MKT-300-C1: Marketing Management Assignments Week 4 — Milestone 2: Marketing Plan Outline
Week 4 — Milestone 2: Marketing Plan Outline
100 Points
Due Date: Sun, Oct 04, 2:59 AMClose Requirement: Up to 1 file allowed
100 points · One PDF per student, 2–3 pages · Due Saturday by 11:59 PM PT
Build the structural skeleton of your Final Marketing Plan.
An outline is a hierarchical structure that puts the major components of a marketing strategy in a logical sequence. At this stage, you are establishing structure and flow — you are NOT writing the plan itself yet. You will fill these sections in over the milestones that follow.
Do NOT write content into the sections, and do NOT add data, analysis, or narrative paragraphs. You are producing a scaffold.
THE REQUIRED STRUCTURE
Your outline must follow this seven-part structure. It mirrors the marketing planning process from Chapter 3: mission and goals, situation analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics, implementation, control. Each stage depends on the one before it.
- Executive Summary
- Situation Analysis 2.1 Company and offering background 2.2 Macro-environment (PESTLE) 2.3 Competitive analysis 2.4 Customer and market analysis 2.5 SWOT
- Marketing Objectives
- Target Market and Positioning 4.1 Segmentation 4.2 Target market selection 4.3 Positioning statement
- Marketing Mix Strategy 5.1 Product 5.2 Price 5.3 Place / distribution 5.4 Promotion
- Implementation 6.1 Action steps and responsibilities 6.2 Timeline 6.3 Budget
- Control and Evaluation 7.1 Metrics 7.2 Monitoring and review points 7.3 Contingencies
You may add sub-sections where your topic needs them. You may NOT remove top-level sections — if one seems irrelevant to your offering, keep it and note why it will be brief.
WHAT TO SUBMIT
Three things:
- Your adapted outline: The structure above, reworked for your specific topic. Rename sub-sections to name your actual company, product, competitors and market rather than leaving generic labels. An outline that could belong to any team has not been adapted.
- A scoping note under each top-level section: One or two lines saying what will go in that section — not the content itself. For example, under 2.3 Competitive analysis: “Three direct competitors and two substitutes; price and channel comparison; where we are weakest.” This is how you show you understand what each section is for.
- A milestone map: A short table showing which milestone feeds which section of the outline. Some sections will be filled by work you have already done; some by milestones still ahead; a few by neither, which you will write at the end. Knowing which is which now saves you a scramble later.
WHAT LOSES MARKS
- An outline copied without adaptation — Generic headings with no sign of your company, product or market.
- Content written into the sections — You were asked for structure. Paragraphs of analysis here are premature and will need rewriting.
- Sections dropped silently — If a section will be short, say so. Do not delete it.
- A flat list — An outline is hierarchical. Sub-sections should sit visibly under their parents.
- No milestone map — This section’s inclusion is absolutely non-negotiable.
Treat this as a living framework. It should evolve as your understanding of the market, customers, competitors and strategy deepens, but the stronger the structure now, the less rework later.
SUBMISSION AND AI USE
Submission — One PDF per student. Bullets and short paragraphs are preferred over continuous prose.
AI use — limited and transparent. You may use AI tools for support: reviewing what a standard marketing plan structure contains, organising your headings, or checking clarity. You may not use AI to generate the outline structure or make structural decisions on your team’s behalf. The judgement must be your team’s.
If you use AI, add two or three sentences at the end describing how. You will not be penalized for disclosing. If you didn’t use AI for this assignment, include a sentence saying so.
Grading Criteria
Points
Structure and Sequence
30
Adaptation to the Team’s Topic
25
Scoping Notes
20
Milestone Map
10
Presentation
15