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Final Topic approval submission box.  The final Project is described below: Marketing Plan VIDEO Presentation: worth 20% of final grade Your final project is in lieu of a final exam and is worth 20% of your final grade.  As such, the final project will assess your ability to synthesize the marketing principles by applying them to a health care organization.  Your end product will be a brief overview of a marketing plan for your organization accompanying a video presentation using software called –  screencast-o-matic .    You are not expected to reach the level of authoring a professional, actionable, marketing plan, but you are expected to demonstrate an understanding and application of basic marketing principles.  Final Project Objectives 1. Understand impact of marketing environments on health services marketing strategy 2. Develop marketing objectives 3. Apply marketing concepts of segmenting, targeting and positioning a health services market 4. Describe a health services organization’s current marketing mix and suggest modifications based on marketing objectives 5. Identify measurements to access the marketing plan’s impact on the health services organization. 6. Demonstrate college-level research and writing skills commensurate with a 300-level course Steps to completing a Successful Final Project webcam/video: 1. Chose a specific health services organization.  You can choose any health care organization that interests you.  This can be because you work for the organization, would like to work for the organization, are a patient or client of the health services organization, or any other reason that will inspire you to examine the organization’s marketing efforts.   Be sure you either are sufficiently knowledgeable about the organization or can gather information on the organization and its competitors.   Since the focus in this course is on the health services patient/client, please do not chose health care insurance plans or pharmaceutical companies.   All of the following types of health care organizations are acceptable: · Community hospital · Academic hospital · Specialty hospital · Surgicenter · Rehabilitation center · Urgent care facility · Physician practice · Dental practice · Home health care · Imaging services · Health advocacy organization · Hospice care · Medical equipment sales/rentals  2. Submit your final project organization topic for approval.  As directed by your faculty member, submit the organization that you will pursue in the assignment dropbox.   Provide a brief description of the organization and why you chose it. You will submit this topic for approval in week 3.  3. Research your health service organization.  Your research should take many forms, including academic research from the UMGClibrary.  Your research should also include a visit to the organization, interviews with key administrators or marketers (if possible), research on the category of health services in which the organization belongs, e.g. hospitals, physician practice, etc., website review, review of similar services which would be considered direct competitors.  You might want to refer to the Marketing Webliography found under Course Content > Course Resources > Marketing Toolbox > Marketing Webliography.  4. Review the final project Power Point Template.  This can be found under Course Content > Course Resources > Final Project Power Point Template.  Be sure you understand all the relevant marketing concepts; ask your faculty member to clarify, if needed.  5. Use the marketing plan template to complete your Power Point Presentation. The template is located in Content>Course Content>week 8.  Feel free to change the design and slide layouts in whatever way you feel best represents and communicates your best work.  Be sure to remove any of the generic text provided to you for guidance.     Refer to the Marketing Toolbox under Course Content > Course Resources > Marketing Toolbox >Tips for Effective Power Point Presentations for some ideas on how to present your ideas in a format that clearly demonstrates a correlation between the concept and the subject of your term project. 6. Seek out your faculty member any time you need assistance or guidance.  You will not be able to find out everything about your organization or its industry, some of the information is propriety, so be prepared to make some well-reasoned statements in your final project. 7. Keep your Power Point presentation simple.  Reserve the main portion of your presentation for your key findings, conclusions and recommendations.  Use exhibits to add supplemental or source information such as charts and graphs.  8. Be sure to include endnotes and/or a reference page as part of your grade is on your ability to demonstrate these skills. 9. Review your Power Point Presentation against the project rubric.  You may want to revisit those sections that would appear not to provide you with enough points for an acceptable grade. 10. Carefully edit your Power Point Presentation to be sure it presents your best work, is free of typos, is appropriately cited and referenced; and that it clearly communicates your points. 12. Submit your final project in the assignment section of LEO on or before the due date noted in your LEO classroom calendar. 13. Once your final project is graded, be sure to check out the faculty member’s feedback, which will correlate with the grading rubric The grading rubric for this assignment appears below, if you opened the Assignment in the Assignment Folder, or can be opened by clicking on the 'Final VIDEO Project Rubric' tab in the lower right corner of the screen, if you opened the Assignment in Content Name of Health Services Organization Student name Course/Section Number Semester Overview (name of health services organization) General description of the organization, e.g. number of locations, management structure, financial information, etc. (from your research) Mission, vision, corporate-level goals and/or objectives (from your research) Actual or possible marketing objectives (Refer to Week 2 concepts) Analysis of the Current Situation SWOT Analysis Target market description Value proposition 1. SWOT analysis Use the SWOT worksheet in Course content > Course resources > Marketing Toolbox > How to prepare a Case study > SWOT worksheet and Competitive Analysis Worksheet Identify major conclusions from your SWOT analysis, focus on how those conclusions will impact the marketing strategies Use as many slides as you need to include all the relevant conclusions and impacts Attach completed SWOT and competitive analysis as an exhibit at the end of your presentation Refer to Week 2 for more details on SWOT analysis 2. Target market Identify the type of consumer behavior that is relevant to your health services (refer to Week 3 concepts). Use the health belief model, if helpful, address the