MKT10007 Assessment Task – Assignment 4

Purpose or Overview

To develop higher order, critical thinking skills with regards to how key marketing concepts can be used in analysing a range of marketing problems.

Detailed Assignment instructions

This assignment is an individual report that combines elements from all your previous Assignments. Your task here is to assume the role of a brand manager proposing a product extension to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of your company. For this assignment:

• The brand you are extending is the brand you analysed for your Assignment 2.
• The target market for the brand extension is one of the three personas you created for Assignment 1.

Your report to the CMO will recommend one segment to be targeted from amongst the three personas, and justify your recommendation.

Then, you will recommend a brand extension strategy and a new product positioning to the target segment, plus how the new product will it be differentiated from competitors currently serving that segment.

Lastly, you will provide details of the marketing mix for your new product and explain how this marketing mix will attract the consumers in your target segment to your new product.

Your report will be in these main parts:

• A section that explains your how you have ranked the attractiveness of the three potential segments and justify why you have chosen one of them as the primary segment to
• A section showcasing how your understanding of your chosen segment’s characteristics. This understanding will be the foundation of your new product and brand extension strategy.
• A competition analysis section that explains how the positioning strategy of your brand extension is differentiated and appealing to your target
• A section that details the rest of the marketing mix of your new extension, e.g. its price, method of communication and delivery method (the 4Ps).

 

How does this Assignment differ from Assignment 3 (group)?

Here, you role play as the brand you investigated in Assignment 2. Instead of a new company launching a new product at a new market, here you are an established company and will need to assess the potential of existing segments before deciding which segment to launch a new product for.

Report Layout - Please include:-

• Title Page* - a separate page containing Unit code MKT10007, Semester and Year, Assignment Number, Date of Submission, Your Name
• Table of contents – a separate page

Then start the Assignment contents on a separate page.

Use Heading and sub-headings according to the Assignment document such as:-

Part 4. Marketing Mix

Number every page. (In Word > Insert (toolbar at top of page) > Page Number.)

Use Proofreading and spell-checking to reduce errors with spelling, grammar and/or sentence construction.

Do not use blogs and self-styled “consultants” as authoritative sources. Their credentials cannot be verified.

In-text referencing and the reference list must be in the Swinburne Harvard style.

Part 1. Target Market Analysis

In Assignment 1, you conducted a small market research project that resulted in three simple ‘personas’: representations of consumers with certain characteristics. Now, in Assignment 4 you must treat these personas as exemplars of typical segments instead of individuals.

Your three Assignment 1 personas will most likely be under-developed, so you are encouraged to “flesh them out” and add more details of their characteristics and behaviour using your own research (e.g. using Australian Bureau of Statistics census data, industry analysis, and/or segmentation reports).

Your task is to analyse which of those three would be the most logical and profitable segment to target a product extension of the brand that you analysed for Assignment 2.

You must show how you have compared and assessed their attractiveness as markets for the new product by using each of the following criteria:

1. The fit of the segment with the brand’s identity/positioning
   Your brand offers certain products using a certain identity/positioning. In some ways strong brand identities are good, but it can be limiting (e.g. imagine if Apple launches a vacuum cleaner, and yet Samsung can do that with no damage to their brand). Which of the segments are most likely to respond to your brand’s identity, or do you want to risk it and use a new/multi-brand strategy?
2. Size and growth
   How large and lucrative are these segments? What are current market factors influencing these segments? A large, fast-growing segment may be good, but would they have the willingness to pay? It may be better to target a small, niche segment if it means the potential to yield a higher margin.
3. Structural attractiveness
   Just because they are big segments, does not mean we can reach them. Can we communicate with this segment effectively without alienating our current customer base? Is our distribution strategy currently appropriate to deliver to these segments effectively? Are better competitors already serving them?

