You have credit card debt of $37,500 that has an APR (monthly compounding) of 18%. Each month you pay the minimum monthly payment. You are required to pay only the outstanding interest. You have received an offer in the mail for an otherwise identical credit card with an APR of 10%. After considering all your alternatives, you decide to switch cards, roll over the outstanding balance on the old card into the new card, and borrow additional money as well. How much can you borrow today on the new card without changing the minimum monthly payment you will be required to pay? (Note: Be careful not to round any intermediate steps less than six decimal places.) You can borrow $ on the new card without changing the minimum monthly payment you will be required to pay.

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DETAILED GUIDELINES FOR MARKETING PLAN The following guidelines should assist you in the development of your marketing plan. Additionally, the text (Appendix 2) provides some more pointers as to the sources of information you can use to develop a marketing plan. You may also visit the library website, where a special section has been created for business majors seeking to write up a marketing plan. See http://guides.wpunj.edu/Principles of Marketing Look at the tabs on the page and explore the Library Databases, Companies and Products information sources, Industry and Market Trends, Demographics, and Useful Links (see screenshot below) to conduct research. WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY Cheng Library LbQuides MKT 2160 Principles of Marketing MKT 2100 Principles of Marketing Tegema Last Updated: Jan 15, 2014 URL-u. Getting Started Using Library Databases Getting Started Comments&Print Page Developing Marketing Plans Here are several online books from the Cheng Ubrary What is in this guide? This guide provides tips for researching a relatively new business. The information in this guide will assist you in developing a marketing plan Comments 10 THE MARKETING Comments 10 WARNING: 00007 PLANS Explore these tabs The marketing plan how to prepare and implementit ISBN: 0814471013 Principles of Mar & Upda Companies and Products Industry and Market Trends Demographics Search: Marketing 101 Videos from the SBA Marketing 101 Marketing plans how to prepare them, how to use them How to write a marketing plan ISBN: 9780749451500 ISBN: 9780313396052 Publication Date: 2012-01-01 The Entrepreneur's Guide to Market Research-Anne M Wer Comma(0) 0:00/12:42 Other Resources Smat Business Marketing Tips Comines (0) Useful Links Admin Sign in This Guide Beach Market Analysis (4-5 single spaced pages) The market analysis section consists of an Industry and SWOT analysis, a Customer Analysis, and a Competitor Analysis. Recommend the use of the IBISWorld and Mergent Intellect databases from the library, which are remotely available at https://liberty.wpunj.edu/library/erclist/erclist-2.cfm. These databases contain the most relevant and current information that can be used to help develop your analysis. IBISWorld has a number of industry reports that elaborate specific industry threats and opportunities. Mergent Intellect can be used to identify competitors and obtain detailed finance and market information about specific companies. Industry and SWOT Analysis (2 single spaced pages): Conduct an industry analysis with specific focus on the following: • Strengths describe your positive tangible and intangible attributes. Evaluate strengths by business functional area, such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, and your organizational structure. Strengths include the positive attributes of the people involved in the business, including their knowledge, background, education, credentials, contacts, reputation or the skills they bring. Strengths also include tangible assets such as available capital, equipment, credit, established customers, existing channels of distribution, copyrighted materials, patents, information and processing systems, and other valuable resources within the business. . Weaknesses are factors that detract from the firm's ability to compete effectively. Weaknesses might include lack of expertise, limited resources, lack of access to skills or technology, inferior product attributes, or the poor location of your business. These are factors that are under a firm's control but, for a variety of reasons, are in need of improvement to effectively accomplish marketing objectives. Weaknesses are internal negative aspects of a business that detract from its value proposition or place it at a competitive disadvantage. These are areas that need to be enhanced in order to compete effectively. • Opportunities assess the external attractive factors that represent the reason for a firm's existence. These opportunities reflect the potential that can be realized by implementing marketing strategies. Opportunities may arise as a result of market growth, lifestyle changes, resolving problems associated with current solutions, positive market perceptions about a business, or the ability to offer greater value that will create a demand for a firm's products and services. If relevant, place time frames around the opportunities identified. Are these ongoing opportunities, or windows of opportunity? How critical is timing and time to market? • A threat is a challenge created by an unfavorable trend or development that may lead to deteriorating revenues or profits. Threats include factors beyond a firm's control that could place its marketing strategy, or the business itself, at risk. Competition-existing or potential -is always a threat. Other threats include intolerable price increases by suppliers, government regulation, economic downturns, devastating media or press coverage, a shift in consumer behavior that reduces sales, or the introduction of a "leap-frog" technology that renders a firm's products, equipment, or services obsolete. Categorize threats according to their seriousness (major, minor) and probability of occurrence (very likely, unlikely). Customer analysis (1 single spaced page) The customer analysis should describe customer segments and their needs. Customers can be described in terms of geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes. Analyzing customers from this perspective can be a useful way to categorize what you know about potential and actual customers and help identify and confirm