Part A: Consumer Market Profile (10%)
Before your group can come up with the marketing strategy, it will need to have a solid
knowledge of the market and consumer profile. For this part of the assignment, the group is
required to conduct a situation analysis, select a target market after identifying and evaluating all
existing target segments, and justify the target market choice. Your group has to submit Part A
electronically on the course website by deliverable date outlined in the syllabus.
The aim is to conduct an in-depth understanding of your consumer and the market within which you will
sell your product. Part A should be no more than 5 typed, double spaced pages, 12 font size. Margins on
all four sides of each page should be 1 inch. You may include up to 3 pages of exhibits and appendices.
Please submit an electronic copy in the course submission folder. This deliverable should cover the
following:
Section 1: Product Introduction (approx. 0.5 pages) Briefly introduce your new product: ( 1 )
description of what you will be offering to the market and (2) what makes your product different
(i.e., product differentiation).
Section 2: Market Profile (approx. 1 page) Discuss main findings from your industry and
market analysis. A solid analysis draws on secondary data sources available in the library , uses
numbers and evidence to describe market conditions, structure, trends and consumer behavior.
You should also highlight key points from your SWOT analysis while discussing the
implications.
• Trends that support the product’s success and threats that might hinder success
• Consumption rates, size of the market, future growth potential of the market, barriers to entry
• Specific market shares of direct competitors (manufacturers and their brands) and the presence
of indirect competitors NOTE: given the limited space – You should include the details of your
SWOT (i.e. points + implications) and industry analysis in exhibits and summarize the key
findings and implications in the body of the report.
Section 3: Segmentation (approx. 1.5-2 pages) In developing your segmentation strategy, be
sure to list and discuss all possible and plausible segments and present a detailed analysis of your
market segments (a segmentation grid, can be included as Secondary data sources are available
in the library to help you obtain relevant information for this section. Be sure to segment the
market on the most relevant segmentation variables.
Section 4: Target Market Choice and Customer Profile (approx. 1-1.5 page) After having
discussed all plausible existing market segments, choose the target segment you plan to pursue
with your innovative product. You should present a compelling argument for your target segment
selection. When crafting your justification of target market choice be sure to use proper
terminology and evaluation criteria covered in class. Present a detailed explanation of why your
target segment needs the product and provide a profile of a typical customer in your segment (i.e.
use demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioral descriptors) and explain what consumer
O’NEILL3
behavior factors/sub-factors are likely to affect your target segment. I expect to see extensive and
accurate applications of marketing segmentation and consumer behavior characteristics.
Section 5: Positioning (approx. 0.5 pages) Present the positioning for your product, making
sure to include: (1) a positioning statement as well as a (2) positioning map (the map could be
included in the exhibits, but summarize the key findings and implications in the body of the
report). You should construct your positioning map based on criteria and dimensions that are
important to your market. Be sure that your positioning map plots all your direct and indirect
competitors identified earlier in the report and that it also plots all market segments identified in
your segmentation grid. The positioning of your competitors and target segments on the map is
critical to provide a snap shot of the market.
Topic: Education ( any back to school products )