motivation, perception, learning and memory issues if possible. What type of purchase behavior do they exhibit (refer to Week 3 concepts)? Address the issue of quality as a factor in the patient/client’s decision process (refer to Week 3 concepts) Describe the target market for the health services as specifically as possible (refer to Week 4 concepts). If more than one target market, prepare descriptions for each. Use as many slides as you need to adequately cover the topics 3. Value Proposition and competitive positioning Describe the health service’s value proposition (refer to Week 4 concepts) Describe the health service's positioning strategy (competitive analysis and positioning map will be helpful here) Use as many slides as you need to adequately cover the topics Marketing Mix Product Price Place (distribution) Promotion (marketing communications 4. Product strategies Describe the health service ‘product’ Describe the patient ‘experience’ How does the ‘product’ and the ‘experience’ differ from competitors? What is the role of quality in the patient experience? Is the product a ‘brand’; if not, would you recommend it build a brand? Would you recommend any changes to the health service product? Refer to Week 5 concepts Use as many slides as you need to adequately cover the topics 5. Price Strategies Describe how the price is set for the health care service Does the price seem consumer oriented? Is the price and quality consistent with a local reference-based pricing database? Refer to Week 6 concepts Use as many slides as you need to adequately cover the topics 6. Place (distribution strategies) Describe the channels used to deliver the service (refer to Week 6 concepts) Would you consider the channel system to be a value network and why or why not? What changes would you recommend to ensure a value network system? Use as many slides as you need to adequately cover the topics 7. Promotion (marketing communications) strategies Describe the communications message and its effectiveness in representing the brand and value proposition. What changes would you recommend to same? Describe the type of creative strategy used to convey the message? Changes? What promotion tools are used? How would you modify those tools based on marketing objectives identified in your Overview and to more effectively communicate to the target market? What customer relationship efforts does the health service have or should be put in place to retain patients/clients, create loyalty and referrals Refer to Week 7 concepts Use as many slides as you need to adequately cover the topics 8. Measurements Consider the marketing objectives outlined in (1). How would you suggest the marketing activities measure the success of reaching those objectives? List all measurements that may apply, e.g. number new patients, number referrals, increase in revenue, etc. Conclusions Use this topic to cover anything else you would like to add such as need for increased budget to adequately make the suggested changes, management’s focus or lack of focus on marketing, etc. Endnotes Use a college-level style such as MLA or APA to properly format your endnotes References Prepare a bibliography of all sources used in your presentation using the same style as used for endnotes Refer to the UMUC virtual library for help endnoting and referencing Exhibits Optional exhibits such as: Completed SWOT analysis Completed competitive analysis Positioning map Financial information Creative strategy Etc. Be sure to refer to your exhibits in the main part of your presentation. Introduction Welcome to the marketing webliography—an annotated collection of websites specifically designed for MRKT students. Most MRKT courses require final projects or case studies for which you will be tasked to find outside sources of information and to prepare well-written and well-researched documents. This webliography is annotated in order to give you hints and tips as to how to use the sites in your assignments. It lists sites of both government entities and private organizations, and sometimes names the MRKT courses in which you will most likely make use of those sites. Some sites are referenced in more than one section of the webliography. The information in most of the sites has multiple applications in the MRKT curriculum. This is only a partial list of websites; your instructor may supplement this tool with others. The criteria for inclusion in this webliography are · high frequency of use by MRKT faculty · provision of significant free content (even when detailed content is limited to subscribers) · maintenance by a reputable, unbiased organization You may also want to visit company home pages, where you will find details and clues for search terms. Some larger companies offer their annual report online, which can give you an overview of current and future marketing strategy. BE CAREFUL not to consider a company's website a primary source of information, especially when dealing with a privately held organization. A company is not going to post anything negative or even neutral about itself; indeed, it is part of a company's marketing communications strategy to convey a positive impression of itself and its products. It is your job as an MRKT student to critically consider the information you see and to not just report it the way it is given. When paraphrasing company-provided information, be sure to indicate that you are doing so and to provide a larger context. You will never be able to uncover all the data and information available on any given subject. Do not worry; if you are coming up with more questions than answers, you are doing a good job. Put your findings in context and make educated guesses as to what you still need to include in your assignments and papers. Be careful how you use what you find. Just because you find a "cool" fact does not mean that you should include it unless you can assign it relevance. Use full citations and references—not just URLs—to cite your sources. Every effort is being made to ensure that the links we provide in the webliography are active. If you find a broken link, please e-mail your instructor, who will pass the information along to the correct UMUC staff member. As websites are constantly under construction, you may find that some of the menu choices discussed have changed; however, the relevant information can probably still be found somewhere on the site. A note of caution: This webliography is NOT intended to replace your research in the UMUC virtual library. It is meant only to give you a good start on your research, as well as some places in which to locate terms to use in a library search. Development Credits General Business Information Marketing plans, case studies, and most other types of marketing assignments will require you to uncover financial and market share data on the subject company and its competitors in the environmental scan