market opportunities. • Market Demographics - Consumer wants, preferences, and the frequency of their purchases are often associated with demographic information. In terms of demographics, consider information about your markets age, gender, nationality, education, household composition, occupation and income. • Market Geographics - This factor addresses where your customers are physically located. A landscape architect may serve those people within a specific climate or region. If you are marketing your services over the Internet, your client's physical location may be irrelevant. Market Psychographics - The market can also be described in terms of psychographic information. This is more challenging than the previous categories because it is less quantifiable and more subjective. . Psychographics categorize people on the basis of their lifestyle or personality attributes. For example, the lifestyles and personality attributes of people in a large metropolitan city are going to be quite different from those of a small agricultural-based community. Consider the general lifestyles or personalities that best describe your market. Use the Mergent Intellect database from the library available at. You can obtain PRIZM information for any county in the US. Visit the PRIZM site at https://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=30 to learn about the pyschogrpahic segments in greater detail. • Market Behaviors - Buyers can also be analyzed based on their knowledge, attitude, use, or response to a product. These behavioral variables may include the occasions that stimulate a purchase, the benefits they realize, the status of the user, their usage rate, their loyalty, the buyer-readiness stage, and their attitude toward the products you offer. • Market Needs - This may be the most important topic in your marketing plan. Always emphasize the market need that is sought to be filled. What value is being provided? Marketing efforts will always benefit from focusing on the benefits provided, rather than benefits realized. Value is realized in tangible and intangible forms - e.g., saving time, effort, or money. Will the solutions enhancing customer net worth, self-confidence, or potential? Will the solutions minimize real or perceived risks, fears, or liabilities? Competitor Analysis (1-2 single spaced pages) The competitor analysis should focus on industry and market structure, major competitors, market growth, and bases for competition. Identify the competition. This is often the most difficult part of the exercise. Include a list of all competitors, the basis for competition (that is, whether they compete on the basis of similar products, similar prices, similar target markets, etc.), and categorize them into major and minor threats. Develop a table to capture this information - it is easier to read comparative information in a tabular format. It also lends structure to your composition. A competitor analysis consists of the following key elements: a list of competitors, their market shares, and web traffic shares. a. Market share: There are several sources of information to obtain market shares of companies in an industry. Access the library databases. Recommend that you utilize all three sources described below to obtain a comprehensive competitive assessment. 1. Use the IBISWorld database and click on Browse Reports by industry under the search bar. Find your industry using NAICS. Look to the top navigation bar and click on "Major Companies in which IBISWorld provides market share information for the major players, but not all members of the industry. ii. Use the Business Source Premier database and put the company name in the first search box, then pull down on the field box to the right and choose "Company Entity." In the second search box, put the words "market n8 share" and leave the pull down field menu at the default "Select a Field (optional)."("n8" finds those two words within 8 words of one another regardless of the order of the words, i.e. "market share" or "share of the automotive market"). iii. Web Traffic: Visit www.alexa.com and input the URL for competitor websites. You will obtain basic information about the types of visitors to competitor websites and global and US rankings. These rankings can be used to compare competitors. Do a google search using the product category as one of the search terms (keyword). For instance, if your product is a thermostat, you can google 'thermostat' and then note the page ranks of each competitor. Create a table to summarize your findings. b. Competitors Product Summary (create a table): i. Analyze competitor products and services in terms of attributes, value, and target markets. Customer satisfaction surveys (e.g., JD Powers, trade association rankings. Examine each competitor's strengths and weaknesses from the customer's viewpoint, not yours. List strengths and weaknesses, and state how your solution will capitalize on their weaknesses and meet the challenges represented by their strengths. ii. Basis for Competition: Provide readers with a sense of the basis for competition in the industry. For instance, do firms compete on the basis of differentiated products and services, or price, or distribution capacity, or brand equity created through heavy investments in advertising and promotion? c. Market Growth: Is the market growing, is it static, or is it shrinking? Mergent Intellect is an excellent source for such information. In addition, you can also examine IBISWorld for information on the industry. Cite growth rates in terms that fit the available information and industry. Determine if growth is best expressed in the number of potential customers, projected dollar sales, projects completed, Web site projects, tax reporting hours, yards to landscape, or whatever best fits the case and your audience. If you are projecting the market will experience growth, briefly describe how you are going to leverage your strengths to take advantage of the market growth. If the market is static or shrinking, your task is much more challenging. You will need to take away market share from your competitors to experience growth in your business. Check for reality. Are your growth rates reasonable, based on the characteristics of your market? Are they believable? Can you defend them? Market-Product Focus (3-4 single spaced pages) This section defines the scope of the marketing plan (i.e. where to