Corporate analysis

 Nature of business
o Industry definition

Polar challenge (now Extreme Word Races) competes into the ‘extreme sports’ industry,
focusing on the niche sub-industry of extreme competitions over various and unusual
backgrounds such as polar races or other particular mountaineering settings. Main feature of
this industry is its different approach respect to traditional sport competitions. (ref: "An
Extreme Challenge: Alternative Sports Marketing". Selling to Kids. FindArticles.com. 07 Apr, 2011.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FVE/is_15_5/ai_63990152/)

Mission

The mission statement is organizing unique races that grab the entire world’s attention (ref
http://www.extremeworldraces.com/category/who-are-we/)

- Vision

- Skills, resources and controls

- product identification (core, actual, augmented)

 goals and objectives
o sales growth
o market share
o increased profit
o product development
o innovation
o quality
o reputation and image
o employee satisfaction
 problem statement (key issues and key uncertainties)
 performance indicators

Situation analysis

 Internal
o Customer value proposition
o Sustainable competitive advantage
o Strengths and weaknesses of:
- marketing & sales
- personnel
- financial condition
- marketing information systems
- production capacity
- distribution channel
- reputation & image
- quality (product and service)
 External
 o Market trends & market potential
o PESTE
o Consumer/customer analysis
- size & growth
- segments & target
- purchase criteria (quality, price, service…)
- roles (initiator, user, influencer, decider, buyer, gatekeeper…)
- relationship needs (transactional or long-term orientation)
- buying conditions (limited or extended problem solving, new task buy, straight
rebuy)

- search (extent and type)

o Competitive analysis (competitive strength grid)

- Relative size or market share

- Market leaders or followers
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Reaction profile (aggressive or passive)
o Five forces analysis
o Opportunities and threats (summary of: )

- Competition
- Buyer needs (unmet, changing)
- Channels (availability, development, capacity)
- Resources (human, financial, material)
- Technology
- Market (size growth, share)
- Economic conditions
- Political and legal changes
Current marketing strategy assessment

 Is the strategy working?

 What stage of the product life cycle is the company/product in?
 How does this relate to the current strategy?
 Assess the 4Ps of the firm briefly.
Financial analysis from a marketing perspective and discuss the implications.
From the case study it emerged that Martin would have raised development capital of 500.000
pounds, while, referring to the first race, main sponsor BBC provide the same amount (500.000
pounds), which also includes post-production funding. Given that Fujitsu also sponsored that race,
we can take that sum as the required sponsoring amount for 2004. Given that the specific fee for
each participant was 12.500 pounds and in that year were and seven three-people team participated.
At a minimum you need to assess sales and market share, profitability and shareholder value
(if applicable).
Alternatives, assess & choice
Recommendation
Action plan

 Finance forecast
 The product – Quality (higher, competitive, lower), Service (superior, competitive, inferior),
Branding (generic, family vs. independent, manufacturer vs. distributor)
 The Price – Level (premium, competitive, low), Discounts (cumulative, noncumulative,
warranty or guarantee, level trade, cash, seasonal)
 Promotion – Objective (inform, persuade, remind), Budget, Mix (advertising, personal
selling, sales promotion, publicity), Push vs. Pull (or both)
 Distribution – Intensity (intensive, selective, exclusive), Motivation (margin, support)
Contingency plan