The coursework project will be based on B2C new market entry for a company selected by the group. Each group will be responsible for delivering a market entry strategy in the form of a report that will:
1) select and assess a new market, including estimating the size of the market (in terms of consumers and potential revenue in your chosen time period)
2) identify THREE key competitors in that market and potential sources of competitive advantage for the group’s selected business. TWO or more of these competitors must be incumbents
3) set out TWO initial marketing priorities that will secure early success
The report will be no more than 2000 words plus the THREE analytical charts (specific frameworks) set out in the requirements below. Groups should not include additional appendices and must stay within the word count limit. The cover page, table of contents and reference lists are not included in the word count. Additional graphics and charts within the main body of the report are also excluded from the word count.
Assignment Requirements
You must select an established company that makes over £500m in revenue. You may alternatively select a business unit within a larger company, where the business unit is approximately £500m or more in revenue. The company can be based in any country of your choice. You may select from any industry, for example consumer products, airlines, technology, clothing, retail or online-based consumer service companies. You may choose a company that today provides B2C or B2B services (or both). However, the new market you assess must be B2C (i.e. you will be targeting consumers and not businesses).
Your group will act as the Marketing Strategy Team for the selected company. The group’s task will be to assess a new market for the company and demonstrate why this would be a good decision.
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MSc Strategic Marketing 2021/22: Applied Strategic Marketing Author: JE
The group must select a new market (i.e. one where the chosen company does not already participate). The definition of a new market might be one or more of the following:
– a new geography (e.g. Nigeria)
– a new set of customers (e.g. younger demographic)
You may choose to focus your strategy on a new category of products or services (i.e. diversification of the business) that will appeal to new customers as well as to existing customers. Inclusion of new customers is mandatory (i.e. don’t just add a new line of products to target existing customers in an existing geography).
The group will create a strategy for how the company will achieve success versus THREE competitors in that market. Groups should be creative in assessing and selecting potential sources of competitive advantage.
The group should also set out TWO immediate marketing priorities for the company in the new market. The priorities should be supported by a rationale for how these will enable the company to achieve success.
Note: the report must include THREE one-page analytical charts, as follows:
1) Market sizing, using the TAM-SAM-SOM framework. This can be either top- down or bottom-up (ideally use one and then the other for a sense check). It should be presented as number of customers as well as in value terms. The SOM should be presented as a % also. Please ensure you pick a suitable date in the future for your SOM calculation and show the progression of the SAM and SOM values over this time period.
2) Identification of THREE key competitors in the market you plan to enter, including the positioning of these competitors in the Innovation/Risk Matrix
3) A Strategy Canvas to illustrate your proposed competitive positioning
In each case, the chart should be a creative illustration and should not take up more than one page. Please include these three pages as appendices and reference them in your main report as needed. You may annotate and add tables to these required appendices to maximise the space available. These pages do not fall within the total word count.
Additional Guidance
▪ The £500m+ revenue requirement is to focus you on established companies rather than small businesses and startups.
▪ You may imagine that your chosen company will develop new goods/services and participate in new categories to serve the needs of your chosen market.
▪ Ensure you define the category or sub-category appropriately in order to identify the most relevant competitive set.
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MSc Strategic Marketing 2021/22: Applied Strategic Marketing Author: JE
▪ Estimate your potential customer base and revenue explicitly and show your workings as part of the SOM calculation. You may choose any timeframe for your SOM given the unique challenges of your market entry strategy.
▪ Ensure the Strategy Canvas uses the Four Actions (STOP/DO LESS/DO MORE/START) and shows HIGH/LOW on the Y axis.
