1. Critically appraise an organisation’s marketing mix and suggest improvements.

ARUBAV2MP26 Marketing Planning Assignment

Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for Marketing Planning you are required to submit a Marketing Planning assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes: After completing the module, the student should be able to:

1. Critically appraise an organisation’s marketing mix and suggest improvements.

2. Apply appropriate tools & techniques to audit a marketing environment and propose realistic responses.

3. Critically apply marketing concepts in different contexts and consider the implications for marketing planning including international, product/service marketing, e-marketing, changing routes to market, ethical and sustainability considerations.

4. Develop, justify & evaluate a realistic marketing plan for an organisation.

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and a word count; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in Arden University (AU) Harvard format. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work. Maximum word count: 3000 words

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a reduction in grade by the same percentage that the word count is exceeded

Assignment Task: ARUBAV2MP26 Marketing Planning Assignment

You may base this assessment on your own chosen organisation (only if agreed with your tutor in advance) or follow the scenario provided below:

Scenario:

Competition in the gymnasium market is continuing to grow internationally, and thus brands are turning to innovation as a way to stay ahead of existing competitors, as well as new entrants. This includes for example, alternative training methods, holistic body / mind care as well as showing movies on demand for clients. Additionally, one of the threats traditional gymnasiums face is the growth of the low-cost / budget gymnasium (see for example, http://www.easygym.co.uk). Conduct some research into the market, and base your assignment on the introduction of an innovative gymnasium concept, (including the possibility of a budget offer if this doesn`t exist to any great extent in your chosen market already) in a country of your choice. Following on from this, you are asked to prepare a creative, robust and fullyjustified marketing plan for a new entrant gymnasium.

Instructions:

Develop a Marketing Feasibility Report to address the needs of this task including both appropriate (referenced) marketing theory as well as practical application. It should be structured as follows:

1) Front cover

2) Executive summary (summarising the main findings of the report and reflecting on the value of marketing planning to the organisation).

3) Contents page

4) Situational analysis based on a PESTLE analysis which should analyse and evaluate any country-specific issues as well as any specific issues pertaining to the industry via an assessment of Porter`s Five Forces, ensuring that your recommendations going forward reflect the findings of this section.

5) Marketing objectives (using the SMART format).

6) Marketing plan (strategy and tactical details). To include: segmentation, targeting and positioning analysis; marketing mix development (including the value of emarketing & sustainability issues for the business) (use 7P’s rather than 4P`s here)

7) An outline promotional plan and marketing budget for the promotional launch of the concept (schedule, timings, DRIP / Burst campaign, spend on different promotional tools incl. social media).

8) Conclusions, recommendations and summary.

9) Appendices. This must include biography, references and any other relevant material.

ARUBAV2MP26 Marketing Planning Assignment