Module 1 – SLP INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
In this Session Long Project, you would develop an international marketing plan for a business of your choice. You could identify an existing business and expand this business to one foreign country, or you may identify a domestic business without foreign presence. If you want to focus on a multinational corporation, you should identify a foreign country that the company has not entered. There are four parts of this Session Long Project and check the outline for international marketing plan here for the details.
First part (SLP1): Identify the business and conduct market audit and competitive analysis;
Second Part (SLP2): Identify a foreign country and conduct environment analysis of the foreign country;
Third Part (SLP3): Evaluate the market entry strategy for your business;
Fourth Part (SLP4): Develop the international marketing plan for your business.
Market-oriented companies build strategic market plans around company mission and vision, the markets, and the competitive environment. Marketing planning can be more complicated when a company is doing business internationally than domestically. The environments in international markets vary from country to country and from time to time. These variations require international business managers to be especially flexible and creative when they do strategic planning.
The first task for you is to identify the business and give a brief overview of the business operations. You should identify a product or brand from the business and conduct market audit. Follow the guideline below to determine competitive market conditions and market potential for the focal product or brand.
Note that you should conduct thorough marketing research in order to identify the detailed information needed to complete this guideline. Refer to Module Background for secondary data sources you may use for your marketing research. Use proper citations and references to show the marketing research you have done for this section.
For SLP1, you start the project with the following information:
Section I: Company Background and Product Statement
- Identify the business for your project and provide background on the company
- Identify a product or brand from this company and provide information on this product/brand such as consumer awareness of the product/brand, the product/brand image, the stage of product/brand in terms of product life cycle (introduction stage or growth stage or other stage?), any problems or issues related to the product/brand, so on.
Section II: Market Audit and Competitive Analysis
Give detailed analysis of the market for this product/brand based on the following guideline. Please note that the market audit and competitive analysis can be done differently depending on the specific firm. When a firm expands to a foreign country for the first time, it would analyze its current domestic operation as a basis to evaluate the feasibility of foreign expansion. When a multinational firm goes to a new country, it would consider both domestic and existing foreign operations.
A. Describe the target market(s) in which the product is to be sold such as demographic information of the target market(s), the geographic region(s), the consumer buying behavior in each region, product distribution channels (the specific retail stores or intermediaries or online), advertising media used to reach the target market(s), sales promotions used (sampling, coupons, online offers, etc.) and the pricing strategy for this product/brand (price ranges in each region, markups, discounts, etc.)
B. Conduct competitive analysis: identify two or three major competitors and state the specifics of the competing products/brands from each competitor including the brand name(s), the key features of the product(s), the packages, the logos and trademarks; the distribution channels for each competing product/brand; the advertising and sales promotions used for each competing product/brand; the prices for the competing products/brands including the markups and discounts used by competitors; relative competitive advantages or disadvantages of your product/brand relative to each competing product/brand.
C. Evaluate market size including estimated industry sales for the planning year and estimated sales for your company for the planning year
D. Identify regulations you must follow and the government agencies that may help you.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Note that basically what you are doing in SLP1 is background analysis prior to making a choice as to which foreign market to enter, a decision which you will report in SLP2. You should review the outline for this international marketing plan first before starting the marketing research.
Also note that this Session Long Project is cumulative. What you learned in later sections of the course will build on what has been learned earlier. So you should consider revising earlier sections of the SLP as you progress through the course. Thus in SLP1 the marketing strategy paper submitted only consists of the sections indicated above. For SLP2 the paper will consist of the sections you submitted for SLP1, plus those required for SLP2. For SLP3 it will consist of the prior sections for SLP1 and SLP2 plus the new section for SLP3, and so on.
Thus, your professor will review the preceding sections in the each following SLP when assigning the grade for the assignment. This practice would allow you to indicate how your learning from the project has improved both through your own thinking and via the feedback provided.
Excluding your title page and the prior sections (which you are required to include) your paper for this SLP is to be approximately 3-4 pages long. Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size. Thus the entire marketing strategy when completed will be about 12-16 pages long, excluding title page, references and any appendices.
Note that the letters “A, B, C and D” above are used to show the major issues you need to include in your paper, but should not be used to format your paper. Use keywords bolded in the description as headings or subheadings. What you write should be organized, succinct, and professional.
The following will be assessed in particular:
- Your demonstrated understanding of the concepts used in the project. Generally formal definitions are not required as understanding can usually be demonstrated by the way you apply or interpret the concepts.
- It is expected that you will select appropriate frameworks for analysis from the Background materials and demonstrate your understanding of them through your application of them to the project.
- You should conduct marketing analysis appropriate to the project. It is also expected that you will use information from the Background readings as well as any good quality sources you can find to deepen your understanding of the project. Look at different sources, especially credible and reputable ones such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, and The Economist, to find the information for your paper. Also use Trident University’s online library databases such as ProQuest and EBSCO, as well as IBISWorld to find information for your project. Your discussion on each topic should be a synthesis of the different sources. Taking shortcuts on the number and quality of your sources will result in a poor-quality marketing plan that will be of no use to the focal business.
- The criteria used for assessment will include the breadth and depth of your discussion, the critical thinking, the appropriate written communication skills and the proper use of citations and references.