compete and why?) The analyses conducted in preceding sections should guide the development of your product's Value Proposition, Marketing Plan Objectives, and your STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) strategy. Value Proposition: Describe your value proposition with a specific focus upon value- in-exchange and value-in-use. Develop the following Value Creation and Value Capture Table (see below) and include this in your plan. Use the Value Creation and Value Capture Strategy table provided below and include the table in your plan. Guidelines for developing Value Creation and Value Capture table (see sample table below) Value Creation and Value Capture Table Value-in-exchange Value-in-use Value Capture Customer Differentiating Perceived Problem Solution Strategy Potential Segment attributes Benefits Segment 1 Segment 2 Value-in-exchange: Note that value-in-exchange implies that the product is evaluated prior to purchase / experience by the customer. Value is inferred from product attributes, brand/ company image and reputation, and testimonials / peer reviews. Differentiating attributes: Identify and describe the differentiating attributes (or attribute combinations) of the product that would attract the aforesaid customer segment. Note that each attribute identified must be described in terms of competitive parity (equal to or superior to competitors) and its value capture potential (above market, average, or below market price potential). Perceived Benefits: Describe the perceived benefits derived by customers (e.g. convenience, prestige, savings) Solution: Describe and link the solution to product quality, pricing, and product attributes. Provide a cost benefit analysis. Value Capture Strategy: Describe how you intend to capture value, that is, through pricing (e.g., premium prices), market share, brand equity (e.g., loyalty), or other (e.g., driving competitor out of the market, reducing cost of capital in financial markets, etc.) Potential: Provide a subjective evaluation of the likelihood (i.e., probability) that the capture strategy will work-you may use labels such as high, moderate, and low. Marketing Plan Objectives: Define your, objectives clearly separating these into marketing and other business goals. Ensure that objectives are quantified and measurable wherever possible (e.g. 5 % growth in market share over the next five years). Provide details and rationale for pursuing target markets, segmentation and positioning decisions, and emphasize points of difference between the firm's products/services and those of its competitors. Explain why your business is focusing on these specific target market segments. What makes these segments more interesting than the others that you've ruled out? Why are the characteristics you specify important? Marketing goals - Think about sales, market share, market positioning, image, awareness, and related objectives. Remember to make your objectives concrete and measurable. Objectives that can't be measured can't be tracked and followed up, so they are less likely to lead to implementation. The capability of plan-vs-actual analysis is essential. Financial objectives are very different from marketing objectives. For example, a financial objective might be to increase profits by 10%. while the associated marketing objective to attain the profit goal might be to increase market share by 3%. Marketing Plan Objectives should be a. relevant to the marketing function. For instance, although increasing traffic to your website may be the desired outcome, the marketing goal can be stated as "increasing awareness, and / or interest, and/or positive attitudes towards the "brand." b. directed at specific target markets of interest to the brand and reachable through your website. For instance, an initiative aimed at attracting visitors from Europe may be of limited interest to the company due to lack of a presence or distribution centers in Europe, or lack of sufficient infrastructure. The company may have greater interest in attracting customers from some states/regions within the US. Remember to define your target markets specifically - this makes it easier to track progress towards your goal. c. measurable by the tools available at your disposal. For instance, you may believe it is useful to have a goal such as "increasing the number of relationships with visitors to the site." However, this is difficult to measure. Simply logging the number of times a visitor visits the site is not evidence of a "relationship." One would need to monitor their interactions, purchase behavior, engagement with the site and user communities, etc... A more appropriate goal might be "to increase brand associations and engagement of the abc segment." This is measurable by counting the number of suggestions received, new requests for information, peer ratings likes, shares, etc. d. important for decisions about the brand. The point of the exercise is to generate information that would allow company executives to reinforce what they might already be doing or more importantly change things so as to improve communications, distribution, change pricing strategy, etc. e. stated in the following format: "To increase/stimulate/change xyz by a% within the next 123 months." For instance, you may state a goal such as "To increase awareness of the product line among visitors from the states of NY, NJ, and PA by 10% within the next three months." i. As raising product awareness is clearly desirable and an outcome of the marketing function of a firm, it is appropriate. ii. The goal is specifically directed at the geographic markets of NY, NJ, and PA. This allows managers to coordinate other marketing efforts within the region to create synergy and increase their impacts. iii. Progress towards this goal can be tracked by the tools available to analyze website visitor activity. For instance, you could measure the amount of time spent by visitors (from NY, NJ, and PA) at the website as a proxy for interest / awareness. Google Analytics can be used to provide this information. A longitudinal analysis of the average time spent on the site at the start and end of a three month period is a good proxy of the change in awareness of visitors. iv. Clearly, increasing awareness is a key brand objective - especially when a product is being introduced into the market. Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategy (2-3 single spaced pages) Segmentation strategy: Identify the basis for segmenting the market: demographic, benefit, geographic, psychographic, or behavioral. Note that you may deploy different segmentation schemes for different elements of your IMC campaign (e.g., ads can target different segments based upon benefits sought, while sales promotions may differentially target customers based upon past loyalty and use). Describe the segments and evaluate segment attractiveness in terms of whether the segments are identifiable, substantial, reachable, responsive, and profitable. Consider developing personas to represent typical customer segments¹. Where are your customers geographically located? What language or languages they speak? Here is an example of how personas can inform a creative strategy: Our target audience is typically individuals between the age of 18-35. For the purposes of the website we have broken down these individuals into 4 types or personas base on intent and their purpose for searching. This will help you put our keywords into better context. Persona Description Newbie Rookie Pedaler The Local People who have never purchased a bike before Some tamianty with bikes but looking for specific brands or features Bike owners who are looking for enhancements or maintenance People who are looking for a local bike shop Target Markets - This is more important for some businesses than others. A restaurant, for example, might focus on one set of upper-income customers instead of another, for strategic reasons. An accounting firm might focus on certain business types whose needs match the firm's expertise. Some fast food restaurants focus on families with children under driving age. Strategy is focus, it is creative, and it doesn't follow pre-written formulas. Describe and justify your targeting strategy (differentiated, focused, undifferentiated, etc.) on the basis of criteria such as market size, expected growth, competitive position, cost of reaching segments, and compatibility with the organization's objectives and resources. Positioning strategy: The positioning statements should include a strategic focus on the most important target market, that market's most important market need, how your product meets that need, what is the main competition, and how your product is better than the competition. Consider phrasing as follows: For [target market description] who [target market need], [this product] [how it meets the need]. Unlike ¹ A persona is simply a hypothetical person with human qualities to guide creative design and media strategy. Consider defining a persona for each segment in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education, location, occupation, lifestyle, shopping behaviors, social media and online browsing habits. [key competition], it [most important distinguishing feature]. You need to specify your positioning strategy - whether positioning according to product attributes and benefits, price / quality, use / application, product class, user, or cultural symbols. Consider developing a perceptual map to illustrate your positioning strategy. Marketing Program Strategy and Tactics (4 to 6 single spaced pages) The marketing strategy should be discussed in terms of the four elements of the marketing mix: product, place, price, and promotion. Specific product, pricing, distribution, and promotional goals should be included in this section under the subsections containing each marketing mix element strategy. Specific actions to achieve these goals should also be highlighted and discussed in each section. Product strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • For instance, you may choose to elaborate product strategy in terms of proposed changes in quality, product line additions/deletions, specific product/brand positioning strategies, and packaging decisions. Will you choose to pursue one or more of the following product market strategies: market penetration, new product development, new segment development, and or diversification strategy? Describe your branding strategy and plans to increase brand equity. What is your plan for brand and line extension, co- branding, licensing, etc.? In this section, give specific attention to packaging and labeling decisions and how you would expect these to impact / enhance your branding strategy. Pricing strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • Discuss price strategy in terms of proposed changes (short or long term) in pricing for different segments, product lines, brands, or services. How will you deploy pricing to communicate and capture the value of your product? How will you use pricing to capture value? Refer and elaborate the Value Creation and Value Capture table that you developed earlier in the Market Analysis section. Describe and justify your pricing approach in terms of orientation (i.e., customer, competitor, sales, or profit). Identify complementary and substitute products and estimate your product's price elasticity and cross price elasticities to provide a more comprehensive perspective. Distribution strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • Develop a distribution strategy by discussing proposed expansion / consolidation of channels including any plans to improve supply chain efficiencies, and proposed modifications of channel structures. Describe your distribution strategy with specific focus on direct and indirect channels and methods used to ensure an efficient supply chain. Elaborate your distribution intensity and retailing strategy. Promotion strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • Discuss promotion strategy in terms of advertising, consumer, and trade (distributor) promotions including plans to increase or change advertising, and consumer and trade discounts, rebates, or allowances. This section reflects your recommendations on how to compete and achieve a competitive advantage through a coordinated IMC campaign. Executive Summary (1 single spaced page) This section should be written after you have completed all sections of the report although it should appear first in the report. Here are some tips for writing a concise and accurate executive summary: 1. Explain the product, its benefits, value proposition, and market environment (no more than two to three sentences) 2. Summarize your recommendation and explain its applicability to the product. Specifically, targeting, segmentation, and positioning strategies (two to three sentences). 