Principles of Marketing

write a report on a company of your choice. Your brief is to evaluate the company’s marketing and competitive strategy.

If you choose a large complex organisation for your project then it is advisable to focus on just one particular product / category sold by that company.
1. INTRODUCTION

Overall, the purpose of the project is for you to demonstrate your practical understanding of the topics covered during the course as well as to develop your skills in preparing reports for managers. You are advised to read these notes carefully and follow the recommendations. Failure to comply with the guidelines may lead to a reduction in marks.
2. CHOOSING A COMPANY

You are required to pick a single company/organisation for the study. You are advised to choose a sector which interests you. There is nothing worse than doing a project on something for which you have lost all interest. The following guidelines may be useful in helping you decide:

• Consider your long-term career interests. Studying a company/industry in which you may wish to seek future employment will raise the relevance of the study and also provide you with additional knowledge which could prove useful in an interview.

• Pick an industry based on your general personal interests. Choosing a sector which reflects your personal interests should help to boost your enthusiasm for the project.

• Do not choose a company/industry just because your friend(s) have chosen it. This is likely to be a big mistake. If it is not interesting to you personally there is a strong likelihood it will not work out well for you.

• Take the decision seriously. The project accounts for 40% of the overall course mark. You should aim to do well and take pride in your work. Therefore, it is worth giving careful consideration to what you are going to do.

• You can choose an ‘unusual’ project, such as a film studio, football team, radio station, art gallery, theatre, tourist attraction, rock group. It does not have to be a multinational corporation. In fact, an ‘unusual’ selection can provide an opportunity to produce an outstanding work.

• Some companies/industries have more information published about them than others. Sectors such as the car industry and pharmaceutical industry are well served in terms of available data. Others receive far less attention. However, this does not mean that you should not tackle them but you might have to think more creatively about the application of theories to the industry in question. You may want to do a bit of exploratory research on two or three ideas before you make your final decision. Check you have access to enough data to complete the project.
3. RESEARCHING YOUR PROJECT

You are encouraged to conduct enough research to collect the necessary data and finish this project. Students are encouraged to select a local company / organisation from their own countries. The focus of this project should be based on secondary research (that is data which is already in the public domain). However, evidence of primary research (although by no means required) will be rewarded.

A few clues on the types of reports and publications you may wish to look at are:

Annual reports and accounts
Key Note or Mintel Reports
Euromonitor
Business Ratios (for financial information)
Marketing
The Economist
Newspaper articles (e.g. FT supplements)

There are also numerous academic journals (e.g. Journal of Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Research in Marketing, etc.) which will have relevant articles to support some aspects of your report. It is essential that you incorporate academic sources, and that they are referenced correctly according to the Harvard system of referencing (Using EBSCO, Pro-Quest, etc.).
3.1 Company Sources

An obvious place to look for company information is on the Internet. Even if you don’t know a company’s address it should be quite easy to find using search facilities. You might also find some useful web addresses in your course text book or on the associated web site.

You may contact a company or organisation to request a copy of a student pack or company/product brochure. Some companies will be helpful; others will be overburdened with student requests and may feel unable to assist you. If you do contact a company you should ask to speak to either “Public Relations”, “Marketing” or “Publicity” department. Legitimate things to ask for are a product brochure, the annual report or company publicity material. Check whether you can get the relevant information in the library or from the Internet first. Do not hassle the company – if you do not get anywhere after two calls at the most, then you should rely on library/public information sources. If the company does send you some information then it would be a good idea to send a thank you letter.
4. WRITING THE REPORT

One of the challenges of the project is to present a well-written, concise business report. Some of you will have had experience of writing reports, for others it will be a new challenge. The project provides an opportunity for you to improve your report writing skills. These skills are going to be very important throughout your degree course. It is important, therefore, that you pay close attention to the following guidelines.
4.1 Structure

A good starting point when planning a project is to consider the structure of your final report. This will help you to decide what information you need to collect and identify any gaps in available information. A suggested outline structure for the project is as follows.

==> EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
==> INTRODUCTION
==> THE COMPANY (HISTORY OR BACKGROUND)
==> THE MARKET ENVIRONMENT (PEST AND PORTER’s 5 FORCES MODEL)
==> MARKETING STRATEGY (SEGMENTATION / TARGETING / POSITIONING)
==> THE MARKETING MIX (THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 4PS OR 7PS)
==> EVALUATION OF THE COMPANY’S STRATEGIES AND TACTICS
==> RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
==> CONCLUSIONS
==> APPENDICES
==> REFERENCES

You need to apply marketing frameworks/models that you have learned in your lectures. You need to present your ANALYSIS, but not just the information.
4.2 Executive Summary

The Executive Summary should appear before Section 1 of the report (but after the Contents page). It should be no more than one page long. It contains an overview of the report – indicating what the report is about, what are the main areas of discussion and what are the key findings. You should use short paragraphs to summarise the main issues in the report. The executive summary is not a table of contents or list of contents – it must sum up the main arguments of the report including the findings and conclusions.
4.3 Visual Impact

The use of diagrams and tables or charts can greatly enhance the presentation of specific material. Diagrams can often provide a good summary of the concepts under discussion. Tables are also a useful means of presenting numerical data though charts (i.e. graphs) sometimes have more impact particularly when demonstrating trends. These techniques can be a useful means of summarising large amounts of data and presenting it in a concise and easily interpretable manner.

4.4 Style of Writing

It is important that your report is written in a formal and “correct” style. Poor grammar, the use of colloquial speech, over-use of jargon and “buzz” words can all detract from the content of the report and irritate the reader. Simple, short sentences and clear prose all make for a readable and compelling argument.

When writing the report you should consider the audience for the material. This can influence the amount of explanation or technical detail included in the report. For the purposes of the Company Project you are asked to assume that you are writing a report for a Director of the company. It is important that y
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