or competitive analysis part of the assignment. You will score the most points if you can provide specific data verified by a third-party source. The more data you uncover, the richer will be your critical thinking. It is important, for example, to have some knowledge of market share, measured in total revenues, units sold, or percent of market, when conducting a competitive analysis. Knowing the market leader, as well as the market challengers, market followers, and market nichers, is critical to the development of marketing strategy. Having an understanding of the macro environments in which a company operates is vital to the completion of a meaningful SWOT analysis. When analyzing data, be sure you are comparing apples to apples. One source may cite data for an entire company, whereas another may cite data broken down by product. These are two very different types of data. In MRKT courses, the most useful data is by product. This information is a little hard to obtain from general sources, so you may need to refer to industry sources. The links below, however, are an excellent place to start. · Hoovers Although much of the information available from Hoovers is available only by subscription, the site can give you valuable data on a company and its competitors. If you conduct a search, for example, by typing in Ford Motor Company, you will find all the various entities connected with that brand and will be able to investigate each one. Be careful to pick the entity most germane to your needs. If you need the US-only operations of Ford Motor Company, you may want to choose the first, Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. You will see before selecting it that the company has sales of $126,264.00M (or whatever is the most current figure). Click on the company's name, and you will see that Ford Motor Company is #9 among Fortune 500 companies and #151 among FT Global 500 companies (or whatever are the most current rankings). Scroll down the page, and you will find financial information and even backgrounds on the executives. Clicking on Competition on the top panel may reveal a list of direct competitors, or it may not. If it does, you have hit the jackpot, and now you know where else within Hoovers you can search to find comparable data. If clicking on Competition doesn't reveal a list of competitors, you will at least find the industries in which Ford competes (e.g., automobile manufacturing), and this will give you search terms you can use for exploration on other sites. · The Economist is a publication that gives limited but useful free information for application in marketing analysis. It is particularly helpful when you are conducting an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, as it reveals trends in science and technology, culture, politics, and business and finance. It also includes a tab, The World in [current year] (look to the top right), that gives a big-picture overview of different regions and macroenvironments. The Economist is good for pointing out trends. Enter Ford Motor Company in the search field, and you may find out that car-sharing is a popular activity. As you can imagine, such a trend has important implications for a car company's marketing strategy and sales forecast. · The Discussion Board The Discussion Board is a well-respected global business organization with member companies. It conducts independent and objective research and generates reports to help its members understand and deal with emerging critical issues. Detailed information is available by membership only, but The Discussion Board generously shares its top findings free of charge. Begin your search with either a company or an industry name—Ford Motor Company or automobile manufacturing, for example. For your environmental scan, check out some of The Discussion Board's publications. To get an overview of trends, click on the Practice Areas tab, then scroll down to the Economies, Markets, & Value Creation section to click on Consumer Dynamics or Economic Indicators. · Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's (S&P) is the rating service for publicly held companies. It is a key resource for investors, and much of the content is accessible only by subscription. However, you can find plenty of useful free information. Simply type your subject, perhaps automotive manufacturing marketing, in the search field and see what comes up. Remember, S&P provides data only on publicly held companies. · Forbes Maintained by Forbes Magazine, this website is a good place to search for industry- and company-specific information. It is also a good place to find search terms. If your subject is Ford Motor Company, your search terms could be automobile industry, automobile industry market share, or Ford Motor Company competitors. In addition to uncovering stories for you, Forbes will lead you to useful sources such as the Business Monitor International (BMI) automotive section. Some of the publications it lists have a subscription fee; others have limited free content or free trials.   may be helpful to you as well. · U.S. Small Business Administration If your topic is a small business, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) might be a good place for you. The US government provides a wealth of information for the small business owner or entrepreneur. Marketing students searching for information on a small business for a case study or term project may find information here on marketing plans, as well as examples of successful small businesses. You may have to dig around the site in addition to using the internal search engine, but it may be time well-spent. Environmental Scanning: Data and Trends As you are learning in your MRKT courses, you need to scan the environment before you can develop new marketing strategies. Key questions for the segmentation and targeting processes: what are the growth projections of your target market? where do the individuals who make up the market live? what are their income and marital status figures, and what other pertinent data can you find on them? If your target market is baby boomers, for example, demographic data will provide their current numbers and expected mortality rates. If your target market is middle-income households, you can find data on location, number of children, and so forth. Likewise, you need to see what competitors are doing and what the industry projects for the future. The first step is to obtain the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code associated with your product/service or company. From there, you can find all sorts of government-provided data. Major industries have their own industry associations and publications. We list a few here just to illustrate; you may need to find the industry source for your topic through your own research. These are official government and public sources. Most other entities take