MMK368 BUSINESS MARKETING
T3, 2015
ASSIGNMENT 1 & ASSIGNMENT 2
THIS DOCUMENT PROVIDES YOU:
• Critical dates
• An overview of the assessment tasks
• Background to the assignment tasks
• Word limits
• Assignment 1 – Market Analysis
• Assignment 2 – Marketing Plan
• Where to start
• The assignment format
• Assignment check-list
• Assignment presentation
• Assignment marking template
CRITICAL ASSIGNMENT ACTIVITIES AND DATES
Activity Located Week
Register your assignment country. You must register your
country by Week 2 to submit an assignment.
CloudDeakin 2
Submit Assignment 1 CloudDeakin assignment
drop box.
Friday 4 December
5.00 pm AEST
4
Submit Assignment 2 (include Assignment 1 and
Assignment 2 as ONE report and submit.
CloudDeakin assignment
drop box.
Friday 22 January
5.00 pm AEST
9
OVERVIEW OF THE ASSESSMENT TASKS
The continuing assessment comprises two assignments:
1. Assignment 1: A Market Analysis report submitted in Week 4
2. Assignment 2: A Marketing Plan (based on your market analysis) submitted in Week 9.
You must submit both Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 individually. Please see the detailed information
provided in the Assignment Submission document about submitting assignments and the calculation of
grades.
BACKGROUND TO THE ASSIGNMENT TASK
You are the National Sales Manager for the Australian Packaging and Machinery Company (APMC).
This company manufactures and sells the equipment and consumable plastic “film” that are used to
wrap products for storage and transportation on pallets. The consumables used to secure products
onto pallets are:
1. Shrink bags which are placed over the palletized product and heated until the bag shrinks.
2. Stretch “film” that is wrapped around pallets of products.
APMC specialise in manufacturing and supplying film to secure entire pallet loads. APMC do not
manufacture machines and do not sell plastic film that is used to wrap small numbers of products
together. The manufacture of machines and the sale of film used for wrapping small numbers of
products together, such as blister packs and vacuum packaging, are not areas in which APMC can
compete. You can see more about this at http://www.uspackagingandwrapping.com/
Exhibit 1: A shrink machine and a hand-held shrink gun for wrapping palletised product
Source: http://www.google.com.au/imgres; Accessed 22/01/2013
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Exhibit 2: Stretch machines and hand-held dispensers for wrapping palletised product
Source: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?hl=en&tbo=d&biw; Accessed 22/1/2013
The type of equipment and the amount of consumable film purchased by companies depends mainly on
how much product they make. For instance, a large soft drink manufacturer may have several automatic
wrapping machines, while a small manufacturer may use hand-held equipment. Worldwide, most
companies are already using either shrink or stretch equipment to wrap their pallet loads for
transportation and storage.
Selling consumable wrapping (i.e., shrink and stretch film) is a core part of APMC’s business. This
market is very competitive. Australian customers who have bought such equipment and who buy the
consumable wrapping from APMC range from large, international drink makers, such as Coca-Cola and
Carlton and United Breweries, to smaller national and local companies.
In your market analysis you should assume that shrink and stretch wrapping is applied to a standard
pallet size of approximately 1200 mm x 1200 mm with an average height of 1000 mm. The average net
weight of product carried on a pallet of this size is one tonne. One shrink wrap bag is used per pallet.
Alternatively, on average, 30 metres of stretch film are used to secure each pallet. Customers shipping
over 5,000 tonnes annually would typically use shrink or stretch machines to wrap their products and
companies shipping less than 5,000 tonnes annually use hand-held stretch tools to wrap their product.
You may assume that APMC buy shrink and stretch film for re-sale from local manufacturers in every
country at the prices listed in the following table.
Table 1: Film cost per pallet
Cost per roll ($A) Quantity per roll Cost per pallet
($A)
Shrink wrap film
Machine stretch film
Hand stretch films
$600.00
$180.00
$135.00
50 bags
600 metres
300 metres
$ 12.00
$ 9.00
$ 13.50
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WORD LIMITS
Your final report should not exceed 6,000 words. The word count includes your submission details,
Executive Summary, the body of the report, and Recommendations section. Tables, references, and
appendices are not included in the word-count. Do not exceed the word limit. Assignments exceeding
the word-limits will be returned ungraded.
