Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing
Assignment
Subject
Strategic Marketing Planning (SMP)
Nature of the Assignment
Individual Assignment with Presentation
Examination
December 2014
Examination /Assignment Registration
01st October 2014 to 19th October 2014
Period
Assignment Submission Period
1st November 2014 to 9th November 2014
Late Submission Period
17th November 2014 to 23rd November 2014
Assignment Acceptance time period
Weekday and Weekend - 9.00am to 3.00pm
Presentation Date
20, 21, 22, 23 December 2014
(your time schedule will be uploaded to
the website during examination)
[email protected]
Email address to send soft copy
IMPORTANT

It is a compulsory requirement to submit the assignment as this is totally an
assignment based subject.

Assignment should be submitted to SLIM within the Assignment Submission Periods
indicated above.

Assignment will not be accepted after the late submission under any circumstances.

Attached cover page should be used, printed in relevant color (Stage1-Blue/Stage 2Green/Stage 3-Pink)

Assignment Marking Sheet should be attached after the cover page followed by the
Assignment checklist & declaration form.

Current University students are allowed to submit the assignment without attending
lectures since they register as self study students but they have to attend the
individual presentation sessions.

Soft copy of your assignment should be sent to above mentioned email address and
you will be receiving an automated reply of receipt of the assignment, If you have not
received the automated reply, please verify with course coordinator. Soft copy is only
a reference document that will not be considered as an assignment submission

SLIM will issue an acknowledgement slip upon the submission of your assignment
and it must be retained by the student as proof of submitting the assignment.

You are required to register for Assignment within the above given period.
Assignments will not be accepted if you have not registered for the
exam/assignment.

If you have not submitted the assignment your results for the respective subject will
appear as “Fail” in the final grading

In case of absent at the examination, relevant student has to re-do the assignment in
order to pass the subject in the next examination.

If you are a student of an Accredited Study Center, you can submit the assignment to
the accredited study center and presentation date and time will be notified to the
accredited center once all assignments received to SLIM Home in parallel to the
SLIM website.

Examination fee per subject will be applicable to Strategic Marketing Planning (SMP)
as well. In order to submit your SMP assignment you should have applied for the
SMP during the examination registration period making the relevant exam fee, failure
which your assignment will not be accepted.

Refer Student deliverables indicated below for specific details about assignment
submission and presentations.
ASSIGNMENT PRESENTATIONS

Presentation date and time will be published in website after the assignment
submission by the student.

Presentation time will be 20mins and additional 10mins will be given for Question and
Answers.

Presentation should be compatible in MS Office 2007 version in a Pen Drive which
does not content Viruses.
(Only the relevant presentation should be saved in the pen drive)

