Task 1 – Understand the principles of strategic marketing. Your first task of the programme is to prepare a presentation, with accompanying notes.

Unit 708 - Strategic Marketing Assignment You have been accepted onto a Future Leaders Development Programme (FLDP) within a large organisation. It is a yearlong programme and involves developing and presenting specific projects to other programme delegates; all the projects are viewed by the CEO. The delegates come from across the organisation and you are the sole representative from the Marketing Department. This is an excellent opportunity for ambitious staff to make an impression on senior managers and leaders. In the past graduates from the programme have been promoted within the company. The introductory session of the programme is personally led and overseen by the CEO. The company is currently successful but is going through a period of intense change. There are new competitors entering the market, whilst new technologies are changing both production capabilities and consumer preferences. All the work from the FLDP should be retained in a personal file which will be reviewed at the end of the programme.

Task 1 – Understand the principles of strategic marketing. Your first task of the programme is to prepare a presentation, with accompanying notes. The presentation will be viewed by the CEO, other senior managers and programme delegates. The content of the presentation and notes should: • analyse the relationship between corporate strategy and marketing strategy. • analyse the development of marketing strategies. The presentation and notes should also: • explain, using examples, how different marketing strategies contribute to competitive advantage. Extension activity: To gain a Distinction grade you should also produce a report for your line manager that: • evaluates the relationship between: strategic intent, strategic assessment, strategic choice and their impact on the formulation of marketing strategy.

Task 2 – Understand how to carry out strategic environmental analysis The participants in the FLDP are taking part in a training day and each member of the programme has been given a task to complete. You must prepare a set of briefing notes for the other programme delegates. The briefing notes should: • evaluate different approaches to conducting an internal environmental analysis. • evaluate different approaches to conducting an external environmental analysis. The third briefing note should: • assess the integration of internal and external analyses.

Task 3 – Understand the role of customer behaviour in marketing strategies. Your next task is to prepare a section of an information file to be used by future participants in the FLDP. You are responsible for the section on Strategic Marketing; the finished section will be reviewed by the CEO. The information file should: • analyse the role of marketing research process and its relationship to consumer behaviour • explain the different types of consumers and their behaviour in B2B and B2C markets and factors underpinning customer loyalty. • evaluate the role of relationship marketing in customer behaviour analysis. Extension activities: To gain a Merit grade you must also: • analyse the influences on and the psychology of consumer behaviour.

Task 4 – Understand how to develop an implementable strategic marketing plan. This is a major element of the development programme. You are required to develop a realistic and workable strategic marketing plan for a given organisation. The choice of organisation is important to ensure successful completion of this task. For the selected and named organisation you must: • analyse the factors to be taken into account in the development of a marketing plan • develop an implementable plan for your named organisation: you should select the most appropriate format for the plan • design monitoring systems that are capable of identifying performance deviations from the plan’s original objectives • anticipate the need for contingency plans. Extension activities: To gain a Merit grade you must also: • develop alternative marketing mix related action plans that address selected objectives and selected strategies.

Task 5 – Understand how to create a marketing strategy to meet business objectives This is the final task of the development programme and on its completion your file will be ready to submit to your line manager. You must: • evaluate the requirements of a marketing strategy • explain the relationship between a marketing strategy and a corporate strategy • explain how the marketing strategy should address competitive forces and their likely impact • design a dissemination process to ensure internal stakeholders are informed and committed to the marketing strategy. Extension activities: To gain a Merit grade you must also: • create monitoring systems to ensure the successful implementation of a marketing strategy. To gain a Distinction grade you must also: • construct a marketing strategy for a named organisation.