For your take home final project, select a product to study and build a PowerPoint presentation discussing the marketing topics outlined below. Select one product from one brand. This should be a product that you are interested in or use, and physically have (or can obtain). Do not select a restaurant.
The final report should be about 20-25 slides and should include multiple photos. Slides should have bullet points, not paragraphs. You will not deliver an oral or video presentation of the project you put together, so be sure to provide enough context in the bullet points so that the reader can understand what your bullet point means with regard to the objective of the final. Be careful to not cover up the words with your photos (use only a few bullet points per slide). Do not put information in the notes window in PowerPoint—all of your key points should be summarized concisely on slides and in your bullet points and photos, organized in sections with clear headings, and slides discussing clearly labeled and organized subtopics. Please remember that these finals are individual efforts.
Research what makes an effective PowerPoint presentation and integrate those findings into the creation of your final project (this research does not need to be provided but rather utilized in the creation of your presentation). The objective of this final is to deconstruct a marketing strategy utilized by a company to illustrate your understanding of situational analysis, consumer behavior, segmentation and targeting, positioning and differentiation, and the and the marketing mix: product, price, place, and promotion. Utilize APA style citations, utilizing in-line citation as appropriate and providing a works cited slide at the end of your project.
TARGET MARKET (15 Points)
Who is the target market for the product you selected? Research and describe the consumer that buys the product. Use a minimum of three segmentation variables to explain the target market. Explain how you reached your conclusion. Some ways to determine this include: Ask someone at the company. Who is it that is buying or using the product? Talk to someone who uses the product. What clues do the 4P’s (product, price, place and promotion) used for this product provide about the intended target market? If you go to a store where this product is sold, who is around you are at the store that sells the product?
Illustrate the target market by showing people in promotional tools used for the product (ads, marketing materials, on the packaging of the product, a selfie, or a photo of a friend or family member in the target market using the product).
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS (15 Points)
Conduct a SWOT analysis for the product that you selected. Research the company that produces the product, industry category that the product is part of, and the environmental factors that may be impacting the product. What are the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats for this product? Include macroenvironmental, microenvironmental, internal and external factors in your analysis. Present your findings in a SWOT matrix.
PRODUCT (15 points)
Describe the product. Be sure to pick a specific product and not the whole company. What variations (size, flavors, etc.) of the product are available at different locations? Include a photo of you with the product (a selfie). You can also use photos from the Internet for variations of the product, but one photo must have you and the product. What is the packaging like? Where is the product made? What observations can you make about the product that you might not realize if you were purchasing the product online? Does the product/company have a story? What attributes of the product make it especially appealing to the target market discussed in #1? What are the alternative or competitor products for the product you selected? How is this product differentiated from alternatives to this product?
PLACE (15 Points)
Where is the product sold? Be as specific as possible. Locally, regionally, nationally or internationally? Show photos of the product in at least 6 types of locations or websites where it is sold. Depending on your product, try to find it in a regular grocery store, health food store, department store, convenience store, bookstore, liquor store, bar, restaurant, auto parts store, discount retailer, specialty store etc. Present at least 3 physical stores and 3 digital stores. Is there anywhere you expect this product to be sold that it was not available? Report on where it is not available, especially if it is not available in many locations that you think would be important to reach the target market in #1. Where are competitors’ products available?
PRICE (15 points)
Report the price of the product in each of the locations you identified in #4 and present your findings in a table along with screenshots of the prices. How does the price compare to the competition? Why is the pricing different in different stores? What pricing strategies discussed in the course materials can you identify being utilized in the examples you found? Why do you think these pricing strategies were used?
6. PROMOTION (20 points)
Present examples and photos of as many promotional mix tools used to promote the product that you can find. Can you find any ads for the product in magazines, newspapers, billboards, TV etc.? Where did you find the ads (ex. which magazine? where was the billboard)? Did you come across any point of purchase (POP) displays? Are there any other promotional pieces at the store (like umbrellas, store displays, posters)? Take a photos, screenshots or include a link and describe the ad(s). Do not only provide social media and digital banner ads. How did you know about the product? Note: Be detailed. The promotion section is worth the most points!!
Address all the tools of the promotion mix.
Public Relations: How does the company get publicity? – press releases? Social media? Use of volunteers? Tours or events? Other?
Personal Selling: Does the company (manufacturer) or reseller (store) have salespeople? What do they do? What marketing materials do they use in the course of selling? Did you observe any evidence of the Personal Selling Process?
Sales promotion: What examples of sales promotion for the product did you find? Does the company give away free samples? Does the product go on sale? Coupons? Loyalty programs?
Direct Marketing: Is the product sold in catalogs? Can you buy the product online? Via direct mail? Other?
Advertising: Present different types of mass media advertising for the product. Ads are not just commercials on TV–what other promotions are used for the product? Look for promotions such as print ads, brochures, billboards, coasters, social media, web page, app, internet ads (go to their web site a few days before and see if you get an ad in a day or two on Facebook or other social media).
APA Style Citations (5 points)
Research was conducted and APA style citations utilized, including a Works Cited/Sources and in-line citation as appropriate.
For the product please use Airpod pros:)