Students should bring two copies of the presentations printed one side per page
Assignment Topic:
“Formulating a Strategic Marketing Planning”
Background
Select a company where you can obtain internal and external data as to its products,
markets, competitors, customers etc. Preferably it should be a medium scale or a large
scale company. Volume of sales should be at least Rs. 24 million per annum.
Assume that you are given a consultancy assignment to write a comprehensive marketing
plan for one of their products or category of their products and write a marketing plan in the
given format below for a period of one year.
The format is only a guideline and the page length of content stated therein could change as
per the merits of the case. However, you may not deviate plus or minus 20% of the page
length given. You can make assumptions but it should be logical.
Financial Summary should be given in the body of the report and the detailed notes should
be given in the body of the assignment. ( not in the annexure)
Your arguments and forecast should be supported by relevant data/information and if
possible it should be included to the appendix.
Executive summary should be written after completing all other parts of the report and it
should describe the whole marketing plan in a nutshell. A special practical session will be
held during the classes to coach students on how to write an executive summary.
Refrain from cutting and pasting information from websites or published reports. Analyse
and write in your own words.
Report should be written in the third person format ( please do not use word “our” “my’
‘we’ when referring to the company)
Teaching Methodology
1. A well formulated format of a generic marketing will be given to students on the first
day of the program.
2. Basic knowledge required to formulate the marketing plan would be discussed during
the class room lectures.
3. Students will be exposed to all the marketing plans that their peers write by way of
making their participation mandatory in the presentations. A great deal of learning
through this is expected
4. Participation in the peer presentations will pave the way for the students to develop
their knowledge beyond what is available in text books. Further their analytical,
presentation, discussion skills also will be developed through this process.
Reference Reading
-
Gillian, C and Wilson R.M.S. ( 2009) Strategic Marketing Planning
( Chapters with pages – Chapter 2 pages 41 to 49, Chapter 3 pages 79 to 98,
Chapter 5 pages 161 to 175, Chapter 6 pages 217 to 229, Chapter 7 pages 251 to
270, Chapter 8 pages 300 to 306, 310 to 314, 316 to 321, 329 to 336, Chapter 9
pages 347 to 361, 367 to 376, Chapter 10 pages 392 to 394, Chapter 11 pages 407
to 413, 423 to 434, Chapter 12 pages 468 to 485)
Refer and download following presentations
http://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/how-to-develop-a-marketing-plan13054618
http://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/how-to-present-your-marketing-plan12128197
http://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/how-to-develop-marketing-objectives
http://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/introduction-to-strategic-marketingplanning
http://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/making-great-presentations-bymaxwell-ranasinghe
http://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/combining-the-marketing-mix-6346531
http://freevideolectures.com/Course/2371/Project-and-Production-Management/34
Format for the Marketing Plan
Cover Page:
Subject : Strategic Marketing Planning – STL 304
Company :
Product:
Name:
Reg No:
Examination Month:
Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing
Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing
After the cover page insert the Assignment Marking Scheme and the Assignment
Table of contents page with page Nos for each chapter and sub topic
Acknowledgement page
1. Executive Summary
A. Summary of Situation Analysis (two A4 page)
B. Summary of Marketing Objectives. ( ¼ A4 page)
C. Summary of Marketing Strategies. ( one A4 page)
D. Summary of Financial Projections.( one A4 page)
2. Vision and Mission ( 1/4 A4 page)
3 The Company
3.1. Brief history, Current size, branches if any , the products and services that the
company is offering, growth and profitability etc, ( one A4 page)
3.2. Internal Environment
a. Staff Relations (one A4 page)
b. Resources and limitations (one A4 page)
c. Corporate Structure and Culture ( two A 4 page)
4. The Product / Service
4.1. General Product Story of the product (in relation to the product selected to write
this marketing plan)
a. Development, introduction and history.( one A4 page)
b. Product category and characteristics ( ½ A4 page)
c. Stage of Product Life Cycle.( one A4 page)
d. Any other important characteristic if any (1/4 A 4 page)
5. The overall Market ( customers)
5.1. Description of the characteristics of target customers
a. Needs and benefits sought( ½ A4 page)
b. Product usage( ½ A4 page)
who is using, why they use, when do they use, how it is used
c. Attitudes of the customers
i. As to product category, ( ½ A4 page)
ii. As to company’s product( ½ A4 page) ( if it is a new
product, support with specific research done with your product)
iii. Why they like our product or not,(½ A4 page)( If it is a new
product, support with specific research done with your product)
iv. Any unique character of customers(½ A4 page)
5.2. Description of the purchasing process
a. Buying decision making process( one A4 page)
b. What sources of information is sought( ½ A4 page)
c. Who makes the purchase?( 1/4 A4 page)
d. Is purchaser the consumer? ( 1/4 A4 page)
e. Who or what may influence the purchase?( ½ A4 page)
6. Competition and Market share
.
6.1. Identification of competitors
a. List of Primary competitors ( ¼ A4 page)
b. List of Secondary competitors( ¼ A4 page)
c. Possible new competitors( ¼ A4 page)
6.2 Market Share
a. Total current industry sale by market( 1/2 A4 page)
b. Comparative analysis of Market share held by the company and
competitors
c. Trends and Future growth ( ½ A4 page)
d. Expected total market ( demand estimates)( ½ A4 page)
6.3 Describe following details of top two players in the market and any other
competitor that would pose a threat to you or that you would be fighting with in order
to enter into the market(You are advised to show the detail of competitors from Chapter 6.3 in a two
column Table Format as show in the sample at the end of this format)
a. Background of competitors
i. Company and its size/type
ii. Reputation
iii. Sales force and their expertise
iv. Financial strength
v. Technology used
vii. Any other important aspect
b. Current Product Strategy of competitors
Comparative analysis of competitor’s product strategy
i. Product Mix
ii. Branding and packaging
iii. Positioning
iv. Image and reputation of brand
v. Product Strengths and weaknesses
c. Current distribution strategy of competitors
Comparative Analysis about the competitors’ distribution strategy
i. Type of distribution network used
ii. Evaluation of how distribution targets accomplished
iii. Relationship with channel members
iv. Strength of the channel members
d. Current Pricing Strategy
i. Pricing objectives
ii. Pricing strategies
iii. Buyers attitude about the company prices
iv. Channel attitude of about the company’s prices
v. Comparative analysis of Competitors prices
e. Current Promotional Strategy
Comparative Analysis of Competitor promo tools and campaigns
i. Promotional Objectives
ii. Strategies and themes used
iv. Promotional tools used
a. Advertising
b. Sales Promotions
c. Public Relations
d. Direct marketing
e. Personal Selling
v. Success and failures of promo campaigns
7. External Environmental factors
7.1 PESTEEL Factors ( use only ¼ A4 page per sub topic)
1. Political
2. Economical
3. Social
4. Technological
5. Ecological
6. Environmental
7. Legal
8. SWOT Analysis ( use ¼ A 4 page per sub topic)
8.1. Strengths
8.2. Weaknesses
8.3 Opportunities
8. 4 Threats
9. Sales Objectives ( ¼ A4 page)
It represents projected level of sales to be achieved. This is the most important element
because it creates the direction for entire marketing plan. It should be SMART. Everything
that follows in the plan designed to meet the sales objectives.
10.Marketing Objectives(
half to one A4 page)
Marketing Objectives: Clearly defines what need of the market that you serve and what
behavior you want from the market. It should be SMART. Objectives would be for retaining
existing customers, increasing sales from existing customers, developing new customers,
increasing usage of the product etc.
11. Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning
11. 1. Market Segments
a. Geographic( ½ A4 page)
b. Demographic( ½ A4 page)
c. Psychographic( 1/2 A4 page)
d. Behavioral( ½ A4 page)
11.2. Targeting ( ½ A4 page)
11.3. Positioning ( ½ A4 page)
12. Tactical Marketing Mix Strategy Development ( 7 ps)
12.1 Product Strategy( one A4 page)
12.2 Pricing Strategy( one A4 page)
12.3 Promotional Strategy( up to four A4 pages)
12.4 Distribution Strategy ( one A4 page)
12.5 Physical Evidence Strategy ( one A4 page)
12.6 Process Strategy ( one A4 page)
12.7 People Strategy ( one A4 page)
13. Budgets and Financial Analysis ( one A4 page)
Projected profit and Loss statement should be on one A 4 pages as provided. You have to
explain in detail the income and expenditure in notes to the budget in the body of the
assignment.( do not show them in appendix /annexure)
14. Marketing Strategy Implementation (Action plans) ( three A 4 pages)
A Gnat chart should be given in one or two A4 pages. If needed you may explain it
on notes.
15. Monitoring and Evaluation ( 2 A4 pages)
Graphical illustration plus a detailed explanation should be given and maximum of 2
A 4 pages can be used.
List of References
( Harvard Format)
Appendix
(Relevant data, research questionnaire, rate cards or any other material that
would substantiate your arguments or information in the assignment)
( The body of the Marketing Plan other than the appendixes would contain
about 40 A 4 pages or in other words around 13500 words)
General format to be used

