An individual 1500-word report on target marketing and the 4P’s of the marketing mix i.e. Product, Price,
Place and Promotion commenting on a firm’s application of the 4Ps.
target audience for the brand and how effective the brand is in their application of the 4Ps of the marketing
mix for the Red Bull energy drink.
levels of personal disposable income etc.) using market secondary research databases e.g. Mintel, TGI,
Passport, Website, Social media website, company website etc. You then need to look at the brand itself,
the brand value and competitive positioning in the market before going on to discuss their application of the
4Ps – product, price, place and promotion. Explain why they do things differently. You need to research the
following:
1. Target Market: You need to develop a detailed target market profile for the brand (Apply the STP) using
data sources such as Mintel, the company’s own websites and other secondary sources. You need to think
about age, gender, personal disposable income, social class, level of education, family life cycle, lifestyles,
other brands they like, TV programmes they watch, hobbies etc.
2. Product /Brand: Using Levitt’s model of a brand, try to analyse your selected brand (the shape,
packaging, colour scheme etc.). How different is at the functional and emotional level? What are the brand
values that the company is trying to portray? In addition, include coverage of Aaker’s brand personality
framework to find which personality type(s) the brand follows. If possible, take photos of the product
instore/on-line. What does this tell you about brand value?
3. Price: You need to carry out some on-line research to establish a market price for the brand and any
competing products. Display the competitive pricing research in a table and draw conclusions about which
pricing strategy brand is adopting.
4. Place: (Distribution) You need to look at channel management. Which stores stock this product? Is it a
mass market product where the company has maximised distribution outlets, or is it a luxury brand where
distribution is deliberately limited? Explain your answer.
5. Promotion: You need to research their methods of communication (e.g. cinema, TV, outdoor, print, social
media, mobile, own website etc.). Which communication methods do they use to build their brand? – and
how do they do this? How is the brand positioning in the minds of target audiences? (E.g. affordable, luxury,
healthy, socially conscious etc.).
You only have 1500 words for your report, so you need to decide what goes in the appendices. Below is a
suggested structure:
Executive Summary THIS IS WRITTEN LAST (because it is a summary of your research) BUT IT
APPEARS FIRST (before the contents page), to catch the attention of the reader and encourage further
reading. This should cover the following:
• The aim of the report,
• The methods of research,
• The results (top-line summary only),
• Conclusion
Contents Page (Use the feature in Word to do this automatically)
Introduction
This should be quite brief – It should include the aim of the report and some background information on the
chosen brand – i.e. a brief description of the brand with useful data such as market share, market size and
trends in sales, which you can find from the most recent Mintel reports as well as in the trade press.
Findings Use sub-headings to make your report easier to follow. We suggest you adopt the following
headings:
1. Target Markets (Apply the STP)
2. Product – Evaluation of the Product and their Brand Value
3. Price – Evaluation of the Pricing Strategies Used
4. Place – Distribution of the Brand
5. Promotion – Communication by the Brand
Conclusion and Recommendations: This is where you provide key findings and recommendations
• How has the brand applied the 4P’s?
• Why have they applied the 4P’s in this way?
• Is the application of the 4P’s successful?
• How could the brand improve their use of the 4P’s?
Reference List: This should be listed alphabetically by Surname. More than 10 references are the standard
to aim for in the report and from a variety of sources suitable for use in H.E. Include the use of an academic
text for example Brassington and Pettitt ‘Essentials of Marketing’ available via Keylinks on the BB module
shell under module materials.
Appendices: Use the appendices to display any raw research data such as pricing data which the reader
could not access anywhere else.
• You should try to put relevant secondary data in the appendices with only a summary of the data in
the body of the report. Every time you state a fact e.g. market size, price data, sales etc. you must
provide a referenced source for that fact (both in the text and in the reference list based on the
Harvard referencing rules). All graphs, data, diagrams and tables should have the title on the top e.g.
Figure 1: XYZ Product Category Market Share; or if it’s a table, Table 1: XYZ Product Category
Market Share with a source written directly underneath and to the right of that table e.g. Source:
Mintel (2021), TGI, Passport, Website, social media website, company website etc.
Style:
• Your report should be written in a formal business-like manner. You may include tables and photographs
in the body of the report, but they must all include a title (above and to the left) and the source (below and to
the right)
If you are registered with the Disability and Inclusion Services or have a disability, please contact your
module leader to discuss how your reasonable adjustments will be applied to this assignment.