Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing
Assignment
Subject
Strategic Marketing Planning
Nature of the Assignment
Individual Assignment with Presentation
Examination
June 2012
Assignment Submission Period
01st May 2012 to 15th May 2012
Last Date of Acceptance
20th May 2012 ( with penalty )
Presentation Date (Pls collect your time
2nd ,4th ,5th and 6th July 2012 - Colombo
schedule when submitting the assignment)
30th June & 1st July – Kandy & Matara
IMPORTANT (Common for Integrated and Subject Assignments)

The assignment is designed to assess the application of theory and knowledge gained in the
above subject. Assignment should conform to the Assignment Guidelines presented as per the
Programme Handbook. (Refer to Section 07 – Guidance for Assignments)

Assignment should be submitted to SLIM within the Assignment Submission Period.

All assignments submitted after the Submission period will be subjected to a penalty fee of LKR.
1,000.00 and reduction of marks (Maximum 10 Marks )

Assignment will not be accepted after the last date of acceptance under any circumstances.

You will score higher marks in assignments if you meet the criteria given in the Programme
Handbook. ( Please refer to Page 101 – Assignment Marking Criteria)

Assignment Marking Sheet should be attached after the cover page for the examiner to mark
assignment as per the Order of Headings in Programme Handbook. (Refer the Page 64)

Attending Coaching Sessions (Classes) is compulsory in order to carry out the assignments.

Current University students are allowed to submit the assignment without attending lectures
since they register as self study students.

SLIM will issue an acknowledgement slip upon the submission of your assignment and it must be
retained by the student as proof of submitting the assignment.
IMPORTANT (Only for Subject Assignments)

It’s a compulsory requirement to submit the assignment in order to pass the relevant subject.

If you have not submitted the individual subject assignment your results for the respective
subject will appear as “Fail” in the final grading.

Assignment marks will not be considered to transfer to next examination in case of absent at the
examination under any circumstances.

In case of absent at the examination, relevant student has to re-do the assignment in order to
pass the subject in the next examination.
IMPORTANT (Only for Integrated Assignments)

Student should complete / exempt or at least follow lectures for all four (4) subjects to be
eligible to carry out the assignment.

Any assignment which does not fulfill above criteria will be rejected in assignment marking
process.

Integrated Assignment Fee will not be considered to refund or transfer under any circumstances.
PRESENTATIONS (Only for assignments with a presentation)

Assignments should be submitted within the given deadline

Presentation date and time should be collected at the time of assignment submission by
the student.

Presentation time will be 10 mins and additional 05 mins will be given for question and
answers.

Presentation should be saved in MS Office 2003 version in a CD / Pen Drive.

