Word Length
There are two options for this coursework – the X-Culture Project and a case study based assignment. Please see the wordcount specific to the route that you are taking below.

Submission Date: Friday 2nd December 2016 for all elements of the coursework.

Contribution to Total Module Mark
This coursework contributes 50% of your total module mark.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
This coursework aims to assess the following learning outcomes:
1. Critically evaluate the contribution of strategic marketing to the overall strategic management of organisations and the pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage.
2. Apply the various strategic marketing frameworks and concepts to the strategic planning process.
3. Exercise considered judgement in assigning priorities and determining objectives in specific organisational situations.
4. Apply diagnostic and creative skills in the marketing planning, implementation and control processes in a variety of different organisational situations including the service sector and not-for-profit organisations.

Submission information:

This assignment must be submitted via the module web to Turnitin by 23.55 on the deadline: –
• If you are doing the Marketing Plan for Birmingham Barge Trips, it should be submitted to Turnitin on Moodle by 2nd December.
• If you are doing the X-Culture Project, your Internal Analysis should be submitted to Turnitin on Moodle by 2nd December. Your X-Culture report should be submitted to the X-Culture Turnitin by 23.59 Eastern Standard Time on 2nd December (you will be given separate instructions for this in due course).

There are two assignment options for coursework. The following notes apply to both assignment options

Please note:
1. That work submitted late (where an extension/deferral has not been granted) will automatically attract a result of 0%. This will count as a failed attempt, and may result in you failing the module overall. You may be eligible to resit the failed assessment(s), subject to the University’s regulations on reassessment. The maximum module mark that can be awarded for resit work is 40%.
2. Extensions will be in accordance with University and Faculty policy.

Students MUST keep copies (electronic file if done on computer) of their assignment.

Your assignment may be used to enable checks to be made using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

Any penalties for not complying with word limits will be in accordance with University and Faculty policy.

Marking Scheme
A copy of the marking scheme and feedback for this coursework is attached.

Return of Marked Work
You can expect to have marked work made available to you by 2 teaching weeks after the submission date.

PLAGIARISM WARNING! – Assignments should not be copied in part or in whole from any other source, except for any marked up quotations, that clearly distinguish what has been quoted from your own work. All references used must be given, and the specific page number used should also be given for any direct quotations, which should be in inverted commas. Students found copying from the internet or other sources will get zero marks and may be excluded from the university.

Note:
Please make sure that your ID number and the module number appear on the actual coursework assignment.

Referencing

Please note that the University uses Harvard as its standard for referencing. A copy of this is available via the module web.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There are two alternative assessments for the coursework depending on whether you are participating in the X-Culture Project or not. If you are participating in X-Culture, please skip the immediately following pages and go to “X-Culture Assignment”, otherwise go to Coursework 1 Title “Marketing Plan for Birmingham Barge Trips” below.

Coursework 1 Title “Marketing Plan for Birmingham Barge Trips” [Contributes 50% to total module mark]

Submission Date: Friday 2nd December 2016

Wordcount: 2500 words

You are asked to develop a Marketing Plan for Birmingham Barge Trips. The Marketing Plan should cover a period of two years. This should be presented in report format. The marketing audit part of the plan should be concise and insightful. As a guideline it should not exceed 1000 words (excluding headings, references and diagrams, but including any tables that you may choose to use) and should conclude with a SWOT analysis, which should briefly and succinctly summarise the strategically important issues for Birmingham Barge Trips. As a guideline, the remaining part of your marketing plan should not exceed 1500 words.

You are expected to use material in the case study extensively and also be aware of and take into account: –
1. Relevant information about contemporary events that may affect the industry from, for example, the quality newspapers
2. At a very limited level, issues and trends affecting the short trip and restaurant industries. This should be available from similar sources as (1) above and also from, for example, websites relating to boat trips. Note however, that the focus of this assignment is on your interpretation of information – predominantly that in the case study – and not on the information itself. There is plenty of information in the case study and any research outside that should be extremely limited other than in respect of macro and micro environmental factors which may affect the industry (as per (1) above). Please do not invest much time on it – this assessment is based on the process of application of theory to situations and not on research.

