Team Charter
All elements included: – members identified – roles specified – tentative meeting dates & locations; virtual or in person – means of primary contact -means to deal with uncooperative members.
Task Table
Task table is included. All students have signed up for at least one task per module.
Identification of Organization and Reason for Selection
The organization is identified and the reason for its selection is clearly stated and is thorough.
Product
Product or service, potential consumers and purchase experience are all well described.
Price
Price for product/service price is included. It is clear how this price compares to the competition.
Promotion
Includes an overview of the promotion and at least 2 promotional channels.
Place
Detailed description of at least two distribution channels that will be used.
In this component, your team will research your selected organization and complete the first half of a formal marketing plan. Your paper is to be written in conformance with the COBE Writing Style Guide. Be sure you use bullets, charts, and a few (3-5) images to make your plan visually interesting.
Review the task table from your Team Charter and Organization Selection Paper. Write your sections and add them to your team’s doc
Current Marketing Situation
Here’s where you want a robust use of numbers and facts. This is your lay of the land section. What’s the history of your company? What’s the market situation? Is there a lot of competition? What makes your company well-positioned to break into the market with this new product or service you’re introducing?
Marketing Communications Strategy
Give me three bullets. Start each bullet with exactly what the promotion method is. You’ve got lots in your toolbox. Sales promotion, trade promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, online marketing, event marketing, public relations, etc. Use an active voice and get right to the point of what you are going to do. See the example in your text. Think “communication.” How are you going to communicate a.k.a promote your new product or service to potential customers? If you are selling a service, personal selling is highly recommended in this section.
Controls
Your controls tell the reader exactly how/what you will be monitoring to see if the marketing program is effective. Read through the plan and take special note of the various strategies as well as the action programs. Controls are what you’re looking for after the marketing plan has started. What will you monitor/watch for to know if those strategies and programs are working? Check to make sure your controls are directly related to your action programs.
General Tips
Writing: Remove all passive voice language. Words like could, would, or likely should NEVER appear in your plan. Use an active voice. Tell the reader what you ARE doing. It’s ok if it never happens. The point of writing the plan is to write it as though it will.
Mudding the waters: Check to ensure you don’t have marketing communications in your positioning strategy or positioning in your product strategy or any other combination of mixed strategies. Keep the lines between the strategies clearly defined.
Lack of clarity and too many words: The hallmarks of a good marketing plan are brevity and conciseness. Be clear. Use as few words as possible to get your point across.
Visuals: Make sure your plan includes graphics, bullets, etc. Visuals will break up the text and make it visually interesting. You can add them at the end after you’ve got all the words, but don’t forget them.