If you are a student of an Accredited Study Center, you can submit the assignment to the
accredited study center and presentation date and time will be notified to the
accredited center once all assignments received to SLIM Home.
Assignment Topic
Building Your own Strategic Marketing Plan
Select a company where you can obtain internal and external data as to its products, markets,
competitors, customers etc. It should be a medium scale or a large scale company. Volume of sales
should be at least Rs. 50 million per annum. Assume that you are given a consultancy assignment to
write a comprehensive marketing plan for one of their products or category of their products and
write a marketing plan in the given format below for a period of one year. The format is only a
guideline and the page length of content stated therein could change as per the merits of the case.
However, you may not deviate plus or minus 20% of the page length given. You can make
assumptions but it should be logical. Financial Summary should be given in the body of the report
and the detailed notes should be given in the appendix. Your arguments and forecast should be
supported by relevant data/information and if possible it should be included to the appendix.
Executive summary should be written after completing all other parts of the report and it should
describe the whole marketing plan in a nutshell. The written marketing plan will earn 60% of the
marks for this subject.
Further you need to make a presentation using 20 a maximum of slides about your marketing plan
and present it within 20 minutes to a panel of supervisors. Your slides and presentation should base
on the written marketing plan. It is a mandatory requirement and in case of absence on the
presentation day, the you will have to redo the entire subject. Please refer to the Program
Handbook( page N0 55). The presentation will earn 40% of the marks for this subject.
You are requested to draw an action plan as to writing of the marketing plan and show your progress
to the subject lecturer periodically and you should start work on writing the marketing plan
immediately upon receiving this assignment.
Format for the Marketing Plan
Refer to page 95 of the hand book for the format of the title page
1. Executive Summary
A. Summary of Situation Analysis (one A4 page)
B. Summary of Marketing Objectives. (One A4 page)
C. Summary of Marketing Strategies. ( one A4 page)
D. Summary of Financial Projections.( one A4 page)
2. Vision and Mission ( one A4 page)
3 The Company
3.1. Brief history( one A4 page)
3.2. Current size, the areas where the company is operating, growth and profitability etc. (
two A4 pages)
3.3. Internal Environment
a. Staff relations( one A4 page)
b. Resource Constraints ( one A4 page)
c. Corporate Structure and Culture ( 0ne A 4 page)
4. The Product / Service
4.1. General Product Story ( ½ A4 page)
a. Development, introduction and history.( one A4 page)
b. Product category and characteristics ( one A4 page)
c. Stage of Product Life Cycle. ( one A4 page)
d. Product uses ( ½ A 4 page)
i. Primary( ½ A4 page)
ii. Secondary( ½ A4 page)
iii. Potential( ½ A4 page)
4.2. Market Share
a. Total industry sale by market( one A4 page)
b. Company market share ( ¼ A4 page)
c. Comparative analysis of competitors market share. ( one A4 page)
d. Market share potential for the company( ½ A4 page)
5. The overall Market ( customers)
5.1. Location of markets. ( one A4 page)
5.2. Market size estimates
a. Current ( per capital consumption) ( one A4 page)
b. Trends and Future growth ( one A4 page)
c. Expected market ( demand estimates) ( one A4 page)
5.3. Description of the characteristics of target customers
a. Needs and benefits sought( ½ A4 page)
b. Product usage( ½ A4 page)
who is using, why they use, when do they use, how it is used
d. Attitudes of the customers
i. As to product category, ( ½ A4 page)
ii. As to company’s product( ½ A4 page) ( if it is a new product,
support with specific research done with your product)
(iii. Why they like our product or not, ( ½ A4 page)( If it is a new
product, support with specific research done with your product)
iv. Any unique character of our customers( ½ A4 page)
5.4. Description of the purchasing process
a. Buying decision making process( one A4 page)
b. What sources of information is sought( ½ A4 page)
c. Who makes the purchase? ( ½ A4 page)
d. Is purchaser the consumer? ( ½ A4 page)
e. Who or what may influence the purchase? ( ½ A4 page)
6.. The Competition
6.1. Identification of competitors
a. Primary competitors( one A4 page)
b. Secondary competitors( ½ A4 page)
c. Possible new competitors( ½ A4 page)
6.2. Competitors – ( Describe following details of top three market leaders and any other
competitors that would pose a threat to you or that you would be fighting with in order to enter into
the market- ½ A 4 page could be used to describe sub topics given below)
a. Background of competitors ( 2 A4 pages)
i. Company and reputation
ii. Sales and market share
iii. Sales force and their expertise
iv. Financial strength
v. Technology used
vi. Research and development capabilities
vii. Any other important aspect
