Sunderland Faulty of Business & Law Undergraduate Programmes MKT306 Marketing Strategy Assignment January 2012/13 Title: Individual

Marketing Strategy Report Weighting: 100% Module Assessor: Stephen Storey Issue Date: January 2013 Completion Date: 09th May 2013 (hard copy) Word Count: 2500 - 3000 + Appendices Task This assignment is in report format in two parts each worth approx. 50%: a) Investigation and analysis (50%) Individually, choose an organization, either producer and/or brand owner, who is involved in the marketing of mobile phones (This Excludes the Blackberry Brand of Phone). Investigate and evaluate the marketing strategy of the producer/owner using contemporary marketing tools and techniques. This may however be illuminated using examples from other companies/ organizations. You can demonstrate the effectiveness of the reported policies for the chosen company by giving performance data against competitors in the market (e.g. market share, sales, profitability, etc.). b) Recommendations(50%) Your remit is to put forward your own suggestions covering changes in marketing strategy that will improve the future performance of the brand for the benefit of the parent company and its stakeholders. Justify your choices again using contemporary marketing methods and techniques. These suggestions should be your own ideas but may include marketing tactics and strategies used by other successful organisations but in different industry sectors. You will put these suggestions, forward in a written report. Please do not just restate the strategies used by your chosen firm but outline your own ideas for improved performance. N.B. You should be using publicly available sources. Though the report should include facts and figures from these sources e.g. journals, newspapers, magazines, or reference/text books. When these are incorporated they should be fully referenced using the Harvard referencing system.

This is an individual piece of work. The work must be original (Data gained from published sources and referenced is exempted) if there is evidence of any work that is not wholly attributable to you, the Universitys policy on Cheating, Collusion a nd Plagiarism will be applied. Please read all instructions and information carefully.

Submission 1. All students are required to submit assessed work through Turnitin 2. All students are normally required to submit two copies of their assessed work. One copy must be submitted before 4.00pm on 13th May though Turnitin and one paper copy should be submitted to the library at St. Peters. 3. All students must submit a Turnitin receipt with the paper copy submission 4. The penalty for students who do not submit their assessed work through Turnitin is that their mark is withheld and the assessment board may deem the work to have failed. 5. Students may submit drafts through Turnitin prior to submission and generate reports prior to submission. The last submission prior to the deadline will be deemed to be the final submission for assessment purposes. Please note that you need to allow 24 hours between submissions through Turnitin to generate a fresh/new/different report so please do not leave submission to the last moment. Summative feedback will be provided on the coversheet of the assignment Learning Outcomes Assessed: Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Knowledge 1. Explain the nature of marketing strategy and its significance for the organisation 2. Assess the drivers and factors affecting the choice of marketing strategies 3. Evaluate appropriate models and techniques that aid the strategic marketing process 4. Analyse contemporary marketing issues and problems in a strategic context Skills 1. Apply research skills 2. Demonstrate interpreting advanced information and marketing data handling skills 3. Assess communications skills to develop effective relationship marketing

Marking Scheme 1st (70+%) An excellent assignment. It demonstrates a high level of understanding of the learning outcomes. The report provides evidence of significant understanding of marketing strategy theory/techniques and its application to the selected organisation. All decisions are logical, coherent, fully justified, explained succinctly and coherently, but also demonstrates a high level of insight and originality. The presentation is of a very high standard demonstrating a professional approach which is generally free of errors. 2:1 (60-69%) A very good assignment. It demonstrates a reasonably high level of understanding of the learning outcomes. The assignment provides evidence of understanding of marketing strategy theory/techniques and its application to the selected organisation. All decisions are logical, justified and explained however are less strong in terms of insight and originality. The presentation is of a high standard and predominantly free from errors. 2.2 (50-59%) A good assignment. It demonstrates a sound understanding of the learning outcomes. The report provides evidence of understanding of marketing strategy theory/techniques and its application to the selected organisation, though this may be somewhat limited. Most decisions are appropriate however are less strong in terms of insight, logic and originality. The presentation is adequate. 3rd (40-49%) A satisfactory assignment. It demonstrates an understanding of the learning outcomes. The report provides evidence of understanding of marketing strategy theory/techniques and its application to the selected organisation, although this is limited. Decisions are appropriate however lack coherence, insight and logic. The presentation is adequate, but lacks cohesion. Grade F (<40%) Unsatisfactory assignment. It demonstrates a lack of understanding of the learning outcomes. It contains some elements of marketing strategy/techniques applied to the context however is not wholly appropriate. The assignment lacks logic, coherence, originality and insight. The presentation is poor with a number of errors.