3. Ensure that you have summarized the key takeaways in terms of your product, price, place (distribution), and promotion (one sentence for each element of the marketing mix) 4. Provide evidence to support your recommendation. Why do you think this will work? Use similar cases from the same or other industries (two to three sentences). DETAILED GUIDELINES FOR MARKETING PLAN The following guidelines should assist you in the development of your marketing plan. Additionally, the text (Appendix 2) provides some more pointers as to the sources of information you can use to develop a marketing plan. You may also visit the library website, where a special section has been created for business majors seeking to write up a marketing plan. See http://guides.wpunj.edu/Principles of Marketing Look at the tabs on the page and explore the Library Databases, Companies and Products information sources, Industry and Market Trends, Demographics, and Useful Links (see screenshot below) to conduct research. WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY Cheng Library LbQuides MKT 2160 Principles of Marketing MKT 2100 Principles of Marketing Tegema Last Updated: Jan 15, 2014 URL-u. Getting Started Using Library Databases Getting Started Comments&Print Page Developing Marketing Plans Here are several online books from the Cheng Ubrary What is in this guide? This guide provides tips for researching a relatively new business. The information in this guide will assist you in developing a marketing plan Comments 10 THE MARKETING Comments 10 WARNING: 00007 PLANS Explore these tabs The marketing plan how to prepare and implementit ISBN: 0814471013 Principles of Mar & Upda Companies and Products Industry and Market Trends Demographics Search: Marketing 101 Videos from the SBA Marketing 101 Marketing plans how to prepare them, how to use them How to write a marketing plan ISBN: 9780749451500 ISBN: 9780313396052 Publication Date: 2012-01-01 The Entrepreneur's Guide to Market Research-Anne M Wer Comma(0) 0:00/12:42 Other Resources Smat Business Marketing Tips Comines (0) Useful Links Admin Sign in This Guide Beach Market Analysis (4-5 single spaced pages) The market analysis section consists of an Industry and SWOT analysis, a Customer Analysis, and a Competitor Analysis. Recommend the use of the IBISWorld and Mergent Intellect databases from the library, which are remotely available at https://liberty.wpunj.edu/library/erclist/erclist-2.cfm. These databases contain the most relevant and current information that can be used to help develop your analysis. IBISWorld has a number of industry reports that elaborate specific industry threats and opportunities. Mergent Intellect can be used to identify competitors and obtain detailed finance and market information about specific companies. Industry and SWOT Analysis (2 single spaced pages): Conduct an industry analysis with specific focus on the following: • Strengths describe your positive tangible and intangible attributes. Evaluate strengths by business functional area, such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, and your organizational structure. Strengths include the positive attributes of the people involved in the business, including their knowledge, background, education, credentials, contacts, reputation or the skills they bring. Strengths also include tangible assets such as available capital, equipment, credit, established customers, existing channels of distribution, copyrighted materials, patents, information and processing systems, and other valuable resources within the business. . Weaknesses are factors that detract from the firm's ability to compete effectively. Weaknesses might include lack of expertise, limited resources, lack of access to skills or technology, inferior product attributes, or the poor location of your business. These are factors that are under a firm's control but, for a variety of reasons, are in need of improvement to effectively accomplish marketing objectives. Weaknesses are internal negative aspects of a business that detract from its value proposition or place it at a competitive disadvantage. These are areas that need to be enhanced in order to compete effectively. • Opportunities assess the external attractive factors that represent the reason for a firm's existence. These opportunities reflect the potential that can be realized by implementing marketing strategies. Opportunities may arise as a result of market growth, lifestyle changes, resolving problems associated with current solutions, positive market perceptions about a business, or the ability to offer greater value that will create a demand for a firm's products and services. If relevant, place time frames around the opportunities identified. Are these ongoing opportunities, or windows of opportunity? How critical is timing and time to market? • A threat is a challenge created by an unfavorable trend or development that may lead to deteriorating revenues or profits. Threats include factors beyond a firm's control that could place its marketing strategy, or the business itself, at risk. Competition-existing or potential -is always a threat. Other threats include intolerable price increases by suppliers, government regulation, economic downturns, devastating media or press coverage, a shift in consumer behavior that reduces sales, or the introduction of a "leap-frog" technology that renders a firm's products, equipment, or services obsolete. Categorize threats according to their seriousness (major, minor) and probability of occurrence (very likely, unlikely). Customer analysis (1 single spaced page) The customer analysis should describe customer segments and their needs. Customers can be described in terms of geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes. Analyzing customers from this perspective can be a useful way to categorize what you know about potential and actual customers and help identify and confirm market opportunities. • Market Demographics - Consumer wants, preferences, and the frequency of their purchases are often associated with demographic information. In terms of demographics, consider information about your markets age, gender, nationality, education, household composition, occupation and income. • Market Geographics - This factor addresses where your customers are physically located. A landscape architect may serve