MNM4805 Assignment 1 (ANSWERS) 2026 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED

Comprehensively structured MNM4805 Assignment 1 (ANSWERS) 2026 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED. Prepared to a distinction standard with detailed and well-developed responses.. of the strategic marketing plan for your chosen topic: a domestic airline brand. Use the following headings to structure your assignment. Assignment length The total length of this assignment should be five to ten (5–10) pages. The assignment must be submitted via myUnisa. 5. Market and marketing strategies General details of the overall generic strategies, market and marketing strategies: • Set out the overall generic strategic direction or market and marketing strategy (e.g., growth, differentiation, focus, low cost, harvest). Discuss in detail the overall generic strategy you intend to follow with the company’s strategic marketing plan. Do not simply state that you will follow a differentiation strategy. Identify which differentiation strategy you will follow and explain the basis of this strategy. You can also combine certain market strategies. For example, you may choose to follow a differentiation strategy based on unique features combined with a focus strategy. Make sure that you describe the combination in detail. • Define target market(s) in detail. Use the different bases of segmentation to describe your target markets (demographic, psychographic, behavioural and geographic variables) or link your target market with the various LSMs or other segmentation criteria. • State how the marketing objectives should be achieved. Specify the strategies employed for the product, price, promotion and distribution for each specific target market. Apply the additional Ps (people, physical evidence and processes), where appropriate, for a service business. The marketing strategy is the most important component of the marketing plan and should therefore be your main focus. Develop your strategies in detail. Refer to your Marketing I to III textbooks or any other marketing textbook to determine which topics you should address when developing strategies. Remember to be creative. Do not simply restate the company’s old strategies – develop new and innovative ones. The marketing strategy should follow the objectives that were set. For example, you cannot set a marketing objective to withdraw some of the products and then formulate a strategy to increase the sales of the same products. The objectives and strategies must correspond. It is important to recognise that the marketing objectives, strategies and action plans are the most important components of the marketing plan; therefore, you should focus on them when compiling the marketing plan. Too many students write 12 pages on the situation analysis and then only four pages on the marketing strategy and action plans. Devote a lot more effort to developing DETAILED marketing strategies. Broad and vague strategies are meaningless. Develop your strategies in detail by stating exactly what you will be doing over the next five years. MNM4805/102/0/2026 9 6. The traditional marketing mix strategy for products and the additional three Ps The following elements should be covered in your strategies, at the very least: Product Promotion Place Price Physical good Quality level Accessories Packaging Warranties Product lines Branding Service Promotion blend Salespeople Selection Training Incentives Advertising targets Media types Sales promotion Publicity Direct marketing Public relations Internet and other electronic media Channel type Exposure Intermediaries Outlet location Transportation Storage Managing channels Objectives Flexibility Price levels Terms Differentiation Discounts Allowances The value mix for services comprises product, price, place (distribution), promotion, people, processes and physical evidence. The additional three Ps that should be addressed for service products are as follows: People Physical evidence Process Employees Recruiting Training motivation Customers Education Training Communicating culture and values Aesthetics Sounds Smells Sights Design factors Interior Exterior Social factors Communication factors Flow of activities Standardised Customised Number of steps Complex Simple Level of customer involvement 7. Action programmes • Divide the marketing strategy into action programmes and allocate specific tasks to specific people. Remember, implementing a single strategy often requires more than one action or activity. • Provide the time scheduling. Indicate who does what, when (time frame) and with how much money. Remember that action plans identify short-term activities that need to be carried out. Some of these activities might take a week to perform; others might take a month or three months. Whatever the case, you need to identify the start date and the end date, for example, 1 July 2024 to 31 July 2024. With the action programme, you must use the marketing objectives and strategies you set as guidelines. In other words, for each objective and strategy you have formulated, you must explain who the responsible person would be, what actions should be taken to realise the strategy, when the actions would take place and what it would cost. It is a good idea to do this in table format. See the following example: MNM4805/102/0/2026 10 Objective Strategy Actions Responsibility Time Cost Objective Strategy Action 1 Action 2 Action 3, etc XXX XXX XXX XXX–XXX XXX–XXX XXX–XXX XXX XXX XXX Objective Strategy Action 1 Action 2 Action 3, etc. XXX XXX XXX XXX–XXX XXX–XXX XXX–XXX XXX XXX XXX 8. Marketing budget Provide a forecast statement of income and marketing expenditure for the planning period. The information does not have to be accurate, but at least try to keep it realistic. As long as the marker can see that you know what kinds of income and expenditure relate to the marketing of products, you will be awarded marks. Regarding the budget, it is important to remember the following: If it will cost money to execute your strategies, they should be in the budget. Training costs money, so include it in the budget; competitions cost money, so include them in the budget. Do not forget to identify sales targets. With a bit of effort, you can find out what the actual costs incurred by a company would be. If you log on to the websites of many magazines, newspapers, television channels or any other media, you can access their advertising rates. For example, brochure development costs can be obtained from advertising agencies and from printers. All that is required is a bit of initiative and effort on your part. 9. Control Firstly, it is important to identify what will be controlled. Then you must indicate who will exercise control, and how, when and how often control will be exercised over the marketing plan. Identify the key areas