Description of the assignment:
You have been asked to produce a report that explores an organisation’s marketing environment and its
marketing responses to that environment. Choose one of the brands below:
a) Coca-Cola Energy Drink
b) Marmite Peanut Butter
Updated Sept 2018
Assessment Brief
Please structure your report by including a brief introduction, the following 5 sections and a short conclusion:
1. Macro environment
Produce an analysis of the macro environment for the company and its proposed product. Identify at least 3
major external factors that could help or hinder the progress of this business. You should refer to at least 3-4
credible research sources to justify your choice. Explain what impact these factors are likely to have on the
company’s marketing programme for this product.
2. The target customer
Identify one customer profile. Use secondary research to show evidence of who the target market is for this
product. Then describe what a typical customer of your company looks like using behavioural, demographic,
geographic and lifestyle segmentation and whether the target audience for this product would be the same or
different, and in what aspect. Use at least 3-4 relevant research sources to support your argument.
3. Product and price
Produce two perceptual maps that show the positioning of your company and at least four other competitors.
One map must have the axes ‘price’ and ‘quality’, the other can have axes of your choice but not ‘price’ and
‘quality’. Justify, with reference to at least 3-4 credible research sources, why you have positioned the
company and its competitors in the way you have.
4. Growth strategies
Use Ansoff’s matrix to identify the appropriate strategy for the chosen brand. Explain, using 3-4 research
sources, why this is right action for the brand to take. Briefly explain the marketing mix (4Ps) for this growth
strategy and how it will help you to achieve growth.
5. Buyer behaviour
Explain how the 4Ps described in task 4 map onto the consumer buyer behaviour model. Show where each
of the 4Ps is used to influence the consumer at each of the 5 stages of the model. Support your points with
relevant research sources.
Any specific guidance:
Present your work in a professional manner by including a cover page with all key details (module name and code,
title, date, word count) and proof-read the content before submission, it could make a difference.
If you do not know how to use Harvard Referencing, please refer to the CASE Guide. You are expected to use a
range of recent academic resources, as suggested above, including your core text, trade journals, academic
research journals, market research reports, company websites.
Your name should not appear anywhere in the document as it is marked anonymously. Please save your file by
the acronym of module name underscore your SRN number, as in POM_12345678.
Tips:
Search as much as you can into the topic, as it would enable you to create a more comprehensive, in depth
analysis
Try not to re-capture or re-tell any specific sources, otherwise it would be just copying and the content will be
descriptive and derivative
Read and integrate academic articles with the perspectives of the industry and not just rely on the main article,
as it would strengthen the quality of your work
Penalty:
Late submission without agreed extension carries a penalty: please refer to guidance highlighted in red on
page 1.
Failure to keep the word count of 2,500 words carries a penalty of 5% deduction
Student Support and Guidance
For further help, contact your module leader in their drop-in hours or by email.
Use the Grading Criteria and Mark Scheme to help improve your work.
Go to CASE workshops, use the CASE website and drop-in hours
www.studynet.herts.ac.uk/go/CASE/
Academic English for Business support is available through daily drop-ins from the CASE office. See
the CASE workshop timetable on the CASE main website page for details.
Make full use of Library search to identify relevant academic material and the ‘Subject Toolkit for
Business’ which contains links to other Information Databases and the Information Management
Updated Sept 2018
Assessment Brief
contact details.
(http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ptl/common/LIS.nsf/lis/4DAF5390094771C2802575ED004212BF)
Some tutors allow students to test their work using Turnitin. Guidance on submission to Turnitin via
StudyNet can be found by using the following link.
http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ptl/common/asu.nsf/resource+library/TURNITIN+FOR+STUDENTS+2016+
USER+GUIDE.pdf/$FILE/TURNITIN+FOR+STUDENTS+2016+USER+GUIDE.p