those people within a specific climate or region. If you are marketing your services over the Internet, your client's physical location may be irrelevant. Market Psychographics - The market can also be described in terms of psychographic information. This is more challenging than the previous categories because it is less quantifiable and more subjective. . Psychographics categorize people on the basis of their lifestyle or personality attributes. For example, the lifestyles and personality attributes of people in a large metropolitan city are going to be quite different from those of a small agricultural-based community. Consider the general lifestyles or personalities that best describe your market. Use the Mergent Intellect database from the library available at. You can obtain PRIZM information for any county in the US. Visit the PRIZM site at https://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=30 to learn about the pyschogrpahic segments in greater detail. • Market Behaviors - Buyers can also be analyzed based on their knowledge, attitude, use, or response to a product. These behavioral variables may include the occasions that stimulate a purchase, the benefits they realize, the status of the user, their usage rate, their loyalty, the buyer-readiness stage, and their attitude toward the products you offer. • Market Needs - This may be the most important topic in your marketing plan. Always emphasize the market need that is sought to be filled. What value is being provided? Marketing efforts will always benefit from focusing on the benefits provided, rather than benefits realized. Value is realized in tangible and intangible forms - e.g., saving time, effort, or money. Will the solutions enhancing customer net worth, self-confidence, or potential? Will the solutions minimize real or perceived risks, fears, or liabilities? Competitor Analysis (1-2 single spaced pages) The competitor analysis should focus on industry and market structure, major competitors, market growth, and bases for competition. Identify the competition. This is often the most difficult part of the exercise. Include a list of all competitors, the basis for competition (that is, whether they compete on the basis of similar products, similar prices, similar target markets, etc.), and categorize them into major and minor threats. Develop a table to capture this information - it is easier to read comparative information in a tabular format. It also lends structure to your composition. A competitor analysis consists of the following key elements: a list of competitors, their market shares, and web traffic shares. a. Market share: There are several sources of information to obtain market shares of companies in an industry. Access the library databases. Recommend that you utilize all three sources described below to obtain a comprehensive competitive assessment. 1. Use the IBISWorld database and click on Browse Reports by industry under the search bar. Find your industry using NAICS. Look to the top navigation bar and click on "Major Companies in which IBISWorld provides market share information for the major players, but not all members of the industry. ii. Use the Business Source Premier database and put the company name in the first search box, then pull down on the field box to the right and choose "Company Entity." In the second search box, put the words "market n8 share" and leave the pull down field menu at the default "Select a Field (optional)."("n8" finds those two words within 8 words of one another regardless of the order of the words, i.e. "market share" or "share of the automotive market"). iii. Web Traffic: Visit www.alexa.com and input the URL for competitor websites. You will obtain basic information about the types of visitors to competitor websites and global and US rankings. These rankings can be used to compare competitors. Do a google search using the product category as one of the search terms (keyword). For instance, if your product is a thermostat, you can google 'thermostat' and then note the page ranks of each competitor. Create a table to summarize your findings. b. Competitors Product Summary (create a table): i. Analyze competitor products and services in terms of attributes, value, and target markets. Customer satisfaction surveys (e.g., JD Powers, trade association rankings. Examine each competitor's strengths and weaknesses from the customer's viewpoint, not yours. List strengths and weaknesses, and state how your solution will capitalize on their weaknesses and meet the challenges represented by their strengths. ii. Basis for Competition: Provide readers with a sense of the basis for competition in the industry. For instance, do firms compete on the basis of differentiated products and services, or price, or distribution capacity, or brand equity created through heavy investments in advertising and promotion? c. Market Growth: Is the market growing, is it static, or is it shrinking? Mergent Intellect is an excellent source for such information. In addition, you can also examine IBISWorld for information on the industry. Cite growth rates in terms that fit the available information and industry. Determine if growth is best expressed in the number of potential customers, projected dollar sales, projects completed, Web site projects, tax reporting hours, yards to landscape, or whatever best fits the case and your audience. If you are projecting the market will experience growth, briefly describe how you are going to leverage your strengths to take advantage of the market growth. If the market is static or shrinking, your task is much more challenging. You will need to take away market share from your competitors to experience growth in your business. Check for reality. Are your growth rates reasonable, based on the characteristics of your market? Are they believable? Can you defend them? Market-Product Focus (3-4 single spaced pages) This section defines the scope of the marketing plan (i.e. where to compete and why?) The analyses conducted in preceding sections should guide the development of your product's Value Proposition, Marketing Plan Objectives, and your STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) strategy. Value Proposition: Describe your value proposition with a specific focus upon value- in-exchange and value-in-use. Develop the following Value Creation and Value Capture Table (see below) and include this