Infographic Poster (Individual Work, 30% of module weighting): You are required to produce an infographic poster providing key information on the national market you have chosen, and the organisation chosen

MK9709 Global Consumers and Marketplaces Assessment Brief

Instructions on Assessment:

The assessment will feature two components (each completed individually) in which you will identify an organisation and prepare a plan for it to expand its operations to a new country.

Instructions for each of these two components begin on the next page.

Assessment Component One:

Infographic Poster (Individual Work, 30% of module weighting):

You are required to produce an infographic poster providing key information on the national market you have chosen, and the organisation chosen to enter that market for the first time. (NB: for this task, you are permitted to pretend that the organisation is not already present in a specific country, even if this is not the case in real life.)

Please create the poster on a single PowerPoint slide 

Please submit your infographic poster electronically to the relevantly labelled submission folder on the module Blackboard site. Deadlines will be communicated via Blackboard announcement.

Marking Criteria for Infographic Poster

Criteria	Mark awarded	Marked out of…
POSTER INFO: Key information on the chosen national market is relevant to the organisation wishing to expand into it.		40
POSTER PERSPECTIVE: Content focuses on consumers and customers in the new target market, their needs and characteristics.		20
POSTER SOURCES: Content is underpinned / substantiated by theoretical and commercial sources, which are acknowledged through citations.		20
POSTER DESIGN / PRESENTATION: Presentation is professional. There is sufficient use of colour and graphics. Information is conveyed concisely, with a logical flow of information. Any graphs, figures and charts are properly labelled and adhere to data presentation best practice. There are no / very few spelling, grammatical or typographical errors.		20
TOTAL		100

Assessment Component Two: 

Market Plan Business Report (Individual Work, 70% of module weighting):

You are required to undertake a 2,000-word (+10%) Market Plan Business Report, using the same organisation and proposed market/s which you used for the Infographic Poster.

Please submit your business report electronically to the relevantly labelled submission folder on the module Blackboard site. Deadlines will be communicated via Blackboard announcement.

Section 1 (40% of the Market Plan Business Report marks): Critical evaluation of an organisation in one or more established markets

Section 1 accounts for 40% of the Market Plan Business Report marks, and therefore, the recommended word count is around 800 words, but at your discretion, as long as the total word count for the report is observed.

• Identify an organisation that is strong and established in one or more markets.
• Analyse why it is currently strong in its home market/country of origin, referring to its brand, products and/or services, marketing communications mix, use of media, Relationship Marketing strategies, and any other elements of its identity or operations which you feel relevant to its success.
• In particular, refer to its meaning towards, and relationships with, its customers.
• When analysing the organisation, use theories and academic sources critically.
• Provide commercial context underpinned by industrial sources (i.e., information which is already in the public domain).
• Do not undertake any primary research (i.e., do not contact the organisation or its stakeholders).

Section 2 (60% of the Business Report marks): Proposal of strategies to enter a new market

Section 2 accounts for 60% of the Market Plan Business Report marks, and therefore, the recommended word count is around 1,200 words, but at your discretion, as long as the total word count for the report is observed. 

• Propose strategies (marketing mix strategies and market entry strategies) for your chosen organisation to use when entering one specific country for the first time. (NB: for this task, you are permitted to pretend that the organisation is not already present in a specific country, even if this is not the case in real life.)
• Consider the needs and characteristics of the consumers in the target market
• Explain how the needs and characteristics of the consumers in the target market might differ from the needs and characteristics of the consumers it is currently selling to in its home market/country of origin.
• Use theory and academic sources critically to underpin your recommendations.
• Wherever possible, compare alternative strategies that you chose to discard with those that you chose to adopt, explaining their relative merits in the context of your organisation.
• When explaining your rationale, say what effects the recommended strategies might have upon the organisation, its brand, its performance, and its commercial sustainability – but also the effects upon the targeted consumers in the new market.

Module Specific Assessment/Marking Criteria for the Market Plan Business Report

Criteria	Mark Awarded	Marked out of…
Section 1:
Critical analysis of the organisation’s strengths		10
Analysis of the organisation’s meaning towards, and relationships with, its customers		10
Use of theory and concepts to underpin answer		10
Analysis of the organisation’s commercial context using publicly available sources		10
Section 2:
Analysis of the needs and characteristics of the consumers in the target market		15
Analysis of how the needs and characteristics of the consumers in the target market differ from consumers in the organisation’s existing markets		15
Clear explanation of market entry strategies and alternative market entry strategies with  critical use of theory and sources		15
Explanation of the likely impact of the recommended marketing mix strategies on the target consumers in the new market		15
TOTAL		100

Choice of brand

You may choose any organisation but NOT any of the following ones, which will be used by lecturers throughout the module to contextualise theory, 

• Fiat
• Ford
• Northumbria University
• Caudalie
• Lush

Advice on Undertaking the Market Plan Business Report

As this is a report, it should not be presented in essay format. 

You should use full sentences and paragraphs, and be fluent, grammatically correct, balanced and critical.

In-text citations should be used to substantiate ideas and show sources, and a reference list should be provided at the end of the document. 

Include relevant tables, graphs, diagrams, photos and screenshots to illustrate what you are writing, and to evidence what the brand is doing – please place these in the main body of the report, not as an appendix.

