MKT 421 Marketing Entire Course / New Syllabus
MKT 421 Marketing Week 1 DQ 1
What is the definition of marketing? What are the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating marketing into the sales function of an organization? Do you think that marketing should be included as part of the sales organization within a company? Explain why or why not.
MKT 421 Marketing Week 1 DQ 2
Select an organization with which you are familiar. How does your selected organization use the different components of the marketing mix? How does the marketing mix affect the development of your selected organization’s marketing strategy and tactics? How can your selected organization use quantifiable elements to evaluate, monitor, and control marketing effectiveness?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 1 DQ 3
Assume you are the newly hired marketing manager of a company. As you spend time with other peer marketing managers, you realize that the company does not place an emphasis on planning within the marketing organization. Why is planning important in marketing? What are the essential components of a marketing plan? How would you convince your supervisor that the marketing department should produce formal marketing plans?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 2 DQ 1
What is marketing research? How has the Internet affected marketing research? As part of your answer, address time, cost, approaches, and validity. Why is marketing research important to developing marketing strategy?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 2 DQ 2
What is competitive intelligence? What is the importance of competitive intelligence and analysis in modern-day marketing? How can a company’s marketing organization ensure that it is able to identify newly emerging competitors in time to plan and execute an effective marketing strategy in response to these competitors?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 2 DQ 3
What are the different types of buyers and consumers? How does the type of buyer or consumer affect marketing strategy? As part of your response, consider the characteristics of buyers and the factors that influence their purchasing decision. How can an organization ensure that their market strategy is appropriate for their target market?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 3 DQ 1
Select a product with which you are familiar. What stage is your selected product at in the product life cycle? Provide rationale for your answer. Based on your knowledge of the product life cycle, what types of changes will occur to your selected product as it continues through the product life cycle? How will this affect the marketing of your selected product?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 3 DQ 2
Select a product or service. Then select three different organizations that provide your selected product or service and compare the prices associated with your selected product or service. What is the difference between the prices among the different organizations? What is the rationale for this difference?
Week 4 DQ 1
What is a distribution channel? What is the relationship between channels of distribution and logistics? How does geographical location affect your selection of distribution channels?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 4 DQ 2
What are the similarities and differences between promotional push strategies and promotional pull strategies? What is an example of a situation in which an organization would use a push strategy? What is an example of a situation in which an organization would use a pull strategy?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 4 DQ 3
What does the term noise mean in marketing? With so much advertising noise in the marketplace, how can a company ensure its message is heard?
MKT 421 Marketing Week 5 DQ 1
Florida’s Department of Citrus and a coalition of consumer groups have launched an attack on your company for deceptive marketing because your company markets its SunShine drink as fruit juice even though the drink contains less than 5% fruit juice. Marketing SunShine drink as a fruit juice leads parents to believe that they are purchasing a healthy juice for their children. What ethical and moral issues are involved in this situation? Should these issues affect the marketing of SunShine drink? Explain why or why not.
MKT 421 Marketing Week 5 DQ 2
You are the marketing manager for a leading coffee chain. Your company has made the decision to expand internationally, specifically into China. What are some environmental factors that you will need to consider in marketing your coffee in China? Which of one of these factors would have the largest effect on the company’s marketing strategy? Explain why.
MKT 421 Marketing Week 5 DQ 3
How has technology affected marketing? What types of new technologies are organizations using to market their products and services to both buyers and sellers?
MKT 421 Favorite Brand Paper
Write a 750- to 1,000-word paper in which you identify your favorite brand and explain why it is your favorite. In the paper you should do the following:
- Identify a brand about which you are passionate.
- Explain a minimum of three reasons why you are passionate about this brand.
- Respond to the following questions:
- Is the company successful in building loyal customer relationships across different groups?
- Why or why not?
- Identify at least two other competitors in the same industry, and explain why you prefer your selected brand over the competitors.
Cite a minimum of three sources from popular media (magazines, newspaper, and online media) that illustrate your points.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
MKT 421 Week 2 Marketing Mix Presentation
Select a company currently experiencing marketing changes.
