This Stand-Alone Project requires you to assume the role of a new global marketing manager for a company that has just decided to sell its product outside its home country.  In this company, you report directly to the CEO.  For your first assignment, the CEO has asked you to prepare a global marketing plan that will serve as a strategic road map for your future work with the company by guiding your day-to-day activities.  It will also serve as a tool to measure your success at your annual performance review.  Tables and graphs in support of your plan are encouraged.  Your Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself.  If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc.  In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style.  (200 points)  (A 20- to 25-page response is required.)

For your global marketing plan, you may choose any industrial, commercial (i.e., business) or technological product.  You may not choose a consumer product or a service without prior approval from Ashworth College. You should also make the following assumptions.

1. Your chosen company must be a real company with real

2. Typically a company that only sells domestically will have revenues between
   $2 million and $25 million, although this may not be true for your chosen company. If the company is based outside the United States, you may use the equivalent amounts in your home country currency as a guide.

3. Your chosen company may be a start-up company or it may be an established company with potential to sell outside its home country. However, the company should not have any significant annual global revenues (i.e., greater than 3%) nor should it have any established global marketing plans at this time. The up to 3% in annual global revenues may be the result of reactive selling where a non-domestic buyer inquires about the company’s product and buys your product without any real marketing or selling efforts.

4. The Stand-Alone Project should not study or expand upon a company’s existing global marketing plan or global marketing activities.

5. Your strategies and tactics should be economically viable and realistically executable.

Part A        Company and Product Background:  Provide an overview of your chosen company and its product(s).  Include the following information.  (20 points)

1. History: Provide a brief history of the company and of the product’s domestic marketing success.

2. Explanation: Explain why now is the time for the company to begin selling its product outside their country.

3. Resources: Include a description of any company resources (i.e., foreign nationals, language skills, etc.) that may assist the company with its global expansion by providing in-company cultural assistance, if this information is available to you.

4. Competition: Describe the firm’s domestic competitors and determine if they are doing any international business.

Part B        Foreign Entry (20 points)

1. Research: Research which countries are most attractive for your company’s product and explain why you chose the countries you did.  Identify the first country you will focus on and then lay out a plan to determine which additional countries (up to 2) you will focus on next.

2. Timeframe: Lay out a proposed timeframe for entering those countries and provide a rationale for your timeframe.  Note:  Provide further details if you plan to focus on one or more specific geographic areas within a specific country.

3. Method: Determine which method of foreign entry (exporting, licensing, strategic alliances, or foreign direct investment) is best for your company’s product and why.

4. Details: Provide details about your chosen foreign entry strategy.

5. Barriers: Include a discussion of any expected entry barriers that you will have to overcome and how you plan to overcome these barriers.

Part C        Local Marketing (10 points)

1. Description and Impact: For each of your chosen countries and/or the targeted geographic areas within a country (see Part B above), describe the local culture and customer buying behavior and discuss the impact that will have on your marketing.

2. Determination: Using information in Table 7-2 “Y&R’s 4Cs” (p. 203) and Figure 8-2 “Market Expansion Strategies” (p. 233) and the material presented in both Chapters 7 & 8 in your textbook (Keegan 8^th), determine whether each targeted market environment is considered emerging, new growth, or mature.  Explain why.

3. Market Environment: Describe what each market environment is like by discussing the following issues.

1. Existing Foreign Trade Agreements

1. Existing Competition

1. Market Segmentation

1. Product Positioning

1. Marketing Tactics Used

1. Most importantly, explain how these issues will impact your particular product marketing in each chosen country.

Part D        Product Segmentation, Positioning, Standardization/Adaptation, and Branding
(20 points)

1. Segmentation: In this part of your marketing plan, you should describe the market segments within each targeted country.  Explain how you will identify each segment in terms of economics (are they able and willing to buy your product), measure, and reach.  Also, review the impact demographics, values, ethnicity, peer groups, lifestyle, and/or benefits play in identifying each market segment.

2. Positioning: Determine how you will position your product within each segment of your target markets and explain why.

3. Standardization/Adaptation: Determine if your product can remain fully standardized in each market.  If not, then determine what localization and/or adaptation you must do to your product to prepare it for your chosen global markets.

4. Branding: Determine if your product’s current branding and brand equity can be extended to each target market.  If not, discuss how you will brand your product in each market and how you will create brand equity.

Part E        Global Promotion:  Global promotion will probably be one of the largest sections of your global marketing plan because this is the section where you will include all of your actual global marketing tactics.  In this section, the information should be especially detailed and complete.  You should include the tactics listed below and the rationale for each decision made concerning them.  In addition, include planned event/activity dates and budget amounts for each of these tactics.  If you decide that any part of this section does not apply to your product or country, provide a detailed explanation of why it does not apply and how your company will compensate for not having it.  (80 points)

1. Global Pricing: Explain how you will price your product in each country and what your rationale is for your pricing decisions.  If you are not selling direct, you should include the pricing at each level of the distribution chain.

2. Distribution: Explain how your product will be distributed.  Will you sell direct or will you sell through distribution channels?

3. Advertising: Discuss the kinds of advertising you will use in your global marketing promotion, including the advertisement frequency.

4. Public Relations: Discuss the type of public relations you will include in your global marketing promotion program, including what your public relations program will consist of and how you will use it.

5. Sponsorship: Discuss the sponsorships that will be part of your global marketing promotion program, including how frequently you will offer them.

6. Trade Fairs/Shows: Similar to the work you did in Activity #6 about international trade fairs/shows, detail the trade fairs/shows you plan to exhibit at and assign a priority ranking.

7. Direct Marketing: Determine whether direct marketing will be part of your global promotion plans; include the frequency and reach of each direct marketing activity.

8. E-Commerce: Determine the roles your Web site and electronic mail will play in your global promotion plans.

9. Personal Selling Plans: Determine who will actually sell your product.  What kind of training will you provide to that person or organization?  What kind of pre-sales and post-sales support will you provide?  How will you provide training and support?

10. Other Global Promotion Plans: Since each product is unique, be sure to include any other global promotion plans applicable to your product.

Part F        Organizational Structure (20 points)

1. Structure: Decide what type of global marketing organizational structure the company needs now and explain the reasons for your choice.

2. Changes: Determine if and how the organizational structure will change as (a) the company’s global revenues grows, (b) the company penetrates new markets, and (c) the company decides to implement additional market entry strategies.

3. Systems: Determine what type of global marketing management systems should be put in place at this time and explain why.

Part G        Executive Summary (10 points)

1. Read over your entire global marketing plan to ensure that it “fits together” and incorporates both strategic and tactical plans.

2. Finally, write a 1- to 2-page Executive Summary of your global marketing plan and place it at the beginning of your global marketing plan.

This Stand-Alone Project will also be evaluated in terms of your use of mechanics (grammar, punctuation, and spelling) and formatting. (20 points)