MM- TERM PROJECT (Weightage-25%)

Students in a group will conduct research in the marketing management project on a specific
topic, the broad guidelines are as under.
This project will determine the extent of assimilation and integration of the knowledge by the
class participants. It will also allow you to exercise your decision-making capabilities.
Additionally, the participants will have to explain the rationale for each marketing management
decision they make.

Objective of the group project

This group project is aimed at:

(i) Understand how businesses strategize their marketing function to remain

competitive in their chosen markets
(ii) What are the main drivers of strategic marketing decisions?
(iii) Relate the concepts and principles of classroom teaching with real time actions of the
marketplace
(iv) Encourage participants of the course to identify scope for improvement/growth in
the marketing strategy of a firm and make suitable recommendations for exploring
business opportunities in the short/long term

The approach of the group project is about making you work in a team to research, debate, explore
and conclude upon a company of your choice. Participants are encouraged to choose from an
indicative list of sectors and identify the firm then go on to evaluate the following aspects with
respect to the organization selected. An Illustrative List of sectors is as follows-

1. Automobiles
2. Consumer durables (It can have subsectors)
3. Pharma
4. Health care
5. Hospitality
6. FMCG (It can have subsectors) Food etc
7. Fashion Brands (Luxury etc0
8. Retailing
9. Entertainment

OR one may-

1-Choose the Major Product Category

2-Choose the Minor Product category
 3-& then arrive at Choosing the company
The structure for the Group assignment would be as follows:

Project Topics: Choice of industry/sector will have to be finalized and submitted.

Deliverables
(i) Based on the learnings in your course on Marketing Management, you may begin by
conducting a review on the available SECONDARY data of the company and collate a
comprehensive information bank about the organization in terms of:
a. Size
b. Holding
c. Markets
d. History and lineage
e. Stakeholders
f. Funding pattern (if any)
g. Attach balance sheet details through relevant ratios on liquidity etc (comments on
industry PAT etc. will be more than encouraging)
h. Customer profile
i. Competition mapping
j. Communication activities largely at the ATL level
(ii) Based on the data collated, the group is expected to now operationalize the part of the work
into a meaningful correlation of the company background and the kind of work it is doing
at the marketplace. The groups are expected to collect primary level data (through market
research) in a three phased approach:
a. Observational analysis, where the focus will be visiting marketplace and observing
the kind of marketing activities being done at the BTL level and at the store level
(please note if it is an e-commerce set-up, accordingly the marketplace definitions
will need to be implied). You may also like to prepare a fact sheet of the product-
SKU/Price points.
b. Survey based analysis will imply developing an interview guide for
- The probable consumers and getting firsthand consumer opinion for the
products, services and brands chosen. Identify gaps/grievances-this may help
you in your plan design
- The retailer/salesmen/wholesaler/distributor to get a first-hand
understanding of the product/service distribution channel. The challenges
involved/ innovations that the retailer/industry is currently into
c. Participants are encouraged to interact with company representatives to gain deeper
insights about the organization. Adding this component will have a bearing on the
group’s performance evaluation.
(iii)Based on information collected through primary and secondary research, develop a report
(structure is given below) as per guidelines of submissions and a presentation of report will
be the last stage of the report evaluation process
  Group presentation : 15 minutes + 5 minutes for Q&A
 Word count : Must be provided on the cover page of the report.

Format

 Presentation : MS-Powerpoint based presentation. Use the IMI template for all
the presentations. The opening slide must have the names of the
group members along with their student id no

 Report : Each report Must

- Have a standardized cover page with all details
- Table of contents
- Executive summary
- Headings (as per report structure)
- references as per the Harvard Referencing System
- Please note that the stage I report will need to be attached
and submitted with stage II report
Project weightage component

Stage Weightages Session No. (Submission by)

Project Stage I : 5% Between session 11-14
Stage II : 10% 20

Presentation : 10 % 20

Report Structure:
STAGE I: Interim Review ( the list is only indicative not exhaustive )
 Overview of the Sector chosen and the Company in consideration
 Situation Analysis: This should normally be constituted of – Competitor Analysis; Customer
Analysis; Company Analysis and SWOT analysis
 Marketing Objective(s) --Short and Long Term
 Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of the Flagship Product(s) /Brand(s)

STAGE II: Final Report

 Detailed Marketing Mix- Programming the 4 Ps /7Ps in case you have chosen a service
industry
 Relative Competitive Position vis-à-vis THREE major competitors
 Evaluate the Current Market position and Marketing Mix
 Proposed A broad Marketing Plan in terms of the road ahead for the firm ( you may refer to
the structure as given in KK- a sample plan is given in Appendix-A1]
 Summary and Conclusions
 Learning from the Assignment.