+1 862 207 3288 ASSIGNMENT 1 – GROUP MARKETING AUDIT (30 + 10 = 40%)
In groups of 5 (maximum), students are expected to conduct a “Marketing Audit” on their chosen brand. Based on information available from the
press, promotional material, the Internet and through analyzing the actual product, you must assess the performance of that brand and provide
recommendations. Your audit will be assessed based on your analysis of the firm’s current performance, your recommendations and presentation
of the report.
You can use the company’s website and visit stores where the product is sold but you must not request any information from the company in
order to conduct your audit.
The marketing audit will be presented in a report between 15-20 pages (excluding references, title page, table of contents, list of tables
and/or figures and the appendix) using 12 point font and 1.5 line spacing. The report should be guided by the following outline:
Title Page
Table of Contents
List of Tables and/or List of Figures
Executive Summary
Introduction
Environmental Context Analysis of the UAE (PESTLE)
Demographic Environment
Economic Environment
Socio-cultural Environment
Political and Legal Environment
Technological Environment
Natural Environment
Competitor Analysis (between 2-3 and not more)
Direct and Indirect Competitors
Analysis of Competitive Strategy and Position
Competitive Advantage
Market Research
If you know what sort of research the company does, write that
Also, write what they should be doing and develop recommendations:
What sort of information do they need, why and how should they get this information?
Customer Analysis
Needs Analysis
Do consumers seek to fulfill rational, emotional, symbolic or social needs with this product?
Decision Making Process Analysis (Drs. Sheth and Howard’s Model)
What does the consumer do in each of the stages of the decision making process?
Include any internal or external consumer behavior variables affecting the process.
Segmentation and Targeting
Provide a short description of the product market
Identify the different segments within the market and the relevant segmentation dimensions
Discuss the company’s target market(s)
Positioning Strategy
Describe the company’s positioning strategy
Provide a perceptual map
Product Strategy
Product/s class, Product lifecycle
Specify the core physical good and/or service, the actual and augmented product.
Are there any new product development requirements?
Pricing strategy
What is the nature of demand and price sensitivity?
What is the approach to price setting?
Is it value-based or cost-based?
Is it fixed or flexible pricing?
Distribution strategy
What is the degree of market exposure required
Explain the distribution channel (channel members, type/number of wholesalers and retailers, how are marketing functions shared, coordination
needed in channel…)
Promotion strategy
Promotion Objectives
Message and Creative Strategy
Promotion Mix
What mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, sponsorship, direct response marketing, public relations/publicity is there?
Is there a mix of push and pull?
Customer service and relationship activities
Service quality
Relationship activities
What do they do to keep customers and create loyalty; such as create value, constant improvement, loyalty programs
Conclusion
Recommendations
List the recommendations you developed throughout the text. For example:
Recommendation 1 ….
Recommendation 2 …etc
Appendices
Notes on Assessment
1. In addition to a hard copy students are required to submit their group marketing audits via the ‘Safe Assignment’ function on
Blackboard. The plagiarism detection software will compare your assignment with your classmates’ assignments, previous year’s assignments and
search the Internet and electronic journal databases for instances of plagiarism. Reports containing plagiarism will be awarded zero.
2. Late assignments will be penalized at rate of 10% per day or part thereof.
3. When preparing the group marketing audits it is important to draw on research to support your critical analysis. It is essential that
your research is referenced. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present,
and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. As the audit is in business report style,
you are asked to use footnote referencing where necessary. APA referencing style is also to be used in footnotes.
4. Each student will be asked to evaluate their own contribution and that of their teammates. These evaluations will be taken into
consideration when the audits are assessed. It is each student’s responsibility to ensure that the workload is equitable between team
members. Teams experiencing problems with one member should report this immediately.
