Contemporary approaches to marketing free essay sample

This tutorial letter should be read in conjunction with the my Studies @ Unisa brochure. As the honours subjects are offered online, it is absolutely essential that you register for and use myUnisa (see the my Studies @ Unisa brochure for details) as well as registering for your myLife email address, as this will give you direct access to important information, enable you to receive communication from Unisa, and allow you to perform tasks such as updating your personal information, submitting assignments, confirming receipt of assignments, obtaining assignment marks, obtaining examination time tables and results, joining online discussion forums and many more. 1 SUBJECT SPECIFIC STUDY PLAN Dear Contemporary Marketing Issues Student We are pleased to welcome you to this subject (MNM4801 – Contemporary Marketing Issues) in the B Com Honours degree and hope that you will find it both interesting and rewarding. We shall do our best to make your study of this subject successful. You will be well on your way to success if you start studying early in the semester and resolve to do the assignment(s) properly. You will receive a number of tutorial letters during the year. A tutorial letter is our way of communicating with you about teaching, learning and assessment. Tutorial Letter 101 – this tutorial letter – contains important information about the scheme of work, resources and assignments for this subject. We urge you to read it carefully and to keep it at hand when working through the study material, preparing the assignment(s), preparing for the examination and addressing questions to your lecturers. You will also receive TL 301 BECHONB/2014 at the start of your year. Please TL301 in combination with this Tutorial Letter 101 as it gives you an idea of generally important information when studying at a distance and within a particular College. In Tutorial Letter 101, you will find the assignments and assessment criteria as well as instructions on the preparation and submission of the assignments. This tutorial letter also provides all the information you need with regard to the prescribed study material and other resources and how to obtain it. Please study this information carefully and make sure that you obtain the prescribed material as soon as possible. We have also included certain general and administrative information about this subject. Please study this section of the tutorial letter carefully. From the onset we would like to point out that you must read all the tutorial letters you receive during the year immediately and carefully, as they always contain important and, sometimes, urgent information. We hope that you will enjoy this subject and wish you all the best! 2 MNM4801/101 2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES OF THIS SUBJECT 2. 1 Purpose of this subject The purpose of the learning is to provide the student with relevant competencies (knowledge, skills, norms and values) in order to interpret and apply fundamental marketing principles within the context of contemporary issues that currently impact on the world of marketing. 2. 2 Learning outcomes After completing this subject, you should be able to: †¢ Identify the key contemporary marketing issues that affect business today †¢ Discuss each of these marketing issues in detail, highlighting the key factors that you would need to be concerned with †¢ Explain the strategies that you would develop to address each of these issues †¢ Incorporate your marketing responses to these issues into your overall marketing plan 3 LECTURER AND CONTACT DETAILS I am the lecturer for this subject and my name is Neels Bothma. My contact details are: Address: AJH van der Walt Building, Office number: 3-13 Tel: (012) 429 8303 Fax: (012) 429 3759 [emailprotected] ac. za Please note that you should only contact me for ACADEMIC enquiries, that is, enquires about the content of the subject. Administrative enquiries concerning fees, receipt of assignments, examination dates, etc. should be directed to the relevant administrative departments as indicated below: Communication with the administrative departments of the University If you need to contact the University about matters not related to the content of this subject, please consult the booklet my Studies @ Unisa that you received with your study material. This booklet contains information on how to contact the University. Please note that all administrative enquiries should be channelled to the correct department. The details are as follows: Student admissions and registrations Student assessment administration for assignments Student assessment administration for examination Despatch: Study material Finance ICT (myUnisa myLIfe) [emailprotected] ac. za [emailprotected] ac. za [emailprotected] ac. za [emailprotected] ac. za [emailprotected] ac. za [emailprotected] ac. za [emailprotected] ac. za Also study TL 301 BECHONB/2014 for further contact information. 3 MNM4801/101 4 SUBJECT RELATED RESOURCES 4. 1 Prescribed material for this subject Please note that there is no prescribed textbook for this subject, or any study guide. You will be required to access a number of online articles that you will be expected to read as part of your studies. These ‘readings’ will address the major topics covered in this subject. You will, however, receive a number of tutorial letters during the semester outlining the links to these readings and incorporating some additional comments as well as tasks and assignments that you need to complete. All tutorial letters will be made available to you electronically on myUnisa. It is imperative that you visit myUnisa as soon as possible and register with the service. Once registered, you will be able to access the next in the series of tutorial letters (TL 102) which will outline exactly what we expect of you as well as providing you with the first of your compulsory assignments (no. 1). 4. 2 Inventory letter At the time of registration, you will receive an inventory letter that will tell you what you have received in your study package and it will also show items that are still outstanding. Check the study material that you have received against the inventory letter. You should have received all the items listed in the inventory, unless there is a statement like ‘out of stock’ or ‘not available. If any item is missing, you can the instructions on the back of the inventory letter to obtain the missing items. However, as this subject is available almost entirely online, you can access any missing study material via myUnisa – see below. PLEASE NOTE: Your lecturers cannot help you with missing study material. Please contact the University – see Tutorial Letter 301 BECHONB/2014. As we have already mentioned, apart from Tutorial Letters 101 and 301, you may also receive a number of tutorial letters during the semester (TLs102 onwards). These tutorial letters will not necessarily be available at the time of registration. As soon as they are available, they will be accessible on myUnisa and an announcement will be placed to this effect. 