Introduction: The major project in this course is to complete a Brand Extension Marketing Plan for one new product on the behalf of an existing for-profit organization.  Using the Marketing Plan guide found in Doc Sharing, complete and submit the following components of your Marketing Plan. 

Unit 4:  Marketing Plan – Developing Strong Brands    

3.5 Positioning (refer to Chapters 9 and 10 of your Kotler text)

 Describe how your product/service meets the need(s) of your target market segments.   Describe how you are different from your key competition.  What is the most distinguishing feature of your new product? 

3.6 Strategies: Skip this Section. 

3.7 Marketing Mix (refer to Chapters 12, 14 & 18 for help with this section) 

Product

   What makes your product different from the competition?

 What gives your product more value than the competition?    

Price                                                                     

 How will you determine what price to charge for your product?

  How will go determine what your product is worth?

  How will your pricing strategy set you apart from your competition? 

Place 

 How do you plan to distribute your product? Do you have alternative delivery methods in mind? If so, describe in detail.  Will you take responsibility for distribution, or will you reply on an outside firm? How will you decide?

  Promotion 

 What kind of promotional tools will you use? Describe in detail

 How will you determine what promotional tactics will work best?

 With a limited promotional budget, how do you plan to gain market share?

  How will you go about evaluating the results of your promotional campaign?  

3.8 Marketing Research (refer back to Chapter 4 for help with this section)  What type(s) of marketing research to you think will work best to get you the information you need to make informed decisions?

 How will you evaluate whether the research is providing you with the results you need?  Will you conduct the research yourself, or hire an outside firm? Explain why.   

Submit your response to the above questions in the Unit 4 Assignment Dropbox. 

The components of your Brand Extension Marketing Plan for Unit 4 are evaluated using this rubric.

Unit 4 Brand Extension Marketing Plan Assignment Rubric

 Criteria Possible Points Positioning Describe how your product/service meets the need(s) of your target market segments  5  Describe how you are different from your key competition and your most distinguishing feature 5 Marketing Mix Product: Clearly stated what makes your product different from the competition  5  Product: Clearly stated what gives your product more value  5  Price: Stated how you will set the price of your product  5

 Price: Stated how you will determine what your product is worth  5

 Price: Stated how your pricing strategy will set you apart from 5  [GB530| Marketing Management]  

3  the competition   Place: Stated how you plan to distribute your product  5  Place: Identified whether you will be responsible for distribution, or an outside firm, and why  5

 Promotion: Described what promotional vehicles are best to gain customer share for your product 

5

 Promotion: Described how you will evaluate the success (or failure) of your promotional objectives

5

Marketing Research  Described in detail the kinds of marketing research you feel will be most effective and how you will evaluate the results 

5

 Clear business writing. Spelling and grammar are acceptable = 15

15

Total  

Unit 4 discussions

Discussion 1

Introduction: Marketers must constantly look for ways to generate revenue by building brand awareness. This Newsweek Video case is an interview with Larry Flax & Rick Rosenfield, executives at California Pizza Kitchen. They offer insights into the benefits and challenges of implementing branding strategies.

About Larry S. Flax and Richard L. Rosenfield

In January, 2004, Larry S. Flax and Richard L. Rosenfield co-founded California Pizza Kitchen. They are both Co-Presidents. In January 2002, the two men co-founded LA Food Show, Inc., a family-oriented grill and bar and now a wholly-owned subsidiary of CPK, and they served as Co-Presidents of that company. Previously, Mr. Flax and Mr. Rosenfield practiced law as principals in Flax and Rosenfield, Inc., after both served as Assistant United States Attorneys in Los Angeles.

View the Newsweek Video Case interview with Larry Flax & Rick Rosenfield regarding building brand awareness, brand extensions, product line extensions, and expansion of distribution channels (the P of Placement).

Answer the following questions:

1. What are some of the challenges and considerations marketers must act upon to build brand awareness?
2. What types of strategies has California Pizza Kitchen implemented to build their own brand awareness? Do you agree with these strategies?
3. What else might California Pizza Kitchen do to increase their brand awareness?
4. CPK presently operates in 11 countries outside of the U.S. How would you go about determining the best location for further international expansion?
5. What are the risks inherent in brand extensions and expanding product lines? Within your response, include a relevant sentence or two quotes from our Kotler and Keller Marketing Management text to support your view.

Discussion 2

Key to effective marketing management in a global context is keeping up with current events. As outlined in Unit 1, you need to find a current event topic that interests you and relates to the material we are discussing. You can find an article from the Internet, the Webliography, Kaplan Library or any other reliable source. Remember that Wikipedia is NOT considered a credible source. NOTE:  The article you find must have been written within the past 90 days. Check the Extra! Extra! tab as a starting point for your research.