SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING PLAN (FINAL PAPER)The Sustainability Marketing Plan will be required in lieu of a Final Exam.Learning Objective: To help you illustrate your understanding of the concepts you

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING PLAN (FINAL PAPER)The Sustainability Marketing Plan will be required in lieu of a Final Exam.

Learning Objective: To help you illustrate your understanding of the concepts you learned throughout the quarter, this Sustainability Marketing Plan allows you to apply this knowledge by writing a formalized ‘marketing plan’ targeted towards potential investors in your operations.

Assignment: Your challenge for this final project is to develop a Sustainability Marketing Plan for the launch of a new product and/or service, in which a real and/or fictional business could use as a ‘pitch’ to potential investors. It is important that your plan meets the basic requirements outlined below, as well as the grading rubric in the score sheet section of this assignment, as this will be indicative of your understanding of sustainability marketing, and its use in a business setting (as opposed to the use of traditional marketing).

Use the following basic outline to organize your marketing plan for your product/company, and there should be a separate paragraph with a heading that identifies each area you are discussing. Papers should be concise, factual, and easy to read; and your final plan should be no less that 15-to-20-pages in length (excluding an Appendix, and any corresponding images you include), 1” margins, and 12pt type maximum.

Also, please make sure your paper if free from any spelling and/or grammatical errors (especially ones in which Spell Check easily catches); deductions will be made for every misspelling, grammatical error and/or use of unprofessional language in your Sustainability Marketing Plan.

This paper is worth 100 points total, and is due on Thursday, June 13 @ 11:59 pm.

As always, NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT, and please submit as an attachment (.pdf, .doc or .docx).

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE

For ease of grading, your paper should be based on the outline below, in addition to the scoring rubric provided in its’ description. However, you may certainly veer off of the outline to include other topics, or jumble the required items in an order that makes more sense to you (but all this information still needs to be included, and labeled in such a way that I know you’re covering it, in order for you to potentially earn full credit).

1. Table of Contents: An organized listing of the sections of your final paper; for ‘check only’ purposes (failure to include will results in a deduction of points). 
2. Executive Summary: Synopsis and major aspects of the marketing plan (this section is basically a summary of each of the rest of the sections of your plan, featuring one-to-two sentences to describe each section). (5 points) 
3. Introduction: Briefly describe your Company, the Markets you serve and/or aim to serve, and the attributes of the Products/Services you sell which will be encompassed by this Sustainable Marketing Plan, etc. (5 points) 
4. Marketing Situation Analysis: This is essentially a sustainable ‘SWOT’ analysis, and an examine how your product and/or service fits with the main categories of Company, Customers, Collaborators, Competitors & Context described in detail in the ‘Situation Analysis’ paper (to the extent that they fit your particular business/product/service/etc.). (10 pts.)
   1. Internal Strengths & Weaknesses: Focus: strengths & weaknesses your company, product, service delivery method, etc. has re. sustainability;
   2. External Opportunities & Threats: Competition; ecological issues (e.g., depletion of natural resources); social issues: (e.g. shortages of work conditions, health/safety standards, living wages/community involvement opportunities); 
5. Desired Outcomes (in terms of Profits, People, & Planet): This section describes your Marketing Objectives (i.e., what you hope to accomplish with this plan, such as increased market share; cut costs to remain profitable/ensure profitability in a competitive market; gain competitive advantage; become an industry front-runner in sustainability; development of long-lasting customer and community relationships (brand loyalty); reduce ecological impacts; (LCA) of products/services). (10 points) 
6. Marketing Strategies: Target Market Selection (this sgment(s) focus in light of sustainable consumer behavior; indicates who you intend to reach with your product/service offering; geographic, demographic, psychographic, etc.; and explains why you selected this target market(s)). Marketing Strategies also includes an analysis into your Sustainability Marketing Mix: from 4P’s (Product, Price, Promotion, Place), to 4 C’s (how the product/service sustainably meets or provides solutions to customers’ problems; how you most effectively provide communications of your sustainability efforts; how the product/service offering reduces total customer costs; and convenience in distribution, use and post-use phases of consumption). (20 points) 
7. Action Plans (Tactics): Specific methods of implementing strategies (see below): (30 points) 

   Targeting and Positioning Statement:

   Consider target market segment in light of the consumption process and sustainable consumer behavior; product/service fit with the firm’s marketing communications

   Strategic Map Linking Strategy to Objectives (OPTIONAL):

   Visually connect strategies-firm’s Plan objectives in diagram format

   Promotional Plan (“Communications”):

   Use of advertising, social media, website, third-party labeling, message(s) conveyed, total customer cost (TCC) conveyed to consumers; sponsorship/involvement in community events, strategic partnerships, etc.

   Distribution Plan:

   Where product/service will be sold; direct to consumers, use of retailers, sustainable distribution channels, focus on entire supply/distribution chain and convenience to the customer.

   Product Launch Description & Schedule:

   Launch Strategies and a clear list of Objectives (distribution channel readiness, sales objectives, communication efforts, etc.) in light of plan strategies/objectives, budget, target market(s) and any data gathered concerning methods that target groups use to obtain information concerning new products/services. Prioritize objectives; create an appropriate Product/Service Launch Schedule,

   Financial Forecast:

   Reasonable “guesstimate” on: (1) budget to implement this Sustainable Marketing Plan; (2) the likely first year sales of the offering in this plan; plus TWO additional future year forecasts; (3) Note any potential concerns that would likely impact the accuracy of these “guesstimates” (rise in price of fuel, technological limitations, competition, customer preference changes, wrong target market selection, etc.); revenue/expense forecasts or break-even analysis are OPTIONAL.

   Ecological Impact Forecast:

   Product/service impact on the environment; cradle-to-cradle design; detailed Product Life Cycle Assessment; communication of minimal impacts to customers; solutions for real customer needs= consumer value.

   Social Impact Forecast:

   Employee rights, social equity, justice, safety, wages, benefits, livability, quality of life, health, education, job retention and creation, community development/involvement, etc.; impacts on stakeholders.

8. Implementation, Controls, and Evaluation: Measures of performance: specific evidence that triple bottom line processes critical to the success of this plan are being met; sales revenue minimum; market share; Profits donated to local causes; decrease in energy/water use or waste; employee retention; industry transformation. (10 points) 
9. Conclusion: What are the personal conclusions you have drawn about your product and/or service? (5 points) 
10. Appendix: Exhibits, diagrams, charts, relevant reference information (5 points) 
11. Works Cited: Resources used in the writing of your plan; for ‘check only’ purposes (failure to include will results in a deduction of points)