MBA: International Marketing
Individual Assignment (60 Marks)
Written report
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY
This is an INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT.
A student is required to: suggest the most appropriate international marketing mix strategy for the organisation as selected in group assignment. However, selecting a different product/service and a new foreign market for your individual assignment.
1. Title page
2. Executive Summary: Provide a short summary of the key points of your report. (1 page)
Please make certain to include a brief summary of the following:
- Organisation (3-5 lines)
- Product/service (4-6 lines)
- Key market characteristics needed for the product/service to be successful (5-8 lines)
- suggested target market and its basic characteristics (5-10 lines)
- Marketing mix strategy (5-8 lines)
5 marks
3. Product policy decisions: extension, adaptation, invention.
Evaluate the five strategic options by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each product strategy:
i. Product - communication extension;
ii. Product extension – communication adaptation; iii. Product adaptation – communication extension;
iv. Product – communication adaptation; and
v. Product - invention
Then suggest the most appropriate product strategy.
15 marks
4. Channel decisions. Evaluate the channel options based on various factors such as: cost.
capital requirements, controls, coverage, character and continuity;
i. Specialised trader importers; or
ii. Manufacturing importers, or
iii. Retailers (Any of the four types).
Then suggest the most appropriate channel for your product/service.
15 marks
5. Pricing issues and decisions: Evaluate the environmental influences such as:
i. Currency fluctuations,
ii. Inflationary environment,
iii. Government controls, subsides and
iv. Competitive behaviour to suggest the most appropriate pricing policy for your product/service.
And use the “Export pricing workbook” to work-out the estimated price of your product.
15 marks
6. Promotional challenges and issues of your target country.
i. Assess the implications of legal constraints in your advertising strategy. ii. Assess the implications of linguistic limitations in your advertising strategy
iii. Assess the implications of cultural diversity in your advertising strategy And suggest the most appropriate international promotional strategy.
15 marks
7. Assess the potential of using other means of communication such as:
i. Direct marketing,
ii. Mobile marketing,
iii. Trade shows,
iv. Global sponsorships
And suggest (e.g., advertise on Facebook) – all the necessary details and implementation guidelines of other means of communication used in your international promotional strategy.
15 marks
Appendices, references: It is strongly recommended that all tables, graphs and other information be incorporated directly into the body of the report. However, if needed, you may have appendixes at the end of the report. This final section should also contain references to the sources cited in the report
10 marks Report Formatting
The report should be 10-12 double-spaced pages, including the reference section and appendices with statistics, charts, maps etc.
Word limit: 4500 - 5000.
Please format your report according to the following:
Number all pages in your team report.
Margins should be 2.5cm (one inch) at the top, bottom, and sides of the page.
Font type should be 12-point Times New Roman throughout the report.
Double-space all body text.
Indent the first line of a new paragraph. The text should be left-aligned.
Each and every use of other people’s ideas/words must have an in-text citation which, should include only the name of the author(s) and the date of the publication and clearly shown which material it relates to. Full references (author, year, title of the publication, volume, issue, page numbers, publisher; for website sources, use proper referencing for website addresses and include date of access – see APA (G) style and should be provided at the end of the report. APA (G) reference style is required.
Wikipedia is an excellent resource to begin your research, but it is not an appropriate source to cite in your report. Instead, you must find the source behind the Wikipedia entry and verify its accuracy.
10 marks
Total: 100 marks
Weighting: 60%