This is an individual assignment in which you will put together a Marketing and Audit Plan. Your mark in this final assignment is worth 80% of your overall mark for the module. For your final assignment, you will assume the role of the Marketing Manager of a newly designed product, your job is to carry out an audit of the environment and create a marketing plan for the future of the product. Your Task Your assignment is broken down into three tasks: Task 1 Find a new product on Indiegogo, Kickstarter or similar website with limited Marketing initiatives. Tip: It is beneficial for you if the product you select has a reasonable amount of information e.g. proposed price, product details etc. This will help you with task 2. Task 2 Once you have decided on your product you should carry out an audit of the operating environment, researching the product, sector and environment. Tip: You should consider the opportunities and challenges your product may face, these could include (but are not limited to) rivals, distribution, market demand etc. Things to consider: • Analyse how your product captures and demonstrates value. • Is your product truly innovative or is it just a slight variation of an existing product? • How does it differentiate itself from the rivals? You should focus on the theories and concepts we have explored during the module. Task 3 Following your analysis of the product and the environment make evidenced and theory-based recommendations on the future marketing direction and decisions of the company. Tip: This might include areas such as the name, pricing strategy, target market, advertising and supplying decisions. Guidance on the structure of the assessment n the structure of the assessment • The structure of the assessment should follow a report format with clear use of headings and subheadings where appropriate. You are expected to refer, critique and apply relevant theory, tools and models to demonstrate your viewpoint and findings within the report. All references should be cited and a reference list should be included at the end of the report. You are permitted to use relevant tables, diagrams, models and figures. This material should be developed by you and should be based on the data collected from websites, social media, current journal papers, theory and media reports. Marketing information on the positioning of the companies/organisations should come from the company or organisation’s websites. Avoid copy and pasting tables etc into your report they should be created, customised and annotated to show a clear understanding and application. Sources of information and academic references should be acknowledged appropriately within the text using Harvard referencing style, and the References page should follow the Harvard format. The report should be clearly organised and divided in the aforementioned sections. The length of the main body of the report should be no more than 2,500 words (up to a combined maximum of 3000 words with the optional 500 words appendix). Pictures, tables, figures, do not count to the overall word count towards the total. Please state your word total (of the parts that count) in the first page of the assignment. The main body of the report should be no more than 2500 words with a maximum of 500 words available for use as an appendix should it be required. Kotler, P., Piercy, N., Armstrong, G., Harris, L. and He, H. (2019). Principles of Marketing, European Edition. 8th Edition. [Insert Publisher Location]: Pearson International Content.
