Objective of the Plan: The purpose of this marketing plan is to learn how to write a professional marketing plan to apply your knowledge from class. In addition, this experience will help you in your future work environment as well. To begin, please choose a product from an existing company or a company itself. The purpose of the plan is to improve the current marketing plan that a company is doing with a product they are currently selling, or the plan for the company.
The first part of the project (due in week 5) will explain the history of the company and product, and their current marketing situation. Everything in week 5 is CURRENT information.
The second and third portions of the paper will explain how you would revise and adjust the marketing strategy based on what you have learned in class to improve it- YOUR ideas. The length of the whole report; including the title page (only due in week 7), sections of the plan, and references should be 8-10 pages. This means you have 6-8 pages of content to write, so pace yourself in the beginning. You must meet the length requirements indicated for each part of the paper, but you can exceed if necessary. This is why there is a range of 6-8 pages. Please try not to exceed 8 pages of content if possible.

There are very specific requirements explained below for each section of the outline for each part of the project. Each part of the project needs to be written in APA format (also citing sources in text), including references, in 12 pt font. Please label each section with a heading in bold as well. Example: Situational Analysis
Internal Analysis
SWOT Analysis

This is a formal essay, so the format needs to be in paragraphs and complete sentences. Do not submit any portion of the project in bullet format, as points will be deducted accordingly.
WEEK FIVE
Situational Analysis:
Internal Analysis- company history and background (1 paragraph)

Market Description- competitor’s analysis (1 paragraph) Give a brief overview of the current competing products or companies- whichever is applicable depending on if your paper is on a specific product or a company. Please explain their large and small competitors briefly.

Environmental Analysis (SWOT) ( 1 page)
You need to present an internal (Strengths and weaknesses) and an external (Threats and opportunity) review of the company. Please provide two points for each component of the SWOT. Of course the strengths are important, but the weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are crucial to your plan. Once you identify where the company or product needs to improve, this is how you can create your plan going forward. Please base your objectives and plan on these points.

Here are other examples that would help you determine the greatest opportunities, weaknesses, and threats facing the company buy using the SWOT analysis:

Internal Strengths: is something the company is good at doing, e.g. adequate financial resources, access to economies of scale, better manufacturing capability, superior technological skill, etc.

Internal Weaknesses: is something the company lacks or does poorly in comparison to competitors, e.g. falling behind in R&D, poor/lack of training cause a poor customer service, Weak market image, too narrow product line, etc

External Opportunities: the factors in the external environment that represent an opportunity for the company, e.g. complacency among rival firms, ability to serve additional customer groups or expand into new markets or segments.

External Threats: the factors in the external environment that represent a threat for the company, e.g. Entry of lower-cost foreign competitors, rising sales of substitute products, costly regulatory requirements, etc

CURRENT Marketing Mix Description/Situation (1 page)

A Product Review:
describes and shows the CURRENT product/product line and service offerings (tangible good with accompanying services: e.g. an automobile that offers accompanying repair services, or hybrid offer consisting of equal parts of goods and services such as restaurant) explain the product and what is offers.

A Price review: Explain the current pricing for your product or company. If there are several products, give a range of prices. You must include the pricing strategy they CURRENTLY offer (ie- skimming, penetration, value added, etc) , how they are set, and why you think they use this strategy. Are they flexible to allow for price adjustments for differences in consumer segments? Do they offer discounts, promotions, etc?

A review of Distribution: Where is it CURRENTLY being distributed, through which types of distribution channels, and why? Are they domestic only, or global? Be specific- retail, wholesale, internet, catalog, etc. Where is it CURRENTLY being distributed, through which types of distribution channels, and why?

A review of Promotions: This includes an analysis of the effectiveness of the CURRENT promotional effort of the company/marketing department.
What promotional tools have been used by the company (advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations) its advantages and disadvantages.