Economics of Business Ownership Students - Creating Your Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is a plan used by a business to guide its marketing process to a desired conclusion.

For the purpose of your business plan project, your marketing plan should include:

• Marketing Objective(s)
• Marketing Mix Product, Price, Place Decisions (as they relate to your marketing efforts) Promotion Decisions – promotional mix (combination of promotional elements to include personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and public relations)
• Promotional Implementation Plan –timeline for activities/responsibilities
• Promotional Budget

Refer back to your notes on Chapter 10.1 as you begin to write your Marketing Plan

Go Green & Resources Related to Social Responsibility

If you were priveleged to sit in on the "Go Green" Presentation on Monday in the MP & met the founder of the Go Green Initiative, Jill Buck, this is the site she referenced.
Go Green Initiative
It helps explain in detail what their organization does and can be a great planning tool for you if you wish to get involved.

Additionally, here are some other resources that may be of interest to you.

CorpWatch Investigates and helps to expose corporate violations of human rights, environmental crimes, fraud, and corruption around the world.

SourceWatch Documents the PR & propaganda activities of PR firms & professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion, and policy.

PRWatch This site works to expose public relations spin and propaganda

International Conference Update

In the spirit of "Go Green" week, I am opting not to print these but feel free to print a copy if you wish. Please be sure to read all updates, as well as the packet that you had originally (to register). If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Raaker or Mrs. Andrews.

New Info on Hotel & Surrounding Area

Foothill DECA Tentative ICDC Agenda

DECA ICDC Dress Code

Important Conference Updates

Original Registration Packet (in case you have lost yours)

Green Marketing & Social Responsibility

According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus, green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including (but not limited to) product modification, packaging changes, and/or advertising modifications. Similar terms used are environmental marketing and ecological marketing.

The term social responsibility, as defined by dictionary.com is known as the principle that companies should contribute to the welfare of society and not be solely devoted to maximizing profits. Socially responsible companies can act in a number of ways to benefit society. For example, companies can give money to the arts, fund academic scholarships, support community-building initiatives, and so on. They can also commit to not pollute or to reduce the pollution they put out, to not build weapons, and so forth.

ASSIGNMENT

Directions:
1. Choose a partner to work with. (Note: Business Ownership students will work with your business plan partner).
2. Choose a company that demonstrates an example of green marketing, or some act of social responsibility (and let your teacher know right away so there are no duplicates).
(Note: Business Ownership students will strategize on ideas to implement environmental conscious or other types of social responsibility acts, within their own business).
3. Create a presentation for the class on your findings. Be sure to include the name of the company, their size, their headquarters, and how this act of social responsibility it carried out, as well as how it is promoted to the public. You must create a visual aid (powerpoint or display board) to enhance your presentation.

Visual Merchandising Tips & Tricks

Visual Merchandising Tips & Tricks

Retail visual merchandising shares many of the same principles as advertising, graphic design, and interior design -- the purpose of visual merchandising is to create a logical and visually pleasing environment that will grab attention and translate into increased sales. Visual merchandising basics are pretty easy to understand - a clean store, well lit, with merchandise displayed in neat groupings. But as an industry, visual merchandising delves a lot deeper, focusing on the psychology and motivations of the target customer. The following are the top five tips for retail visual merchandising:

1. Entice - Visual merchandising actually starts on the street outside the store. Creative and interesting window displays will catch the eye of people walking by and will draw them into the store. Many store owners make the mistake of cramming in lots of merchandise (to indicate the variety of items they might carry,) but the most successful window designs create a theme, mood, or "lifestyle" that piques curiosity. Change the window displays with the seasons, and always reflect your newest or best-selling items.

2. Impact - We've all done it - you walk into a store, take a lap around, and leave. Maybe you were "just looking" -- more than likely, though, something about the store or the merchandise displays turned you off. The experience of visiting an establishment should be as rich as is appropriate -- any prospective customer should be able to walk in and feel respected and comfortable. Whether it's music, product displays, lighting, or even the climate control, everything in the store can impact the shopping experience.

3. Inspire - Create product displays that will show the customer how an item might fit into their everyday life. In a home store, that might mean a sofa-chair grouping or a complete table setting. In a clothing store it might mean dressing mannequins -- whatever the store type, customers are more likely to purchase if they can imagine themselves using/wearing the product.

4. Identify - These days, many shoppers are busy people. Perhaps they're popping in on the way home from work, or on the way to the party -- whatever the case may be, shoppers are more likely to purchase if they can find what they are looking for, easily identify the price, and then find the register and check out. Product should be organized in logical groupings -- whether by item type, color, or some other characteristic, and signage and product descriptions should be clear and easy to read.

5. Add-on - Point-of-sale add-ons (also known as "impulse buys") can generate extra dollars in sales. Think of small items that people usually forget -- batteries, light bulbs, gift wrapping, etc -- these small items can be placed near or at the register as a gentle reminder to the customer.

Visual Merchandising

Please review the following powerpoint presentation on Visual Merchandising and take some notes. Your notes will be collected as part of a future notebook check and will be also be used to determine eligibility for a future offsite assignment.