Marketing Plan: Product Identification and SWOT Analysis

Instructions

Create a Word document of three to four pages formatted to APA Style and includes at least one scholarly, peer-reviewed, or other credible resource (Links to an external site.) from the University of Arizona Global Campus library in addition to the course text.

In your paper,

Describe the selected company and brand and a brief history.
List the core products and services they offer.
Identify the key current competitors.
Complete a SWOT analysis (Links to an external site.).
Propose the product or service line you want to develop a marketing plan for.
Justify your proposal with a SWOT-based argument for why it warrants marketing investment.
Describe your core product, extended product, and the product concept.
Explain how you plan to achieve competitive differentiation through creating customer value in four areas:
Branding
Packaging
Support
Quality
Helpful Tips

The focus of your marketing plan can be a new product/service idea of your own or an existing product/service that you think deserves its own dedicated campaign. Just don’t pick something that you’ve already seen being actively marketed.

For example, after completing a SWOT analysis for McDonald’s, one might propose marketing new concepts like a McVeggie burger or an adult happy meal. Further afield, one might propose a whole new chain of pay-to-visit indoor McPlayground Centers. Or, relative to existing menu offerings, one might suggest a dedicated marketing campaign for say “burgers at breakfast” or after midnight snacking via the drive-through.

Learn about your brand and then let your imagination run wild. It can be a big idea that will appeal to many of their customers or a very targeted effort—you decide. You can always adjust your idea after getting instructor feedback.

To learn more about SWOT analysis and see as an example how it is applied to Starbucks, you may see the below resources:

Three Tips For A Better SWOT Analysis (Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)Starbucks SWOT Analysis (Links to an external site.)
The Marketing Plan: Product Identification and SWOT Analysis paper

Must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.) resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper in bold font
Space should be between title and the rest of the information on the title page.
Student’s name
Name of institution (University of Arizona Global Campus)
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Due date
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Writing Center resources.
Must use at least one scholarly or credible sources in addition to the course text.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this University of Arizona Global Campus Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Writing Center for specifications.