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MKT5000 Marketing management

Assignment 1
Description Marketing audit (modules 15) Marks out of 40.00 Wtg (%) 40.00 Due date Completed by week 6 26 August 2011

Length: 2000 words maximum You are required to write one Marketing Audit Report (2000 words maximum excluding references). You should try to have a good list of references showing where you have found your information. It is important to cite all work and websites you have visited. Do not use textbook references. Websites, Magazines and other such periodicals must be referenced. See the links to journals. If in doubt, check with a USQ reference librarian.

Audit company and report


Your first assignment is to conduct a marketing audit on one of the firm case outlines offered. These can be found on USQ study desk. Information that will assist you to analyse this firm can be found on the internet, you can look to firms local to you that are like these firms and use them as a benchmark and you can use library and media searches. These are Small Medium Enterprises so will be easier to evaluate for you. You must conduct a marketing audit which includes an environmental scan, PEST analysis, customer analysis, and competitor analysis and stakeholder analysis. You must clearly analyse the internal and external factors of this firm and offer a SWOT to support this. Further materials will be available to support these cases on the study desk. The modules 1-5 will support these activities and the discussion activities we have completed will also support these activities. Once you have completed all of the analytical sections, you must develop a set of important issues that are the outcome of the SWOT, this is called a gap analysis or a TOWS analysis. Your assignment 1 will be completed at this point. An example of a TOWS is offered.

University of Southern Queensland

MKT5000 Marketing management

Guidelines on writing reports are provided in chapter 3 of the 3rd edition of the Communication skills handbook which is a set text for this course. Your report should comprise: 1. 2. An executive summary and introduction outlining your firm and business description. A body that includes all the analysis of business, current marketing and internal firm environments, customer analysis , external environments, competitor analysis and tows analysis. Conclusion. This includes the statement of issues you have found, the gaps in the internal capability and external market forces found in your TOWS.

3.

The introduction should provide an overview of the firm and very clearly identify the business and market the firm operates in. This will require some further content and discussion than offered in the firm outlines. The report should comprise of a logical, sequential and persuasive arguments, justified or supported by secondary sources and journal articles. The purpose of your audit is not to simply reword or describe the firm or comments from the literature but to offer a thorough understanding of the marketing issues and capabilities facing the firm. The audit will require you to utilize the library resources, search computer databases, retrieve journal articles (full text from computer or from journals on the shelf), read them and apply the information to answer the question. You will be assessed on your:

University of Southern Queensland

MKT5000 Marketing management

1.

Ability to locate, assess and research material related to current marketing planning process and environmental scanning requirements. You will need to use logic and read widely to identify issues and leads to where you should research for this firm. These are important skills for a marketer to develop. Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the current marketing planning process and environmental scanning requirements. Ability to identify and assess relevant theoretical and management issues in the environmental scan and audit. Presentation of a logical arguments and gap analysis. NB. A marketing audit DOES NOT include a full marketing plan only to the point of the issues. The most important part of the audit is the environmental market place scan (PEST, SWOT, Stakeholder analysis) and overall analysis including customer analysis, competitor analysis and current activities. Ability to justify your position with use of supporting references. Communication style, including correct spelling, grammar and referencing.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

Your report should be in Times New Roman 12 point with double line spacing.

University of Southern Queensland

MKT5000 Marketing management

Marking criteria for assignment 1


Criteria Referencing and structure

Mark 6

Comment

Use of journals websites and relevant materials Use of current materials and facts related to your business Harvard AGPS Reference format used correctly Correct business report style as per assignment outline Each Section required completed and included 8

Audit has shown understanding of the firm and its internal operations and external factors

Student has used own words not just simple rewording of the literature Marketing practices, relevant issues and themes have been identified Student shows knowledge of marketing issues and accesses and uses information in a logical manner 13

Information contained is analysed and themes have been identified.

Understanding of marketing issues both internal to the firm and external have been identified Tools and sections have been completed successfully 13

How well is the marketing case argued?

A marketing view and clearly identified gaps and issues for future strategic development /40

Total mark

University of Southern Queensland

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