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Guidelines for Final Project (Marketing Plan)

Learning objective:

Learning is not a spectator sport and requires a lot of practice. This group project gives you the opportunity to apply the material covered throughout the quarter and deepen your understanding. The goal is to create a compelling and consistent marketing plan that proposes and credibly supports specific IBP strategies aimed at increasing fruit or vegetable consumption (overall category demand or selective demand stimulation).

Topic:

Your marketing plan will be written for the produce industry, promoting one of the following:

•      A fruit or vegetable category (e.g., Hass Avocados).

•      A branded fruit or vegetable (e.g., Driscoll’s Berries).

•      A fruit or vegetable product (e.g., Pom Pomegranate Juice).

•      A more general public awareness campaign (e.g.,FNV campaign).

Note: The examples given here are examples covered in class. I have and continue to work closely with the Hass Avocado Board and the Marketing team at Driscoll’s. You are free to come up with ideas, in any other produce category (including floral) or brand, introduce a new fruit or vegetable to the U.S. market, or promote a processed and packaged product that lists fruits and/or vegetables as an ingredient. Your plan can be pitched to a marketing order or board representing an entire product category, an existing brand, or to investors (e.g., you are pitching a start-up). If you are unsure whether your ideas fit within the parameters described here, please do not hesitate to ask and discuss your ideas with me.

Structure:

Your marketing plan needs to clearly communicate:

To whom are you presenting your marketing plan (e.g., Hass Avocado Board, Driscoll’s, The Wonderful company, investors, etc.) and why (would they invest in your proposed marketing)?

Who is your target audience for your promoted product and why (would these consumers buy your product)?

What do you want to accomplish? What are your specific objectives and how do you plan to reach those goals? What are your main messages and how do you communicate them?

How will you measure your success and prove that you reached your goals?

Please follow the general structure either by creating sections or addressing each in a continuous text:

1.     Executive Summary and Objectives (Clearly state your objectives and your why.)

2.      Situation analysis

3. Budgeting (This section is optional)

4.      Strategy

5.     Execution

6.     Evaluation

Please also note that you will have to support your creative ideas with a thorough analysis and data whenever available.

Groups:

You will be working on this project in groups of 5-8 students. Groups will be formed during the first section meeting and final group assignments will be posted on Canvas by the end of the second week. Feel free to assign specific tasks to each other, but please be advised that each of you need to be familiar with and contribute to all aspects of this project.

Deliverables:

Your group has two options when completing this final project:

•               Introduce your ideas in a visually informative and creative presentation (during lectures).

We have room for one presentation each (no more than 15 minutes and 10 slides) on March 4, 6, and 11. Groups can sign up on a first come-first serve basis by sending me an email or talking to me after lecture or section. If you choose this option, please makes sure you share your presentation slides at least an hour prior to your assigned lecture time that day. Please also upload your slides as a pdf file as your final project submission on Canvas. Please note that not all group members have to present, but everyone needs to contribute to the completion of the presentation (e.g., prepare the slides, etc.).

•               Summarize your ideas in a persuasive written report (no more than five pages, not including a cover page and references). This document should be engaging and informative and you can use pictures and graphs to support your ideas.

Documents need to be saved as a pdf file and submitted via Canvas before the beginning of class on

Marhc 13 (1.40 pm).

•   Other than restrictions on length mentioned here, there are no additional format requirements. For both,

your presentation and written document. You are free to choose the format or style. that best supports your ideas and communicates your message. However, you must cite your sources properly.  When referencing in the text, please state author and year in parentheses. Also make sure you include a complete list of references at the end of your presentation or written document. While I do not require a specific style of   citations, please make sure that you include all information and do not just copy a link. You can check the guidelines and sample referencesprovided by the American Economic Association (AEA) for further guidance. If you include graphics or photos that are not your own, please also make sure to reference the source of this material, including AI generated images.

•   More generally, we do not prohibit use of GenAI (e.g., ChatGPT and Gemini), but encourage you to be

thoughtful and transparent. When carefully checked for accuracy, these tools can enhance your research and scientific writing, but overreliance on AI has been shown to hinder critical reflection and erode expertise. These tools are trained to find patterns and generate text by predicting the likeliest response based on their training data. They do not understand context or create original ideas, and they make a lot of mistakes. While they can help you brainstorm topics and provide basic editorial feedback, they are not a substitute to reviewing the literature yourself, critically reflecting on and continuously editing your writing. For guidance on how to cite your AI use, please see this link. If you are looking to improve your writing, I also encourage you to take advantage of the services offered by the AATC Writing Support Center.

Grading:

You will be able to receive continuous feedback on your ideas and revise your plans throughout the quarter. However, only your final submission will be graded. All group members will receive the same grade for the marketing plan. Please be proactive and reach out if one or more of your group members are not participating.

If a member has not participated until week 8 of the quarter (Tuesday, February 25) he/she/they can be removed from the group upon request and will have to complete their own project. A 5-point penalty will be applied to individually submitted projects unless an exception or special permission was granted.

Please note that the final project assignment created on Canvas includes a rubric for additional guidance regarding grading guidelines.