Essay Instructions:
We will pay $250 for the completion of this order.
Create a marketing plan based on the
following case information only. To
include all tables necessary to show
comparisons of each option including
market, market type, costs with and
without sponsorship. The following is
the problem statement - need to have
breakeven costs, total costs,
comparison costs of each channel.
"There was a lot of work to be done
before attempting to secure
sponsorship. A business plan would
have to be made on how many calendars
to produce, the exact composition of
poses, the calendar start date, price,
distribution, and promotion strategy. A
price for advertising sponsorship for all
or a portion of the calendar would have
to be established. Everyone knew that
the success of the project depended on
the amount of creativity used in
developing and implementing a marketing
strategy."
The information.
Miami University Calendars (4-21-06)
Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio
is one of eleven regional universities in
the state of Ohio. Operated on a
semester system, enrollment is around
15,000 students. Academic programs at
Miami cover 100 different areas of study
at the undergraduate level, and 50 areas
of study at the Master’s level. Oxford,
Ohio is a city of 22,000, and is 35 miles
North of Cinncinnati. The majority of
students live on campus, and less than
10% commute from beyond Oxford.
As part of a class in basic
marketing, six junior students became so
interested in marketing that they banded
together for the purpose of applying
what they were learning. With the help
of their instructor they formed a
partnership called MUC (Miami University
Calendars). They sought to develop and
market a product for the express
purpose of making enough money to
fund one semester of their senior year
(tuition $5000 per semester) and gain
some practical experience in business.
Over a period of several weeks
in the fall semester they sought to
narrow a list of potential products.
Three limitations helped purge their list
almost immediately. First, each could
raise no more than $1000 for start-up
capital. Second, the venture could
require no more than an average of
about 20 hours per week per student.
Third, if they were to market a product
the following fall, only nine months
remained for planning and production.
Applying these criteria they screened a
list and determined that a calendar
featuring Miami University students
posed in campus settings would be a
likely candidate.
The idea of a campus calendar
is not new. Several other schools in
Ohio had produced calendars at one time
or another. Since the marketing
research section of their beginning
course had taught them to start by
finding out what others had done, they
developed a questionnaire and
conducted a telephone survey; the
results of which are in Table 1. Based
on the results of the survey, the
students concluded that quality was
particularly important. Visual inspection
of sample calendars sent by the survey
respondents emphasized that the quality
of printing, paper, and photography
contributed greatly to the product
image. The size of the calendar varied
from a folded size of 8 ½” x 11”, which
was considered small, to 12” x 12” which
was considered large. The large size
calendar produced at Ohio State on
heavyweight stock was the most
attractive. But the survey left many
unanswered questions about what was
wanted in a product and what
information was needed to develop
strategies for pricing, promotion, and
distribution.
Table 1 Comparison of Calendars at
other schools in Ohio
Questions Baldwin-Wallace
(Berea) Bowling Green University
(Bowling Green) Ohio University
(Athens) Ohio State
(Columbus)
Enrollment 4,700 17,000
20,000 50,500
Gender portrayal Females Females
Females Both M & F
Type photo
Mixed Mixed Mixed
Females--swimsuit
Mixed --head shot
B/W or Color Color Color
B/W Color
Photographer
Professional Professional
Team-member professional
School year vs Calendar year
Calendar Calendar Calendar
Calendar
Advertising? Yes No
Yes No
Unit price $3-4 $6.95 $5-6
$7.95
Quantity sold 1500 6,500
3000 4000
Distribution channel Wholesale
Wholesale Wholesale
Retail and wholesale
Sponsor? Miller Beer Several
businesses
Budweiser No
sponsor
Several focus groups were held
to determine how students use a
calendar and what they wanted in terms
of quality, price, and character of
poses. The focus groups revealed that
students need a place to write notes
and reminders. Normally, they try to
find a calendar with a date page that is
large enough for this purpose. However,
some students receive free calendars,
and so may not specifically purchase a
calendar with a large date page. In
addition, most students living on campus
or off campus in Oxford, said they would
be interested in a calendar featuring
Miami students indicating some school
spirit. Older students and commuters
were not interested. They came to
Miami for an education, worked in their
spare time, and did not come to the
campus except for their classes.
Women said they would like a
calendar featuring men, and men said
they would like a calendar featuring
women in swimsuits. Most said they
would prefer a fairly large calendar,
especially if it featured attractive
pictures.
Information from the focus
groups was used to generate a
measurement instrument. This one page
questionnaire was administered to 350
students in classes selected at random
at a time and on a day when most
students attended classes. Results of
the survey are shown in Exhibit 1. A
check with records in the Registrar’s
office indicated that the proportion of
sexes, ages, and class standings in the
sample were a good match to the
student body. Ninety percent of the
student body was classified as full time.
