Purpose of Assignment
Understanding the various phases of a product or service lifecycle is critical when addressing a market. If your product is in decline and the competitor’s product is in growth, your strategy for the product or service will be different. This exercise will enable students to demonstrate an understanding of both their product/service life cycle stage and a competitor’s product. It is designed to help students explore product mix strategies in the various phases of a product or service life cycle. This tool is critical when addressing a market penetration, market saturation or product/service decline.
Assignment Steps
Design a minimum 1,050-word New or Product Refresh Product Launch Plan in Microsoft®Word. The product launch plan will be for two markets: U.S. and one international market. Domestic market generally means the market where the company headquarters are located. If you choose a domestic market that is not the U.S. than your other market is required to be the U.S. Compare your product/service to at least one other competitor. This can be a product/service that is used by a team member in their individual assignment. The competitor does not need to be in both markets, you can have two different competitors, one for each market.
Include the following:
• Brief SWOT (emphasizes internal market–Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) and/or TOWS (emphasizes the external market–Threats, Opportunities, Weakness, Strength).
• A graph or chart if the team deems it necessary. Include two of the following:
• Definition of product or service.
• Description of product or service–marketing message.
• Why the product or service needs to be introduced or refreshed (target audience).
• Address competition in each region and how the new product or refresh provides a competitive advantage.
• Evaluate the potential growth rate. Look for information on similar products/services to determine a 3 year growth rate (Compound Annual Growth Rate-CAGR). Information may be located in the University Library. Note: Charts/graphs/tables do not count toward the word count. Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed references. Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines. Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