Create a 6-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation (including a title slide) that analyzes that company’s marketing mix:
- Each of the four P’s should be addressed on its own slide.
- The final slide should analyze the changes this company is experiencing and the driving forces behind the changes.
- Use the MarketLine database and Wall Street Journal in the University Library to facilitate your research of the company.
MKT 421 Week 2 Personal Branding Plan Paper
Write a 750- to 1000-word paper that does the following:
- Summarizes your background and what makes you unique in a 1-paragraph elevator pitch
- Identifies 3 to 4 companies you want to work for, and an explanation as to why
- Identifies the best methods for contacting those companies and engaging those who might influence the hiring decision
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
MKT 421 week 3 Strategy and Positioning Paper
Select a new product or service that will be launched by either an existing organization or one you will create. This product or service will serve as the basis for the Marketing Plan you will write throughout the course.
Obtain your instructor’s approval of your product or service before beginning this project.
Write a 2,800- to 3,500-word paper that includes the following:
- An overview of the organization
- A description of the product or service
- A SWOT analysis of the organization and offering
- A competitive analysis of the organization and offering using Porter’s five competitive forces model
- The criteria you will use to segment your market and select your target market including geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors
- A description of your target market
- Needs that cause your target market to buy including emotional and logical drivers
- A written positioning statement that identifies:
- Your target market
- The needs that drive purchase
- Your organization’s industry category
- How your organization solves the target’s needs
- Your organization’s competition
- What makes your organization different from its competition
Include sources of secondary research that support your analysis.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
MKT 421 Week 3 Perpetual Map presentation
Review ‘perceptual mapping’ located on the Week 2 ERR page.
Review the example perceptual map in Exhibit 4-13 in Ch. 4 of Basic Marketing.
Select an industry with many competitors.
Select two key variables that segment the competition.
Complete a perceptual map that includes a minimum of 10 competitors from that same industry. Explain why you placed each competitor on its particular spot on the map.
Use the MarketLine database and Wall Street Journal in the University Library to facilitate your research of the company.
Create a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation with your map and competitor explanations. Include a summary slide at the beginning of your presentation.
MKT 421 Week 4 Blue Ocean Strategy Paper
Write a 750- to 1,000-word paper that describes the importance of blue ocean strategy and identifies a product or service that would be considered a blue ocean move. Include the following:
- A description of blue ocean strategy and its importance
- A product or service that might be considered a blue ocean move and why
- An alternative red ocean move for the same product or service along with the pros and cons of that strategy
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
MKT 421 Week 4 Product, Pricing, and Channels Paper Paper
Use the product and organization you identified in your Week 3 Strategy and Positioning Paper.
Write a 1,500- to 2,000- word paper that includes:
- A detailed description of the features of your product or service including how it solves the needs of your target market
- A description of how your marketing efforts will change with each phase in the product life cycle
- The packaging you will use for your product or service and how it will add value
- The appropriate pricing strategy for your product or service and the price you will set at launch
- The channels of distribution you will use to sell your product along with a description of how each channel partner will add value
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
MKT 421 Week 5 Map the Supply Chain Paper
Select an industry.
Write a 750- to 1,000-word paper that identifies each link in the supply chain and the purpose and value in each.
MKT 421 Week 5 Final Marketing Plan and Presentation
Combine your Strategy and Positioning and Product, Pricing, and Channels papers along with your promotional strategy into a single Marketing Plan.
Write a 6,000- to 7,000-word paper that integrates your previous Learning Team assignments into a final Marketing Plan. In addition to your previous papers, include the following:
- Your promotional strategy for your product or service, including how you may use the following:
- Advertising
- Public relations
- Digital marketing
- Sales promotion
- Direct marketing
- Event marketing
- Outdoor
- The effect professional selling may have on your offering
- An initial budget for your plan
- The methods you use will measure the success of your plan
- Any ethical issues your marketing plan might have
Prepare a 15- to 20-minute oral presentation accompanied by a 15- to 20-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation illustrating your Marketing Plan.
Format your paper and presentation consistent with APA guidelines.
