BE562-7-SP Marketing & Innovation Coursework (1): Essay

About This Assignment 

This essay requires you to examine marketing processes and theories within an international or trans-regional context. It seeks to draw on your own experiences as a consumer, marketing student and/or marketer in the international or transregional context you are most familiar with (this could be the UK, but it is not limited to this). I am interested in knowing what marketing looks and feels like in the country of your own choice (your home country or a familiar country you have stayed in for a while, or the UK).  

This essay uses an “outside in” perspective; primarily, looking at a particular context then analysing the key market and competitive factors that shape and inform marketing in that context. Finally, I want you to identify one local (not global or transnational) organisation that operates in that market context. Moreover, provide an evaluation of their marketing strategies.

I am, therefore, initially interested in the contextual background that represents the national or regional context that you have selected for your essay.  Please outline, geographical, social, cultural, religious and other environmental and contextual factors, routes to market, media outlets touchpoints and anything else you feel might be useful.   This should take up approximately 500 words of your 2000-word count.  Please feel free to use graphs, charts, and other illustrative data to support the points you make, these are NOT included in the overall word count. You may include them in the appendix. 

Building on your initial contextual outline, you need to provide a second phase analysis that uses the models and conceptual frameworks drawn from the taught elements of the module. This analysis should outline, market constructs, transactional processes and technologies, competitive forces, strategic groups and any other analytical factors.  Its tone should be analytical rather than descriptive.  This is the main body of your assignment and should take up approximately 750 -1000 words of your final word count.  Again, please use conceptual frameworks, theories, ideas, models and graphs, charts and data drawn from the taught elements of the module plus your wider reading in order to inform your analysis. These will support your analysis and again are NOT counted in the word count.  Please remember we are assessing HOW you use the models and frameworks to conduct your analysis NOT how many of them you use. 

Finally, we would like you to select a local company or brand and evaluate how well it operates in the market context you have outlined and analysed. This should take up between 500 and 750 of your 2000-word count.  Again, please use any framework and model, drawn from the module or your wider reading to inform your evaluation. These are NOT included in your word count.  Once again, we are assessing how you use the models to inform and clarify your evaluation. 

Suggested structure

This coursework encourages students to engage closely with the concept of situational analysis of a specific company within a specific market context as noted above. It is essential that you do initial research and carefully choose a local company within a specific market before beginning the work. Your essay should include the following sections:

• Introduction: This section should provide an introduction to the essay. 

• Theoretical background: This section should review the current literature on market/situational analysis, it should discuss the various factors that companies consider when they assess what is going as a way to set marketing objectives and later marketing strategies. (see under the Suggested Research Papers for the Coursework Folder on Moodle). 

• Situational/Market Analysis: 

• Present a contextual and environmental outline of the national or regional context you have chosen supported by data and other information sources. 

• Provide an analysis of the market and competitive context in the same national or regional context using supporting material drawn from the taught module plus your own wider reading.  

• Provide an evaluation of one particular local organisation or brand that operates in your chosen context, again using supporting conceptual, theoretical and market or other data to inform your evaluation. 

• Conclusion: Based on your research and analysis, suggest recommendations for the marketing managers at your selected company to further help their strategic marketing by leveraging on market opportunity or tackling market threat. 

*Word count for each bullet point is a guideline only, and these bullet points are for guidance only. 

*Please note: your critical analysis and evaluation should be based on the marketing theories and concepts you have learned throughout the module plus your own wider readings and research. You should not base your analysis or evaluation on your own personal views and opinions.

*The task is to write clearly and concisely on the subject using models, frameworks, ideas, theories, key readings and your own research to inform the analysis and evaluation you present to us. 

 Module Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

• Analyse the historical emergence of marketing, and locate marketing within a wider social, economic and political context.

• Demonstrate an understanding of key principles, practices, theories and concepts that constitute contemporary marketing practice.

• Critically evaluate the role of marketing in contemporary society.

• Critically evaluate the importance of innovation activities in marketing firms and within different sectors.

Academic Offences 

In submitting coursework online, it must be assumed that you have read and understood the following guidelines about academic offences. Please note that all coursework is being monitored by plagiarism detection software. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the reference database of the respective software solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. 

The university regulations state that 

“The University, the Students’ Union and the University’s Partner Institutions expect all students:  

- to behave with honesty and integrity in relation to coursework, examinations and other assessed work;  

- to be familiar and act in accordance with the conventions of academic writing including appropriate referencing of sources and acknowledgement of assistance;  

- to show understanding of ethical considerations and be compliant with the relevant University Procedures.  

A student who does not comply with any of these requirements (either intentionally or by negligence) may be charged with having committed an academic offence.” (Academic Offences Procedures 2017-2018) 

“The following are some examples of academic offences and do not constitute an exhaustive list: 

a. plagiarism, that is, using or copying the work of others (whether written, printed or in any other form) without proper acknowledgement in any assignment, examination or other assessed work;  

b. self-plagiarism, that is, using or copying one’s own work that has previously been submitted for assessment, at the University or elsewhere, without proper acknowledgement in any assignment, examination or other assessed work, unless this is explicitly permitted;  

c. false authorship, that is the submission of work for assessment that has been written wholly or in part by a third party and presented as one’s own original work;  

d. collusion, that is, submitting work produced collaboratively for individual assessment, unless this is explicitly permitted and acknowledged;  

e. falsifying data or evidence;  

f. conducting research without obtaining ethical approval from the University where such approval is required, or the unauthorised use of information that has been confidentially acquired;  

g. introducing, or attempting to introduce, any written, printed or electronically accessible information into an examination, other than material explicitly permitted in the instructions for that examination;  

h. copying, or attempting to copy, the work of another candidate in an examination;  

i. communicating, or attempting to communicate, with another person, other than an invigilator, during an examination.”