MARKETING PLAN

You are creating an event planning company. You will need a marketing plan including the following:

–  Executive Summary 

–  Situation Analysis (50% length of paper)

–  Strategic Direction (10% length of paper)

–  Market Research (10% length of paper)

–  Marketing Strategy (30% length of paper)

–  References Section. Use in-text citation and provide a list of references at the end of the paper using any regular format.  This should include online and offline sources you have used – include people you have  talked to about the job search process

Detailed instruction are uploaded as a word document.

Length of paper is 4-6 pages.

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Creating my own company …

EVENTS PLANNING CO.

“AA LUXURY EVENT”

Executive Summary 

2 paragraphs that overview your plan. 

1

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One paragraph that highlights key factors from the situation analysis.

2. Second paragraph highlights your direction and key aspects of your marketing strategy.

Situation Analysis (50% length of paper)

· Customers

1. Focus on who is the target for your services. 

Individuals – social , Companies – non profit and charities and company sponsored events. 

0. Highlight the type of services that your firm offers. 

Event planning services that include event management, event coordination, theming, décor & styling, conferencing, exhibitions & signage, entertainment and venue sourcing

0. Recognize the different types of firms in the industry. 

1. Who will make hiring decisions.

As owner and founder of the company, I will be responsible for these desicions.

0. What are the customers’ needs ? What services do they need ?

· Company

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses ?

2. What type of job experiences have you had ?

3. What Career related skillsets are you investing in ?

4. What are your passions in life that might intersect with your career ?

5. Are there constraints on your research ?

6. What are you doing when you are happy or fulfilled ?

7. How would a family member, friend, or co worker describe you ?

8. State Student organizations you have joined ?

9. Take an assessment test : https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register

· Competitors

1. Competitors who might also be seeking the same opportunities ?

2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each type of competitor ?

3. This might be easy to present in a table – create a competitor matrix.

4. What differentiates you beyond your degree ?

· Context

External market environment – Elements and issues that may be relevant.

· SWOT

Add 3-6 points on each section of the SWOT.

Strategic Direction (10% length of paper)

· Segmentation and Targeting

1. Which specific customer segment are you targeting ?

2. Compelling rationale for your decision, You should directly reference things you have learned and written in the Situation Analysis. 

3. Use company websites to support your synthesis and identify your target market. These may show openings, portray company culture, and other vital information.

· Differentiation and Positioning

1. How are you going to differentiate yourself from the competition? How do you want employers to view you? 

2. Use rationale that clearly describes the competitive advantage you can offer and how you would position yourself against that competition.

3. Summarize with a clear positioning statement in the form (create a separate paragraph): 

• “Among all potential (job type) hires, (your name) is the most (list 1-3 unique qualities you bring to a company) because (proof that you have those qualities) 

• The qualities you can bring to an employer (in the positioning statement) should be demonstrable – hopefully with evidence or stories you can tell that show you have that quality. Develop and refine those stories – then look for ways to bring them into your 

Market Research (10% length of paper)

· Secondary Research

1. Focus on a few key facts or trends. What are they? 

2. How can they help you be more thoughtful with your marketing strategy?

· Primary Research

1. Ask if you can chat with them for 15-30 minutes about their job and career path.

2. Convey that you are not trying to get a job at their company or an internship, you are simply learning, and you think they would be an interesting person to learn from.

3. Ideally, you should meet in person (at their office, for coffee, etc.) or over the phone if the person is not local. Skype (or FaceTime) is another good option. 

4. Consider asking 3 questions • Can you share with me the story about how you got into this job? • Can you share with me what you like and dislike about it? • (At the end) Is there someone else you know who has different career experiences that you think I could learn from? 

5. After the interview, spend 10-15 minutes recording your thoughts about what you learned and how you can incorporate those insights into your plan. 

Marketing Strategy (30% length of paper)

· Target Market 

Simply re-state the target market identified in the previous section.

· Product

1. What do you have to offer? What will you do to enhance your offering?

2. What services (capabilities) you can offer – and what additional services you expect to be able to offer prospective customers in the future. 

3. Emphasize what employers are seeking (Customer section), and how you are different (compare Company and Competitor) sections. 

4. Include product development plans (what you plan to do between now and when you are hired) that will make the product a better fit for your target market. 

· Price

1. What price will I require to provide your services to customers? 

· Place

1. Where do you want to work? Geography? Type of work.

· Promotion

1. How will you communicate your benefits to potential customers? 

2. Promotion includes elements such as your resume, personal selling (interviews), networking, and other ideas you generate. 

3. Include promotion objectives, which can be tied to specific promotion media, and the message you would try to use with each.

4. Develop a short elevator pitch, inspired by your positioning statement, which supports your promotional strategy.

5. Consider other innovative ways to communicate your differentiation to the target market?

6. How will you stand out as a remarkable candidate?

References Section. Use in-text citation and provide a list of references at the end of the paper using any regular format. This should include online and offline sources you have used – include people you have talked to about the job search process

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