Word Length 2500 words.

A penalty of 10% of the mark may be applied if the work is above or below the limits set.

303MKT – Corporate Marketing Strategy

Case Study 2016
Case Study to be used for both mid-course assessment and the final examination

Birmingham Barge Trips

Whilst it might not obviously spring to mind as such, a leisure boat company, Birmingham Barge Trips, has been one of the most successful businesses in Birmingham over the last 4 to 5 years. The development of the area around the International Convention Centre has provided growth to a type of business that has been established in the region for many years. Trips along these ancient waterways have come to be part of the revitalizing of canals across the country and the Birmingham and surrounding canal systems have provided significant opportunity for smaller canal barges. Simple trip boats are in the order of 40 feet, but those offering dinner or dinner dances may extend to 60 or 70 feet. Holiday craft can be from 30 to 70 feet, depending on the number of people they can accommodate, and can be rented for between £400 and £850 per week during the holiday season. Birmingham City Council has actively encouraged both the development of the canal network and leisure activities utilising it. There are many additional opportunities as Birmingham lies at the heart of the Midlands Canal Network offering access to the area around the International Convention Centre as well as popular visitor attractions such as Cadbury World and, further afield, the Black Country Museum and Merry Hill. Further afield still, the network extends across the country, allowing access to London and Manchester (see Appendix I). Some of the canals to the North, however, are only designed for 40 and 50 foot boats, and it is impossible for longer boats to use them.

The traditional activities of boat owners have focused round two areas. The first area is the hiring of the narrowboats, typically by the week, for holiday purposes. In this case, no crew is provided and the holidaymakers drive, and sometimes damage (!), the boats themselves. This area is well researched and data is readily available. Britons took some 443,000 boating holidays in 2012, with the market value estimated at £171 million. However, trips in the UK are in long-term decline, partly due to the increase in value of waterside property, leading to an increase in the cost of moorings. In contrast the overseas boat trip market is growing with some 35,000 holidays being taken on overseas inland waterways and 145,000 sailing holidays being taken. The hire market is substantial and the companies operating in it quite large. Birmingham Barge Trips does not currently compete in this market and is smaller than most of the operators in the market; Stratford Court Cruisers for example, had 30 boats which they sold to a private equity company, Ethos.

The other area, and the one in which Birmingham Barge Trips operates, is tourist cruises on passenger narrowboats, generally lasting between two and five hours, around the area local to the boat operator, with the boat owner providing a crew and selling refreshments on board. Longer trips, sometimes involving an overnight stay, are also possible, although this market is relatively much less exploited. In addition there is also a range of other possibilities involving other kinds of entertainment and services on the boats, although various regulations would obviously have to be observed. These activities include combining the trips with dinner, a dinner dance or, for the younger generation, some less sober activities! These areas of business are far less well researched with little reliable data being available. However, it is clear that potential customers include local businesses as well as individuals and families, both those resident in the City and tourists visiting it.

Birmingham Barge Trips is based close to Birmingham City Centre and was set up in 1996 by David Simmonds, who had bought a boat from a friend, initially just for his personal use. His interest had grown into a business, however, and he now has four 70 foot and two 40 foot narrowboats which have been fitted out to provide passengers with drinks and light refreshments as they tour the canals of Birmingham. Each boat costs around £150,000 to buy and fit out. In contrast to boats hired for holidays, which have beds and living accommodation, passenger narrowboats have far more seats and, in most cases, provision for eating and drinking. The business now employs over 30 people, including crew, caterers and cleaners, and takes on an additional 20 temporary staff in the peak tourist season between March and October as well as other temporary staff to cover specific needs.