the data from these sources and report it as it relates to their industry; many sites you will find when conducting a search are proprietary sites of consultants who use the data to find new clients. Whenever possible, find the original source of your information. · United States Census Bureau This site provides a wealth of information on every conceivable industry. You can find data on people (consumer markets) and on businesses. This is especially useful when you are segmenting and targeting consumer and business markets and analyzing the competition. For example, if your target market is individuals who work at home, you can click on People on the top left, select Commuting (Journey to Work), click on Work at Home on the left, and find detailed reports on demographics, occupations, earnings, hours worked, days worked, and much, much more. If you are researching a particular product or service, you can click on the Business tab on the top left. The government organizes industries according to the NAICS. This is a very detailed system, and you will have to specify your industry at a fine level of granularity and, in some cases, combine NAICS codes to get a complete picture. For every NAICS industry, you will find background information, tables showing changes, and a comprehensive index. A highly useful tool is found under the Data tab in the top middle: American FactFinder. Using the internal search engine, type in your topic and see what data you can find to support or help shape your opinions on marketing plans and case studies. The reports contain census data organized by demographics, geography, race, ethnic group, and industry. · International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) takes the pulse of the world's economic trends in its efforts to promote international financial cooperation. It conducts research and publishes reports on individual countries as well as on global economic health. The site is especially useful when you are dealing with an international topic and need to expand your SWOT analysis and economic environmental scan of world markets. If you are taking Global Marketing, this is a good source to use for case studies, the final project, and even the conference discussions. The two most helpful tabs are Research and Country Info. Click on either and use the search field to conduct a search on your various criteria. The Videos section is a great tool for obtaining expert testimony on a variety of topics. If you wanted, for example, to improve your understanding of the financial issues associated with global development and how these would impact a US-based company's overseas expansion, you could check out the videos and learn from the pros. · demo dirt The demo dirt website provides a wealth of demographic data and analysis for all the major market segments, including generations X, Y, and Z; baby boomers; matures; women; men; people of different races; the affluent; and gay and lesbian populations. The site provides both national and global trends. Within each of the categories are further categories based on psychological or behavioral characteristics. This site is particularly useful when you are determining market size and making marketing mix decisions to effectively serve a target market. The editors at demo dirt take publicly available data and interpret it to project trends. A key job of the marketer in developing marketing mix strategy is to anticipate trends so that the company can meet needs and bring satisfying goods and services to market. Use the search box to mine this fertile source. If your target market covers multiple segments, be sure to combine data. Scanning all the target markets is a good way to find new or secondary markets. In addition to helping you analyze the current situation and project market share, the site provides a lot of information to help you develop marketing strategy should this be your task in a case study or final project. · Marketing Research.com Although the primary purpose of this site is to sell research reports at prices that target corporate entities, you can skim the research abstracts for free. Abstracts usually include primary findings that are sufficient for helping you to gain insight into macro- and microenvironments, industry forecasts, market segments, and other topics explored in case studies and the creation of marketing plans. You will need to register with the site. The reports are divided by industry, country, and company. Use the internal search engine to see what you can find. · The World Factbook The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a goldmine of economic, cultural, regulatory, and political information on every country in the world, and this resource is a well-organized and highly useful tool, especially for students in Global Marketing. The World Factbook is invaluable when you are making decisions on entering specific countries and assessing the barriers to successful marketing in those countries. Check out the CIA website first for updates, then click on the World Factbook link on the right. You can view individual country overviews or develop a data set comparing countries along the dimensions of geography, people and society, economy, communications, transportation, and military. · globalEDGE Michigan State University (MSU) hosts this site, which is rich in stats and resources for anyone studying global business or marketing. If your Global Marketing assignment requires a current event, this is a good place to research one, and you may be able to find video clips as well as documents to use as the basis of your report. The site also includes resources explaining global business concepts. Many interactive tools are available or under development, such as country comparison tools and other study aids that will complement your course materials. · Gallup Gallup is a research company, and its primary purpose is to sell services to corporate clients. However, the website provides free content and findings on many of Gallup's research projects. This site is particularly useful when you need to obtain overall economic data and trends, either domestic or global, for a SWOT analysis for a final project or case study. · If you have chosen a privately held business as your subject, you may find that this publication has more of what you need than those that focus mainly on publicly held companies. Use the internal search engine on the site to find information that may lead you to an identification of competitors or a more accurate sense of the company's macro- and microenvironments. · A good deal of the content on the Consumer Reports site is accessible by subscription only, but the site is an excellent source of consumer information on just about every product category, and is a fertile place to find competitor information. It is probably worth your while to check out the site and, if you find an