Paper details
Report structure& Marking Scheme for the assignment:
Please ensure that you write your work in a report style. Business report writing is a skill that is essential to all Business
graduates; it enhances your employability skills and boosts your confidence in the workplace. The following section
highlights the main headings that should appear in your report along with a brief explanation of what is expected in each
section. Make sure you read this carefully before writing your report.
1. Executive Summary
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Senior management will have scores of plans to review. How well yours fares depends upon whether or not you can
engage their interests in less than a page. If the financials look good, the strategy is sound, and the fit with other
businesses is strong, you have a winner.
Although this is the first section, it is always written last. It is a topline summary of all items that follow distilled into a
synopsis of i) where the firms is now (e.g., situation), ii) where it intends to be (e.g., goals) and iii) how it will get there (e.g.,
strategy and programs).
The plan must be credible to a senior marketing officer who will evaluate, based on one page, whether to give you funds for
your programs. As such, it should also detail how much your plan will cost and the contribution you will make to the
company’s bottom line as a result.
Therefore, although this appears at the beginning of your report, it should be the last section you write once all the other
sections of the report are complete. This summary should attract the reader to explore your report further and it must not
exceed one page. The shorter, the better… provided you summarise your report properly.
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2. Introduction
In this introduction you may provide a brief highlight of the background of this work (choice of industry, and the main market
research findings retrieved from CW1) in less than one page. You may consider reporting and summarizing the relevant
background information on the market, competition,the macro environment, and trends therein, including size and growth
rates for the overall market and key segments.
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3. Customer Analysis
In this section you should explain who your customers are. Market segmentation and bases for segmentation should be
reflected here.
An analysis of customers is perhaps the most important aspect of the marketing plan. Things to consider in your analysis of
customers include:
a. Who are the customers?
b. Do they differ? Can they be segmented by their needs or purchase
behaviors? How do the segments differ?
c. Why do customers need the product?
d. How do they choose?
e. Are they aware of the brand, how do they perceive it, have they tried it,
and are they loyal?
f. Where and when do they buy?
g. Who influences the buyer?
h. What is the channel buying process?
i. Summarize the customer analysis
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4. Targeting and Positioning
In this section you should identify (ie: Which segment you have chosen to target from the various segments identified in
your customer analysis section), and the positioning strategy adopted.
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5. Marketing Strategy
What are your marketing objectives (SMART)?
The situation analysis should highlight a number of planning objectives. These
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will include i) quantity (sales, share, and profit by segment), ii) direction (e.g., increase/decrease), iii) time frame, and iv)
rationale. The objectives should be specific and measurable (e.g., increase share from 25% to 30% within one year). Your
performance will, in part, be measured by these objectives. One note of “real world” caution: if objectives are too ambitious,
you will fail to meet them and may affect the final outcome of your report. In contrast, if objectives look too unambitious, it is
unlikely any resources will be forthcoming. This, too, can hurt your performance.
Product strategy: product value proposition
Pricing decision: pricing strategy and tactics
Distribution decision: channel structure, push or pull strategy
Promotional strategy: integrated marketing communications objectives, and plan. Details are provided of how you will
make your target market aware of and want to buy the product. The plan explains why this strategy will be effective. Any
promotional sales, rebates, or social marketing programs are summarized.
This may be represented in any form of type, students may use a fourcell
matrix to summarise their marketing mix choices.
It is important to provide one or two statements in each cell.
6. Conclusion
You may reinforce the appropriateness of your choices (STP and 4Ps strategy) in a few concluding statements.
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7. Assignment Presentation
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Overall report presentation – correct formatting, appropriate appendices for supplementary graphics and tables
Quality of writing clarity
in writing, concise, avoiding grammatical and spelling errors
You can include tables, figures, and any visual information in an appendix. Note: anything that appears in an appendix
must be referred to inside your report (e.g. see appendix 1, 2, etc.). Also remember the appendix section is meant for ‘extra’
information that is relevant and supportive of your argument, it is not a place to put sections of the report. Appendices are
not marked but are looked at in the overall evaluation of the piece.
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8. Citation & References
(excluded in word count)
A full list of references from academic and authoritative sources must be included with your work. Each reference must
appear at least twice in your report. One is inside the text (e.g. Hackley (2013)
