Select one more successful and one less successful product that compete in the same industry in the UK (we use the term ‘product’ to describe any offering that is offered to the market for consumption, so it could be a physical product or a service; it can be “brick and mortar” or online). As marketing consultants, you are asked to perform the following analysis:
1) Context analysis: Analyse relevant trends in the external environments, including Political/Legal, Economic, Demographic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Natural environment. Focus on the UK context. (Context analysis applies to both products, as they both compete in the same UK market, so one analysis is required in the report)
2) Porter’s 5 Forces analysis: Analyse: i) key competitors, ii) barriers to entry, iii) availability of substitutes, iv) power of buyers, v) power of suppliers. Drawing on your analysis, evaluate whether each of these forces is High, Medium or Low and offer a relevant justification in your report (Porter’s 5 Forces analysis refers to the industry that both products are competing in, so one analysis is required in the report)
3) The two products: Briefly describe each product
4) Targeting and positioning: Compare and contrast the two products’ target market and positioning
5) SWOT analyses and Recommendations: Conduct a SWOT analysis for each of the two products. Reflect on how each product’s current strengths and weaknesses are allowing it to leverage opportunities in the external environments and deal with threats in the external environments (or not). Based on these analyses, then propose recommendations for marketing each of these products
An indicative report structure can be found below
1. :Section
| Purpose | |
| Title | Title page. Give your report a title |
| Table of Contents | Indicate sections, any sub-sections, and page numbers |
| Executive Summary | To describe, briefly, the content of the report, for the busy executive who may not have the time to read the whole report. You can do this in bullet points. It should provide key insights from the report’s actual content (rather than serve as an introduction of its structure) |
| 1. Introduction | Provide a brief introduction to the report |
| 2. Context Analysis | To identify Political/Legal, Economic, Demographic, Socio-cultural, Technological and Natural environment trends in the external environment (focus on the UK context) that should be taken into account for any future strategic and tactical marketing recommendations with regard to these two products |
| 3. Porter’s 5 Forces | To evaluate where each of the 5 forces (i. Key competitors, ii. barriers to entry, iii. availability of substitutes, iv. power of buyers, v. power of suppliers) is High, Medium or Low, offering relevant justification |
| 4. The two products | Briefly describe each product |
| 5. Targeting and positioning | To compare and contrast the two products’ target market and positioning |
| 6. SWOT analyses and Recommendations | Conduct a SWOT analysis for each of the two products. Reflect on how each product’s current strengths and weaknesses are allowing it to leverage opportunities in the external environments and deal with threats in the external environments (or not). Based on the SWOT analyses, propose recommendations for marketing each of the two products. |
| 7. Conclusion | To offer a short conclusion to the report |
| References | References to the secondary material used in the report |
| Appendices | Any Appendices – these need to be referred to in the main body of the report |