EXHIBIT 1 Questionnaire
A student group in a marketing class at
Miami University is conducting a survey
to decide the possibility of a campus
calendar. We would appreciate your
answer to the following questions.
Thank you.
1. We would like to produce a
quality Miami campus calendar for the
year 2000-2001. We plan to use
students from the campus as models.
Would you be interested in a calendar
with only Miami students in it?
300 (yes) 50 (no)
2. What kind of models would you
prefer in a calendar?
All male=55 all female=120
alternating male/female=75
male/female on same page=100
3. What kind of photo poses
would you prefer? (check all that apply)
Fully clothed body shot=125
swimsuit=15,
face & chest shot=45,
partially clothed=101
4. What starting date would you
prefer?
calendar year starting in January=135,
school year starting in September=190
5. Would you buy the calendar?
for yourself=113, as a gift=36, not at
all=201
6. If we produce a calendar which
is pleasing to you, what is the most you
would be willing to pay? $12=2, $10=21,
$8=52, $6=75
7. What is your age?
18-21=140, 22-24=85, 25-29=62, over
29=63
8. What is your sex male=165,
female=185
9. Where do you reside?
Off campus, commute=25, on
campus=175, off campus but in
Oxford=155
10. What is your class standing?
Freshman=53, sophomore=71, junior=89,
senior=136, graduate student=21
Several cross tabulations were
run on the data. These revealed that
49% of the students who expressed
interest in the calendar were male. In
addition, 68% of whose who said they
were interested lived on campus or in
Oxford. Seniors were less interested
than underclassmen. Student
preferences for poses are shown in
Table 2. Most males preferred females
in swimsuits, whereas most females
preferred males with their clothes on.
Several printing companies
were contacted to obtain quotes for
production of the calendars. There were
variations in both price and quality.
Production quotes for the best quality
and price combination are shown in
Table 3. There was a minimum order of
2,000, and an additional 15% for each
500 above 2,000. Typesetting was a
one time extra $1,200.
Since the pictures were the
central part of the product they had to
be of good quality. A number of
professional photographers were asked
to submit their portfolios. The best
photographer charged $260 per setting,
with a minimum order of 12 settings.
This price included travel, set-up
charges, several negatives, and a final
camera-ready print.
Table 2 Student Preferences for Poses
Pose Male Female
Fully clothed body shot 42 70
Swimsuit body shot 70 45
Face and chest shot 21 18
Partially clothed shot 45 38
Table 3 Production costs from printer
Weight of cover stock Small size
calendar Large size calendar
Light $7,460 $10,980
Heavy $8,500 $13,050
Selecting the students to pose
for the pictures was a problem. One
idea was to have students nominate
whom they wanted in the pictures. One
of the student partners was an amateur
photographer and agreed to take the
preliminary snapshots that would later
be screened by another group of
students. Film and developing costs
were estimated at $75.
Distribution was also a
problem. The campus bookstore offered
to take 1,500 calendars, but they would
markup 40% on their cost. A booth in a
high traffic area of the Student Union
Building could be rented for $3/day as
long as it was connected with a student
project. A booth could also be set up in
the stadium at the homecoming football
game. There were other possibilities,
but a strategy decision would have to
be made about intensive, selective, or
exclusive distribution before outlets
could be selected.
Promotion possibilities included
interviews with the local student
newspaper and announcements in the
FOCUS, a daily flyer available to all
students in all buildings on campus. A
member of the team could also appear
as a guest on a talk show aired by the
student radio station. None of these
activities cost money. On the other
hand, an ad in the student newspaper
about the size of the date page of the
large-size calendar would cost $325.
The Miami Speaks is published weekly
with a press run of 12,000. Flyers about
the same size were estimated to cost
about $2.50 in quantities of 100.
By this time it was evident
that there was not enough money
available to meet start-up costs even at
the minimum order of 2,000. Someone
suggested that an advertiser might be
interested in sponsoring a portion of the
calendar. Three of the other universities
surveyed had sponsors. Advertising
generally consisted of a corporate logo
in the background of the date page.
Students felt that if accepted,
advertisements should be tasteful.
There was a lot of work to be
done before attempting to secure
sponsorship. A business plan would
have to be made on how many calendars
to produce, the exact composition of
poses, the calendar start date, price,
distribution, and promotion strategy. A
price for advertising sponsorship for all
or a portion of the calendar would have
to be established. Everyone knew that
the success of the project depended on
the amount of creativity used in
developing and implementing a marketing
strategy.
Note, this information can be forwarded
in a Word document if needed.
Additionally, the paper needs to contain a:
A problem statement
SWOT
4P's
Analysis of the alternatives including all calculations (break even, cost comparisons of each of the alternatives) Tabulated is good.
Recommendation with pro's and cons of recommended strategy and of each alternative
Conclussion
There are faxes for this order.
[ Order Custom Essay ]
[ View Full Essay ]