The word limit for the Market Analysis (Assignment 1) is up to 2,000 words.
The word limit for the Marketing Plan (Assignment 2) is up to 4,000 words.
The word limit for the final report is up to 6,000 words.
WHERE TO START – PASSPORT / GLOBAL MARKETING INTERNATIONAL DATABASE (GMID)
Please note that training sessions about using PASSPORT / GMID will be held in class in Week 2 of the
trimester.
Information about the market is located in the PASSPORT / Global Marketing International Database
(GMID). To access PASSPORT GMID go to the DU Library homepage:
1. Select “A-Z Databases” towards the top of the screen.
2. Then select “P” (for Passport).
3. Scroll down to Passport and “connect” and then “accept”.
4. Use the different pull-down menus to access statistical and other reports about the soft drink
market in that country.
5. After you have viewed the type of information available in different countries, select and
register for one country for your report.
REGISTER YOUR COUNTRY
Selecting and registering your country by November 20 is part of the assignment task.
The decision has been made to expand APMC’s business overseas. The six regional markets have
already been categorised by APMC’s marketing department. The PASSPORT / Global Marketing
Information Database (GMID) lists the following six regions which include 77 countries:
1. Western Europe
2. Eastern Europe
3. Asia Pacific
4. Latin America
5. Middle East and Africa
6. North America
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It has already been decided by APMC that only the “Soft drinks” segment of these countries markets
will be entered. Depending on which country APMC decides to enter, the GMID provides data and other
information on the following product sub-segments of the soft drink market:
• Non-cola carbonates
• Still bottled water
• Carbonated bottled water
• Cola carbonates
• Juices
To register:
1. Review the data available for countries and soft drink products in Passport and then choose one
country (not region) for APMC to enter.
2. Go to the “Country Register” forum in the CloudDeakin Discussion forums. You can sort messages
in this forum by subject to see the countries that have already been selected by other students.
Check that the country you want has NOT already been selected by more than one other
student (i.e., only two students may do the same country). If your country has not been selected
post a message with the name of the country as the first word in the “Subject” (not thread) of your
message. For example, AUSTRALIA. You may not choose Australia as your country.
3. Students who do not register a country by 20 November (or who choose a country that has
already been selected by two other students) will NOT be allowed to submit an assignment.
Continued ….
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ASSIGNMENT 1 – MARKET ANALYSIS
You are required to submit your Market Analysis report to the Assignment Drop Box before
Friday 4 December at 5.00 pm AEST. This is the end of Week 4.
You are to prepare a Market Analysis report for the soft drink market for the country you selected.
This assignment is not an international market selection analysis. The decision has already been
made to enter one country. You do not have to justify which country you select – you have selected
one country and now you need to provide a soft drink product market analysis for that country.
Your market analysis should focus on the identification, interpretation, and presentation of information
and data from PASSPORT / GMID and other sources. The analysis should demonstrate a clear
understanding of market analysis though the application of relevant business marketing concepts and
processes. Your Market Analysis will contribute to the subsequent development of a coherent
business marketing plan (Assignment 2).
For your market analysis you will need to apply the concepts drawn primarily from Chapters 1 to 4
inclusive of the text book. The following are main points only and you will need to be selective in the
level of detail that you provide in your report. You will need to apply concepts and processes from the
textbook – but do not repeat the textbook. Assume the reader is familiar with the concepts you are
applying. In many places you will need to make reasonable assumptions about APMC and the market
you are entering. You must state when you are making assumptions.
