The typical buying process consists of the following sequence of events: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior. What specifically do you do as a consumer in each of these stages in a high involvement purchase like buying a house or a car? List the four main psychological processes as discussed in the text and what should marketers do to manage these four psychological processes affecting consumer behavior?

Week 2 – DQ 2: Customer Needs:

Visit GE Healthcare (www.gehealthcare.com/). In context to the major points of chapter 5, define how GE is addressing the needs of their hospital customers by the design of this Web site? Where and what is GE doing right, what is GE doing wrong, and where can GE improve using marketing research? In context of chapter 3, where can GE improve using marketing research?

Week 2 Assignment – Industry Forecasting

• Identify an industry of choice (Auto Industry, Healthcare, PC or Telecommunications). Using the PESTEL analysis from the readings, discuss and analyze the factors that may impact the industry and the successful marketing of a company’s product, for example Ford Motor Company over the next five years. Which factors are perceived to be the biggest weaknesses of the industry? Which factors play to the industry’s strengths? What are some opportunities for growth that could be capitalized upon over the next five years?
• Develop a three to four-page paper in the correct APA writing style. Include a minimum of 2-4 resources; 1 resource must be peer reviewed.

• After reading the article “Conservative Nordstrom to sell trendy Topshop fashions,” respond to the following:
• How does this partnership fit into Nordstrom’s current brand management strategy? Will it appeal to its target markets? How will it allow Nordstrom to differentiate itself from the competition?
• Is this a risky move for Nordstrom considering the downward sales trends for Topshop in the UK?

Week 3 – DQ 2: Marketing Segmentation:

What are the different levels of market segmentation? Synthesize the segmentation strategies that manufacturers of personal computers should implement to attract both the Gen Y and baby boomer generation to increase their purchases of computers. Are there some examples of companies that have already done a good job of marketing across generations? Respond to at least two of your fellow students.

Week 3 Assignment – The Case of the New Apple, Inc.

The Case of the New Apple, Inc. Read the article:

Burrows, P., & Satariano, A. (2012). Can Phil Schiller keep Apple cool? Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-07/can-phil-schiller-keep-apple-cool#p2

Assignment Instructions:

• Develop a two- to three-page paper that addresses the following:
• Is Apple’s brand in jeopardy following the death of Steve Jobs?
• “There is no place for Apple to go but down.” Synthesize the generic strategies and segmentation strategies that Apple can implement to prevent going down.
• What do you expect from Apple in the future ? Will Apple experience a continuation of its current trajectory or will Apple’s good fortune change?
• Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewed

Review the article:
Mohammed, R. (2012). J.C. Penney’s risky new pricing strategy. Harvard Business Review.

Is your own buying behavior influenced by coupons and sales?

Why do you think J.C. Penney’s pricing strategy has not been successful as compared to other “low price” proponents like Walmart?

Will Ron Johnson’s four-year plan be successful over the long-term? Why or why not?

Week 4 DQ 2: Product Development Process:

Do an internet search of the new product development process of any product of your choice, and analyze the process for developing the product. Review the reasons why new products fail and make two specific recommendations to improve the high failure rate of new products.

Guided Response: What lessons do you draw about the importance of using a concurrent rather than a sequential approach in the product development process? What impact does the effective management of the product life cycle have on the market success of a new product?

Week 4 Assignment: Ad Campaign

:

Review the article:
Stanford, D. (2012). Mountain Dew wants some street cred. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.

In a 2-3 page paper, answer the following:

• Is Mountain Dew’s advertising campaign directed at the right market segment, does it differentiate the product from the competition, and does it communicate effectively the product benefits? Explain your answer.
• Provide a proposed redesign of the campaign that could have a more universal appeal. What communication channels should be focused on? Why?
• Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewed

• Analyze the challenges that organizations face in the effective transition between selling products using the traditional brick and mortar marketing channel and selling products online. Synthesize the strategies that organizations like Zara and Wal-Mart- two companies that are having difficulty developing eCommerce capability can implement to increase the effortless movement of customers between the traditional and online channels.
• What are the benefits and limitations of selling through a store front and online?

Week 5 DQ 2: Going Global

Identify the strategies for entering into the global market. Assess the strengths and limitations of each. Give an example of a company that has made a success of doing business in the global economy. What lessons from McDonald’s success in the global marketplace are transferable across industries?

Week 5 Assignment: Marketing in a Global Economy

Marketing in a Global Economy. Review the following article:

Faris, S. (2012). Grounds zero: A Starbucks-free Italy. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from Proquest.

According to the article, Italy poses a “reputational risk” for Starbucks. In a 2-3 page paper, examine some of the challenges Starbuck’s faces in addressing that risk. Determine whether there is a strategic advantage to entering the Italian market. How should competitor’s marketing strategies inform and influence Starbuck’s entry into this new market? Should it even enter Italy at all?

Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewed

Review the article:
Coleman-Lochner, L. (2012). P&G plays kindergarten catch-up with Unilever in Vietnam. Bloomberg. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-04/p-g-plays-kindergarten-catch-up-with-unilever-in-vietnam.html

• Discuss the marketing plan insights P&G has gained through its Vietnamese marketing studies. How influential are those discoveries in the development of P&G’s strategy to enter the Vietnamese market?
• In developing a marketing plan, identify the characteristics of the marketing plan that P&G should implement to boost performance?

Week 6 DQ 2: Creating a Plan:

Provide a brief overview of the product for which you are going to write your Marketing Plan. Why did you choose it? Which elements of the plan are you having difficulty with? What additional information would be needed to make the most informed strategic decisions for the future implementation of your plan?

