Competitive Environment

Complete the following information about the organization and products and/or services you will focus on as you develop a complete marketing plan throughout the course. You may need to do research to get answers to the questions below. Be sure the organization and offering you select will 1) remain interesting to you for the duration of the course, and 2) have sufficient information available for you to conduct research and make informed recommendations in your marketing plan.

Company Profile
Company Name:
Industry:
Major products and/or services (names, types):
Products and/or services your marketing plan will focus on:
Target customers:
Distribution channel(s):
Headquarters (city, state, country):
Year founded:
Number of employees:
Annual revenue (estimated)
Key competitors:
Link to Web site:
Link to Yahoo! Finance information page (for public companies):
Market Segmentation and Targeting
What problem does your product or service solve?
Describe the total market for your solution: Who are potential customers?
What are the key segments within this market?
Identify and briefly describe 1–3 segments that this company serves.
Which segment does this marketing plan focus on, and why? Why do you believe this segment will offer growth and profit opportunities?
Situation and Company Analysis
Economic Environment
Discuss factors that affect your consumers’ purchasing power and spending patterns. What is the economic environment that you are operating in? Is it a growth, recovery or recession? Will it be easy to find staff? What is the current interest rate i.e. is it increasing or decreasing? What is consumer confidence like?

Technical Environment
The technological environment changes rapidly. You need to make sure that you are aware of trends in your industry and other industries could affect your business. New technologies create new markets and can influence you consumers and competitors. Industry environment What are the trends in your industry? Are there new entrants in the market? Has a substitute product been introduced? Are there changes in industry practices or new benchmarks to use?

Competitive Environment
How many competitors do you have? Who are the key competitors? What are the key selling points or competitive advantages of each one. What is your advantage over competitors? Is the market large enough to support you and competitors?