BUSINESS PLAN WRITING ASSIGNMENT:
- Market Segment: Define the market segment that your product will serve (e.g. adults, children, aged, etc.) Information on market size is available via government data (Census) and also from some private research firms (Mintel)
- Product: Describe the key product attributes that you plan to sell to consumers. Include both tangible (fresh breath, whiter teeth) and intangible attributes (safety, etc.)
- Place: Describe the purchasing patterns of your consumers. Where do they typically buy your products? Where will your company sell or distribute your products?
- Price: Describe your pricing strategy (is this price above or below market price for the product)? See text for pricing strategy.
- Promotion: Discuss your promotional strategy. How do you plan to see your products (personal selling, advertising, Internet)? See text for various options to promote your product.
Mintel
- Mintel This link opens in a new windowMintel provides a one-stop online platform, designed to give students and academics easy and fast access to the same best-in-class consumer and market intelligence used by professionals around the world.
NO ALUMNI USE ALLOWED! ALWAYS LOGOUT WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED AS WE HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF CONCURRENT USERS ALLOWED FROM LA SALLE UNIVERSITY.
If you wish to use Mintel's collaboration features, like saved searches and email alerts, then you must register or login to a personal profile. You must use your La Salle email to create a personal profile! At the top right hand corner of the Mintel homepage, click on Hello Guest and go down to
My account and meet the team. Click on the yellow Update your Details link, then go down to Register or login to a personal profile. Use your La Salle email and a password of your own choosing.
- Mintel User GuideDownload a user guide for Mintel
MarketLine Advantage
- Marketline This link opens in a new window
- Marketline Advantage User GuideA guide to the newly revised Marketline Advantage interface. The last page includes links to Additional User Guides and Video Tutorials
Market Segment
- Data.census.gov This link opens in a new windowData.census.gov is the new platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. The vision for data dissemination through data.census.gov is to improve the customer experience by making data available from one centralized place so that data users spend less time searching for data content and more time using it.
Here’s a hint – you can find the projected population estimates for a region by using the Data.Census.gov website. Search for Annual Population Estimates – then click Filter. Filter by Geography. Choose the region or regions you want. When you have chosen them click the hide button – top right 
to bring up the tables. You can also view the results on a map. You can download any of the tables.
Find information using interactive applications to get statistics from multiple surveys.
There is an Economic Census every five years
Here are some site from the Small Business Administration, which give guidance on using government data
https://www.sba.gov/blogs/free-sources-market-data-and-how-use-data-business-planning
https://www.sba.gov/blogs/conducting-market-research-here-are-5-official-sources-free-data-can-help
The Four Ps
- The marketing mix. (2009). In J. Blythe, Key concepts in marketing. London, United Kingdom: Sage UKBe sure to check the related concepts in the right hand column of this article.
Also check the Videos on this tab
Below are boxes with more details on the "Ps"
Pricing
Promotion
- Promotion. (2009). In J. Blythe, Key concepts in marketing. London, United Kingdom: Sage UK.Pt. 4 of Key Concepts in Marketing
