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Assignment 1 Strategic Marketing CX 770016

Assignment Objective/Aim

This is the first of two assignments for this course.

This is an individual assessment that you will complete in your learner managed time, however, your teacher will provide opportunities during class time for clarification, guidance, collaborative working opportunities, and group discussion.

1. LO 1: Evaluate the concepts and principles of strategic marketing and their application to the development of an appropriate marketing mix
2. LO 2: Develop competitive strategies for positioning a firm in its chosen market or markets

Objective: Pick an electric car company and produce a report addressing key areas of the strategic marketing process for that company

Description

This report is the background that helps students develop the foundation upon which strategic marketing decisions will be made. The focus of this assignment is on the market place within which the company competes and analysing advantages against competitors while positioning for a current and future target market. It will be based on research and academic content.

Written Report:

Prepare a 3000 word written report (not including executive summary, contents and references) which identifies and evaluates your ability to analyse the principles of strategic marketing and apply to the development of an appropriate marketing mix;  then develop competitive strategies for positioning of a firm in a chosen market.

The report must include

• An industry overview including market size, market structure and trends
• In depth Pestel analysis
• SWOT analysis
• Critical analysis of the USP and key success factors for the company
• In depth Competitor analysis (at least two key competitors and any competitor advantage)
• Critically analyse one CURRENT segment and one FUTURE segment. Provide enough detail to allow an assessment of the sustainability, viability and attractiveness of the segments.
• Critically evaluate the differences between the segments you have identified and discuss the implications in terms of changes to the marketing mix
• Identify and develop an appropriate positioning strategy for each of the segments
• You must acknowledge the source of all evidence collected and justify all of your choices by reference to the evidence, the company’s situation, and academic literature – as appropriate.

Instructions

1. You have to select a business that has a base in New Zealand but you can use any market worldwide for your discussion

• You are encouraged to be strategic in your choice of business e.g. is the material you require to complete the assignment likely to be available from secondary sources?
• You should discuss your choice with the lecturer BEFORE committing to it.

2. The overall report (report format) should be approximately 3,500 words. You are required to use outside sources to support points you make in the discussion section of your report. This report requires the use of secondary data only.
3. While much of the material will be descriptive with regards to the business, you are expected to link your arguments to the appropriate research & theory and substantiate any claims you make (including assumptions). This means that you should have at least 10 references (not including the prescribed text) in your reference list
4. You are expected to seek information from a wide variety of sources to substantiate the claims made in your report; however, the nature of these will be dependent on your choice of organisation.
5. Please note you are not required (or allowed) to contact directly any representative of the business you are conducting your report on.
6. You must rely entirely on secondary source data, or your own observations to complete this assignment.

Report Format

You are required to write a report on your identified and chosen business (as defined above). A recommended structure for your report is as follows:

• • Cover page
  • Table of contents
  • Introduction
  • Contents (as per report format above)
  • Conclusion
  • References

You must use APA 6th edition referencing in your assessment answers.

As a Level 7 paper, it is expected that all material handed in for assessment is of a professional business standard. This means that it has been proofread, is comprehensible and the source of any facts, theories or assumptions are explicit, substantiated and referenced. Even when no specific marks are allocated for referencing and presentation your overall grade WILL be affected if your submitted material does not comply with these expectations.