Sources should be used to substantiate statements, underpin rationale or analysis, and demonstrate commercial or theoretical awareness, rather than being added arbitrarily.
 
A strong report might typically use 20-25 sources, although no exact minimum or maximum is stipulated.
 
The following would be considered credible sources:

• Peer-reviewed academic journals
• Academic textbooks – but very sparingly, and not “Marketing for Dummies”, etc.
• The brand’s website
• Industry-specific organisations (e.g., SMMT for the UK motor industry)
• ‘Prestigious’ industry-specific publications (e.g., The Grocer for FMCG)
• Central government / civil service reports (e.g., www.gov.uk) / Office for National Statistics
• MINTEL – recognised statistical sources
• The BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Al-Jazeera
• The Financial Times

However, the following would not be considered credible sources:

• Other newspapers (e.g., The Sun, The Daily Mail)
• Sky, MSN
• Non-academic textbooks – especially the “Market your Business in 30 Days” variety
• Blogs and posts such as “Build an International Business in 30 Days”
• Consultant websites (e.g., www.brand-doctor.com)
• Slideshare
• Online tutorial sites (e.g., www.quickmba.com, www.marketingteacher.co.uk, etc.)
• Also: lecturers’ materials are credible, but not acceptable as sources – use sources instead

Details on requirements for the Market Plan Business Report:

• Individual task
• No collusion or plagiarism – please refer to ARTA regulations on the Northumbria University website if unsure
• Should be submitted on Word or PDF file
• 2,000 word limit (+ 10%)
• Please use 11-point Times New Roman, 1.5 line-spaced, standard margin width, with both margins justified (i.e., squared off)
• Be creative and critical. Be original in your brand choice
• Deadlines and submission process will be communicated by Blackboard announcement, which will generate an email to you. Please check the blackboard announcements regularly.

Important Note on Staff Guidance for Both Assessed Elements:

Any academic judgments not stipulated in the brief, the ARTA regulations, or the mark scheme are at your discretion; you should not need to seek clarification of any such points. 

All necessary advice is provided in this document and discussed at length in specific lectures and seminars.
To ensure fairness and consistency of advice across the cohort, please bring any queries to the above sessions so that all students can benefit equally from any advice given, rather than sending emails.

If you feel unable to raise your query in class, please attend one of the Module Leader drop-in guidance sessions, the schedule for which will be announced on Blackboard.

After Submission:

After submission, the university targets 20 working days for the work to be marked, internally and externally moderated, and the provisional marks communicated to students. 

The module marking team will record marks and feedback on Blackboard. (NB: staff sickness or other unforeseeable events may delay this in an extremely small number of cases. 

Work submitted late with authorisation due to a PEC or DSSR are also subject to the 20 working day target, and may therefore be marked later than other work.) 

These marks are provisional until they have been taken through the academic boards to be confirmed/changed, after which point the university will communicate mark profiles to students via MyNorthumbria.
 
If at that point you have failed the module, you should refer to the university’s written instructions to ascertain whether or not you are permitted/required to resit the assessment or part thereof. 

If in any doubt on this, you should discuss with your Programme Leader. 

Late Submission of Work 

Where coursework is submitted without approval, after the published hand-in deadline, the following penalties will apply:

For coursework submitted up to 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval, 10% of the total marks available for the assessment (i.e., 100%) shall be deducted from the assessment mark.

For clarity: a late piece of work that would have scored 65%, 55%, or 45% had it been handed in on time will be awarded 55%, 45% or 35% respectively, as 10% of the total available marks will have been deducted.

Coursework submitted more than 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval will be regarded as not having been completed, and a mark of zero will be awarded for that assessment task.

For clarity: if the original hand-in time on working day A is Midday/Noon (12 pm), the 24-hour late submission allowance will end at Midday/Noon (12 pm) on working day B.

These provisions apply to all assessments, including those assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.

General Assessment Criteria

Trait	0 – 29	30 – 39	40 – 49	50 – 59	60 – 69	70 – 79	80 – 100
Knowledge and Understanding	Poor grasp of topic concepts or of awareness of what concepts are.	Minimal awareness of the subject area.	Knowledge is adequate but limited and/or superficial.	Sound comprehension of topic.	Knowledge base is up-to-date and relevant, but also may be broad or deep.	Knowledge and understanding is comprehensive both as to breadth and depth.	Exceptional scholarship for subject.
Structure and Alignment	Failure to apply relevant skills.  Work is inarticulate and/or incomprehensible.	Communication of knowledge is frequently inarticulate and/or irrelevant.	In the most part, description/ assertion rather than argument or logical reasoning is used.  Insufficient focus is evident in the work presented.	Reasoning and argument are generally relevant but not necessarily extensive.  Awareness of concepts and critical appreciation are apparent, but the ability to conceptualise, and/or to apply theory is slightly limited.	Higher-order critical appreciation skills are displayed.  A significant ability to apply theory, concepts, ideas and their inter-relationship is illustrated.	A mature ability to critically appreciate concepts and their inter-relationship is demonstrated.  Clear evidence of independent thought.  Presentation of work is fluent, focused and accurate.