Term Assignment: Marketing Plan
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Marketing Plan assignment is two-fold. First, by diligently completing this assignment,
you will pull together what you have learned during the semester to see how your learning fits together as
a whole in the real world. Second, some students will likely start their own business someday. A best
practice for a business professional starting a business is to develop a Marketing Plan as part of a larger
Business Plan. This assignment will give you practice in creating a Marketing Plan and perhaps be the
catalyst for ideas and insights into future businesses you may start.
It is true that everyone is not cut out to be an entrepreneur. However, it is common for business majors
and others to consider starting a business at some point in their lives. If you actually start a business, this
exercise will be of benefit to you. If this assignment influences you to never start a business, it is
preferable to discover that while you are a student rather than later in life when you might invest a
considerable sum of money to start a business, only to afterwards learn that you hated it and it’s not for
you. This is an additional benefit.
Skills
The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the following skills that are essential to your
success in this course and to successfully start and manage your own business:
• Practical Marketing Competence
• Marketing Plan Development
Knowledge
This assignment will also help you to become familiar with the following important content knowledge that
makes up a portion of the basic principles and concepts of marketing:
• Internal and External Environments
• Mission Statement
• SWOT Analysis
• Marketing Objectives
• Market Segmentation
• Target Markets
• Positioning
• Consumer and Organizational (Business) Markets
• Marketing Mix Strategies
• Implementation & Control
TASK
Your task is to develop a Marketing Plan for a business you might start in the future. All sections of the
Marketing Plan should be about the same business. You should follow the sample Marketing Plan found on
pages 558-570 in the APPENDIX of your textbook. Your Marketing Plan may not be as extensive as the
sample. Make your Marketing Plan as long as it needs to be to fulfill its purpose. This is a made-up
business. In a sense, this is a simulation. For some of you, it may be something you will imminently do.
That frankly is easier. You will probably be more passionate and motivated to do excellent work if you are
close to starting the business described in your Marketing Plan. Also, refer to the Marketing Plan template
on pages 108-109 of your textbook.
1. Web students should participate in the online discussions throughout the semester. The discussions
will help you develop your plan throughout the term.
2. Decide upon a business that you might start sometime in the future. Of course, you are under no
obligation to actually become an entrepreneur or to start the business chosen for this assignment.
3. Look over the Marketing Plan template on pages 108-109 in your textbook.
4. Look over the sample Marketing Plan found on pages 558-570 in the APPENDIX of your textbook.
5. Follow the above guides to complete your Marketing Plan. When historical information is required,
feel free to estimate or make up what the information would more or less be for a firm of your size
in your chosen industry. You may want to research actual companies to learn this. Do your own
work. You may use the sample Marketing Plan and its ideas—or ideas found in other Marketing
Plans you find on the Internet or elsewhere. However, you should transform what you find into
words and ideas which fit your business idea. If you plagiarize someone else’s work, you will be
guilty of academic misconduct. Refer to your syllabus for further information about that. When you
include someone else’s work, make sure you do two things: (1) paraphrase what they are saying,
and (2) cite your sources. You may use APA, MLA, or some other standard referencing system.
Microsoft Word allows you to do this rather easily. But, let me be clear, your own insights and ideas
are preferable to someone else’s. Their work should only give you some ideas. You should make
your Marketing Plan your own. Your plan should be unique to the world.
6. Make your plan as long as it needs to be for a good, comprehensive plan. However, it does not
have to be as extensive as the sample.
7. Check your formatting. Make your plan neat. Correct spelling and punctuation errors. Include a
cover sheet, table of contents, and references page at the very end if necessary.
8. Your Marketing Plan should be submitted using the NS Online/D2L/brightspace Assignment
Dropbox. Submit one .docx, .doc, or .pdf file. Other file formats will not be accepted. The
Marketing Plan will be broken down into five sections:
(1) Executive Summary (25 points)
Situation Analysis
Marketing Objectives
Marketing Strategies
Implementation and Control
(2) Situation Analysis (50 points)
Internal Environment
Mission Statement
Organizational Structure
Corporate Culture
Current Products
Current Markets
Pricing
Customers/Sales
Distribution
External Environment
Competitive Environment
Economic Environment
Technological Environment
Political and Legal Environment
Sociocultural Environment
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
(3) Marketing Objectives (12.5 points)
(4) Marketing Strategies (50 points)
Target Markets
Consumer Markets
Organizational Markets
Positioning the Product
Marketing Mix
Product Strategies
Pricing Strategies
Promotion Strategies
Supply Chain Strategies (Place)
(5) Implementation and Control (12.5 points)
Implementation
Measurement and Control Strategies
Research
Trend Analysis
CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS
The complete assignment is valued at 150 points. Notice the number of points assigned to each section
above. These points will be awarded according to the grading rubric found in the NS Online Assignment
Dropbox for this assignment.