BM046-3-3Strategic Marketing Planning Group Assignment Page 1 of 7

Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology

Learning Outcomes

Students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate the ability to apply appropriate marketing-oriented concepts to a
practical situation
2. Critically evaluate the tools of analysis needed to support the marketing planning
process of the proposed project idea
3. Apply the marketing planning strategies critically to the planned project idea

A. The Brief

You are expected to work in a group of 3-4 people. Your group is required to develop
a comprehensive marketing strategy to effectively market your clients product. Apart
from considering the various segmentation variables (demographic, psychographic
and behavioural), you are also required to examine the marketing planning process,
appropriate marketing objectives and strategies for implementation. The proposed
outline is indicated below. The plan is expected to take off within 6 months.

The brief from the client is as follows:

The Client is in the low-fat, low-sugar, and low-calorie frozen yogurt business and has
five successful outlets in Kuala Lumpur. She now plans to diversify into offering
other foods and drinks, all within their main product category of health food.
She has recruited you as a marketing consultant. Your role is to come up with a game
plan for implementation within 6 months. The clients ultimate goal is to introduce a
selection of healthy beverages and food to supplement her existing yogurt range.
The fact is that many people in Malaysia are becoming health conscious and many
have participated in various type of weight loss and health related programs to stay fit.
She is of the opinion that this group of people, will be a good starting block. This
group, she believes, also wields significant spending power, are not set in their ways
and are always willing to experiment. The client is also encouraged by the fact the
boundaries by age groups are blurring. This is due to the interesting worldwide
BM046-3-3Strategic Marketing Planning Group Assignment Page 2 of 7

Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology

phenomena of the Young Getting Older Faster (YGOF) and Adults Staying Younger
Longer (ASYL).
Being sensitive to the needs of this group of people in Malaysia, she has decided that
the menu will offer her customers the healthiest food options blended with taste,
flavour and variety.
Issues relating to the technical aspects of the healthy food business have been
examined with another team of specialists. They have given the go-ahead in terms of
technical viability. Your client has also given you the mandate to work with them and
fine tune matters relating to the menu and taste buds of the target market.
The client has also indicated that his A&P budget is RM 1 million for the first year.
This should cover the launch, ground activity, follow up campaigns and
promotional activity.
B. The Assignment

A group meeting will be held to discuss the allocation of duties for the assignment and
to determine the role played by each team member.

Your group is required to fill in a Task Allocation Form and submit the form to the
lecturer. The task allocation between the group members should indicate how the
tasks within the assignment are allocated.

You are required to undertake the following tasks either as a group or individually as
indicated below. You are required to prepare a proposal for the Client.

You are required to undertake Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four as a
team and will be assessed accordingly out of a total allocation of 70 marks. An
individual component of 30 marks is allocated to Part Five, Part Six and Part
Seven.

BM046-3-3Strategic Marketing Planning Group Assignment Page 3 of 7

Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology

Your proposal MUST cover:-
Part One: Executive Summary (Group basis)
(5 marks)
Part Two: Situation analysis (Group basis)
(i) market description: consumer behaviour, competition, market share,
environmental factors
(ii) industry analysis: Porters five forces
(20 marks)
Part Three: Strategy Recommendation (Group basis)
(i) product-market combinations: offering, description, competitive
comparison
(ii) market segment, target market
(iii) positioning, differentiation, unique selling points
(25 marks)
Part Four: Objectives & Sales Forecast (Group basis)
(i) quantitative and qualitative objectives
(ii) monthly sales forecast in $ and units for first year
(20 marks)

Part Five: Marketing Mix/Marketing Tactics (Individual basis)
(i) customer communications,
(ii) pricing policy,
(iii) distribution strategy,
(iv) Initial launch promotional activities
(15 marks)
Part Six: Timelines (Individual basis)
(i) checklist of key tasks
(ii) implementation schedule, deadlines
(5 marks)
Part Seven: Marketing Budget Allocation (Individual basis)
(i) cost analysis and controls
(ii) contingency planning
(10 marks)

(Total 100 marks)
BM046-3-3Strategic Marketing Planning Group Assignment Page 4 of 7

Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology


Guidelines:
.
The assignment must adhere to standard academic documentation standards:
Please use appropriate citation and reference according to the Harvard Name
Referencing System in order to avoid plagiarism.
Font type should be Times New Roman.
Font size should be 12 pts.
Vertical / line spacing should be 1.5-line spacing.
You must use enough of your own words to convince that you understand
what you are writing and are not just cutting and pasting. Normally your
own words should be no less than 80% of the total word count.
The assignment should be a formally written document and the contents of
which should be about 2000 words (excluding appendices). You may include
diagrams, figures, tables etc without word penalty.
A sliding scale of penalties for excess length will be imposed according to the
amount by which the limit has been exceeded.

