Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Individual Assignment June 2018 Discovering Marketing Essentials (DME) Examination /Assignment Registration Period Examination / Assignment Registration Grace Period 02nd April to 28th April 2018 02nd May to 06th May 2018 Assignment Submission Period 21st May to 27th May 2018 Late Submission Period 28th May to 31st May 2018 Assignment Acceptance time period Weekend and Weekday from 9.00am to 3.00pm Presentation Date Email address to send soft copy N/A dme.pgd@slim.lk GUIDELINES Assignment Submission: You are required to register for examinations / assignments within the above given period. Assignments will not be accepted if you have not registered for the exam/assignment. Assignments should be submitted to SLIM within the Assignment Submission Periods indicated above. Assignments will not be accepted after the late submission period under any circumstances. SLIM will issue an acknowledgement slip upon the submission of your assignment and it must be retained by the student as proof of submitting the assignment. Assignment Cover Page: Attached cover page format should be used, printed in the relevant colour (Stage 1-Blue/Stage 2-Green/ Stage 3-Pink). The Assignment Marking Sheet should be attached after the cover page followed by the Assignment checklist & declaration form. Page 1 of 8
A Soft copy of your assignment should be sent to the above mentioned email address for which you will receive an automated reply of receipt of the assignment. If you have not received the automated reply, please verify with course coordinator. The soft copy is only a reference document that will not be considered as an assignment submission. IMPORTANT NOTES If you have not submitted the assignment your results for the respective subject will appear as Fail in the final grading. In case of absent at the examination, relevant student has to re-do the assignment in order to pass the subject in the next examination. If you are a student of an Accredited Study Centre, you can submit the assignment to the accredited study centre and presentation date and time will be notified to the accredited centre once all assignments received to SLIM Home in parallel to the SLIM web site. Current University students are allowed to submit the assignment without attending lectures since they register as self-study students but they have to attend the individual presentation sessions. Refer Student deliverables indicated below for specific details about assignment submission and presentations. Page 2 of 8
Assignment Topic: Life of Multi-Story Multi Family Village CONTENT Background Study Real estate and property development is one of the most significant and growing industries in Sri Lanka. It has been noted that the concept of apartment buildings began by mainly targeting mostly the upper-upper income earners in the city of Colombo. Global as well as local apartment building investments highly influence the industry while increasing competition in the market. Real estate is a popular and reliable asset class for capital preservation in most countries. It is also an asset with little price volatility. The Urban Development Authority of Sri Lanka (UDA) has also started penetrating the sector with middle income housing projects aiming at breaking the barriers to access for housing for middle income groups. It also aims at lobbying middle income group to live in urban areas which grants easy access to job destinations. Many property developers are now penetrating the market by focusing on suburban areas outside Colombo. With increasing demands for these apartments, Colombo, Negombo, Kandy, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala are now focusing mostly on apartment building projects. Apartments with categories ranging from economy, moderate, semi-luxury to luxury and star ratings target different segments in the market. Currently, residents and expatriate Sri Lankans buy 90% of these apartments. Apartment developers are seeking to sell more new apartments to buyers from overseas, taking advantage of Colombo s growing attraction as South Asia s most cosmopolitan city. Further, in order to attract more foreign buyers, the government s 2017 budget allows foreign buyers to borrow up to 40% of an apartment s value from a local bank. Assumptions for the Assignment You are working for a multinational apartment builder. (You may study few multinational apartment builders and assume you are working for one of them on a Sri Lankan project.) You are the Marketing Manager of this company. Task Study You are responsible to carry out a business and marketing analysis and provide suggestions to a newly proposed apartment project in Sri Lanka. You have been asked to prepare a comprehensive marketing report on the new project covering the following areas. Page 3 of 8
