Introduction to Marketing - Diagnostic Assessment 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ASSESSMENT

This assessment links directly with assessments 3A and 3B. Figure 13.1 from Sharp (2017) is presented below, which outlines the marketing planning process. Your task will be to complete:
• Step 1: The Market Environment (but not Organization Situation Analysis) as Assessment 1
• Step 2: The Target Market Analysis and Market Segmentation as Assessment 3a
• Step 3: The Marketing Objectives and Strategy Formulation as Assessment 3b

In other words, you will be writing an overall marketing plan for a product or service, in stages that are interconnected. The product you will need to write a marketing plan for will be outlined in the VU Collaborate space. Generally the product will be a new product that is seeking funding through a crowdfunding website such as www.indiegogo.com .
Your task in this particular assessment is to write a simple macro environmental analysis as part of an overall marketing plan. It should be approximately 500 words in length around 2 A4 pages. You may use tables to present the different elements of a macro environmental analysis.
You may wish to refer to Chapter 13 of Sharp (2013) for more detailed information on marketing planning, in particular Table 13.1 suggests a structure for a marketing plan.
In addition, specifically relating to the Macro Environmental Analysis for this assessment, you may wish to refer to page 214 onwards of Sharp (2013).
The point of a diagnostic assessment is to give students an early assessment with feedback to identify students who are at risk of not achieving a pass in the unit. This assessment allows your lecturer to work with you and provide early feedback that you can take on board for later assignments. If necessary you may be referred to the Learning Hub centre on your campus for further help.

While the assessment asks you for your opinion, your arguments need to be supported with reliable sources of information. It is expected that you will cite at least 4 references using the Harvard Referencing System (if you are not familiar with this system, simply put “Harvard Referencing System” into a search engine). Sources that can be used, for example, include the textbook and refereed journal articles. Please refrain from using internet sources like essay.com. marketing.com, seminar slides, dictionaries, about.com. In addition, at VU copying from a source without proper acknowledgement is severely penalised as leaving paragraphs and sentences without a citation.
As a key aim of this task is for lecturers to see the strengths and possible areas of improvement with your academic writing, you should strive to write in as clear a manner as possible, using well-constructed paragraphs, and avoiding bullet points, incomplete sentences, or overly formal or informal language.