5 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE SUBJECT For information on the various student support systems and services available at Unisa, please consult the BECHONB tutorial letter. VERY IMPORTANT: MYLIFE E-MAIL ADDRESS Irrespective of whatever e-mail address you provided Unisa upon registration, Unisa will ONLY communicate with you using the myLife e-mail address which is based on your student number. This email address remains with you for life. You MUST use this email address to view any correspondence from Unisa, otherwise you will NOT receive any communication from Unisa. To register for the myLife email account, visit this web page: http://mylife. unisa. ac. za 5. 1 myUnisa Honours students are expected to have access to the internet and the web. All your tutorial letters and related materials and communications, will be made available to you via myUnisa. Unisa does make computers available to students at the main campus and at branches. The myUnisa learning management system is Unisas online campus that will help you to communicate with your lecturers, with other students and with the administrative departments of Unisa – all through the computer and the web. 4 MNM4801/101 TO REITERATE: We use myUnisa to communicate with our students, so it is advisable that you register with this service as quickly as possible and visit myUnisa regularly to keep abreast of new developments or changes. Think about checking myUnisa for any communication from the lecturer/Department before contacting us telephonically, as your query may already have been answered on myUnisa. To go to the myUnisa website, start at the main Unisa website, http://www. unisa. ac. za, and then click on the â€Å"Login to myUnisa† link on the right-hand side of the screen. This should take you to the myUnisa website. You can also go there directly by typing in http://my. unisa. ac. za. If you should need to replace any of your study material, you can access this study material on myUnisa. 6 SUBJECT SPECIFIC STUDY PLAN A comprehensive study plan will be provided to you in TL102 outlining what you need to study and when. 7 ASSESSMENTS 7. 1 Assignments and learning Assignments are seen as part of the learning material for this subject. The assignments are provided at the end of the document as Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 – more information on these assignments will be provided in subsequent tutorial letters. At an honours level, we expect you to do a lot more additional reading and research, beyond the basic readings that we have identified for you or that we require you to source on your own. Paying attention to the assessment criteria for each assignment will help you to understand what is required of you more clearly – it will be sent to you in a subsequent TL. General remarks PLEASE NOTE: Enquiries about assignments (for example, whether or not the University has received your assignment or the date on which an assignment was returned to you) must be addressed to the assignment section at [emailprotected] ac. za. You might also find information on myUnisa. Do NOT contact lecturers regarding administrative issues to do with your assignments. SAVE YOUR ASSIGNMENT IN PDF FORMAT! You must submit written assignments electronically via myUnisa and in PDF format. No assignments will be accepted via fax or email. To submit an assignment via myUnisa: †¢ Go to myUnisa. †¢ Log in with your student number and password. †¢ Select the subject. †¢ Click on assignments in the left-hand menu. †¢ Click on the assignment number you want to submit. †¢ Follow the instructions on the screen. 5 MNM4801/101 Compulsory assignments There are TWO compulsory assignments for this subject, both which are in the form of an essay question that you need to complete (the question may have one or more subsections). There are non-negotiable submission deadlines for each of these two assignments and you must submit the first of these assignments if you wish to gain entry to the examination! However, both marks from the two assignments will contribute equally to your year mark. Clearly, if you only submit one assignment, then only that mark will count. 7. 2 Submission dates The submission dates for the assignments are: Assignment 1 2 7. 3 Due date 16 April 2014 22 August 2014 Unique number 767836 848552 Year marks Your year mark, based on the mark obtained for the two compulsory assignments, contributes 20% towards your final mark, while your examination mark contributes 80%. The combined average of your year mark and examination mark must be 50% or higher for you to pass the subject. However, you must obtain a minimum of 40% in the examination, regardless of your year mark. If you obtain less than 40% in the examination your year mark will not be taken into account and you will fail. For example: Assignment mark 01 = 60% Assignment mark 02 = 80% Average mark = 70% (60% + 80% / 2) 30% of the assignment mark = 21% Examination mark = 50% 70% of the examination mark = 35% Final mark = (30% assignment mark) + (70% examination mark) = 21% + 35% = 56% You will need a mark of at least 45% to qualify for a supplementary examination. Refer to your 301 tutorial letter for more information. Subminimum rule: Irrespective of the year mark obtained, a subminimum of 40% must be obtained in the examination. In line with the Unisa assessment policy, your year marks will NOT be taken into account if you obtain less than 40% in the examination. In such an event the mark obtained in the examination will be the final mark. You will therefore not pass a subject if your examination mark is less than 40%. 6 MNM4801/101 7. 3 Assignment queries Enquiries about the receipt of assignments or assignment marks may be directed to the Directorate of Student Assessment Administration (see the my Studies @ Unisa brochure for details). 8 HOW THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM WORKS For general information and requirements as far as examinations are concerned, see the brochure My studies @ Unisa which you received with your study material. 