Description

You will need to:

• Demonstrate an acceptable level of understanding of key terms and concepts used in marketing

• Provide a competent analysis of a given predictable business situation and present an appropriate response in the form of a simple marketing mix plan

Have a look at the case study in the old exam paper. You will see that it is broad in scope allowing for a wide range of answers. Reading the exemplar will show you what we might be expecting from you in terms of length, language and structure.

The case study that you will write about is for a Point & Know app for the Moscow tourist market. Tourists visiting Moscow can use their smartphone to point the app at famous landmarks and learn about the cultural significance and history of the landmark in the language of their choice.

Please note that;

• “Point and Know” is the type of app; you will need to propose and justify a suitable brand name for your app.

• The app has already been developed. You do not need to account for development costs or supply an app development plan.

• You should treat the case as if it is a start-up company.

• You can and should prepare a good deal of your case study answer in advance of the exam. You will be given a time frame on the exam paper on the day and will need to adapt your prepared plan accordingly.

The key to addressing the case study is getting the target market right.

You should NOT target everyone! Not everyone will want your app and targeting the whole of the tourism market would be over-ambitious, particularly for a start-up company. Research the tourism market in Moscow and think about how best to segment the market, probably using lifestyle or benefit segmentation.

You may also want to use geo-demographics to arrive at a manageable group of customers. The more clearly defined your target market the better your response will be, even if there are other potential customers. Write a pen portrait for your ideal customer.

Consider the competition and discuss how best to position your app so that it appeals to the customer that you have identified. Once you have done this you can make your marketing mix recommendations so that each of the elements of the marketing mix are tailored to appeal to the ideal customer that you described in your pen portrait.

You can discuss additional features of your app but do not be too distracted by this. You will need to propose a suitable brand name and perhaps a tagline for the app but there are no marks available for visuals so a logo is not needed.

You can choose to charge for the app or to make money from advertisements on the app and make it free to users; be sure to explain your choice.

Customers will access the app through the usual app purchase channels.

Obviously marcomms will play an important part in your plans; you have not been given a budget for marcomms but you should make recommendations that are realistic (TV ads are unlikely to be affordable or appropriate) and suitable to reach your chosen target market. No one knows that your app exists, so how will you drive downloads, and how many downloads might you achieve? You should provide a Gantt chart to demonstrate your Marcomms plan.