Part I comprises three sections: Organization Description, Market Segments, and Market Positioning. These are described in more detail below. Opportunities to work within the class period and to receive feedback on sections from your classmates and the instructor will be provided.
The project may be done individually or in teams of two (preferable) or three (also possible but less desireable).
Section A: Market Audit. Select and describe an organization with which you are familiar. Include in your description similar information to that requested in the Market Audit Assignment. The organizational description consists of collecting information to answer as many of the following questions as you can:
- What is the organization's mission statement (stated or as you
infer it)?
- Who are the publics being served?
- Characterize the staff and their expertise. Does the organization use
(or rely on) volunteers to any extent?
- What products/services does the organization offer?
- What price do customers pay for products and services?
- How are these products and services delivered to the customers?
- What kinds of promotional activities does the organization engage in?
You may also wish to provide some evaluative opinions, such as:
- In your opinion, what kind of image does the organization
project?
- In your estimation, is the price of products and services perceived by
customers to be high, average, low, or free?
- In your view, how satistifed are the publics (the customers and other
stakeholders) with the organization?
- Is the image that the organization projects congruent with its
mission, in your opinion?
- In your view, how satisfied are the staff with the organization?
- How effective do you find each promotional activity the organization
currently engages in?
- As a summary evaluation, do you think the organization is correctly
positioned, has an appropriate image, and is effectively marketing its
services and products? If not (or not completely) what aspects do you
think need to be addressed for improvement?
Section B: Market Segments. Identify and list the
various
"publics" served by the organization. Some will be stakeholders,
that is, people interested in the organization who are not
necessarily customers; others will be customers and potential
customers. How are the various customer publics segmented into markets? What are
some other ways that the publics might be segmented? What are some of the
advantages and disadvantages in alternative ways of segmenting the
markets?
Section C: Market Positioning. Characterize the
marketing
goals and
positioning strategy for your organization, as best you can
determine or infer. Consider whether the marketing goals are of
either or both of the following two types: Action goals producing
specific, measureable results
(Example: A help desk operation wishes to continue answering 500
assistance questions each year) and/or Image goals how the
organization wishes to be perceived by its various publics
(Example: A library reference dept. wishes to be seen by
faculty as the best place to send their students for assistance in
preparing research papers). Positioning means finding and
establishing a niche or unique
role in the community or environment in which the organization
wishes to operate. Look for clues to the organization's current
positioning strategy in phrases like the following:
Submission of Part I. Please turn in the three sections
by June 25.. Your submission can be a web document (or
several), an email attachment, or a print-out. [Note: I will create a
print document so that I can write comments on it if you submit it in a
different way] If it is a team effort, both (or all) members of the team
will receive the same grade unless there is overwhelming evidence that it
should be otherwise.
If you have any questions on this assignment or any part of it, please
email Evelyn Daniel.
If you don't find any clues, use your best judgment in terms of existing
clues to fashion a position statement that you think the organization
would find acceptable.