In this section, your marketing environmental analysis will be put to the test. We expect that your attractiveness analysis will utilize all relevant theories and frameworks you’ve learned throughout the semester. In addition, support them with good, credible data such as census reports, industry reports, databases, and academic references where appropriate. Summarise your analysis in a Table in this format:-

Persona	The fit of the segment with the brand’s identity/positioning	Size and growth	Structural attractiveness
1
2
3

IMPORTANT: If one of your three created persona (in Assignment 1) is very similar to your brand’s existing persona (from Assignment 2), then that persona is automatically disqualified from consideration for extension. We are looking to serve new consumers, not duplicate what is already being served by the brand.

Part 2. Brand Extension and Product Strategy

After assessing and determining which of the three segments should be targeted, you will need to propose one of the four strategies as the one you are going to use to create an offering to this segment. Here we are looking for strong and persuasive linkages between the target segment’s behaviour and your proposed strategy. Include concepts such as brand elements and brand personality to support your argument. You will be extending the product you developed in Assignment 2

Fig 2. What strategy will you choose, and why?

Example: Milo decides to target the segment of users over 60 years of age. They could use one of these strategies:

• Line Extension
  If they think the brand name “Milo” can cross generational boundaries, then they can just launch smaller cans (more suitable for single and couple households with no children present in the home).
  This is an additional Milo branded product within the same category.
• Brand Extension or Category Extension
  The Milo Brand Manager thinks that the Milo brand is strong and elastic enough to be stretched into a new category and product using the Milo brand so they entered into the breakfast cereal category launched Milo Breakfast Cereal.
  This is a Milo branded product in a new category.
• Multi-brands
  If Milo is seen as too synonymous with young kids or teenagers (e.g. their tagline is “Gives Your Kids More!”), then the company might instead launch another chocolate and malt powder product but brand it as “Nestle Sustain”.
• New Brands
  If Nestle decides to not contaminate the Milo target market and give new benefits, they might launch “Nestle Sustain” chocolate-flavoured chewable tablets with added calcium and other nutrients for older people.

Finish this section by describing the product you are going to offer to them. Your product design must be guided using the “three levels” framework, where you need to detail what core, actual, and augmented layers you are proposing.

Part 3. Competitor and Positioning Analysis

There is a good chance that another brand is already serving your chosen segment in what you are going to offer.

Your task is to:

• Research the marketing mix of these direct and indirect competitors, and conclude by presenting them in a brand positioning map. You are welcome to use primary or secondary data to construct your map.
• Then, using this brand positioning map and thinking about the characteristics of the target market, formulate a positioning strategy, develop a brand positioning statement and value proposition for your offering. What will be your strategy to build that positioning in the consumers’ mind? We encourage you to look at concepts such as brand equity and brand relationships to enhance your argument in this section.

Fig 3. What value proposition will you choose, and why?

Part 4. Marketing Mix

Now that you have chosen your target segment and decided upon your Positioning you need to create a Marketing Mix to implement and communicate your offering to them. Demonstrate application of theory from the Unit materials when you explain Mix details.  The Marketing Mix implements and communicate the Brand Positioning you developed in Part 3 above.

• Place. How exactly will you take your offering to market?
  Would you require intermediaries or retailers for your product? If yes, then what do you want them to do?
• Promotion.
  What key messages/themes will you use? How does that relate to your Positioning?
  Where (which media), during what times (media vehicle matching), and how will you deliver these messages?
  To effectively communicate your idea, you can also include drawings, storyboards, or even videos of your advertising if you’re feeling up for
• 
  As a minimum you need to recommend and justify a price and one of the pricing strategies as defined in the Lectures.
  Demonstrate your knowledge of the target segment’s buying power and competitive landscape to recommend a pricing strategy.
  What can your target segment afford?
  What do you think they would be willing to pay?
  Are you proposing any payment strategies and/or financial partners involved?
• Your fourth P, product strategy, will have been covered in Part 2. It is very tempting to let your imagination go wild in this section. However it is important to note that we are looking for creativity that makes sense.

Your marketing mix plan should be strongly grounded by your understanding of the target market and why it would be effective.