Staffing is an important consideration for narrowboat operators. Typically skippers are responsible and trustworthy individuals with Boatmaster qualifications: however, they are often called upon to work at weekends and in the evenings, which can be quite demanding. Catering and serving staff are often less well qualified and less disciplined. David finds it worthwhile to invest in training the permanent staff and would also like to be able to have access to trained temporary staff, especially during holiday periods. This is an ongoing challenge for him, especially because the staff have considerable contact with his customers and often chat to them in the course of their trips. Each crew will usually work together and get to know each other during the course of the season but may then be re-assigned for the following season.

Birmingham Barge Trips has traditionally operated only in the part of the network in the immediate vicinity of Birmingham, offering leisure trips to tourists lasting between two and three hours and extending to some two to three miles from the City Centre, although some trips can extend to ten miles from the City Centre and last all day. David advertises the local Birmingham trips as “Birmingham Tradition” and the longer trips, which extend out into the Black Country, as “Black Country Tradition”. Although Birmingham Barge Trips is the largest operator in Birmingham in this particular market, David is convinced that there are further and more profitable opportunities available for his business within the local area. He is looking to expand the business over the next five years.

It is estimated that London accommodated 2.5 million passengers on the River Thames in 2014, and Paris catered for over 7.5 million passengers during the same period. It is estimated, however, that only 130,000 people took trips of various kinds in Birmingham in that period, taking advantage of a more limited range of types of trip and entertainment than in the other cities. The majority of David’s customers are residents of the West Midlands on a day out or visitors to the City.

Birmingham has become an increasingly popular destination for both business and tourism over the last few years – see the Guardian article in Appendix III. Marketing Birmingham’s “Where the World Meets” advertising campaign (Event Industry News 2014) launched in 2013 has supported this upward trend. Marketing Birmingham is a well-resourced and influential organisation, part owned by Birmingham City Council (Local Government Association 2014), that promotes Birmingham as a destination for both business and pleasure. In addition, of course, tourist information is available through a number of organisations, some of which, like Visit Birmingham, provide specific information on activities related to the Birmingham Canals (Visit Birmingham 2014). However, an issue that affects both the inbound tourist market and the propensity of Birmingham residents to travel abroad is that the weakness of the pound against both the US dollar and the Euro since the EU referendum, is making the UK a potentially more attractive destination for overseas visitors and overseas trips less attractive for UK residents. While David noticed a drop in overseas passengers while the pound was strong pre-referendum, he wonders what the effect of the weakened pound will be.

David has experimented with a range of different types of trips and entertainments focusing on his core markets of residents of, and visitors to, Birmingham. Some trips include meals rather than simply light refreshments, and others include an educational element, with a commentator providing information about, for example, the industrial heritage of the canals. David wonders whether these types of trips might be of interest to local businesses or schools. One of David’s boats has been refitted at very considerable cost and now focuses on operating as a “floating restaurant”, providing a wider range of better food and facilities than the other boats. This was in response to the more general trend for more restaurants to be situated within destination venues for leisure. These venues range from retail and leisure complexes through health clubs, cinemas, department stores and other dual purpose venues; at the same time, the decline of the ‘themed’ restaurant or pub, now looked back on as an unsophisticated development of the 1980s and 1990s, has given rise to the converse trend of more individually styled venues. Onboard dining and adventure dining fall into this category of individually styled venues or attractions.

The onboard dining market appears to be growing faster than the standard tours and, being a relatively new attraction, seems to have more profit potential than the traditional trips. David’s venture into it appears to be becoming successful, and is making a comfortable profit for the first time this year and David has heard of some businesses and offices holding their Christmas parties on canal barges. The search for ever more exotic and different party venues has the potential to make, for example, canal dinner dances attractive. David believes that the market for this type of event is likely to be local people and businesses rather than tourists visiting the City.

