BUS620 – Complete Class(All DQs, Individual & Team Assignments)

BUS 620 Complete Class ASHFORDWEEK 1:Week 1 – DQ 1: What is Marketing?What is Marketing? Marketing has often been defined in terms of satisfying customers’ needs and wants. Critics, however, maintain that marketing goes beyond that and creates needs and wants that did not exist before. They feel marketers encourage consumers to spend more money than they should on goods and services they do not really need. What is your understanding of the role of marketing and the marketing management process?Week 1 – DQ 2: Marketing Strategies.Complete the “Think About It” activity in Section 1.2 of the text:Week 1 Assignment – The Future of the New York TimesSelect a consumer product of personal interest—one that you have purchased within the past six months. It can be anything, just as long you are familiar with the product and generally understand how it is marketed. Using the matrix model of marketing management in Table 1.2, fill in the cells of the matrix as completely and thoroughly as you can for the brand that you purchased. Be sure that your entries correspond to your perspective as a customer for this brand. In short, you are the target market. You may wish to create one or more positioning maps to help illustrate how you perceive the competitive playing field. Once you’re done, examine the intersection of each cell.1. How do the elements of the marketing mix align with the four strategy categories in the left-hand column?2. Does every one of the 4 P’s contribute to each of the strategic objectives established in the left-hand column?3. Do you see room for improvement? How would this assessment be different for other types of customers?Read the article: The Future of the New York Times, BusinessWeek, January 17, 2005, 64-72 (Also Posted in the Announcement page).Readership through circulation and news quality are key ingredients to profitability in the newspaper business industry. In a 2-3 page paper, examine what Arthur Sulzberger can do to revive the failing newspaper whose “financial performance is lagging “. Can New York Times, with its journalistic pride compete with the digital media and still deliver the best news?Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewed.WEEK 2Week 2 – DQ 1: Buyer Behavior:The typical buying process consists of the following sequence of events: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior. What specifically do you do as a consumer in each of these stages in a high involvement purchase like buying a house or a car? List the four main psychological processes as discussed in the text and what should marketers do to manage these four psychological processes affecting consumer behavior?Week 2 – DQ 2: Customer Needs:Visit GE Healthcare (www.gehealthcare.com/). In context to the major points of chapter 5, define how GE is addressing the needs of their hospital customers by the design of this Web site? Where and what is GE doing right, what is GE doing wrong, and where can GE improve using marketing research? In context of chapter 3, where can GE improve using marketing research?Week 2 Assignment – Industry ForecastingIdentify an industry of choice (Auto Industry, Healthcare, PC or Telecommunications). Using the PESTEL analysis from the readings, discuss and analyze the factors that may impact the industry and the successful marketing of a company’s product, for example Ford Motor Company over the next five years. Which factors are perceived to be the biggest weaknesses of the industry? Which factors play to the industry’s strengths? What are some opportunities for growth that could be capitalized upon over the next five years?Develop a three to four-page paper in the correct APA writing style. Include a minimum of 2-4 resources; 1 resource must be peer reviewed.WEEK 3Week 3 – DQ 1: Branding Nordstrom:After reading the article “Conservative Nordstrom to sell trendy Topshop fashions,” respond to the following:How does this partnership fit into Nordstrom’s current brand management strategy? Will it appeal to its target markets? How will it allow Nordstrom to differentiate itself from the competition?Is this a risky move for Nordstrom considering the downward sales trends for Topshop in the UK?Week 3 – DQ 2: Marketing Segmentation:What are the different levels of market segmentation? Synthesize the segmentation strategies that manufacturers of personal computers should implement to attract both the Gen Y and baby boomer generation to increase their purchases of computers. Are there some examples of companies that have already done a good job of marketing across generations? Respond to at least two of your fellow students.Week 3 Assignment – The Case of the New Apple, Inc.The Case of the New Apple, Inc. Read the article:Burrows, P., & Satariano, A. (2012). Can Phil Schiller keep Apple cool? Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-07/can-phil-schiller-keep-apple-cool#p2Assignment Instructions:Develop a two- to three-page paper that addresses the following:Is Apple’s brand in jeopardy following the death of Steve Jobs?“There is no place for Apple to go but down.” Synthesize the generic strategies and segmentation strategies that Apple can implement to prevent going down.What do you expect from Apple in the future ? Will Apple experience a continuation of its current trajectory or will Apple’s good fortune change?Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewedWEEK 4Week 4 – DQ 1: The Role of Pricing:Review the article:Mohammed, R. (2012). J.C. Penney’s risky new pricing strategy. Harvard Business Review.Is your own buying behavior influenced by coupons and sales?Why do you think J.C. Penney’s pricing strategy has not been successful as compared to other “low price” proponents like Walmart?Will Ron Johnson’s four-year plan be successful over the long-term? Why or why not?Week 4 – DQ 2: Product Development Process:Do an internet search of the new product development process of any product of your choice, and analyze the process for developing the product. Review the reasons why new products fail and make two specific recommendations to improve the high failure rate of new products.Guided Response: What lessons do you draw about the importance of using a concurrent rather than a sequential approach in the product development process? What impact does the effective management of the product life cycle have on the market success of a new product?Week 4 – Assignment Ad Campaign:Review the article:Stanford, D. (2012). Mountain Dew wants some street cred. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.In a 2-3 page paper, answer the following:Is Mountain Dew’s advertising campaign directed at the right market segment, does it differentiate the product from the competition, and does it communicate effectively the product benefits? Explain your answer.Provide a proposed redesign of the campaign that could have a more universal appeal. What communication channels should be focused on? Why?Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewedWEEK 5Week 5 – DQ 1: Marketing Channels:Analyze the challenges that organizations face in the effective transition between selling products using the traditional brick and mortar marketing channel and selling products online. Synthesize the strategies that organizations like Zara and Wal-Mart- two companies that are having difficulty developing eCommerce capability can implement to increase the effortless movement of customers between the traditional and online channels.What are the benefits and limitations of selling through a store front and online?Week 5 – DQ 2: Going Global:Identify the strategies for entering into the global market. Assess the strengths and limitations of each. Give an example of a company that has made a success of doing business in the global economy. What lessons from McDonald’s success in the global marketplace are transferable across industries?Week 5 Assignment – Marketing in a Global EconomyMarketing in a Global Economy. Review the following article:Faris, S. (2012). Grounds zero: A Starbucks-free Italy. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from Proquest.According to the article, Italy poses a “reputational risk” for Starbucks. In a 2-3 page paper, examine some of the challenges Starbuck’s faces in addressing that risk. Determine whether there is a strategic advantage to entering the Italian market. How should competitor’s marketing strategies inform and influence Starbuck’s entry into this new market? Should it even enter Italy at all?Paper must be in the correct APA writing style and include a minimum of 2-3 resources, in which one resource must be peer reviewedWEEK 6Week 6 – DQ 1: Proctor & Gamble in Vietnam:Review the article:Coleman-Lochner, L. (2012). P&G plays kindergarten catch-up with Unilever in Vietnam. Bloomberg. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-04/p-g-plays-kindergarten-catch-up-with-unilever-in-vietnam.htmlDiscuss the marketing plan insights P&G has gained through its Vietnamese marketing studies. How influential are those discoveries in the development of P&G’s strategy to enter the Vietnamese market?In developing a marketing plan, identify the characteristics of the marketing plan that P&G should implement to boost performance?Week 6 – DQ 2: Creating a Plan:Provide a brief overview of the product for which you are going to write your Marketing Plan. Why did you choose it? Which elements of the plan are you having difficulty with? What additional information would be needed to make the most informed strategic decisions for the future implementation of your plan?Guided Response: Provide suggestions to at least one of your classmates on how they may be able to address some of the elements they are struggling with in their plan. In particular, try to focus your feedback on any classmates that are introducing a product in the same, or similar, industry as your own.Week 6 – Final Paper – Plan:Focus of the Final PaperDevelop a marketing plan for the successful development, commercialization and introduction of any product of your choice in the market place. You are required to: (1) analyze the general business situation in detail, including organizational strengths and weaknesses, environmental opportunities and threats, industry trends, and direct and indirect competition. Based upon your situation analysis, you will (2) develop an organizational mission and forecast performance goals. Based upon your objectives, you will (3) create a marketing strategy. Based upon your strategy, you will (a) segment and target potential customers. Based upon your customer targets, you will (b) choose an appropriate and integrated marketing mix, including: products and services, pricing, promotion and advertising, distribution and location, and other elements of the marketing program – the summary and specific recommendations for the execution of the plan.