Strategic Marketing Importance

1.) Why is the "why" is more important than the "what"
2.) The defense of your positions on the issues is more important than the positions you take
3.) It is expected that you will use the above directives and/or questions as titles placing your responses to those directives and/or questions below each

Product/Brand Analyzed

It is expected that you will state the name of product/brand (iPhone 4S) you are analyzing and state the name of the company (Apple) that owns that product/brand.

Financials:
1.) Sales ($'s and % of the sales of all the products of the division of the company that owns the product/brand).
2.) Costs ($'s)
3.) Contribution to Overhead and Profit (Sales - Costs in $'s and % of the contributon of all the products of the division of the company that owns the product/brand).
4.) Investment needed to generate Sales (Turnover Ratio = Sales / Investment)
5.) Margin earned on Sales (Contribution to Overhead and Profit = Margin (or Overhead and Profit] / Sales
6.) Return on Investment (Turnover x Margin)
7.) Market Share

It is expected that you will uncover and report information on the recent (e.g. over the last 5 to 10 year) financial performance of Apple Inc. Since some of the financial information at the product/brand level is proprietary, it is expected that you will be able to report some, but not all, of the above financials.

Summary:

1.) Major Strengths of the Product/Brand
2.) Major Weaknesses of the Product/Brand
3.) Major Opportunities faced by the Product/Brand
4.) Major Threats faced by the Product/Brand

It is expected that you will present what you feel are the major strengths and weaknesses of the product/brand with your justification of why, out of all its strengths and weaknesses, you picked those strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, it is expected that you will present what you feel are the major opportunities and threats faced by the product/brand with your justification of why, out of all the opportunities and threats the product/brand faces, you picked those opportunities and threats.

Marketing Environments

1.) Competition (Current)
2.) Competition (Future) - Substitutes
3.) Buyer Decision-Making and Behavior
4.) Economy
5.) Financing
6.) Personnel
7.) Politics - Government - Legislative - Legal - Barriers to Market Entry
8.) Socio-Cultural
9.) Suppliers
10.) Technology

It is expected that you will present how each of the above environmental factors poses a threat to the financial future of the product/brand and/or is not a threat because of the strength of the product/brand. It is also expected that you will present how each of the above environmental factors poses an opportunity to strengthen the financial future of the product/brand.

Strategies

1.) Marketing
2.) Market Segmentation
3.) Target Marketing
4.) Mass Marketing
5.) Mass Customization
6.) Product
7.) Promotion
8.) Distribution
9.) Pricing

It is expected that you will present how each of the above strategic factors poses a threat to the financial future of the product/brand and/or is not a threat because of the strength of the product/brand. It is also expected that you will present how each of the above strategic factors poses an opportunity to strengthen the financial future of the product/brand.

Marketing Research

It is expected that you will present the primary marketing research you conducted as part of your SWOT marketing analysis is this section.