Whilst David is keen to grow the business, he has made no decisions and is seeking further information and advice. In particular, he has started to sell tickets for trips in a limited way via an internet site and is now considering what other ways of selling tickets via third parties, or working in partnership with them, might be possible.

David also has a number of concerns, however. It seems that the straightforward short tourist trips market is becoming increasingly competitive and profits are falling. He suspects that this may be due to some operators, whose boats had previously been offered in the hire market, now switching to short leisure trips, often offering them at low cost. David faces a dilemma, however. If he continues to run the local trips, he foresees a number of factors that could reduce his profits substantially and limit the growth of the business. On the other hand, to grow his business as he would like requires that he make the right decisions since investing in the wrong areas could endanger the whole of his business. Fortunately, the business has a strong balance sheet because of the significant asset of the barges themselves. On the basis that the business has been established for some considerable time, his bank manager has confidence in David and is prepared to lend him a substantial amount of money as long as he produces a well-justified case that expansion will be successful and the loan repaid. The loan would cover the purchase of new boats, possibly built for specific purposes, as well as increases in ongoing costs, including fuel and licences.

As well as considering the risk inherent in expansion, David is also facing other pressures. Standard licences covered only 8 months of the year, and do not cover the Christmas and New Year period. He had, however, because of the size and reputation of Birmingham Barge Trips, been able to negotiate “Special” licences for 3 of his boats for the whole year. But a related issue that was troubling him was that he had heard rumours of complaints about his trips. Unfortunately, he did not have much detail except that he had overheard some remarks that his trips, especially the “floating restaurant” were, “not very good”: in particular, it appeared that local business people believed that Birmingham Barge Trips did not understand what businesses, as opposed to private individuals, wanted in terms of image and standards of service. On top of this, one of his major competitors, Birmingham Boaters, which only had three boats, had cut its prices. He had also heard that Canal Gourmet, a small startup operation offering intimate dinner dances on single smaller 40ft boat, recently had a complaint lodged against it by canal side homeowners for excessive noise. Canal Gourmet is fully booked Thursday to Tuesday evenings for a 4 hour dinner dance cruise.

You have known David for some years and naturally he turns to you, as a marketing expert, for advice……

This case study is adapted from secondary sources but is factually not accurate. The facts bear no relationship to any company or organization in Birmingham or elsewhere. You are advised that seeking further quantitative information will not be helpful to you.

Appendix I – Map of UK Canals

Appendix II – Exchange Rates

Exchange rates £ v €. 730 Day History

Source: http://www.exchangerates.org.uk/GBP-EUR-exchange-rate-history.html [accessed 2nd October 2016]
Appendix III – Extract from The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/may/27/record-one-million-overseas-visitors-to-birmingham

Record 1 million overseas visitors to Birmingham

(From The Guardian 27th May 2016)