in your plan. Use the Value Creation and Value Capture Strategy table provided below and include the table in your plan. Guidelines for developing Value Creation and Value Capture table (see sample table below) Value Creation and Value Capture Table Value-in-exchange Value-in-use Value Capture Customer Differentiating Perceived Problem Solution Strategy Potential Segment attributes Benefits Segment 1 Segment 2 Value-in-exchange: Note that value-in-exchange implies that the product is evaluated prior to purchase / experience by the customer. Value is inferred from product attributes, brand/ company image and reputation, and testimonials / peer reviews. Differentiating attributes: Identify and describe the differentiating attributes (or attribute combinations) of the product that would attract the aforesaid customer segment. Note that each attribute identified must be described in terms of competitive parity (equal to or superior to competitors) and its value capture potential (above market, average, or below market price potential). Perceived Benefits: Describe the perceived benefits derived by customers (e.g. convenience, prestige, savings) Solution: Describe and link the solution to product quality, pricing, and product attributes. Provide a cost benefit analysis. Value Capture Strategy: Describe how you intend to capture value, that is, through pricing (e.g., premium prices), market share, brand equity (e.g., loyalty), or other (e.g., driving competitor out of the market, reducing cost of capital in financial markets, etc.) Potential: Provide a subjective evaluation of the likelihood (i.e., probability) that the capture strategy will work-you may use labels such as high, moderate, and low. Marketing Plan Objectives: Define your, objectives clearly separating these into marketing and other business goals. Ensure that objectives are quantified and measurable wherever possible (e.g. 5 % growth in market share over the next five years). Provide details and rationale for pursuing target markets, segmentation and positioning decisions, and emphasize points of difference between the firm's products/services and those of its competitors. Explain why your business is focusing on these specific target market segments. What makes these segments more interesting than the others that you've ruled out? Why are the characteristics you specify important? Marketing goals - Think about sales, market share, market positioning, image, awareness, and related objectives. Remember to make your objectives concrete and measurable. Objectives that can't be measured can't be tracked and followed up, so they are less likely to lead to implementation. The capability of plan-vs-actual analysis is essential. Financial objectives are very different from marketing objectives. For example, a financial objective might be to increase profits by 10%. while the associated marketing objective to attain the profit goal might be to increase market share by 3%. Marketing Plan Objectives should be a. relevant to the marketing function. For instance, although increasing traffic to your website may be the desired outcome, the marketing goal can be stated as "increasing awareness, and / or interest, and/or positive attitudes towards the "brand." b. directed at specific target markets of interest to the brand and reachable through your website. For instance, an initiative aimed at attracting visitors from Europe may be of limited interest to the company due to lack of a presence or distribution centers in Europe, or lack of sufficient infrastructure. The company may have greater interest in attracting customers from some states/regions within the US. Remember to define your target markets specifically - this makes it easier to track progress towards your goal. c. measurable by the tools available at your disposal. For instance, you may believe it is useful to have a goal such as "increasing the number of relationships with visitors to the site." However, this is difficult to measure. Simply logging the number of times a visitor visits the site is not evidence of a "relationship." One would need to monitor their interactions, purchase behavior, engagement with the site and user communities, etc... A more appropriate goal might be "to increase brand associations and engagement of the abc segment." This is measurable by counting the number of suggestions received, new requests for information, peer ratings likes, shares, etc. d. important for decisions about the brand. The point of the exercise is to generate information that would allow company executives to reinforce what they might already be doing or more importantly change things so as to improve communications, distribution, change pricing strategy, etc. e. stated in the following format: "To increase/stimulate/change xyz by a% within the next 123 months." For instance, you may state a goal such as "To increase awareness of the product line among visitors from the states of NY, NJ, and PA by 10% within the next three months." i. As raising product awareness is clearly desirable and an outcome of the marketing function of a firm, it is appropriate. ii. The goal is specifically directed at the geographic markets of NY, NJ, and PA. This allows managers to coordinate other marketing efforts within the region to create synergy and increase their impacts. iii. Progress towards this goal can be tracked by the tools available to analyze website visitor activity. For instance, you could measure the amount of time spent by visitors (from NY, NJ, and PA) at the website as a proxy for interest / awareness. Google Analytics can be used to provide this information. A longitudinal analysis of the average time spent on the site at the start and end of a three month period is a good proxy of the change in awareness of visitors. iv. Clearly, increasing awareness is a key brand objective - especially when a product is being introduced into the market. Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategy (2-3 single spaced pages) Segmentation strategy: Identify the basis for segmenting the market: demographic, benefit, geographic, psychographic, or behavioral. Note that you may deploy different segmentation schemes for different elements of your IMC campaign (e.g., ads can target different segments based upon benefits sought, while sales promotions may differentially target customers based upon past loyalty and use). Describe the segments and evaluate segment attractiveness in terms of whether the segments are identifiable, substantial, reachable, responsive, and profitable. Consider developing personas to represent typical customer segments¹. Where are your customers geographically located? What language or languages they speak? Here is an example of how personas can inform a creative strategy: Our target audience is typically individuals between the age of 18-35. For the purposes of the website we have broken down these individuals into 4 types or personas base on intent and their purpose for searching. This will help you put our keywords into better context. Persona Description Newbie Rookie Pedaler The Local People who have never purchased a bike before Some tamianty with bikes but looking for specific brands or features Bike owners who are looking for enhancements or maintenance People who are looking for a local bike shop Target Markets - This is more important for some businesses than others. A restaurant, for example, might focus on one set of upper-income customers instead of another, for strategic reasons. An accounting firm might focus on certain business types whose needs match the firm's expertise. Some fast food restaurants focus on families with children under driving age. Strategy is focus, it is creative, and it doesn't follow pre-written formulas. Describe and justify your targeting strategy (differentiated, focused, undifferentiated, etc.) on the basis of criteria such as market size, expected growth, competitive position, cost of reaching segments, and compatibility with the organization's objectives and resources. Positioning strategy: The positioning statements should include a strategic focus on the most important target market, that market's most important market need, how your product meets that need, what is the main competition, and how your product is better than the competition. Consider phrasing as follows: For [target market description] who [target market need], [this product] [how it meets the need]. Unlike ¹ A persona is simply a hypothetical person with human qualities to guide creative design and media strategy. Consider defining a persona for each segment in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education, location, occupation, lifestyle, shopping behaviors, social media and online browsing habits. [key competition], it [most important distinguishing feature]. You need to specify your positioning strategy - whether positioning according to product attributes and benefits, price / quality, use / application, product class, user, or cultural symbols. Consider developing a perceptual map to illustrate your positioning strategy. Marketing Program Strategy and Tactics (4 to 6 single spaced pages) The marketing strategy should be discussed in terms of the four elements of the marketing mix: product, place, price, and promotion. Specific product, pricing, distribution, and promotional goals should be included in this section under the subsections containing each marketing mix element strategy. Specific actions to achieve these goals should also be highlighted and discussed in each section. Product strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • For instance, you may choose to elaborate product strategy in terms of proposed changes in quality, product line additions/deletions, specific product/brand positioning strategies, and packaging decisions. Will you choose to pursue one or more of the following product market strategies: market penetration, new product development, new segment development, and or diversification strategy? Describe your branding strategy and plans to increase brand equity. What is your plan for brand and line extension, co- branding, licensing, etc.? In this section, give specific attention to packaging and labeling decisions and how you would expect these to impact / enhance your branding strategy. Pricing strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • Discuss price strategy in terms of proposed changes (short or long term) in pricing for different segments, product lines, brands, or services. How will you deploy pricing to communicate and capture the value of your product? How will you use pricing to capture value? Refer and elaborate the Value Creation and Value Capture table that you developed earlier in the Market Analysis section. Describe and justify your pricing approach in terms of orientation (i.e., customer, competitor, sales, or profit). Identify complementary and substitute products and estimate your product's price elasticity and cross price elasticities to provide a more comprehensive perspective. Distribution strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • Develop a distribution strategy by discussing proposed expansion / consolidation of channels including any plans to improve supply chain efficiencies, and proposed modifications of channel structures. Describe your distribution strategy with specific focus on direct and indirect channels and methods used to ensure an efficient supply chain. Elaborate your distribution intensity and retailing strategy. Promotion strategy and tactics (1 to 1.5 single spaced pages): • Discuss promotion strategy in terms of advertising, consumer, and trade (distributor) promotions including plans to increase or change advertising, and consumer and trade discounts, rebates, or allowances. This section reflects your recommendations on how to compete and achieve a competitive advantage through a coordinated IMC campaign. Executive Summary (1 single spaced page) This section should be written after you have completed all sections of the report although it should appear first in the report. Here are some tips for writing a concise and accurate executive summary: 1. Explain the product, its benefits, value proposition, and market environment (no more than two to three sentences) 2. Summarize your recommendation and explain its applicability to the product. Specifically, targeting, segmentation, and positioning strategies (two to three sentences). 3. Ensure that you have summarized the key takeaways in terms of your product, price, place (distribution), and promotion (one sentence for each element of the marketing mix) 4. Provide evidence to support your recommendation. Why do you think this will work? Use similar cases from the same or other industries (two to three sentences).

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