) and 1 case in Client Meetings
White Claw: Defending Market Share As the client role (2.5%). Scheduled For
Competition Encroaches Groups will be assigned Session III and IV
to their consultant & In Week 12
OR client case by the
professor. Consultant &
Longchamp Client
Assessments To
Be Submitted By
Friday, April 7th
at 11 pm
Case VI Individual 25% of BMK810 Grade Monday, April
Branding Strategies, Positioning & 17th at 11 pm
Repositioning, Brand Image/Meaning, Brand
Equity

Mavi: Fashioning A Path To Brand Growth

Harvard Business Review Course Pack

The cases are available from the Harvard Business Review in the following course
pack:

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https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1021856

You must, of course, buy the case in order to receive a grade for that case. In
group work situations, group members are responsible for ensuring that all group
members have bought the case and all group members must buy their own copy
of the case.

If there is a specific circumstance that restricts your ability to buy the required
cases, please speak to privately to your professor.

Business Decision Deck Deliverables & Requirements

It is expected that you or your group will submit a professional, focused and
complete “business decision deck” for each of the assigned cases. The deck must
be prepared using the principles, concepts and approaches taught in MRK718,
Communicating Complex Material and those posted on Blackboard in the
“Business Decks – Guidelines and Requirements” file.

Your business decision deck must be designed to present all the necessary facts
and analysis in a logical manner to support your recommendation – it needs to
“tell the story” in a concise and clear manner but it must also be thorough and
complete.
 Aspire to make your business proposition/recommendation “Too Logical Too
Ignore”
 You are free to flow the content in your deck in whatever way best
communicates the “story” you want to tell. The space allocation for each of
the required areas is up to you but please ensure you cover all of the
assignment requirements.

All the necessary information for the reader to make a decision on your
recommendation must be included in your business decision deck and its
appendices:
 Any excerpts from your spreadsheet included in your presentation must be
formatted properly and presented so that it looks like it is an integrated part
of your presentation.

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 The financial information presented in your actual deck (versus what is in the
appendices) must be a summarized version of the detailed financial models
that are contained in your appendices. Do not waste the reader’s time by
putting the exact same information in two places in your deck.
 Note that this is a summary set of instructions for all business decisions
decks so there will be cases where financial analysis and modeling is not
required. Often this guidance will be given in the instructions document for
each specific case.

All the information required to solve the case is in the case unless otherwise
stated in the specific case instruction document. Searching for information and
answers on the Internet is not required, nor is it permitted unless outlined in the
instruction document for a specific assignment. In addition, your case analysis,
alternatives and recommendations must reflect the time period in which the case
is set unless the case instructions direct you otherwise.

You must submit a power-point document and an excel spreadsheet, if applicable

for that case, via email and a PDF through SafeAssign. Remember that your
group’s submissions must be absolutely identical; if that is not the case, a grade of
“0” will be given for the assignment.

As a reminder, your overall grade on the case can be adjusted +/- 10% of the total
marks available for any case by the professor to reflect the quality and quantity of
your participation in our class discussions.

The overall quality, flow, consistency & professionalism of your submission

must meet an appropriate standard for a business deck in the “real world”.
Marks, up to 20% of the total grade for this assignment, can be deducted if the
following expectations are not met or if too much irrelevant content is included:

 The information, insights and analysis provided in your business decision deck
must be relevant to identifying and solving the problem. Your
recommendation (and grade) is weakened by inappropriate repetition of case
facts, irrelevant points, missing points, poor flow and/or poor layout of
individual pages.

 Submission of a business deck in a file format other than powerpoint, pdf or

excel, or with a file name other than that specified earlier in this document
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Course Grading, and Case Assignments Overview & Instructions
 Cover page with your name(s), student number(s), email address(es), the
course & section, the professor’s name and the submission date on it

 Date and page numbers on every page

 Proper spelling, grammar & sentence structure
 Can I read the slides? Have you crammed too much into the slides and, as a
result, are they are difficult to read?
 Consistent formatting, fonts & font sizes, etc.
 Logical flow & structure to the deck
 Are the headlines interesting, well written, clear, easy to ready and add value
to the reader?
 Can I follow the story & understand the recommendation strictly from reading
the headlines?
 Do the headlines summarize the contents of the body of the page?
 Is the content in the body of the slide well thought out and relevant?
 Does the slide body content reflect & support what’s writing in the headline?
 Have you followed the deck writing standards established in Communicating
Complex Material and communicated by the professor in class and in the deck
writing document published on Blackboard?

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