No other city outside London has seen such an increase in tourists – drawn here by high-class art, Michelin-star restaurants – and Peaky Blinders
Birmingham welcomed a record-breaking 1 million overseas visitors in 2015, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, with an increase of 163,000 visitors (or 17.3%) on 2014 – the largest rise in visitor numbers for any UK city outside London, for the second year running.
The research reveals that the city is the fourth most visited place in the UK by international tourists after London, Edinburgh and Manchester.
These numbers are matched by a significant increase in consumer spending in the city. Last year, foreign visitors spent £386m, up £87m on the previous year.
Business travel to Birmingham rose by almost 20% in 2015, with 619,000 visits recorded. Again, this is the largest rise of any UK regional city.
More than £1bn has been invested in the region in the past year, with new developments including the New Street station transport hub, which is home to the new Grand Central shopping centre.
A string of high-profile art and sporting events also took place during 2015, such as the 25th anniversary of Birmingham Royal Ballet and 50 years of the contemporary art gallery Ikon, as well as matches during the Rugby World Cup and the Ashes Test series.
There are currently 14 hotels in either the planning or construction phase in Birmingham, including the refurbishment of the famous Grand Hotel, which will have 152 new bedrooms when it is finished, in 2018.
Birmingham continues to promote itself vigorously to international markets. In recent months the city has welcomed media delegations from countries including Japan, South Africa, India, Iceland and Belgium.
Put off by the cost of living in London, a growing number of people have moved to Birmingham in recent years, resulting in a growth in new businesses. The Digbeth area, once a centre for heavy industry, is now home to the Custard Factory, the creative industries hub which is also becoming a cultural destination. And the Jewellery Quarter has become a tourist attraction in its own right. The city also boasts several Michelin-star restaurants.
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Television series Peaky Blinders, based in 1920s Birmingham, has also caused a spike in interest. In a recent interview with Guardian Travel, its creator, Steven Knight, talked fondly about the city’s much-derided aesthetic. “Spaghetti Junction is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen at night,” he said. “It’s gorgeous, and shows that – when looked at in a certain way – something that’s considered to be conventionally ugly is actually beautiful. That’s Birmingham.”
Guardian writer Stuart Jeffries, who has lived and worked in Birmingham, said the city is definitely “having a moment”, and also mentioned the “Peaky Blinders effect”.
“You can’t move in Broad Street these days for promenading Beau Brummies in tweed caps with cunningly concealed razor blades, wishing they were Cillian Murphy as they head off for an evening of culture at Symphony Hall, a gig at the Custard Factory, or a private view at the Ikon Gallery, before heading off to one of the city’s several Michelin-star restaurants,” he said. “I’m exaggerating, but only slightly.”
He adds: “The great thing about Birmingham, and perhaps this is one reason it’s more of a destination for tourists, is that its hubristic leaders have a rage for reinventing the place. As a result, it’s not so much a city as a palimpsest of giddy, if failed, utopias. Why go to Birmingham? Why not go to Birmingham?”
Jon Bounds, the founder of Birmingham blog Paradise Circus, said he wasn’t surprised the city was seeing the biggest increase of visitors after the capital, “as it is literally the next stop after London”.
“Birmingham has been getting a better class of publicity recently, in all things apart from the performance of the city council,” he said.
“Maybe people have even been attracted by the success of Peaky Blinders, which is odd, as Crossroads never brought many tourists: even though it advertised the fact we had a motel. The swarms of visitors must really like building works, and canals, and building works near canals. And self-deprecation.”

Bibliography and References

Birmingham City Council (2011) Census 2011 Key Statistics Profile [online] Available from:
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/downloads/file/79/census_2011_key_statistics_profile [accessed 2nd October 2016]

Canal Junction (2016) The Birmingham Canal Navigations [online]. Available from
http://www.canaljunction.com/canal/birmingham_navigations.htm [accessed 2nd October 2016]

Canal Museum (2016) Boat Trips on London’s Canals [online]. Available from
http://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/boat-trip.htm [accessed 2nd October 2016]

Event Industry News (2014) Birmingham unveils latest business tourism campaign to attract more events to region [online]. Available from: –
http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/brand-marketing/birmingham-unveils-latest-business-tourism-campaign-attract-events-region/ [accessed 2nd October 2016]

The Local Government Association (2014) Team Birmingham’s approach to tourism. [online] Available from: –
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=17092163 [accessed 2nd October 2016]
The Local Government Association (2016) English tourism can soar under devolution, say councils [online]
Available from: http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10180/7967016/NEWS [accessed 2nd October 2016]

Marketing Birmingham (2016) Media Highlights [online]
Available from http://www.marketingbirmingham.com/media-hub/media-highlights/ [accessed 2nd October 2016]

Visit Birmingham (2016) Birmingham Attractions [online]
Available from: http://visitbirmingham.com/what-to-do/attractions/ [accessed 2nd October 2016]