article or rating on your topic, to search the UMUC virtual library for the full article. You can also visit your local library, which probably carries back issues in print. Marketing Associations If you are a marketing major, or plan to be a part of the marketing profession, consider joining one of the major marketing associations, most of which have student memberships. In any event, these sites provide free content that can help you with your assignments and keep your marketing acumen up-to-date. · marketingpower The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the leading organization for marketers and a trusted source for all things marketing. A student membership will give you access to all member-only content, including a career resource center. Student dues are $47 per year (as of 2012), not counting collegiate chapter dues, which vary depending on where you live. The AMA provides significant content from its major journals and publications, including Marketing News, which provides the latest news on all the marketing disciplines. Use the search box or scroll through the publications to find specific articles (more on this below). Also, click on the Resource Library tab, which will grant you free access to AMA case studies, white papers, AMA TV, webcasts, and podcasts. These showcase the most current research and professional practices in marketing. You will also find a marketing dictionary to use should you come across a term with which you are unfamiliar. · American Advertising Federation If advertising is your main interest out of all the marketing disciplines, the American Advertising Federation (AAF), like the AMA, offers individual memberships, although at this time there is no local student chapter. Like the AMA, the AAF offers career advice, guidance, and scholarships, among other benefits. The site provides membership information, but, unless you are a member, its other content will not be of much use. · American Society of Association Executives The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) represents 21,000 associations, including trade associations, membership societies, and voluntary organizations. Tools include a Marketing tab and a Resources center. You may have to click around to find free content, but it may be worth your while, especially if your subject is one of the many nonprofits that uses marketing to raise funds, advocate on behalf of a cause, or promote ideas. · Direct Marketing Association The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) serves the ever-changing world of multichannel marketing and boasts the largest membership of all marketing associations, attributable to the phenomenal growth of direct marketing via television and online channels. You can search under both News and Research to find articles and white papers. · Business Marketing Association According to Kotler and Armstrong, authors of Principles of Marketing, "The business market is huge. In fact, business markets involve far more dollars and items than do consumer markets" (2011). It is likely that your marketing career will take you into the world of business-to-business marketing; if so, this may be the professional association for you. The Resources tab will take you to the Business Marketing Association (BMA) library of articles and white papers, podcasts, industry surveys, and market research. However, you need to be a member to access the content. · Internet Marketing Association The Internet Marketing Association (IMA) is only a few years old, its existence reflecting the recent but rapid development of the Internet as a marketing medium. There is no student membership. The site has limited content available via its News menu on the top right. It is the publisher of  eMarketer Daily , a free, web-based newsletter. The newsletter contains research and analyses of digital marketing and media and of Internet marketing trends. · Public Relations Society of America The premier association for public relations professionals, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) also hosts the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), complete with educational, career, and networking resources. Membership for students is around $60. The PRSA publishes an online newsletter, Public Relations Tactics, available free of charge. The site also provides links to related content from Business Wire and PR Newswire, as well as blogs and podcasts. · Sales Management Association The Sales Management Association (SMA) is the leading association for sales professionals and is a partner of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. There is no student membership, but the website has free (though limited) content under its Resources tab, providing blurbs and statistics from blogs, webcasts, and sales compensation plans, as well as job descriptions. Some articles are available for free, but most require registration. The site gives you citations, however, and you can find the full articles via one of the UMUC library search engines. · Society for Marketing Professional Services Marketing professional services such as those provided by lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects, communications professionals, and the like is the main focus of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS). Student membership is nominal and well within the reach of most students. The website contains limited free data on trends and topics of interest to marketers of professional services. · Web Marketing Association The industry association for web marketing provides a free newsletter that may help you stay up-to-date on trends and practices in web marketing. Click on Newsletters on the top, and you will be directed to a page on which you can sign up for the Web Marketing Association (WMA)'s SmartBrief newsletter. There is no need for membership, as the site has corporate sponsors. Because of this, you must be careful about how you use the information you find here. Marketing Publications There are several online and print publications devoted to marketing. Some of these are the publications of associations noted above. Following are a few of the more common publications covering marketing issues, both in general and as pertaining to specific topics such as advertising, sales, and direct marketing. When designing a marketing mix—and especially a marketing communication mix—you may want to check out multiple sources. · Advertising Age has long been the bible of the advertising business, especially for ad agencies. As marketing practice has moved toward integrated marketing communications (IMC), so too has Advertising Age. Yet advertising remains its main focus. The online journal has an internal search engine, though you can also find Advertising Age articles when you conduct a search in the UMUC virtual library, as UMUC subscribes to the providers who include it in their