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Marketing Planning Process
Assignment Briefing June and September 2013
Professor Neil Towers
Senior Examiner
Professional Diploma in Marketing
Aims
• To understand fully the requirements of the
Marketing Planning Process (MPP) assignment brief
for June 2013 and September 2013.
• To give you the tools that you need to maximise your
potential.
• To ensure that you follow CIM policies and
procedures.
Assignment Brief
• Choice of two scenarios.
• Scenario One: to respond to a competitor’s digital
marketing campaign to aid business improvement or
• Scenario Two: to address trends in an area where
performance could be improved for a chosen
product or service.
• ‘Apply’ ‘Relate’ ‘Contextualise’.
Interpreting Scenario One
• To respond to a competitor’s digital marketing
campaign to aid business development.
• Define digital marketing campaign.
• Define the context.
• Key features.
• Apply the context.
• Objectives linked to business development.
Interpreting Scenario One
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Objectives linked to business development.
Define business development.
Qualify and Quantify.
Be specific.
Apply and contextulaise.
Interpreting Scenario Two
• To address trends in an area where performance
could be improved for a chosen product or service.
• Apply and contextualise.
• Available information.
• Qualitative and Quantitative information.
• Identifying your marketing response.
• Current performance, benchmarking data, target
data and actual past performance.
Executive Summary
• Choice of scenario.
• Timescale chosen.
• How the scenario is being interpreted and applied.
Assessment Structure
• THREE tasks to answer in sequence.
• Task One:
– Marketing Audit (10%).
• Task Two:
– Marketing Plan (40%).
• Task Three:
– Evaluation Report (40%).
• Format and Presentation:
– Executive Summary, Harvard Referencing (10%).
Task One: Marketing Audit
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Purpose of the audit.
CIM BPP Official Study Text.
Key definitions.
Relevant audit tools, models and frameworks.
Short summary statement after each presented
model.
• SWOT analysis.
Marketing Audit
Helpful Tips:
• Thorough understanding of audit tools.
• Related to the scenario.
• Evaluate current position.
• Information sources.
• Relevance of models and tools.
Marketing Audit Findings
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Evidence base for the Marketing Plan.
Current and likely future challenges.
Short summary after each model.
Presenting the audit findings.
Task Two: The Marketing Plan
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Context and timescales.
Position statement based on the audit.
Critique and analysis.
SOSTAC.
Constraints.
Relevance to scenario.
Word count.
Use of tables and charts.
Task Three: Evaluation Report
• Evaluation of marketing planning process not
the plan.
• Four sections:
– Benefits of the marketing planning process.
– Auditing the audit process.
– Appropriateness of competitive strategy.
– Issues and constraints.
Task Three: Evaluation Report
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Critical evaluation.
Relevance, validity and reliability of sources.
Difficulties encountered.
Gaps in data.
Use of examples to illustrate points.
Four sections of equal marks.
As important as other sections in the assignment.
Format and Presentation
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Professional tone and formatting.
Relevance to tasks.
Use of supporting concepts and frameworks.
Referencing.
Students never plan to fail they simply fail to plan.