Assessment Criteria

Class Mark range Guidelines
Class I

90 – 100%

80 – 89%

70 – 79%

In addition to that for 70 – 79% below, an outstanding answer that could hardly be bettered. High degree of understanding, critical/analytic skills. Outstanding in all respects.
In addition to that for 70 – 79% below, the answer will demonstrate an excellent level of understanding, presence of clear description and appropriate critical/analytical skills.
Answer entirely relevant to the assignment set. Answer will demonstrate clear understanding of theories, concepts, issues and methodology, as appropriate. There will be evidence of wide-ranging reading, beyond the minimum recommended. Answers will be written / presented in a clear, well-structured way with clarity of expression.
Class II : I 65 – 69%

60 – 64% Answer demonstrating a very good understanding of the requirements of the assignment. Answer will demonstrate very good understanding of theories, concepts, issues and methodology, as appropriate. Answer will be mostly accurate/appropriate, with few errors. Little, if any, irrelevant material may be present. Reading beyond the recommended minimum will be present where appropriate. Well organised and clearly written/presented.
A good understanding, with few errors. Some irrelevant material may be present. Well organised and clearly written/presented. Some reading beyond recommended in evidence.
Class II : II 55 – 59%

50 – 54%
Answer demonstrating a good understanding of relevant theories, concepts, issues and methodology. Some reading/research beyond that recommended may be present. Some errors may be present and inclusion of irrelevant material. May not be particularly well-structured, and/or clearly presented.
Answer demonstrating a reasonable understanding of theories, concepts, issues and methodology. Answer likely to show some errors of understanding. May be significant amount of irrelevant material. May not be well-structured and expression/presentation may be unclear at times.
Class III 45 – 49%

40 – 44% An understanding demonstrated, but may be incomplete and with some errors. Limited use of material with limited reading on the topic. Likely to be poorly structured and not well-expressed/presented. Irrelevant material likely to be present.
Basic understanding demonstrated, with some correct description. Answer likely to be incomplete with substantial errors or misunderstandings. Little use of material and limited reading on the topic in evidence. May be poorly structured and poorly expressed/presented. Some material may be irrelevant to the assignment requirements.
Marginal fail 35 – 39% Some relevant material will be present. Understanding will be poor with little evidence of reading on the topic. Fundamental errors and misunderstanding likely to be present. Poor structure and poor expression/presentation. Much material may not be relevant to the assignment.
Fail 30 – 34%

20 – 29%

0 – 19% Inadequate answer with little relevant material and poor understanding of theories, concepts, issues and methodology, as appropriate. Fundamental errors and misunderstandings will be present. Material may be largely irrelevant. Poorly structured and poorly expressed/presented.
Clear failure to provide answer to the assignment. Little understanding and only a vague knowledge of the area. Serious and fundamental errors and lack of understanding. Virtually no evidence of relevant reading. Poorly structured and inadequately expressed/presented.
Complete failure, virtually no understanding of requirements of the assignment. Material may be entirely irrelevant. Answer may be extremely short, and in note form only. Answer may be fundamentally wrong, or trivial. Not a serious attempt.

Mark Scheme

Structure of report 10%
Marketing Audit (including SWOT), Indicative Mark Allocation broken down as follows: –
External Analysis – 15%
Internal Analysis – 15%
SWOT – 5% 35%
Marketing Plan. Indicative Mark Allocation broken down as follows: –
Objectives – 15%
Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning – 15%
Summary Marketing Mix – 10%
Implementation Issues and Control – 5% 45%
Referencing, Presentation and Professionalism 10%
Throughout, marks will be awarded approximately according to the following scheme (examiners are allowed some flexibility):
• Knowledge and Understanding of theory: 35%. This should be appropriately referenced using Harvard Referencing.
• Application of theory to the case study – 35%. You should use theory to help you to to structure your report and to underpin your analysis.
• Analysis/Interpretation/Evaluation and Recommendations – 20%. Drawing inferences from the application of the theory to give an insight into the important issues for the company.
• Professionalism -10%. Quality of presentation and argument, good referencing.