The second assignment is critical because it reflects your strategic response to your organizations marketing environment. It focuses on the last four sections of the marketing plan because we have found that these areas are often the weakest (i.e., many organizations do exceptional reviews of the environment [e.g., the SWOT from the interim report] but are weak in strategic thinking and implementation).
This assignment forces you to consider strategy and implementation. Your main task in Assignment 2 is to complete the last four sections of the marketing plan as outlined in the Marketing Plan Template (i.e., Marketing Strategy; Marketing Programs; Financial and Operational Plans; and Metrics and Implementation Control). You are also expected to revise the first four sections based on the feedback you received as part of your interim report grade. In particular, spend some time revising and adding to your executive summary. It should be a précis of the marketing plan, providing a brief overview of the entire report (including objectives, recommendations, and conclusions). By reading your executive summary, your coach should understand what your plan is about (without reading the body of the report).
Do not, however, incorporate rationale statements in your executive summary; these are best left in the main body of the plan. Please limit your executive summary to two pages.
While the bulk of your Assignment 2 grade will be based on the portions of the plan not included in the interim report, your coach will reread and reassess the first four sections as well; he or she will look for evidence that you have revised these sections based on the interim report feedback.
The total marketing plan must not exceed 3,000 words (excluding the cover page, the executive summary, the table of contents, the bibliography, footnotes or endnotes, and any required appendices).
The marketing plan will be graded as follows:
Topic Weight
Executive summary, table of contents, and rewrite of
Assignment 1
15%
Study Guide - Assignment 1 and Assignment 2
Marketing strategy 35%
Marketing programs 15%
Financial and operational plans 10%
Metrics and implementation control 10%
Presentation, style, composition, clarity 15%
Total 100%