Executive Summary (5 points section total)
Assignment 1 – Section 1 (60 points section total)
Segmenting the Business Market and Segment Demand
1. Clear identification and presentation about the segments / targets in the market. (40 points)
2. Clear identification and presentation about the forecasted demand in each segment / target.
(20 points)
Assignment 1 – Section 2 (20 points section total)
Business Markets and Customer Relationship Management
1. The nature of buyer-seller relationships in the target market’s product supply chain. (4 points)
2. The types of customers in the B2B target market. (4 points)
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3. The basic characteristics of the product and service. (4 points)
4. The nature of buyer-seller relationships for the product. (4 points)
5. The factors that influence customer profitability. (4 points)
Assignment 1 – Section 3 (15 points section total)
The Organizational Buyer and Organizational Buying Behavior
1. The nature and central characteristics of the target market. (3 points)
2. How the purchasing function is organized in the target market. (3 points)
3. The role that online purchasing assumes in the target market. (3 points)
4. The decision process organizational buyers apply in differing buying situations. (3 points)
5. The variables that influence organizational buying decisions. (3 points)
ASSIGNMENT 2 – MARKETING PLAN
You are required to submit your Market Plan by Friday 22 January 5.00 pm AEST.
You must prepare an integrated business-to-business marketing plan based on your preceding product
market analysis. You are required to write a marketing plan explaining and justifying how APMC will
establish and maintain a long-term business presence in the soft drink product market you selected.
You are required to submit a plan that secures the greatest number of sales within the country with the
greatest long-term profitability. APMC has committed substantial funds to this venture. The following
main points need to be addressed and you will need to use sound judgment about the level of
detail that you provide in your report. Please note that some areas listed below may require only one
or two sentences explaining and justifying a decision while other areas may require a much more
substantial explanation and justification.
Assignment 2 – Section 1 (30 points section total)
Strategies for Market Entry
• Strategic perspective. (5 points)
Product Strategy
• Building a strong business-to-business (B2B) brand. (5 points)
• Providing competitively superior value to customers. (5 points)
• The type of product lines and product positioning. (5 points)
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Managing Services for Business Markets
• The role of services, service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty and monitoring the
customer experience. (5 points)
• The significant factors of the service marketing strategy. (5 points)
Assignment 2 – Section 2 (30 points section total)
Marketing Channels
• Choice of paths to customers and the role of distributors and manufacturers’ representatives in
marketing channels. (10 points)
Pricing Strategy for Business Markets
• The approach used for pricing and price setting. (10 points)
Business Marketing Communications
• The role of communication, advertising, and promotion in APMC’s marketing strategy. (10
points)
Assignment 2 – Section 3 (35 points section total)
Business Marketing Communications Personal Selling
• The structure of the sales force and personal selling in business marketing strategy. (10 points)
• The skills and characteristics of sales people. (10 points)
• Managing the sales force (10 points)
Marketing Performance Measurement
• Performance measures. (5 points)
Recommendations (5 points)
ASSIGNMENT FORMAT
A Microsoft Word template is posted in the Assignment Folder in CloudDeakin. Your report will have the
following sections:
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(One-page maximum, commencing on page 1)
This is a summary of your main findings. Be concise and highlight only the most important findings
from your analysis.
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS (page 2)
BODY OF THE REPORT (Commencing on page 3)
The body of the report will include two main sections (MARKET ANALYSIS and MARKETING PLAN),
each with sub-sections. Overall, you are likely to include analysis, discussion, and recommendations
about business markets, buying and selling, organisational buyer behaviour, organizing the sales effort,
and planning the promotion strategy. The choice of further sub-headings in this section will depend on
the analysis and recommendations you make. Overall, your report will identify, describe, explain, and
justify the problems, decisions, and your recommendations in detail. You will need to apply your
understanding of the concepts and processes from business marketing and integrate this knowledge
into your response. Do not repeat concepts from the textbook, apply them to the problem.
Your response should be written as a formal report. To keep within the word limits you will need to:
• Report only the most important aspects of your analysis.
• Provide your own analysis (rather than repeat the textbook).
• Develop a succinct marketing plan.
• Use appendices appropriately.
3. MARKET ANALYSIS (THIS PART IS YOUR ASSSIGNMENT 1)
Segmenting the Business Market and Segment Demand
Business Markets and CRM
Organizational Buying Behavior
4. MARKETING PLAN (THIS PART WILL BE INCLUDED LATER AS ASSSIGNMENT 2)
Strategy for Market Entry
Product Strategy
Managing Services for Business Markets
Marketing Channels
Pricing Strategy for Business Markets.
