Marketing Planning: Assignment Expectations and Guidelines

Objectives of the marketing planning assignment

On completion of this unit you should be able to:

1.Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding; A defined range of popular concepts and models used to inform planning decisions in marketing

2.Demonstrate the following skills and abilities;  Formulate a competent integrated data-justified marketing plan.

What am I required to do in this assignment?

The single assessment on this unit takes the form of a formal open book exam in which you will write up into a marketing plan that you have developed over the course of the unit.

The case study topic will be released in Week 4 of the unit.

Is there a size limit?

There is no formal word limit although the UoB guideline is 700 words for each hour. The exam lasts for 2 hours.

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

In order to pass Assessment 1 you will need to:

·Using found data, carry out a competent contextual analysis and identify appropriate and sensible marketing objectives

·Select and apply suitable recognised models and theories to construct a justified, integrated, measurable plan

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

We will discuss this in Sessions 4 & 11

We would expect students to complete this section on the lines of the following:

Students achieving higher grades will demonstrate good understanding of the process of marketing planning and will include application of the marketing literature beyond the required models and frameworks.

To produce my plan I need to follow the order of the workshop materials

This is a marketing plan, so should be focused on a particular target market

I need to write up a plan that demonstrates ROI

How does assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

The assignment task draws on and explores your understanding of the various aspects of marketing planning that we explore in class.  You should address the case study using a similar order of topics to the weekly themes.

How will my assignment be marked?

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and estimate your grade before you submit.

At the completion of this unit you will sit a two hour formal examination. You will be asked to submit a marketing plan proposing the commercialisation of medical device that provides assisted medical support*. Your device will be sold in the consumer market by the Medical Devices division of Johnson & Johnson.

You should start researching this market and developing your ideas NOW. Your classes through the unit will consider various aspects of a marketing plan which you may want to use. You should take extensive notes throughout and consider in detail the application of classroom activities to your proposed product.

You will be permitted to take in a non-programmable calculator and no more than four A4 pages of handwritten (not typed) notes into the examination room. These will be checked during the examination.

You may find inspiration in other medical devices being released onto the market, and should, of course, discuss these.

The rubric which will be used to mark your examination paper is attached.

For the purposes of this submission you may assume that development costs are sunk, and do not need to be taken into account. You should identify your likely manufacturing and simple distribution costs.

If your product is to be sold through a third party then you should identify the trading relationship including trade pricing.

You should use appropriate marketing theories to support your plan.

You should provide references for all market information. Theories do not need to be referenced and should be applied.

* An assisted medical support device is any device that monitors and helps a patient to make decisions about some aspect of their personal health care.