databases. Some of the nice features of Advertising Age are rankings of current advertising creative strategy and reviews of both domestic and global campaigns. Al Ries, one of the most well-regarded advertising reporters and critics today, runs a regular column you can find in blogs. If you are taking a marketing course in January of any given year, you will find the publication replete with videos and discussions of Super Bowl ads. Some of the richer content is available by subscription only, but you will probably not need to perform research at that level of analysis. One note of caution about advertising and ad reviews in general: Do not assume that a creative ad is also an effective ad. Discern the IMC strategy behind the creative strategy before you judge an ad's effectiveness. Note key phrases such as increase in market share and increase in trial usage as you read the article, as these types of phrases correlate with advertising objectives. If you are conducting a competitive analysis, you may want to check out the ads of competing companies. These can give you clues as to whom these companies perceive as their target market and as to how they want to be positioned. One section of Advertising Age is American Demographics. This is a fertile source of information on trends in consumer viewing behaviors, demographics as related to certain industries, and other useful content. The demographic trends are well-explained and are often accompanied by graphs and charts that further your understanding of the data. This is extremely useful when you are developing the target market and positioning sections of a marketing plan as well as coming up with marketing mix ideas. · AMA publications All AMA publications can be accessed via the AMA homepage. Click on the AMA Publications link under the Resource Library tab for descriptions and content. You may find some of these publications popping up in your library searches. Marketing News, Marketing Management, Marketing Research, and Marketing Health Services may all help you in your coursework. · Marketing News. This is the organization's monthly publication and is included with AMA membership. It covers all the marketing areas, from strategy to advertising, sales, business-to-business marketing, research, and sales promotion. It aims to be the go-to source or the latest on what is driving marketing, and it focuses on what makes a winning marketing program. · Marketing Management. The course in which this would be the most useful is Strategic Marketing Management. This publication is targeted more toward upper-level executives and thought leaders who keep pace with the rapidly changing field than toward those still learning the industry. You may not have full access via the AMA website, but the site is a good place to conduct a preliminary search so that you can seek promising articles in the UMUC library. · Marketing Research. The audience for this publication is practicing marketing researchers. Content might be useful for those taking the course Marketing Research. · Marketing Health Services. Devoted to the ever-changing face of how health care organizations market their facilities and services, this quarterly covers e-health, database marketing, and legislative issues that could impact a health care organization's marketing efforts. The AMA also publishes four peer-reviewed journals: · Journal of Marketing · Journal of Marketing Research · Journal of International Marketing · Journal of Public Policy & Marketing These contain the latest academic research in the areas referenced. You may notice the journals as you conduct your library research; pay attention to at least the abstracts to see if the full article will help. All articles are available in the UMUC library. · eMarketer Daily eMarketer Daily is a free newsletter that delivers updates every business day, providing research on and analyses of digital marketing and media. The site has an Articles tab that can be useful to explore for trends analysis and for learning how companies integrate digital marketing with more traditional tools. · This online publication bills itself as "the voice of online marketing," with the latest practical news in e-mail, social media mobile marketing, web analytics, online advertising, e-commerce, and so forth. It can be a great resource for finding out how certain companies are using online marketing and all its derivations, or for coming up with ideas for your final project or a case study. As online marketing is the newest darling in the marketing communications mix, it is a good idea to seek out the latest information on best practices. · The Target Marketing site provides a wealth of direct marketing strategies that you can browse when looking to recommend new or revised target markets or direct marketing communication tools. There are tabs for each of the major direct marketing tools, as well as a research … Marketing Toolbox Topics Introduction FAQ: Student Concerns We've Heard Around Campus The Four Cs of Effective PowerPoint Presentations Examples from Real MRKT Projects: Do This, Not That Webliography Introduction Many MRKT courses require you to submit projects in PowerPoint. The development of this skill is one of the MRKT program intended learning outcomes. The tips here, along with the many useful tools you can find online (some of which are listed below, in the Webliography), will help you present your best work. With the help of this guide, you will soon find developing PowerPoint presentations easier than writing a paper! Mastering the art of organizing your thoughts, culling the most important information from your sources, and presenting the information in a clear way will help you stand out and succeed throughout your professional life. · In reviewing this guide, be sure to check out the examples in the Do This, Not That section. These will be either a refresher of points you've already learned or a tutorial for getting started in PowerPoint. · If you'd like more information, either on making or on presenting a PowerPoint project, check out the resources in the Webliography section. Happy PowerPointing! Return to top of page FAQ: Student Concerns We've Heard Around Campus Why do I have to prepare my final project in this marketing class as a PowerPoint presentation? Business no longer communicates in long documents, no matter how well-written. This reality is captured in the MRKT program outcomes, which identify those skills you will learn "here" that you will use "out there" as a marketing professional, where time is money, people are busy, and bosses demand just the facts. This project will give you first-time or ongoing experience in selling your ideas using the software employed in business. What if I don't own PowerPoint software? Some form of presentation software is included when you buy a computer these days, and if you don't have PowerPoint or similar