All pages should be A4 sheets printed on one side.
•
Text font to be “Times New Roman”
•
Font size of the text should be 12 pt.
•
Main Headings 14 pt. ( Bold)
•
Sub headings 12 pt.
•
Line spacing should be 1.5 lines
•
Margins on Top and Bottom 1 inch
•
Margins on right 1 inch
•
Margins on left 1.25 inch
•
Text justified
•
Beginning of each Para 4 spaces indented
•
All reports should be spiral bound and should be handed over to SLIM before the
deadline.
(Please read the Program Handbook for general guidelines in writing
assignments)
All sub topics in Chapter 6.3 should be shown in the format given below.
a. Background of competitors
i.
Company and its size/type
Company” x”
Company “y”
ii.
Company ‘x”
Reputation
Company “y”
iii. . Sales force and their expertise
Company” x”
Company “y”
iv. Financial strength
v. Technology used
Company” x”
Company “y”
vi. Any Other
Company ‘x”
Company “y”
Assignment Marking Scheme
Subject
Student Registration Nu
Strategic Marketing Planning (SMP)
Marks
Allocated Awarded
20
Criteria
Aligning to the purpose of the assignment
Some of the answer addresses to the purpose of the question
This has addressed the purpose of the assignment
Has addressed the purpose of the assignment coherently
This has addressed the purpose of assignment comprehensively
Clarity of expression
An attempt to organize in a logical manner
Satisfactory showing of logical manner and organization
Shows higher level of Carefully and logically organized
Shows coherent structure with clearly expressed ideas
Using examples/evidences
Shows a little use of examples
Some use of examples. Some evaluation attempted
Some use of examples. Well evaluated
Shows appropriate examples are fully and reliably evaluated
Critical analysis of concepts, theories, conclusions
Demonstrates limited evidence of critical analysis
Demonstrates some critical analysis of relevant theory
Demonstrates application of theory through critical analysis
Demonstrates application of critical analysis well integrated
Following assignment guidelines
Limited follow-up of assignment guidelines
Some level of follow-up of assignment guidelines
Good display of adherence to assignment guidelines
Excellent adherence to assignment guidelines
Total
Special Remarks
Signature of the Examiner
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
100
Strategic Marketing Planning (SMP)
Assignment
Topic
Student Name
Reg. No.
December 2014 Examination
Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing
Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing