Analysis of Toyota Marketing Strategy

Paper details:

Assessment Summary • Choose an organisation, preferably one you know well, Toyota is okay for me • Demonstrate your knowledge of the Marketing Concepts by – Applying them, one by one – Define each concept (briefly) at the start of each section – Critique existing marketing actions of the chosen organisation. Suggest improvements • Do not propose a full plan Choice of Organisation • Choose an organisation, preferably one you know well, that is not in a monopolistic market – In a monopoly, many of the marketing concepts may not apply and hence we exclude these • Please avoid the following companies (for the sake of sanity of the examiners!) – Apple – Coca-Cola – Safaricom • Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and Not for Profit (NPO) organisations can be chosen; but ensure that you understand the following: – In marketing terms, the Customer is the source of money. They are usually individual donors, philanthropic organisations or governments Therefore Differentiation, Competitive Advantage, Promotion, Segmentation (and possibly Place) relate primarily to donors (not recipients of the aid) – The recipients of the aid (product or services) use the Product • The Final Assessment can use the same organisation as the Formative Assessment – However, do take note of any Examiner’s comments in the Formative Assessment Topics to be covered • Marketing Mix (4P’s) • Differentiation & Competitive Advantage • Coping with Commoditisation (& Total Product and Solution offering) • Segmentation • Marketing Mix (7P’s, 4C’s) • Branding • Managing (especially the Service Element) • Experiential Marketing, Customer Relations and Experience Management • Role of Internet in Marketing • Pricing and Cost Structure • Stakeholders, Sustainability Recommended Structure – Title page – Table of Contents – Introduction – Main Text of Paper – Conclusion – References Introduction • This “sets the scene”. • Contains the following information: – The Scope of the Company / Organisation • Name • What the company makes or does • Location • Competitors – The Scope of the Paper • e.g. analyse according to Sustainable Marketing principles Main Body • Analyse the target organisation using the concepts taught in the course • Suggested Structure: • Concept 1 (e.g. Marketing Mix, Product) • Concept 2 (e.g. Marketing Mix, Price) • Concept 3 etc. • Each section needs to have: – Brief definition of the concept (perhaps two sentences + a citation). – Analysis of the target organisation. The majority of the paper. – Critique & Suggestions for Improvement, as appropriate • These must be clearly identified as Ideas for Improvement (or similar) Conclusion • Brief summary of the key findings in the paper – Do not introduce any new material – Suggest no more than five sentences NOTE: 1. • For a Master’s level submission, you must read widely around both: – marketing concepts – target organisation and its market • A mix of types of reference is preferred – newspaper, book, journal, internet, company etc. – Ensure good quality references • Wikipedia, MBASkool etc. not allowed • Summarize, in your own words, what someone else has said, and then cite the author, at the end of the sentence or paragraph – Do not put anything in the list of references that has not been cited in the text 2. • Style of Referencing required – Harvard System i.e. no foot notes, no numbered lists etc. – Recommended source of information: https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm?harvard_id_remove=24 • Example – In main body of paper: “… and sustainable marketing typically deals with not only financial performance, but also effects on both society and on the planet (Martin and Schouten, 2012).” – In List of References at the end: Martin, D. and Schouten, J., 2012. Sustainable Marketing. London: Pearson Education • Hints – Avoid using Anon. as an author – Avoid using URL’s in the text 3. • This is an academic paper and the style of writing needs to reflect this. – Formal, complete sentences – It is not a journalistic piece, nor a presentation • Avoid copy/pasting • The only direct quotes, if any, should be short, pithy and highly relevant • At all times let the words be your own – no long quotations • Do not use 1st person pronouns (e.g. I, we, my etc) – Use instead the passive voice – Or use “the writer” or “the author” 4. • You will put the marker in a very bad mood if you confuse: – it’s and its – their, there and they’re – your and you’re • Developing paragraphs: try to open the paragraph with a theme sentence and then develop the theme • Avoid single-sentence paragraphs • No pointless filling. Avoid such statements as – “it is important to note that” – “taking all things into consideration” – “a further very interesting point that has yet to be mentioned is” 5. • Keep sentencing simple, and generally short • Do not run distinct main clauses together • Make good use of “joining words” such as: – however, therefore, thus, nonetheless, furthermore, moreover • If two sentences really go together, you could use a semi-colon – NB avoid overuse of semi-colons • A small but irritating point: put a space after commas and full stops and not before! • Do not put text into tables 6, • Use MS Word (.docx) – A4 paper size (not Letter) – Portrait layout (for all pages) – 12 point font – Double line spacing • Ensure section headings are on the same page as the first line of the following text 7. Some important techniques: – Force a new page using Ctrl-enter – Join a heading to the following text: right click the heading, select Paragraph, select tab titled Lines and Breaks, select Keep With Next – Advanced: learn how to make a table of contents in MS Word. – Advanced: Consider using the Reference feature (called Citations & Bibliography in MS Word) using the styagnle of Harvard – Anglia 2008