software, you may want to consider purchasing it. Don't forget to check out the UMUC student discounts on software products: Step 1: Log in to  umuc.edu/myumuc . Step 2: Click on Myumuc Resources. Step 3: Select Educational Software. You can also find free alternatives to PowerPoint online. If you elect to not obtain PowerPoint or similar software, and you don't have access to it via family, friends, the public library, or a UMUC computer lab, you can construct a presentation in Word or another word-processing software application; however, it will be much more difficult without the slide formats provided by PowerPoint. Be sure to discuss this with your instructor to make sure that he or she will be able to receive and open your marketing project in the format in which you submit it. Talk with your instructor early in the semester so that there are no issues regarding your submitting your project on time. I'm a good writer, but I'm not very visual. Can't I just type a paper onto the PowerPoint slides? Frankly, that would defeat the whole purpose of using PowerPoint. Full-length sentences should be avoided at all cost! PowerPoint presentations don't need to be overly creative—you should use graphics only to enhance your points, not to replace them. So don't fear, there is nothing fancy you need to include in your slides that you can't easily insert from a template or online source. I'm trying, but how do I know if I'm on the right track? Your instructor should have offered to review your preliminary slides and give you feedback before you got too far into your project. If not, be sure to ask for his or her assistance. Are we going to be graded on the format of our PowerPoints? Your grade will be based partly on your ability to communicate ideas and information. In this sense, yes, how you prepare your PowerPoint will be part of your grade. Check out the project's grading rubric in your syllabus to find out how much of your grade will be assessed based on the format. Am I going to have to present my PowerPoint in class? Maybe. If your class has face-to-face meetings, oral presentations are an option your instructor may have included in the syllabus. Oral presentations are a little harder in online courses, so, unless you receive information to the contrary, assume that everything you will cover should appear on the slides and will not be presented orally. Return to top of page The Four Cs of Effective PowerPoint Presentations Here are the four Cs of effective PowerPoint presentations: 1. clear—Is your presentation organized? 2. concise—Does your presentation avoid extraneous information? 3. clean—Is your presentation easy to read? 4. comprehensive—Does your presentation include everything that should be covered or evaluated? We will discuss the four Cs below. 1. Clear Your PowerPoint is a road map for a possible oral presentation. Make sure you and your audience can follow along by doing the following: · Begin your presentation with an introductory title slide, including your name and the date of the presentation. · Include an index of the other slides and their corresponding slide numbers, similar to a table of contents, on the slide following your title slide. · Give each slide a title or subtitle (that matches with the ones in your index) so that your audience knows where you are in your presentation. · Number your slides using the slide number function in the Insert menu on your PowerPoint menu bar. · Don't get too fancy with your numbering system (e.g., A.2.c.iii). Stick with two levels at maximum (e.g., 1.a). Use any topic numbers given in the project description in your syllabus as a guide. · Select the best words to make your point. · Avoid ambiguity. · Avoid excessive jargon. · Pay attention to aesthetics! Slides should not be dull. Remember, you want your audience (including your instructor) to stay awake. 2. Concise Your PowerPoint presentation should enable your audience to understand the points you are making. The presentation should thus not drift into irrelevant or extraneous material. This means that the KISS principle applies (keep it simple, silly). If you will also be giving an oral presentation, prepare it ahead of time and decide carefully on what you will say to supplement your slides. The audience will want to pay more attention to you than to the PowerPoint. The following tips will help you apply KISS in your slides: · Address only the topic required in each part of the presentation. · Use bullet points, not sentences. Bullet points generally begin with a verb, not a noun. · Use tables and charts to communicate data that would take too many bullets to explain. · Only insert other visual elements, such as links to YouTube videos or a company website, if they add to your main point. · Be sure to check your links before submitting the presentation to your instructor. · Include in your slide the source of the link and the reason why the link should be followed. · Use endnotes, not footnotes, for your bibliographic references. · Reference only those sources you used for your presentation, not all the sources you found while conducting research. 3. Clean Your PowerPoint presentation, just like any other presentation or assignment, reflects both you and the work you've done. Here's how to make it polished and presentable: · Don't overload your slides with too much text, graphics, or data. · Add extra slides at the end in an appendix for supplemental information that substantiates your ideas, but that would detract from them if placed in the main presentation. · Let graphics such as charts, logos, and graphs make your point if they can. A picture can tell a thousand words. · Use other simple visuals to support your key points. · Select a clean slide format. The slide format should have contrast, but not so much that it will be visually tiring to the audience. · Avoid white backgrounds. · Use the same slide theme throughout the presentation. · Use an easy-to-read font: · OVERALL: Times New Roman and Verdana, Arial, and other sans serif fonts are usually effective. Avoid "script" fonts, which are difficult to read. · TITLE SLIDE: 44-point font, bold · SUBTITLE SLIDES: 28–34-point font · TEXT: no less than 12-point font · Edit your slides. Are there points you can eliminate or tighten? Any typos? 