Instructions
Case studies are an essential learning strategy in business classes because they provide an opportunity for you to critically analyze events that have taken place in real-life businesses. This develops your critical thinking and research skills as you research the competition and industry in which your business resides in order to formulate a recommendation for the challenges faced by the company.
For this unit, review the “Marketing Excellence: BMW” case study on pp. 273 of your textbook. This assignment will be comprised of two parts; one part will ask you to respond to questions, and the other will require you to complete a case analysis.
Part 1
Evaluate this case, and respond to each of the following questions using both theory and practical managerial thinking.
Examine and apply the consumer-buying process for BMW. Identify the steps and the application to BMW. How does this process assist the marketing team at BMW?
How could data analytics be used to research the consumer in order to ensure a strong understanding of overall business and marketing outcomes at BMW?
Within the case, several clearly different target markets are identified. What does BMW do well to target each of these groups, and what could it do better? Within your response, include the process of segmentation.
Your Part 1 response must be at least two pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Note that you will submit Part 1 and Part 2 in one document.
Part 2
Complete a case analysis of BMW. This requires that you conduct research on BMW beyond the case study material in the textbook. In the case analysis, you will look at the situational analysis, problem, and alternatives, and you will provide a recommendation. Refer to the instructions below as you construct your analysis.
Situational Analysis
Discuss the external environment through the compilation of a PEST (political, economic, sociocultural, and technology) analysis.
Discuss the internal and external environment through the compilation of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
Problem
Identify at least one organizational problem that BMW is currently having or one in which you project it will have in the future. Base this upon your research and critical thinking.
Alternatives
Compile three or four potential marketing-related solutions to the problem above. Remember that these are potential alternatives; you will not select all of the alternatives to solve the problem.
Recommendation (Marketing Strategy)
Select one or two of the alternatives above to solve the problem that you identified in this case analysis.
Discuss your rationale for choosing these and not the others. Include supporting research that will increase the depth of your analysis.
In order to successfully complete Part 2 of this case study, you need to review the video and task learning guides (TLGs) below. The following resources will provide you with the skills to research industries/competitors.
Company and Industry Research video (transcript for Company and Industry Research video)
How to Find Company Information in the Business Source Ultimate Database TLG
How to Search for Articles With a Company Focus TLG
Part 2 must be at least four pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Support Part 2 with at least three sources outside of the textbook. As aforementioned, keep in mind that Part 1 and Part 2 will be submitted in one document.