TASK ONE Conduct a thorough marketing environment study covering both micro and macro environment factors. Your study must focus on the factors influencing the property development industry. Micro environment factors i. Consumer analysis with needs ii. Competitor analysis iii. Channel intermediaries in the industry to sell apartments iv. How public environment is influencing the property development business. Macro environment factors i. Economic environment and how the country s economic condition affect positively and negatively ii. Political influences on the industry along with main rules, regulations and authorities. iii. How technology affects the apartment building industry - especially in increasing the life value of the apartment buyer. iv. How social and cultural influences and changes affect the industry. TASK TWO i. Conduct a market segmentation and targeting study to identify the best market segment which can address the new project. You must have a clear idea about the environment study conducted in task 1 before recommending the most suitable segment for the project. You may use any one or more of the following segmentation variables. Demographic Variable Geographic Variable Psychographic Variable Behavioral Variable ii. Justify the reason for selecting the segment/s by considering the main criteria in effective segmentation. TASK THREE i. Suggest key features and benefits you plan to deliver your clients through the new apartment. ii. Where do you plan to locate the project? Explain iii. What is the most appropriate pricing strategy you propose to use for the new project? iv. List and briefly explain three (03) promotional activities you can run to promote the apartment. Page 4 of 8
Your report must cover following area. 1. Acknowledgement 2. Project Executive Summery 3. Introduction to industry. (maximum 75 words) 4. Introduction to your proposed project and your company. (maximum 150 words) 5. Task 1. (maximum 600 words) 6. Task 2. (maximum 500 words) 7. Task 3. (maximum 400 words) 8. Overall Conclusion (maximum 50 words) 9. Referencing 10. Annexures IMPORTANT: ************************************ Please refrain from copying-and-pasting information from the Internet or another source and make sure to reference your work according to the Harvard referencing format. Word Allocation for each task Task Task one 30% Task two 20% Task three 30% Total ( word count 1500-1750) 100% Content Weightage Note: Please refer the given assignment marking scheme for marks allocation. Page 5 of 8
Assignment checklist & declaration This document is intended as a guide to check and improve your assignment. Review your assignment together with the specific guidelines and criteria (marking schedule) that are mentioned in the programme handbook given to you. You are expected to confirm that your assignment fulfils the below requirements. Please tick ( ) in the cages as necessary. Student Name Registration No ( As per registration book ) Cover page with relevant colour code of the stage Stage 1 Blue Stage 2 Green Stage 3 Pink Assignment checklist & declaration form ( This sheet) Assignment marking scheme is attached Assignment sheet is attached Table of contents Body of the assignment References Course fee paid in full (coaching/registration/exam and membership) Exam registration completed Assignment emailed to relevant email address (You will receive an automated reply of receipt for the assignment. If you have not received the automated reply, please verify with course coordinator. The soft copy is only a reference document that will not be considered as an assignment submission) I am fully aware that any misleading information provided in the above checklist will lead to the rejection of my assignment. I, the undersigned, confirm that I have read and understood the statement about plagiarism which is outlined in the students handbook. I confirm that the work that I have submitted accompanying this report is wholly my own, and that any quotations or sections of text taken from the published or unpublished work of any other person is duly and fully acknowledged therein. Signature: Date: Page 6 of 8
Assignment Marking Scheme June 2018 Subject Student Registration Number Discovering Marketing Essentials (DME) Criteria Allocated Aligning to the purpose of the assignment 20 Some of the answer addresses to the purpose of the question 1-5 This has addressed the purpose of the assignment 6-10 Has addressed the purpose of the assignment coherently 11-15 This has addressed the purpose of assignment comprehensively 16-20 Clarity of expression 20 An attempt to organize in a logical manner 1-5 Satisfactory showing of logical manner and organization 6-10 Shows higher level of Carefully and logically organized 11-15 Shows coherent structure with clearly expressed ideas 16-20 Using examples/evidences 20 Shows a little use of examples 1-5 Some use of examples. Some evaluation attempted 6-10 Some use of examples. Well evaluated 11-15 Shows appropriate examples are fully and reliably evaluated 16-20 Critical analysis of concepts, theories, conclusions 20 Demonstrates limited evidence of critical analysis 1-5 Demonstrates some critical analysis of relevant theory 6-10 Demonstrates application of theory through critical analysis 11-15 Demonstrates application of critical analysis well integrated 16-20 Following assignment guidelines 20 Limited follow-up of assignment guidelines 1-5 Some level of follow-up of assignment guidelines 6-10 Good display of adherence to assignment guidelines 11-15 Excellent adherence to assignment guidelines 16-20 Marks Awarded Special Remarks Total 100 Signature of the Examiner Page 7 of 8
Discovering Marketing Essentials (DME) Assignment Topic Student Name Reg. No. June 2018 Examination Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing Page 8 of 8