2. Marketing Planning Process Professor Neil Towers Senior Examiner Assignment brief December 2013 / March 2014

3. Presentation title Aim To maximise your potential from the Marketing Planning Process (MPP) assignment brief for December 2013 and March 2014.

4. Presentation title Assignment Brief Choice of two scenarios: Scenario One: To reduce customer churn by x% (stated by the candidate) through a specified customer retention strategy or Scenario Two: To increase social media engagement by x% (stated by the candidate) to improve customer loyalty.

5. Presentation title Interpreting Scenario One To reduce customer churn by x% (stated by the candidate) through a specified customer retention strategy. ‘Customer churn’ and the specified ‘customer retention strategy’ - broad interpretation. In this context: customer churn is the number of customers lost to the company, segment or sector. However with all answers to all tasks it is important to define the context within the introduction.

6. Presentation title Interpreting Scenario One Applied to any type of organisation or context including: –private sector –public sector –third sector –B2B –B2C

7. Presentation title Interpreting Scenario Two To increase social media engagement by x% (stated by the candidate) to improve customer loyalty. Social Media engagement: –The focus in on the engagement of a social media rather than its technical capabilities. The % increase should be clearly stated and the improvement should be clearly explained. The interpretation of how the customer loyalty is assessed must be also clearly stated.

8. Presentation title Assessment Structure THREE tasks to answer in sequence. Task One –Marketing Audit (10%). Task Two –Marketing Plan (40%). Task Three –Evaluation Report (40%). Format and Presentation –Executive Summary, Harvard Referencing (10%).

9. Presentation title Task One: Marketing Audit Related to the scenario. CIM BPP Official Study Text. Key definitions. Relevant audit tools, models and frameworks. Short summary statement after each presented model.

10. Presentation title Marketing Audit Helpful Tips: Thorough understanding of audit tools. Related to the scenario. Evaluate current position. Information sources. Relevance of models and tools.

11. Presentation title Marketing Audit Evidence base for the Marketing Plan. Related to the scenario. Current and likely future challenges. Objective results. Short summary after each model. Rationale for the product life cycle. Explanation for the causes of progression. Presenting the audit.

12. Presentation title Task Two: The Marketing Plan Summary of audit. Context and timescales. Critique and analysis based on audit findings. SOSTAC. Constraints. Relevance to scenario. Word count. Use of tables and charts.

13. Presentation title Task Three: Evaluation Report Evaluation of marketing planning process not the plan Four sections –Benefits of the marketing planning process. –Auditing the audit process. –Appropriateness of competitive strategy. –Issues and constraints.

14. Presentation title Task Three: Evaluation Report Critical evaluation. Relevance, validity and reliability of sources. Difficulties encountered. Gaps in data. Use of examples to illustrate points. Four sections of equal marks. As important as other sections in the assignment.

15. Presentation title Format and Presentation Professional tone and formatting. Relevance to tasks. Use of supporting concepts and frameworks. Referencing. Students never plan to fail they simply fail to plan.