Business Marketing Communications
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Business Marketing Personal Selling
Marketing Performance Measurement
5. RECOMMENDATIONS (maximum of 2 pages) (THIS SECTION WILL BE INCLUDED LATER AS
PART OF ASSSIGNMENT 2)
Here you will provide a summary of your main recommendations and decisions. Major findings,
conclusions, and recommendations need to be realistic and based on an understanding of
business marketing.
6. LIST OF REFERENCES
Here you will provide a list of references following the Harvard referencing style.
7. APPENDICES
Here, you will provide the appendices required for your paper.
ASSIGNMENT CHECK-LIST
Assignments not meeting the following check-list will be returned ungraded.
1. This is a level-3 unit and assignments that are not written to an acceptably high level of grammar,
expression, spelling, punctuation, formatting, citation, referencing, etc., will be returned ungraded.
Please see the “Sample Report” in CloudDeakin and the notes below for more details.
2. Use only 12- and 14-point Times New Roman or Arial font (no other style or size of font is
needed).
3. Use 1.5 line spacing.
4. Align your text to the left side of the page.
5. Number and bold all your main headings and subheadings.
6. Use capitals (upper-case) for the main headings.
7. Use lower-case for sub-headings.
8. Leave two line-spaces only and immediately before a main heading and leave one line-space only
and immediately before a sub-heading. (This document is an example).
9. Use Harvard citation style and include a list of references at the end of your document. Refer to
the “Guide to Assignment Writing and Referencing” produced by Deakin University.
10. Label your tables and figures numerically and with meaningful headings at the top of the exhibit.
11. Cite the source of information at the bottom of all tables and figures.
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12. Check your final submission for errors – if necessary, ask other students in the D2L discussion
area to check your submission.
13. Number the pages at the right-hand, bottom corner.
14. Do not include headers or footers (except for page numbering).
15. Do not use social networking sites such as Wikipedia, answers.com, etc., or the report will not be
marked.
ASSIGNMENT PRESENTATION
Your assignment will be returned ungraded or marks deducted for poor presentation. Deakin University
Student Life offers assignment preparations services – you should use them if you are unsure. You
should check your assignment for the following.
Marks will not be deducted in Assignment 1 but may be deducted if necessary in Assignment 2.
Quality of expression
1. High clarity and conciseness of written expression
2. Avoided unnecessary repetition of material
3. Highly fluent expression
4. Correct use of grammar in sentences
5. Complete sentences used
6. Correct spelling
7. Correct use of terms
8. Correct paragraphing
9. Incorrect use of capitalization
Referencing
1. Sources acknowledged
2. In-text citations provided
3. Correct details and punctuation included in citations
4. Consistent format for in-text citations
5. Reference list
6. Format for reference list
7. Errors and inconsistencies in reference list
Layout
1. High layout quality
2. Appropriate use of headings and sub-headings
3. Appropriate font styles and sizes selected
4. Page numbering
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ASSIGNMENT MARKING TEMPLATE
Low Average Above Average High Excellent
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(worth 5 per cent of Assignment 1 marks)
The extent to which the summary provides a clear description of the findings.
MARKET ANALYSIS (worth 95 per cent of Assignment 1
Segmenting the Business Market and
Segment Demand
Demonstrates understanding of the concepts
Quality and presentation of analysis
Business Markets and Customer
Relationship Management
Demonstrates understanding of the concepts
Organizational Buyer and
Organizational Buying Behavior
Demonstrates understanding of the concepts
MARKETING PLAN (worth 95 per cent of Assignment 2)
Business strategies The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Product Strategy The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Managing Services for Business
Markets
The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Marketing Channels The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Pricing Strategy for Business Markets The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Business Marketing Communications The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Business Marketing Communications
Personal Selling
The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
Marketing Performance Measurement The extent to which relevant concepts are applied to
form a realistic marketing plan
RECOMMENDATIONS SECTION
(worth 5% per cent of Assignment 2)
The extent to which this section summarises main
aspects of the report
(End of document)
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