Assignment CLC – Market Simulator – Marketing Plan week 5

Details:
This is a Collaborative Learning Community (CLC) assignment.
As your team continues to proceed through each quarter of the Market Simulator, it is essential to prepare an outline for your marketing plan. In the previous topic, each member of the group individually developed a summary of the current status of the product. Consider all members’ summaries before beginning on a group marketing plan. The marketing outline will reflect each of the following concepts:
Executive Summary
Review of Financial and Market Performance During the Previous Year
Assessment of Current Situation and the Market
Customers
Competition
Company’s strengths and weaknesses
Major problems/opportunities to be addressed in the following year
Marketing Strategy for the Next Year in the Business (What will it take to get ahead or stay ahead?)
Brand strategy
Pricing strategy
Advertising strategy
Sales channel
Pro Forma Financial Projections (Quarters 1-8)
Hint: Copy the pro forma in the simulation for quarters 1 to 4 into Excel and then add information/data for quarters 5 to 8.
Tactical Plan: (Quarters 1-8)
The tactical plan should articulate what is planned for each quarter, e.g., Q6-open three offices, Paris, London, and New York. Each office will staff 5 employees, one service and four sales personnel, with two sales staff for priority 1 and 2 target markets, at a determined cost. The reader should then be able to see the cost entry on the pro forma. In effect, every planned expenditure shown on the pro forma should include an explanation on the tactical plan. Revenue should reflect: how many units, at what price, are projected? What is cost of goods sold?
The outline for the marketing plan will require a developed written summary (500-750 words), a table to assess the current status with in the market, and the use of Excel.
APA format is required for essays only. Solid academic writing is expected for all presentation formats, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Affinity Computers sells various brands of computers. In the first two quarters, the company invested in engineering, market research, and the setting up of sales offices. The company started earning a profit in quarter 4. Overall, Affinity has the largest market share in the industry. Therefore, there is hope for increased profitability in the subsequent quarters although the company is not performing quite well in the Mercedes, Innovator, and Traveler market segments. Two branding strategies that will help increase sales are communication and improvement in the quality of its brands. Careful pricing and…