b. Current Product Strategy of competitors ( 2 A4 pages)
i. Product Mix
ii. Branding and packaging
iii. Positioning
iv. Image and reputation of brand
v . Product Strengths and weaknesses
vi. Comparative analysis of competitors product strategy
c. Current distribution strategy of competitors ( 2 A4 pages)
i. Type of distribution network used
ii. Evaluation of how distribution targets accomplished
iii. Relationship with channel members
iv. Strength of the channel members
v. Comparative Analysis about the competitors distribution strategy
d. Current Pricing Strategy ( 2 A4 pages)
i. Pricing objectives
ii. Pricing strategies
iii. Buyers attitude about the company prices
iv. Channel attitude of about the company’s prices
v. Comparative analysis of Competitors prices
e. Current Promotional Strategy 2 to 3 A4 pages)
i. Promotional Objectives
ii. Strategies and themes used
iii. Promotional Budgets and methods of allocation
iv. Promotional tools used
a. Advertising
b. Sales Promotions
c. Public Relations
d. Direct marketing
e. Personal Selling
vi. Success and failures of promo campaigns
vii. Comparative Analysis of Competitor promo tools and campaigns
7. External Environmental factors
7.1 PESTEEL Factors ( use only ½ A4 page per sub topic)
1. Political
2. Economical
3. Social
4. Technological
5. Ecological
6. Environmental
7. Legal
8. SWOT Analysis( use ½ A 4 page per sub topic)
3.G.1. Strengths
3.G.2. Weaknesses
3.G.3 Opportunities
3.G. 4 Threats
9. Sales Objectives: ( one A4 page)
It represents projected level of sales to be achieved. This is the most important element because it
creates the direction for entire marketing plan. Everything that follows in the plan designed to meet
the sales objectives.
10. Marketing Objectives ( one A4 page)
Marketing Objectives: Clearly defines what need of the market that you serve and what behavior
you want from the market. It should be SMART ( 10% market share within the first year of operation
in the Colombo market)
11. Market Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning
11.1. Description of the market segments
a. Geographic( ½ A4 page)
b. Demographic( ½ A4 page)
c. Psychographic( 1/2 A4 page)
d. Behavioral( ½ A4 page)
6.B. Targeting ( one A4 page)
6.C. Positioning ( one A4 page)
12. Tactical Marketing Mix Strategy Development ( 7 ps)
12.1. Product Strategy( three A4 page)
12.2. Pricing Strategy( one A4 page)
12.3. Promotional Strategy( four A4 page)
12.4. Distribution Strategy( Three A4 page)
12.5. Physical Evidence Strategy( one A4 page)
12.6. Process Strategy ( one A4 page)
12.7. People Strategy ( one A4 page)
13. Budgets and financial Analysis ( one A4 page)
You should strictly adhere to the given format. If deviations take place, a comparative evaluation
cannot be done. Therefore any analysis that does not conform to given format will be rejected.
Projected profit and Loss statement should be on one A 4 pages as provided. You have to explain in
detail the income and expenditure in notes to the budget.
14. Marketing Strategy Implementation (Action plans) ( two A 4 pages)
A Gnat chart should be given in one or two A4 pages. If needed you may explain it on notes.
15. Monitoring and Evaluation ( 3 A4 pages)
Graphical illustration plus a detailed explanation should be given and maximum of 3 A 4
pages can be used.
List of References
( Harvard Format)
Appendix
(Relevant data, research questionnaire, rate cards or any other material that would
substantiate your arguments or information in the assignment)
Format for financials
Summary of the Finacials
Income
Sales
Expenditure
Import or manufacturing Cost
Administrative
Distribution
Financial
Any other
Net Profit
Net Profit
on sales
Return on equity
Payback period
Note
Unit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Amount
Assignment Marking Scheme
Subject
Student Registration Nu
Marks
Allocated Awarded
20
Criteria
Aligning to the purpose of the assignment
Some of the answer addresses to the purpose of the question
This has addressed the purpose of the assignment
Has addressed the purpose of the assignment coherently
This has addressed the purpose of assignment comprehensively
Clarity of expression
An attempt to organize in a logical manner
Satisfactory showing of logical manner and organization
Shows higher level of Carefully and logically organized
Shows coherent structure with clearly expressed ideas
Using examples/evidences
Shows a little use of examples
Some use of examples. Some evaluation attempted
Some use of examples. Well evaluated
Shows appropriate examples are fully and reliably evaluated
Critical analysis of concepts, theories, conclusions
Demonstrates limited evidence of critical analysis
Demonstrates some critical analysis of relevant theory
Demonstrates application of theory through critical analysis
Demonstrates application of critical analysis well integrated
Following assignment guidelines
Limited follow-up of assignment guidelines
Some level of follow-up of assignment guidelines
Good display of adherence to assignment guidelines
Excellent adherence to assignment guidelines
Total
Special Remarks
Signature of the Examiner
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
100