LIS 598: MARKETING LIBRARY SERVICES

ASSIGNMENT - Marketing Project - Part II

Due: June 29

ASSIGNMENTS |  SCHEDULE |  SYLLABUS  |  RESOURCES |  NEWS & NOTES 

Overview. The second part of this semester-long project builds on the descriptive information you have gathered for Part I. At this time, it is time to leave reality behind and using what you know now, devise a marketing plan that you believe will make your organization or project successful. You may wish to revise the mission statement and overall goals of the project. Or you may wish to reaffirm the existing mission and goals but suggest changes in the product/service offerings, the price (cost to users or to the organization), the delivery options and/or ways of promoting the organization and its products and services that will make the organization more effective.

Part II comprises six short sections: Market Segmentation and Revision of Mission and Goals, Definition of the Offer, Determination of the Price, Description of Delivery Options, Development of a Promotion Strategy , Evaluation of the Effectiveness of all Aspects. These are described in more detail below. Each section may be submitted separately if you wish for feedback (and opportunity to revise although there's not much time for this . I'll give you feedback in any event whenever I receive it. The final due date is June 29.

The project may be done individually or in teams.


Section E: Market Segmentation. For this section, go back and either revise or restate your organization's existing mission and its primary market segments.

An organization's mission statement should be a strong, clear statement about the organization's nature and its distinctive competence. The mission statement usually answers the following questions in a succinct mananer:

The mission should provide a good foundation for strategic development. You might wish to show the old mission statement (if one exists) juxtaposed to your new and improved version, perhaps with a brief note of explanation.

Market segmentation is a way of distinguishing separate markets. At the most extreme, each individual customer is a unique market segment (as in customized products and services). Usually, customers are grouped so that products and services can be designed to appeal to groups with similiar characteristics. Some useful criteria of what constitutes a market segment are:

Describe your process for selecting and categorizing market segments, identifying those whom you would regard as primary.


Section F: Definition of the Offer. This section asks you either to reaffirm the product and services offered by your organization or to change them in some one. A product or a service should be considered a "problem solver," in the sense that it solves one or more of the customer's problems. The important point here is to think of the offer in terms of customer benefits.

Describe the product(s) and service(s) that you believe the organization should offer to its primary publics. Provide sufficient detail for each product and service. If any of the offerings are new, describe the strategic thinking behind their development.


Section G: Determination of the Price to the Customer. The price may be in dollars or in time or in psychological cost or some combination of the three. Often different products and services are priced differently -- in the library, many have no direct monetary cost to the user. In addition to the cost to the user, indicate what you think the cost will be to the organization. Explain the basis for your pricing strategy.


Section H: Description of Delivery Options. State how the services or products will be delivered (the place of delivery and the channels through which delivery is provided). If the the customer has options, describe them.


Section I: Development of a Promotion Strategy. Indicate what mix of advertising, sales promotion, publicity, personal selling you think will be most effective for the products and services and their intended publics. If you can, indicate how resources might be allocated for promotion purposes in percentage terms to show the relative importance, in your opinion, of each of these promotion options.


Section J: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of All Aspects. Indicate how you will determine if the products, price, place, and promotion strategies you are recommending are effective for the organization. In other words, how will you measure how well the organization will do given the changes you are proposing here?


Page revised June 25, 2001.