For limit excess:

11 - 20% 10% reduction in the mark
21 30% 25% reduction in the mark
31% + the work will be capped at a pass i.e. 50%

Point to note: maximum penalty for exceeding the word limit will be a
reduction to a pass grade.

Documentation Requirements

Cover Page
The assignment cover page should contain information as stated below in order:
APU Logo
Module Name and Code
Assignment Title
BM046-3-3Strategic Marketing Planning Group Assignment Page 5 of 7

Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology

Assignment Description (Group Assignment)
Intake Number
Hand out and Hand in dates
Group Members Name
Lecturers Name

Table of contents.
The table of contents should follow the title page. It must list the sections and the page
on which each section starts. The table of contents may be one or more pages long.
The table of contents page(s) will not be numbered.

Body of the written entry.
The body of the written entry begins with Part One and continues in the sequence
outlined above. The first page of the body is numbered 1 and all following pages are
numbered in sequence. The numbered pages continue through the appendix.

All fact(s) must be accompanied with the relevant footnotes, e.g.:
annual general meetings of KLSE companies as 10
minute affairs with a handful of people seems apt.
29


29
. Quoted in Financial Times, August 15, 2000, pg.40

You are encouraged to follow this outline when you write your entry. Each section
must be titled, including the References and the appendix.

References
All the references used in the assignment should be given in this page and must be in
Harvard Name Referencing formats, e.g.:

Kellner, Douglas and Michael Ryan (1995) Media Culture: Cultural
Studies, identity and politics between the modern and the postmodern.
Routledge.

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology

Appendix
An appendix is optional. Include in the appendix any exhibit appropriate to the written
entry but not important enough to include in the body; these might include sample
questionnaires used, newspaper articles, general background data, etc.

Assessment Criteria:
You will be assessed as follows:
Documentation marks 100%
Assessment based on the individual component 30%
Assessment based on the team component 70%

You will be assessed at 100% for the Group Assignment and the marks will be
weighted at 50% for the overall marks for this module.

Criteria for Assessment:
Please note that these are broad guidelines only and inevitably some students produce
work exhibiting features from more than one category. This necessitates an
assessment by the marker of the relative importance of the various strengths and
weaknesses of the piece of work.

Distinction (75 %+)
Learning outcomes achieved in full. Excellent work, drawing effectively on the
theoretical ideas to analyse the practical situation, identify the new product and build
the product brand. Uses several marketing tools to illustrate issues. Competent and
full referencing. Well argued and justified. Shows evidence of wider reading in
journals. Obviously checked for spelling and grammatical errors before submission

Credit (65-74%)
As above, but with fewer references, and not as effective in applying the theories and
models. Probably less robust justification and less well argued. May have errors and
typos and more of a sequential structure.


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Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Information Technology

Pass (50-64%)
Achievement of relevant learning outcomes. Standard answer with basic referencing
and some use of models and theories. Some justification and argument. Grammar and
expression rather weak, with a basic structure.

Fail (0-49%)
Learning outcomes not achieved. A few competent parts that indicate with more work
the student could turn it into a pass. No justification or argument. Minimal referencing
and difficult to follow due to poor expression and structure

Please pay particular attention to the following:
Ensure that the contents page precisely reflects the whole content of the report
including the appendices.
Page numbering: Ensure that the contents page accurately reflects the position of
the contents. Page numbers prior to the introduction should be roman
numerals. From the introduction onwards page numbering should be
Arabic.
References should be listed according to the Harvard convention with the authors
listed in alphabetical order.
Authors should be accurately referenced within the report according to the
Harvard convention.
You are required to pay attention to the word count requirements for each Part of
the Assignment.

I f you have any problems with report formats please do not hesitate to contact me.

*** All the Best ***