Campaign Assignment Part II
Product and Marketing Objectives
Due Friday November 5 • Midnight
50 Points
A. (1/2 page) Clearly state your situation analysis and problem definition (see page 158, Chapter 6). State your research objectives (p. 161). Base the problem on your SWOT analysis from part 1.
B. (1/2 page) By yourself or brainstorming with a friend, come up with 2-3 product ideas your company could introduce to solve the problem in part A. Describe these products briefly.
C. (2-3 pages) Summarize your research:
Conduct a focus group (5-10 people) or interviews (6 different people) to come up with a new product for your company.
Gather as much information from the focus group/interviews as you can to figure out what features and benefits the product will have, who will be most interested in it, and what media they use so you can plan your advertising. Remember the four P's: price, product, placement (distribution) and promotion.
Sample questions:
• If Microsoft came out with a new product today, what would you like to see?
• What features would the product have?
• What product have you always wanted Microsoft to make, but they never have?
• How much would you pay for this product?
• Where would you want to be able to buy it?
• Who do you think it would appeal to?
• If this appeals to you, what media do you use? TV? Radio? Which web sites? Magazines? Newspaper?
Start the interview/focus group with a few product ideas in mind in case your subject can't think of a new one on the spot. Then you can figure out which one they would be most interested in and how you could improve it.
With good detail and direct quotes, summarize what your focus group or interview subjects tell you.
D. (2-3 pages) After the focus group/interviews, finalize your product based on the responses. Explain the product and how the focus groups or interviews helped you.
1. What will the utility of the product be? How will you position it against the competition? (see Ch. 4)
2. What features and benefits will you promote?
3. What will your target market be? What demographics, geographic region, psychographics, and behavior characteristics will you seek to target? (see Ch. 4)
4. Message element selection: briefly describe what message you will use. (see p. 157)
5. What are current economic, political, and social trends that might affect your product?
Focus group tips:
• You'll want to have 5-10 people in your focus group. It is highly recommended that you record audio and/or video of the session. Come up with a list of questions beforehand.
• Aim for about 45-60 minutes
• Create a questionnaire for them to write their name, demographic information, personal tastes (according to what product category you pick; for example: what is your favorite brand of soda? How often do you drink it? What is the most important thing when it comes to what soda you buy?).
• After the questionnaire, proceed with probing questions to gain insight about your potential product. Take notes. Ask questions based on their responses. Make sure they know there is no wrong answer.
• Try to stay as objective as possible. Don't guide the answers one way or another with positive or negative remarks.
Interview Tips:
• A questionnaire before the interview is also a good idea to get some data on the person: demographic information, personal tastes, how often they buy the product (or product category). You could give them a scale of 1-10 and ask how interested they are in your product category ("On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate yourself as a fan of soda pop?" "What about fruit drinks? Coffee?"). You might give more weight to those who are more interested in the product or product category to begin with.
• Take notes during the interview. Record the audio if possible.
• Ask open-ended questions ("Why" or "What" questions as opposed to yes/no answer questions)
• Listen to their answer and ask follow-up questions
• Try to stay as objective as possible. Don't guide the answers one way or another with positive or negative remarks.
• Ask your subject if it is okay to contact them later with follow-up questions.
• Aim for about 20 minutes per interview (longer if the subject doesn't mind and you're having fun).
Gather as much information from the focus group/interviews as you can to figure out what features and benefits the product will have, who will be most interested in it, and what media they use so you can plan your advertising. Remember the four P's: price, product, placement (distribution) and promotion.
Sample questions:
• If Microsoft came out with a new product today, what would you like to see?
• What features would the product have?
• What product have you always wanted Microsoft to make, but they never have?
• How much would you pay for this product?
• Where would you want to be able to buy it?
• Who do you think it would appeal to?
• If this appeals to you, what media do you use? TV? Radio? Which web sites? Magazines? Newspaper?
Start the interview/focus group with a few product ideas in mind in case your subject can't think of a new one on the spot. Then you can figure out which one they would be most interested in and how you could improve it.
With good detail and direct quotes, summarize what your focus group or interview subjects tell you.
D. (2-3 pages) After the focus group/interviews, finalize your product based on the responses. Explain the product and how the focus groups or interviews helped you.
1. What will the utility of the product be? How will you position it against the competition? (see Ch. 4)
2. What features and benefits will you promote?
3. What will your target market be? What demographics, geographic region, psychographics, and behavior characteristics will you seek to target? (see Ch. 4)
4. Message element selection: briefly describe what message you will use. (see p. 157)
5. What are current economic, political, and social trends that might affect your product?
Focus group tips:
• You'll want to have 5-10 people in your focus group. It is highly recommended that you record audio and/or video of the session. Come up with a list of questions beforehand.
• Aim for about 45-60 minutes
• Create a questionnaire for them to write their name, demographic information, personal tastes (according to what product category you pick; for example: what is your favorite brand of soda? How often do you drink it? What is the most important thing when it comes to what soda you buy?).
• After the questionnaire, proceed with probing questions to gain insight about your potential product. Take notes. Ask questions based on their responses. Make sure they know there is no wrong answer.
• Try to stay as objective as possible. Don't guide the answers one way or another with positive or negative remarks.
Interview Tips:
• A questionnaire before the interview is also a good idea to get some data on the person: demographic information, personal tastes, how often they buy the product (or product category). You could give them a scale of 1-10 and ask how interested they are in your product category ("On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate yourself as a fan of soda pop?" "What about fruit drinks? Coffee?"). You might give more weight to those who are more interested in the product or product category to begin with.
• Take notes during the interview. Record the audio if possible.
• Ask open-ended questions ("Why" or "What" questions as opposed to yes/no answer questions)
• Listen to their answer and ask follow-up questions
• Try to stay as objective as possible. Don't guide the answers one way or another with positive or negative remarks.
• Ask your subject if it is okay to contact them later with follow-up questions.
• Aim for about 20 minutes per interview (longer if the subject doesn't mind and you're having fun).
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