MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR A SSERVICE BUSINESS

The questions for the module 03 part of your SLP direct you to consider “place” or distribution of the good and/or service your organization markets and, hopefully, is using to gain a competitive advantage.

Excluding your title page, and prior sections of the SLP, your SLP03 section of the marketing strategy should be approximately three pages long.

SLP03 should begin with the sections you prepared for SLP01 and SLP02 (i.e. sections 1-11, revised as necessary) with those pages placed before you analyze the following sections:

SLP for MOD03
12. DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION, & TIMING

How will your service be distributed? Some relevant issues to consider relate to both where and when your service will be available to customers. Where will it be located and why? During what hours will customers be able to buy from you? Will an agent be used? How will customers be able to order your service? Are there tangible elements associated with your service? If so how will they be distributed?

13. TARGET MARKET VARIATIONS

How will these decisions differ among your different target segments? Use the customer segmentation analysis developed for MOD01 as a basis for a table to describe any variations in distribution.

Make sure you use section headings for each of these questions. Use the CAPITALIZED BOLD words as main headings and non-capitalized bold words subheadings.

Write in a succinct, organized, and professional way. DO NOT USE ESSAY FORMAT.

REMINDER
The MOD01 Background Info section contains “Notes for the SLP” which gives guidance for ALL the sections of the entire SLP.

SLP EXPECTATIONS
It is expected that you will explain the alternatives you considered and why you decided to make the recommendations you do. Also that you will use information from the background readings as well as any good quality sources you can find to deepen your understanding of the project and that you will cite all sources and provide a reference list at the end of the paper.

The following will be assessed in particular:

Your demonstrated understanding of the concepts and frameworks used to conduct analysis for the project. Generally formal definitions are not required as understanding can usually be demonstrated by the way you apply or interpret the concepts.
Your ability to conduct marketing analysis appropriate to the project. The sections above require a combination of description, (e.g. what will be done) and analysis (explaining why it should be done that way). Graders will place more weight on analysis than description alone.
The criteria used for assessment will be those explained on the MOD01 Home page, namely:

Focus.
Breadth.
Depth.
Critical thinking, including selection and application of relevant frameworks.
Effective and appropriate communication skills.

Background

Having developed an understanding of how consumers make purchase decisions, and how marketers analyze markets and select targets, we turn our attention in Modules 02-05 to how firms can win and retain customers and here in Module 03 we focus on one of the four elements of the Marketing Mix, Place, the way in which the product is made available to the customer. This raises a number of questions such as:

What alternative ways are there for making a product available to customers?
How do marketing managers make decisions about these alternatives?
The materials on this page have direct relevance to those questions as well as to your Module 03 Case which concerns distribution decisions and the third part of your SLP.

For both the case and the SLP, the following materials have been provided:

Resources for all modules:

1. The course designer has prepared background materials for each module that can ve accessed through the presentations link at the top of each page.

2. An extensive glossary of marketing terms can be accessed at

Marketing Power Dictionary (2011). American Marketing Association.. Available May 31, 2013 at

http://www.marketingpower.com/_la

3. The following reference covers a range of marketing topics:
Marketing Made Simple. (n.d.). Available May 31, 2013 at

http://www.marketing-made-simple.com/

Module 3 Readings
Christ, P. (2011). Principles of Marketing. KnowThis.com.

Read the following chapters:

Distribution Decisions
Retailing
Wholesaling
Available May 31, 2013 at http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/
Tanner J. and Raymond, M.A. (2012). Principles of marketing, 2nd ed., Lardbucket
Read Chapters 8 & 9
8. Using Marketing Channels to Create Value for Customers
Available Sept. 11, 2013 at

http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/marketing-principles-v2.0/s11-using-marketing-channels-to-cr.html

9. Using Supply Chains to Create Value for Customers
Available September 11, 2013 at
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/marketing-principles-v2.0/s12-using-supply-chains-to-create-.html

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