8. 1 Examination admission Examination admission will be granted to all students who submit the first compulsory assignment. Students who do not submit the assignment will NOT be allowed to write the examination. 8. 2 Examination period This subject is offered on a year basis, which means that there is only one registration opportunity each year. The examinations will be written at the end of the year (note – you will submit your examination answers as assignment 3 on 19 January 2015). You will receive more information regarding the examination later. 8. 3 Previous examination papers Given that the exam is in the form of a home-based project, no previous examinations are available for this module. 9 CONCLUDING REMARKS We hope that you will enjoy this subject. We believe it to be a very useful and practical subject. Remember that the subject requires you to work at your studies – the more you do, the more you will get out of your studies. Do not hesitate to contact me if you encounter any academic queries or problems in your studies. We wish you success with your studies. Kind regards CH Bothma Centre for Business Management UNISA 7 MNM4801/101 ASSIGNMENT 1 In your undergraduate studies, you will have addressed many different marketing topics, such as the marketing concept, the marketing mix, marketing research, customer behaviour, public relations, integrated marketing communications, marketing strategy and much more. In this subject, you will be introduced to selected contemporary issues that you, as a marketer, will need to deal with and that may impact on your firm’s marketing efforts directly. These are current issues that may change from time to time, even from year to year. As an example, green marketing – which, according to the American Marketing Association, is the marketing of products that are environmentally safe – is one such contemporary issue. In the past firms have produced products without much care for the environment, but today, consumers are not willing to buy products that are harmful to the environment and this groundswell of environmentally-sensitive consumerism is growing. Companies therefore have to take this issue into consideration and decide how they will adapt to green marketing. They may use safer raw materials, use less energy, use bio-degradable packaging and more. Your assignment is to research, using the web and other sources such as magazine articles, what other contemporary issues (besides for green marketing) may impact on the marketing efforts or firms today. Before we introduce you to the marketing issues we think are important, we first want you to indicate what\ issues you have found to be important – remember, this is an honours subject and we expected independent input from you. We thus expect you to identify at least FIVE contemporary marketing issues that you think are important enough for firms to take into consideration when planning their marketing strategies. Not only should you identify these issues, but we want you to prepare a short essay on each of these issues explaining (a) what are the characteristics or features of each issue that warrants it being taken into consideration from a marketing perspective; (b) what is the likely business impact of each contemporary marketing issue to be (e. g. what problems are marketers likely to face if they do not address these issues and what benefits might they enjoy if they take these issues into consideration in their marketing efforts); and, (c) how they might address these issues in their strategic marketing planning going forward (i. e. briefly indicate what a firm’s marketing response from top management might be in respect of each of the issues in question). Please follow the structure I have asked of you above – if you do not, I will penalise you; if you give greater attention one part of it compared with the other (e. g. you discuss the characteristics in more detail than strategic marketing, then, again, I will penalise you). Try to provide a comprehensive and balanced discussion over all three discussion areas mentioned above. Each of the five issues should be discussed in no less than 500 words (the more comprehensive and complete your answer, the better your mark). Do not PLAGARISE – you should draw on as many sources as you can, but you should not copy these word-for-word – in other words, you must discuss the issues IN YOUR OWN WORDS. You need to also indicate where you obtained your information from (i. e. what the sources were that you used). You may NOT identify green marketing as one of these issues, as we have already mentioned it above. This assignment must be submitted via myUnisa by 16 April 2014. 8 MNM4801/101 ASSIGNMENT 2 We have introduced you over the past few months to five contemporary marketing issues that we think you need to know about as a modern marketer. We have addressed the characteristics and business impact of each of these five issues, and we have proposed various strategic responses that businesses might consider in addressing these issues. Your assignment is now to prepare an action plan that encompasses these three perspectives on all four issues identified. Your action plan must comprise the following: †¢ Background – in which you explain the importance of keeping abreast and dealing with contemporary marketing issues as they arise. †¢ The contemporary issues identified – in this section we require you to discuss each of the four contemporary issues that we have introduced you to and to explain why they are so important or relevant to marketers today. †¢ The characteristics of each issue – in this section we require you to discuss the characteristics or features of each of these issues (i. e. what makes them special or stand out? ). †¢ The business impact of each issue – in this section we require you to discuss the possible business impact of each of the issues in question (what might happen if you ignore the issue; what benefits can be had if you address the issue). †¢ Strategic response – in this section we require you to propose a possible strategic marketing response to each of these issues. †¢ Conclusion – in this conclusion, we want you to highlight one or two points that you think are particularly crucial when dealing with contemporary marketing issues. Your action plan must comprise at least 3000 words and must be your own words and ideas. The more comprehensive and insightful your answer is, the better your mark will be. We will provide you with more information in subsequent tutorial letters. This assignment must be submitted via myUnisa by 22 August