College of Business Administration

MKTG 5317.600

Semester Project Guidelines

Premise: After deciding to withdraw completely from the golf equipment market, Nike believes a broader market and a natural brand extension can be found in the energy bar market. This is an idea that has been brought up before, but was never fully followed up on. Many managershave wondered why they havenot pursued this concept before, preferring the company focus on “fitness” rather than “sports.”

You have been asked to provide some answers regarding the initial marketing plan being crafted forthis undertaking’s initial release in the mainland United States.

Questions to be answered in your report/project:

Your report should be broken down into the following subtopics:

PRODUCT:                           What will differentiate Nike’s energy bar from the competing                                                 energy bars already in market?What gaps will it fill in the                                                       existing market; i.e., why is thisidea good from a marketing                                                    perspective? What value would this product bring to the                                                        market?A SWOT analysis of this product would be a good                                                           thing to include here.

PRICE POINT:                      What retail price would you recommend this sell for?                                                              Why?

TARGET SEGMENT:          Who is your target segment (-s) and why? Be as detailed as                                                  you can here, citing demographics, psychographics, etc.

MESSAGE:                           What is the message you want to send to your  targets?                                                          Why? Feel free to use visuals.

COMMUNICATION:             How would you send this message to reach these segments                                                            and why is your choice the best (what communication                                                                        strategies/mixes would you use?

BUDGET:                              You have an initial advertising budget of $50 million to use in                                              television (including cable, satellite, and            streaming), radio,                                                     print, online, mobile, and/or event sponsorships.  If you can                                                  engage in co-ops with another company, assume it will be a                                                        50/50 cost split.

What you do NOT have to worry about including:

– How the product will be distributed.

– Any market outside of the lower 48 states.

– Manufacturing

– Ingredients (unless this is part of your answer to the first issue)

– Packaging

Be creative, be detailed, be specific, and, most of all, be good.