Guided Response: Provide suggestions to at least one of your classmates on how they may be able to address some of the elements they are struggling with in their plan. In particular, try to focus your feedback on any classmates that are introducing a product in the same, or similar, industry as your own.

Week 6 Final Paper: Plan

Focus of the Final Paper

Develop a marketing plan for the successful development, commercialization and introduction of any product of your choice in the market place. You are required to: (1) analyze the general business situation in detail, including organizational strengths and weaknesses, environmental opportunities and threats, industry trends, and direct and indirect competition. Based upon your situation analysis, you will (2) develop an organizational mission and forecast performance goals. Based upon your objectives, you will (3) create a marketing strategy. Based upon your strategy, you will (a) segment and target potential customers. Based upon your customer targets, you will (b) choose an appropriate and integrated marketing mix, including: products and services, pricing, promotion and advertising, distribution and location, and other elements of the marketing program – the summary and specific recommendations for the execution of the plan.

Use the Internet to research one (1) developing nation of your choice. Your research should include an examination of the effects that war and peace have on the distribution of foreign aid, as well as the material covered by the Webtext in Weeks 1 through 3.

Write a three to four (3-4) Pages research paper in which you:

1.  Assess the positive and negative effects that peace and war, respectively, have on the distribution of foreign aid in the developing country that you have selected. Support your response with concrete examples of each of the results that you have cited.
2.  Analyse the specific actions that the leadership of the selected country has taken, through the use of its foreign aid from donor nations and international lending institutions, to relieve the severe problems caused by warfare…

Use the Internet to research one (1) developing nation of your choice. Your research should include an examination of lending institutions, health care, and human capital, as well as the material covered by the Webtext in Weeks 6 through 9.

Write a three to four (3-4) pages research paper in which you:

1. Explore whether or not funding from international lending institutions like the World Bank and the IMF are helping or hindering the social, economic, or political development of the country that you have selected. Support your response with examples.

2. Discuss, with examples, at least four (4) substantive ways in which a healthy population strengthens the economy of the country that you have selected.

Continuing to build your marketing plan, this assignment focuses on IMC and customer satisfaction for your product and service.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Discuss the company’s advertising strategy and how it aligns with its marketing goals.
2. Determine how the effectiveness of the advertising will be measured.
3. Explain the different promotional strategies that may be used in addition to advertising.
4. Determine the best marketing research approach to measure customer satisfaction with your company’s product/service.
5. Decide how gaps in customer expectations and experiences will be addressed
6. Support your marketing plan with at least two (2) reference sources that discuss the nature of the assignment.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

MKT 500 (Strayer) Assignment 5: Marketing Strategies

In this final assignment, you will compile the previous four (4) assignments, addressing the feedback from your professor, as well as adding the marketing strategies.

Write an eighteen to twenty (18-20) page paper in which you:

1. Write an executive summary of your marketing plan.
2. Provide the company’s mission statement and company introduction.
3. Provide the company’s branding, pricing, and distribution plan.
4. Provide the IMC and customer satisfaction plan.
5. Provide the following information about the marketing strategies:
6. Discuss the company’s competitors, and its strengths and weaknesses.
7. Determine the differentiation strategy in relation to the closest competitor.
8. Explain whether the company’s intention is to be a leader or follower within the industry.
9. Assess the macro-environmental issues (legal, technological, social, and economic) trends with which the company must operate.
10. Identify the most significant trend to impact the business and discuss how the company intends to minimize or capitalize on this trend.
11. Support your marketing plan with at least ten (10) reference sources that discuss the nature of the assignment.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

In this assignment you will describe your fictitious company and provided its background. Then, you are ready to start building the marketing plan with a focus on segmenting and positioning your product and service.

Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:

A. Write about your company.

1. Write a detailed company background. Address the following items at a minimum for full credit:
2. Create a strategic mission statement.
3. Determine and decide upon at least one (1) foreign market for the product and service. Provide your rationale for this market.

B. Write about your marketing plan.

1. Discuss the potential audiences for a marketing plan and the needs of those potential audiences.
2. Identify the marketing segment for the product and provide a rationale for this segment.
3. Discuss the target market and provide a rationale for this target market.
4. Perform a SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats) for the company.
5. Create the market position for your product and service. Explain your rationale.
6. Support your marketing plan with at least two (2) reference sources that discuss the nature of the product.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Assignment 1 – Demand Estimation

Assignment 2 – Operations Decision

Assignment 3- Long Term Investment Decisions

Assignment 4 – Market Model Patterns of Change

ALL Problems

Chapter 1: Problems 2, 3, and 6

Chapter 2: Problems 1, 5, and 6

Chapter 3: Problems 3, 4, and 7

Chapter 4: Problems 5, 6, and 7

Chapter 5: Problems 1, 5, 6, and 9

Chapter 6: Problems 2, 7, 9, and 10

Chapter 7: Problems 1, 6, 8, and 9

Chapter 8: Problems 2(a), 4, and 6(a)

Chapter 9: Problems 3, 4, and 5

Chapter 10: Problems 2, 6, and 10

Chapter 11: Problems 2(a, b), 4(a, c), and 6

Chapter 12: Problems 1, 2(b), and 5(b)

Chapter 13: Problems 2, 13, and 15

Chapter 14: Problems 3(b, c, d), 5(a, b, c), and 8(a, b, c)

Chapter 15: Problems 2, 5, and 6

Chapter 16: Problems 4, 6(a, c), 9

Chapter 17: Problems 1, 5, and 9(c)

Week 2 Quiz Chapter 1 & 2

Midterm Exam: Chapters 1 through 8

Final Exam: Chapters 9 through 17