4. Comprehensive Review your final presentation to make sure that it includes all key information. Cross-referencing with the grading rubric is a good idea to ensure that your work is comprehensive and that you have given yourself the best chance to earn maximum points. · Resist the urge to do a "brain dump." It won't impress your instructor if you include everything you found out about or thought regarding the topic. · Make every bullet point relevant to your thesis. · Don't duplicate your points. Say it once—say it right. · Don't add graphics just because you can. If a graphic element does not speak to the topic, do not include it. · If you want to add supplemental information, do so in an appendix. Be sure to reference it on the appropriate slide, telling your audience why the information may be beneficial. Return to top of page Examples from Real MRKT Projects: Do This, Not That Example 1 What's wrong with this slide? · The slide covers three different topics: description of product, type of product, and life cycle stage. · The headline and third bullet point look as if they were lifted from some sales materials, and, aside from that, they are not in quote marks or cited. · The text is hard to read, with white type on a dark background and a vertical title that you have to strain your eyes to make out. · The bullet points are paragraphs rather than short, concise statements. How could you improve this slide? · Use three slides to clearly cover the three topics. · Relate what you are evaluating to the concepts you are covering from the course materials. · Provide clarity by using the numbering system from the project description in the syllabus. · Use colors and fonts that are easier to read. · Use your bullets to make concise points (the bullet points here do not function the way bullet points used in PowerPoints and other documents should). · Provide links to product information not critical to the points you are making (or include this information in an appendix) so that the audience can view it if inclined. · Include quotes, citations, and references if needed and use endnote numbering for the references. Here are some slides on the same subject that are much more visually and textually appealing: Photo source for slide 1: Wyzik, 2003, Flickr. Used with permission under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Example 2 What's wrong with this slide? · The graphic in background makes the text hard to read. · The points are written in complete sentences, taking up too much space. · There is no substantiation for the "facts" presented. · The wording is inaccurate: perception should really be positioning concept. How could you improve this slide? · Make the slide cleaner with the use of white space. · Make the separate components of the slide visually distinct: for example, do as shown in the slide below—in the left-hand column, provide your conclusions on the product differentiation. In the right-hand column, provide evidence for your conclusions. · Use the logo, which should appear on every slide pertaining to a company or product (you don't need to obtain permission from the corporation to use the logo, so long as it is used solely for the purposes of the assignment). · Use graphics to reinforce your points. Here is a slide on the same subject that is much more visually and textually appealing: Photo source: sun dazed, 2008, Flickr. Used with permission under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license. Example 3 What's wrong with this slide? · The background color makes the text hard to read. · The title does not include the name of the product—the subject of the presentation. · The slide does not compare the product that is the subject of the presentation with the competitors listed. · The Features column is too wordy. · The slide does not include any analysis of the table. How could you improve this slide? · You will sometimes need to put forth a fair amount of information, if you aren't orally presenting. In a case like this, you could consider using two slides: one with data, and one with conclusions. The slide below shows a way to incorporate all of this information on one slide. · Don't forget to endnote your references. In this case, the information came from the Best Buy website, which is not listed as a source. Here is a slide on the same subject that is much more visually and textually appealing: Return to top of page Webliography Here is a list of resources you may find useful as you put your PowerPoint together. Tips on Effective PowerPoint Presentations · PowerPoint presentation tips from Microsoft There are also numerous videos online on how to and how NOT to use presentation software. Try searching for some, and share the best ones with your class in a conference. · UMUC PowerPoint workshops presented by David Taylor: · basic workshop · advanced workshop Associations Dedicated to Effective Business Communication · The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) This site provides guidance on many types of business communications. These include stockholder communications, government communications, and other communications illustrated in case studies. · The American Communication Association (ACA) This is another communication association that provides an overview of communication styles and techniques. General Resources for Good Writing · The Effective Writing Center (EWC) This UMUC site is our first recommendation. · UMUC also offers highly effective writing courses. WRTG 391 and WRTG 391X are technical writing courses that can be used for upper-level credit. WRTG 394 is an advanced course in business writing. Do not delay taking these courses; students find them very helpful! · Strunk's The Elements of Style This classic treatise offers entertaining, well-written guidance on concise writing. William Strunk wrote it in 1918; see below for the updated version of the guide by Strunk and E. B. White. · The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) This is the professional editors' website, where you will find additional guidance on effective writing. · APA publication manual The MRKT department follows the American Psychological Association (APA) style. General Resources for Effective Speaking · Toastmasters International This organization has chapters worldwide and an excellent public speaking program. · UMUC offers courses in speech, including SPCH 397, on presentations, and SPCH 424, on complex organizational communications. These can be taken as electives. Books to Consider · Effective Writing, 9/e May, Clare & May, Gordon 2011 | Prentice Hall | ISBN-10: 0132567245 | ISBN-13: 978-0132567244 · Pocket Guide to APA Style, 4/e Perrin, Robert 2008 | Wadsworth Publishing ISBN-10: 0547201931 | ISBN-13: 978-0547201931 · The Elements of Style, 4/e Strunk, William & White, E. B. 1999 | Longman ISBN-10: 020530902X | ISBN-13: 978-0205309023 Return to top of page References sun dazed (Katy Warner). (2008). Chipotle cup [Photograph]. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundazed/2989655099/sizes/s/in/photostream/. Used with permission under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license. Wyzik, C. (2003). 2004 Acura TSX [Photograph]. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/wyzik/155629463/in/photostream/. Used with permission under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Return to top of page Report broken links or any other problems on this page. Copyright © by University of Maryland University College.