HANOI UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM

Principles of Marketing
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Hanoi Spring 2011

 GROUP ASSIGNMENT

SITUATION ANALYSIS

The situation analysis reviews and analyses the current market, the marketing environment, the
organisation, the customers, and the competitors - all of which influence the development of the
marketing plan.

In summary, the situation analysis provides a gathering of relevant market information that needs
to be checked before any market related decision is made. The situation analysis leads to a
general suggestion of what actions may be appropriate if certain conditions are found to be
present.

Students form a group up to four people. Select a company as a whole such as Honda Vietnam or
a product category such as Samsung televisions or even a product line such as Colgate toothpaste
to analyse. This may be from any industry sector in Vietnam.

Your situation analysis should comprise the following:

COMPANY ANALYSIS

Mission Statement

 A statement of the company's purpose and direction- what it wants to accomplish.

 Any individual good or service must be developed in line with the firm’s overall mission and
objectives.

Company Objectives

 What are the corporate objectives that will guide the present and future development of the
company in line with its mission statement over the next 12 months?
Example:
- Survival
- Profit maximisation in the short term
- Market share leadership
- Product quality leadership

By including the company's mission and overall objectives at the start of the planning process, we
are establishing the framework within which our new product will operate. We are also ensuring
that any new strategy will assist the business to achieve its overall objectives.

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Describe the macro environmental trends that affect the market. Present the nature of the effect,
and include only those forces that are relevant to the market.

 Economic - income, interest rates, unemployment rate, inflation, recession, value of

Australian dollar
  Demographic - population characteristics in terms of size, density, age, sex, race,
occupation, location, education, income, etc.

 Natural - includes environmental concerns, pollution, energy costs and scarcity of natural
resources.

 Technological - new products and new processes bring new market opportunities. Pace
of technological change.

 Social/Cultural - changes in society’s values, interests, perceptions, preferences and

behaviours; the emergence of subcultures, i.e. 4Gs: gays, greenies, girls (working
women) and greys (over 50s).

 Legal/Political - government legislation that regulates business i.e., consumer protection

laws, deregulation, protection, privatisation, nationalism; growth of public interest
groups.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

1. Identify direct and indirect (substitute products) competitors for your selected company.

2. Select two direct competitors, and assess their strengths and weaknesses relative to your
brand

3. How are direct competitors positioned in the market relative to your brand? Define their
positioning and plot a positioning map.

CUSTOMER ANALYSIS

1. It is recommended that this section be presented in tabular format. Divide the market into
three to five discrete customer segments and describe these.

 Use of one or more of the following variables as segmentation criteria:

Behaviour
Includes:
- Purchase occasion, regular or special occasion.
- Benefits sought, i.e. off road, safety etc.
- User status, i.e., non-user, ex-user, potential user, first-time user, regular user.
- Usage rate, i.e., light user, medium user, heavy user.
- Loyalty status, i.e., none, medium, strong, absolute.
- Readiness stage, i.e., unaware, aware, informed, interested, desirous, intending to buy
- Brand familiarity, i.e. insistence, preference, recognition, non-recognition, rejection.

Psychographic
Includes:
- Socioeconomic status
 - Values, attitudes and lifestyle (activities, interests and opinions)
- Personality

Demographic
By age, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, nationality, family size, family
life cycle.

Geographic
By suburb, local government area, region, density, climate.

Describe the decision type (extent of problem solving) for the product, i.e.,

Routine response behaviour - rely on past experience, no decision is required - low cost,
low risk, frequently purchased products).

 Limited problem solving - some information sought, usually a preference for

brand or store

 Extended problem solving - a lot of information is sought - high cost, high risk,
high involvement product

BRAND ANALYSIS

1. Review your brand's current performance, with a view to identifying those areas that could be
improved. Use the the Product Life Cycle to do so:

2. Describe the current marketing strategy for the brand using the 4Ps framework, i.e., what
activities is the organisation currently undertaking and actions or recommendations to be
taken to meet the needs of the target market(s) and to stay more competitive in the market?

SWOT ANALYSIS

This is a summary of the external and internal factors that affect the industry and/or your selected
brand, i.e., essentially a summary of your situation analysis. Your SWOT SHOULD NOT contain
any new information, i.e., not provided in your situation analysis. It highlights the critical issues
that must be addressed by the marketing plan.

With respect to the company chosen, identify:

(a) Strengths (internal)

What do you do better than your competitors?
What advantages does your brand have over competitors?

(b) Weaknesses (internal)

In what areas do you need to improve the marketing mix in order to be more competitive?

(c) Opportunities (external)

 What new opportunities exist in the external environment for a new brand in that need
category?

(d) Threats (external)

Can you anticipate any threats to your business from the external environment that may
challenge or weaken your position?
When all four areas of the SWOT have been identified, there must be a decision about what each
item means, and what actions are needed to enhance or deal with each item. When deciding on
your appropriate actions, consider:

 Capitalising on strengths
 Overcoming weaknesses
 Maximising opportunities, and
 Eliminating any threats or turning them into opportunities.

For example:

Strengths Consider Possible actions

Your brand is market share
leader in that
industry/product category
Threats
Trend for childless families
Not necessarily needing
“people movers”
Identify customer segments
or sub-segments where your
brand does not have
significant market share
Identifying ways to stimulate
demand in this group
Develop another brand to
service target market needs
Change the brand's positioning
Improve the brand’s product
benefits
Develop more effective
communication

CONCLUSIONS

This section should highlight your key findings and outline your suggestions for the company’s
future direction. This may include recommendations for further consumer research and
developing new marketing mix strategies. You must justify your conclusions and
recommendations.

Requirements

1. Throughout the report you must acknowledge the sources of ALL your information.

2. The assignment must be typed, and professionally presented. A REPORT style format is
required which includes an "Executive Summary” and a "Table of Contents". You are encouraged
to use sub-headings and bullet-points where appropriate within the report. You may also
incorporate graphs, tables, diagrams and figures into the body of the report (if lengthy, material of
this kind may be attached as appendices).

3. You must include a bibliography. This should be on a separate page. Full details are required -
name and initials of all authors, full title, publisher, place and date of publication.
4. The word limit for the assignment is 4,000 to 5,000 words. You will not be penalised for
exceeding these limits - within reason (say 10%) - provided that there is no repetitiveness,
irrelevance or "padding". Similarly, you will not be penalised for being under the word limit
provided that all of the requirements have been met.

5. Although you are encouraged to seek a greater understanding of the issues raised in this
assignment by discussing them with business practitioners of your personal acquaintance, you are
NOT permitted to make unsolicited contact with the organisations to obtain information.

Major Assignment Marking Scheme (total: 200 marks)

Name of Students in the group

Title of Assignment
Date

Criteria Very Poor OK Good Very Total

Poor Good
Executive Summary 10

Company Analysis 20

Environmental Analysis 30

Competitor Analysis 25

Customer Analysis 30

Brand Analysis 40

SWOT Analysis 30

Conclusion 15

Tổng
200