or aspects that need to be controlled and then address each of the questions mentioned previously. It is particularly important that you spend some time and effort on explaining how you will exercise control over the many aspects. Identify the methods and provide some insight into what will be done. MNM4805/102/0/2026 11 Please complete and attach a copy of the Declaration of own work (see Addendum D) to your answer file. The strategic marketing plan is a crucial element of the course in strategic marketing. As a marketing graduate, you have been approached by the brand manager of a domestic airline brand in South Africa. During your conversation, he mentions that his company plans to develop a strategic marketing plan for a five-year period (2026–2030) and that he desperately needs your assistance. You are required to compile the first part of a strategic marketing plan for the above-mentioned domestic airline brands in South Africa. (Choose anyone that you like.) There are many books in the library that deal with the marketing plan, and I encourage you to use these books in your studies. Assignment length The total length of this assignment should be 5–10 pages. The assignment must be submitted via myUnisa. BACKGROUND INFORMATION While the framework given below is not necessarily perfect, it does cover the most important elements to be addressed. Use this framework as a starting point and make adjustments where appropriate. General comments • A strategic marketing plan implies a long-term marketing plan. You must compile a strategic marketing plan for the entire planning period of five (5) years. • No marks are given for theory. For example, you are not required to explain what an executive summary, an objective or a marketing strategy is. You must compile a practical strategic marketing plan. • Do not simply rewrite the information in the recommended book or information about the company you have chosen for your strategic marketing plan. In other words, do not restate what the company has done in the past. You must prepare a strategic plan that sets out what the company will do in the next planning period. Your plan must be applicable to a specific company and its products. The only sections of the strategic marketing plan that contain historical information are the summary of the existing marketing situation and the section on background information. Here you need to mention sales trends, market size, profit, product, distribution, promotion, price, market and competition. • All the components of a strategic marketing plan must be included in your answer. Remember that a marketing plan includes a title page and a table of contents. • Avoid vague, meaningless information. Develop and explain the exact strategy that the company must follow. Describe the actions to be taken; when, where and how those actions must be carried out; and who will be responsible for the different actions. MNM4805/102/0/2026 5 Format of the strategic marketing plan Each of the following components must be included in the strategic marketing plan: 1. Title page Give general information, including a suitable heading, the company name, the period for which the strategic marketing plan is compiled, the name of the person who compiled the plan and the date on which the plan was compiled. 2. Table of contents Include numbered headings and subheadings, as well as corresponding page numbers. 3. Summary of the existing marketing situation • Background: Provide historical information and information about trends in the sales, market size, profit, product, distribution, promotion, price and market of the company. Analyse each of the company’s competitors in detail. Also, analyse customer behaviour. Focus on what customers buy and why; value, volume, price and frequency; where they buy; and customer characteristics (size, socioeconomic groups, demographic considerations, and cultural and lifestyle factors). Make assumptions, where necessary. You must also analyse the macro environment (all six factors of the macro environment) and its specific impact on the company and its activities. When conducting this situation analysis, it is essential that you analyse each element in terms of its impact on the company or product in question. In other words, do not just state that inflation in South Africa is stable; you must analyse the impact of low inflation on the marketing of the product or company, as well as the implications it may have for future marketing activities. NOTE: As previously mentioned, this section is the only one in the strategic marketing plan that includes historical information. • Forecasting: Make projections of the market size and sales for the next planning period. • Provide a complete SWOT analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Remember that a SWOT analysis is compiled after the situation analysis has been done. Essentially, the SWOT analysis highlights the key aspects of the situation analysis by putting them in a simple framework for the purpose of identifying strategic direction when developing the marketing strategies. Provide five (5) strengths, five (5) weaknesses, five (5) opportunities and five (5) threats. MNM4805/102/0/2026 6 • Make assumptions. State the outside factors and anticipated changes that have a significant influence on the achievement of marketing objectives, such as market growth rate, organisational costs and capital investment. 4. Marketing objectives Study the development of objectives very carefully and make sure that you can develop marketing objectives for a given company or product. Objectives should be • quantitative • specific • reasonable • set for a fixed period • measurable They can be stated in terms of • activities (manufacturing, selling, quality) • financial indicators (target return on investment) • desired positions (market share, quality leadership) Objectives may be divided into • measurement objectives (sales, market share) • growth/survival objectives (penetrate, market growth, harvest, divest) • constraint objectives (avoid certain markets or competitors) • long-term (strategic) or short-term (operational) objectives Strategic objectives, for example, refer to the different strategies in the life cycle, including competitive strategies or strategies that flow from portfolio analyses. Formulate objectives in terms of product, price, promotion and distribution. Objectives should relate to the relevant products and markets. Marketing objectives relate to • existing products in existing markets • new products for existing markets • existing products for new markets • new products for new markets Note: You will not receive any marks for an objective such as “to increase sales”. You must specify, for example, “to increase sales of product X to target market Y by 20% per annum in the years 2026–2030until year number five.