| Johnson C. Smith UniversityDepartment of Business Administration and EconomicsPrinciples of MarketingMKT 331 A & B, Fall 2013 | |

SEMESTER MARKETING PROJECT (300 pts; 30% of course grade)
The MKT 331 Course Paper should be at least complete 8-pages (minimum not including title page and references, no more than 12 pages). Format and specifics are provided below.
**There is an automatic 30% deduction for the paper if these structural requirements and minimum paper length are not met. If your paper is found to have been used previously or used from a previous course, your course paper will not be accepted and you will receive a failing grade for the course. ** No late papers will be accepted for any reason, but all papers and assignments can be submitted in advance.

Paper Deliverables: Final digital version of the paper must be submitted before Monday, November 22, 2013 before 3PM to ECampus. You are welcome to submit the paper via email for critique before the final paper is submitted until November 1, 2013.

Learning how to develop marketing strategies and plans is one of the key skills successful marketers need. The ability to perform S.W.O.T. analyses and to construct strategies based on findings is critical in order to be able to deliver value to their organizations.
The purpose of this project is to apply the theoretical material learned in the course by serving as the Brand Management Team for your respective business.
Each Brand Team will be responsible for presenting a marketing plan to the class, with the objective of recommending a marketing strategy for its company that will result in increased market share vs competition. Utilize the website for the textbook at www.mhhe.com/fourps/18e. The Marketing Plan Coach can be found on the content tab on the left side of the web page. A detailed outline and instructions are provided. The Marketing Plan should include the following (note that it is slightly different from the outline in that we will NOT do the “Implementation and Control” section): 1) Executive Summary (should be written last)- 1 page 2) Situation Analysis- 2-3 pages a) Company analysis b) Customer market analysis c) Competitive market analysis d) External market environment e) S.W.O.T. analysis 3) Marketing Plan Objectives – 2-3 pages 4) Differentiation and positioning -2-3 pages 5) Marketing Strategy – 2-3 pages NOTE: This project will require outside research and will need to include information beyond your opinion. Make sure you DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES!! If sources are not properly cited or provided, you risk receiving a failing grade for this assignment. (See “Note on Plagiarism” distributed separately) Term Paper Guidelines That You MUST Comply With APA Structural Requirements: 1. Your paper will be graded on several different criteria, including: strength of argument, and writing style, grammar, spelling, etc. Of course, content is most important, but writing style, spelling and grammar can all add or detract from the research paper. 2. The structure of the paper should include an introduction, a body, a conclusion, and a list of references. 3. Double-spaced, at least 8 complete-pages of written content (not including Title Page, Reference Page, Graphics, Images, Charts, etc.), 1-inch margins all-around, Times New Roman, 12 point font. Proper APA-formatted references and citations required. Remember that your paper must follow APA Style standards. For detailed information about APA Style visit, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 4. For your paper references, you can use academic journals, magazines, books, and Internet sources. You need at least 4 references, **There is an automatic 30% deduction for the paper if these structural requirements and minimum paper length are not met. Project Deliverables
Each Brand Team will be graded on the following criteria