Product Differentiation and Positioning Assignment
The process of peer review strengthens a presentation by having another qualified person analyze the same data and then review your work. You originally drafted the product differentiation and positioning section of the consultant’s report. In the last module, a peer provided a different and alternative perspective, conclusion, and/or recommendation using independent research and analysis. In this module, you will now strengthen your initial draft by integrating the alternative from your peer into your revised final draft that will be submitted to the client.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
- Create product development strategies and market demand estimates.,
- Assess the market structure to determine the crucial factors influencing the marketing strategy
Resources
- Textbook: Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, Ch. 3, pp. 33-48; Ch. 5-6, pp. 63-116
- Textbook: The 30 Day MBA in Marketing: Your Fast Track Guide to Business Success, Ch. 2, pp. 23-50
- **Textbook: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Ch. 1, pp. 5-10; Ch. 16-19, pp. 179-198
- File: Market Analysis Report Template
**You must request these pages from Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind directly from Off Campus Library Services (OCLS). OCLS will email the pages to you within one (1) business day, not including weekends and holidays. Please include all of the information needed for this request: author, publication year, title, and publication information. Email your request to ocls@indwes.edu or fill out an Online Request for Services form.
You may also call OCLS at 1-800-521-1848. OCLS hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). OCLS closes on Sunday, all university holidays, and holiday weekends.
Instructions
Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
This is your revised final draft of the product differentiation and positioning section of your consultant’s report. It is based on what you posted in 1.3 and on your peer’s comments and response posted for your benefit in 2.2.
Your revised final report must integrate your peer’s alternative analysis or recommendation as an alternative perspective as part of your final report. You must either accept your peer’s perspective as a replacement to your initial proposal based on adequate credible theory and current marketing practice to accept it or you must provide adequate credible theory and current marketing practice to reject it. If you accept it as the correct analysis or recommendation, then the peer alternative will become the primary focus of your final paper, and your original analysis and/or recommendation will be noted as an alternative perspective that you have rebutted through cited research. If you do not accept the alternative, then you only need to discuss it as an alternative and provide objective and qualified reasons to reject it.
Use these seven titles from the Market Analysis Report Template to create seven sections for this part of the consultant’s report:
- Current annual sales volume in dollars and/or units sold in the market
- Current competitors and their offerings, including points of differentiation for each offering indicating how they are positioned to each other in the market
- Current price points of competitors
- Projected overall market growth rate for the next five years
- Projected changes to overall pricing in the market for the next five years
- Recommended position and points of differentiation for the JGJ Inc. offering
- Complete buyer profile of the target customer
The body of your paper (i.e. excluding title page, graphics, appendices, and references page) must be 1300 words (+/- 50 words). In the event that your peer did not provide feedback, your length must be 1000 words (+/- 0 words) and you will not be penalized for not including the missing feedback.
You must use, cite, and reference at least five credible sources not provided in the course documents, plus at least one source provided in the course documents.
Your paper must be submitted as a Word document.
Your paper must be formatted to current APA standards including title page, body of the paper, citations, headings, graphics, appendices, and references page. (See OCLS APA Writing Styles Guides