The Vice President of Marketing at MSH Brands (or at your employer or future employer company) has asked you to participate as a member of a marketing management team for the pet food grou

Completion of this portfolio work project will help you understand the key components of a marketing plan.

Scenario

The Vice President of Marketing at MSH Brands (or at your employer or future employer company) has asked you to participate as a member of a marketing management team for the pet food group (or for their product line) for the company. MSH Brands is one of five companies competing in the pet food market. Your membership on the team will require you to make decisions regarding promotion, pricing, distribution, advertising, and product mix.

Your role

You are a Brand Manager at MSH Brands. You are being asked to develop a marketing plan for a new pet food product (or new product or line extension at your employer or future employer.)

Requirements

You are to develop a marketing plan including the following elements based on your research into the8Ps of marketing. Include the following in your marketing plan (And feel free to use this list as your paper outline):

Cover Page. Provide a cover page with basic information such as your name, date, company name, product name, and “Marketing Strategy.”

Introduction. Briefly introduce the plan and tell the reader what will be included.

Business context. Describe the new product to be featured. What are the features and benefits? What is the company reason for bringing this to market? What are the corporate objectives for it?

Situation analysis. How will this new product complement the existing product portfolio or product line in your organization? Who is the target market (be specific)? Who are the competitors (be specific)?

Marketing strategy. What is the overall marketing strategy to support the achievement of the corporate objectives? What is the product positioning statement?

Marketing mix. Discuss, in detail, how at least 4 of the 8Ps apply to your product. Refer to Marketing Basics: The 8Ps, Positioning Statements, and SMART Objectives [PDF]. For example:

What is the promotional strategy to support the achievement of the corporate objectives?

What is the pricing strategy to support the achievement of the corporate objectives?

What is the distribution strategy to support the achievement of the corporate objectives?

What is the advertising strategy to support the achievement of the corporate objectives? (Be brief here. Save any specifics about digital marketing for Week 10’s assignment).

Effectiveness. How will you measure the effectiveness of this marketing plan?

Summary. End with a conclusion that summarizes the document and mentions any known next steps or concerns

Deliverable format:

Marketing plan is 7 pages (in addition to the title, reference, and appendix pages). Use the Marketing Plan Template [DOC] as a resource.

The marketing plan is a professional document and should therefore follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines (located in MBA Program Resources), including single-spaced paragraphs.

In addition, include the following in your marketing plan:

Title page.

References page. Use at least three scholarly resources.

APA-formatted references. Use Academic Writer for guidance in citing sources in proper APA style. See the Writing Center for more APA resources specific to your degree level.

Evaluation

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Apply marketing theories and models to develop marketing strategies.

Articulate the context of the business.

Competency 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies and methods.

Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies.

Competency 3: Use data to support evidence-based marketing decisions.

Evaluate the situation including the product portfolio, target market, and competitive environment of the business.

Evaluate the marketing mix for a product.

Competency 4: Analyze the role of technology and social media in effective marketing strategies.

Analyze the expected effectiveness of the marketing plan.

Competency 5: Communicate marketing needs, opportunities, and strategies with multiple stakeholders.

Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a business professional