Product Analysis

Write an analysis of a selected company’s product strategies, including branding, design, and product positioning. There is no page limit for this assessment.

The focus of a marketing program should be on a product or service (the first “P”). In order to market or sell a product well, you need to truly know your product. A product analysis can tell you why it sells, who buys it, and how to reach your targeted audience.

SHOW LESS

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 3: Examine the relationship of basic marketing strategies to business success.
  • Explain how product positioning strategies contribute to competitive advantage in the marketplace.
  • Explain how a company’s product strategy attempts to carve out a niche or maintain market share leadership.
• Competency 4: Apply effective marketing planning and implementation.
  • Describe a selected company.
  • Describe a company’s competition in relation to its product or service.
  • Explain how a product or service meets customer requirements for the design of a product or service.

• Suggested Resources

  The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

  Library Resources

  The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course.

  • Ruskin-Brown, I. (2006). Mastering marketing (2nd ed.). London, GBR: Thorogood Publishing.
  • McDonald, M., & Wilson, H. (2011). Marketing plans: How to prepare them, how to use them (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
  • Kermally, S. (2004). Gurus on marketing. London, GBR: Thorogood Publishing.
  • Fickes, M. (2001). REI explores new heights. Sporting Goods Business, 34(2), 62–63.
  • Melkman, A. (2006). Conducting the SWOT analysis. In Strategic customer planning (pp. 131–144). London, GBR: Thorogood Publishing.
  • Jones, K. (2001, February). Happy campers. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 55(2), 130–134.

  Course Library Guide

  A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BUS-FP3030 – Fundamentals of Marketing and Sales Library Guide to help direct your research.

  Internet Resources

  Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

  • KnowThis LLC. (2013). KnowThis.com. Retrieved from http://www.knowthis.com/index.php
  • KnowThis LLC. (2013). How to write a marketing plan. Retrieved from http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tu…
    • For the focus of this assessment, you may want to examine the following sections of the How to Write a Marketing Plan tutorial from the site’s Principles of Marketing Tutorials list. Part 3 (Marketing Strategy and Objectives), Part 4 (Tactical Marketing Programs), Part 5 (Budgeting, Performance, and Implementation), and Part 6 (Additional Considerations).
  • Marketing Power, Inc. (2013). American Marketing Association. Retrieved from http://www.marketingpower.com/Pages/default.aspx
  • Hoover’s, Inc. (2013). Hoovers. Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com
  • The Ad Age Group. (2014). AdvertisingAge. Retrieved from http://adage.com
  • Direct Marketing Association. (2013). DMA: Advancing and protecting responsible data-driven marketing. Retrieved from http://thedma.org
  • Concept Marketing Group Inc. (2013). Concept Marketing Group. Retrieved from http://www.marketingsource.com

  Bookstore Resources

  The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the Capella University Bookstore. When searching the bookstore, be sure to look for the Course ID with the specific –FP (FlexPath) course designation.

  • Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2018). MKTG 11 (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
  • Ries, A., & Trout, J. (1994). The 22 immutable laws of marketing. New York, NY: Harper Business.

• Choose a product or service made by an organization that is large enough to generate primary as well as secondary research resources. Research the product or service and write an analysis of your findings. In your analysis:
  • Describe the company, its competition, and customer requirements.
  • Explain how the company’s product strategy attempts to carve out a niche or maintain market share leadership. Consider branding, design, product positioning, and other relevant product-related elements.
  • Explain how product positioning strategies contribute to competitive advantage in the marketplace.

  Additional Requirements

  • Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
  • APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
  • Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.