Category: Marketing

Critical Thinking Exercise #1

Please keep to no more than three pages. Your paper must meet the standards of good business communication. Your arguments should be well thought out and all comments and information should be presented using proper grammar and punctuation.

You MUST PHYSICALLY VISIT A TRADITIONAL GROCERY STORE. Take a picture of the store you visited and attach it to the report.

Note: You don’t have to purchase these items but you MUST TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS of the items in your study.

Grading:

35 Points for content

15 Points for layout, punctuation and grammar.

Objective:

This exercise aims to deepen your understanding of how different companies and brands approach their marketing efforts; and how they compete within similar product categories.

Overview:

You are the new marketing assistant for a major marketing consulting firm, Cougar Creative. Cougar Creative works with food and beverage manufacturers that produce packaged food sold in just about every category of the grocery store (except produce and meat).

You are going to be providing a recommendation on a given food category of your own choosing.

Approach:

Choose one category of a packaged food item (pick something that you are personally interested in to make it more enjoyable).

Visit your local grocery story and review all the different products that are being sold in that particular category. Note you must have at least 3 different manufacturers in your chosen category.

Answer the following questions about your chosen category:

Packaging

What do you notice about the packaging that differed from each product?

Are there different packaging options in use?

Why do you think each company decided on the particular packaging being used?

Pricing

What did you notice about how these items were priced? Was the price similar among the various items? Why are some priced higher or lower?

Target Customer

Who might be interested in buying these items?

What characteristics might they have in terms of income, age, education?

Will all the items be promoted to the same target market? Why or why not?

Advertising/Promotion

How do you think these items should be advertised?

Include pictures of the items that you are comparing.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Identify a current article from a Wall Street Journal within the past 5 days. Use the following outline to share your comments about the article. Short, succinct answers are appreciated.

Key Outline Elements:

Article Headline and Date

What is the key business/marketing issue taking place?

Use these topics below to help you identify the issue, or anything from the text that would apply:

Competition

Supply

Profit

Communication/Advertising

Product development

Culture

What are your observations, thoughts and perspectives?

i work at kroll credit monitoring as a call center agent>

HIS is extra credit! Completion of this will produce points (likely very high points) and the lowest score of all your reflections will be dropped.

Using your current (preferred) or previous employer, you will be asked to answer a series of prompts. Always remember: do NOT share classified information that your organization would not want others to know. Either choose another topic or hide that information.

Why am I doing this?

Critical thinking is an essential skill for success in the business world. Critical thinkers are able to identify and analyze problems, develop and evaluate solutions, and make informed decisions. By applying critical thinking skills to marketing problems and opportunities, you can develop better marketing strategies and improve the performance of your organization.

This reflection assignment provides you with an opportunity to practice your critical thinking skills in a real-world context. By reflecting on the marketing principles you have learned in class and applying them to your own organizations, you can gain a deeper understanding of how these principles can be used to solve marketing problems and achieve marketing goals.

Additionally, this reflection assignment helps you develop your communication and writing skills. By writing clear and concise reflections that explain your insights and their implications, you will be able to communicate their ideas effectively to others.

Instructions:

For this extra credit reflection, students will write a reflection post that addresses the following question:

How does your organization use artificial intelligence?

This is the opening for your reflection.

For this reflection, I am going to discover how my organization uses artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to a set of technologies that enable machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as recognizing patterns, learning from data, making predictions, and supporting decisions. From a strategic business perspective, AI can help organizations move beyond intuition by turning large volumes of data into actionable insights that guide planning and resource allocation. When used thoughtfully, AI supports competitive advantage by improving efficiency, enhancing customer experiences, and enabling more precise targeting and personalization. It can also strengthen strategic agility by helping firms anticipate market changes, test scenarios, and respond more quickly to emerging opportunities or risks. Ultimately, AI is most valuable when aligned with business goals and integrated into decision-making processes rather than treated as a standalone technology.

[now you just fill in the connection to your organization]

[You do not need an image]

[IMPORTANT: If your organizational usage of AI is confidential, please focus on less mission critical uses OR mention that in your post here and email an overview]

This is a group assignment; the part we need to write is a Marketing Communications Audit, requiring us to perform an insightful marketing communications audit. Research (Extensive primary & secondary research using a variety of modern market research

tools):

Problem:

British Columbia is experiencing increasingly frequent and severe wildfires as a result of climate change. These events, along with the smoke they produce, pose significant and ongoing challenges for communities across the province. While some wildfires occur naturally, others may be sparked by human activity, including tourism in forested areas. The resulting fires and smoke have substantial impacts on the health and wellbeing of BC residents, particularly those living in close proximity to forested regions.

Goal:

1. Help BC breathe: Fight wildfire smoke by promoting the cleanair breathing toolkits to help British Columbians protect themselves from wildfire smoke and providing clear information on how to prepare for smoke risks.
2. Reduce Human-caused Wildfire: Increase public preparedness and encourage protective behaviours to prevent human-caused wildfire events.
3. Keep Residents Safe: Provide clear guidance to help British Columbians understand the actions they should take when wildfire activity occurs nearby.

Target Audience:

1. Post secondary students(18-25): who travel to campus, and maintain a daily life outside of university.
2. Outdoor lovers(18-55): who travel to the forest regions. Campers and hikers for instance.
3. Homeowners(18-55): who live in the wildlandurban interface.

Sub targets:

1. Daily Commuters,
2. Social Students
3. Employed students
4. BC Newcomers

Key insights:

Many British Columbia residents view wildfires as a natural occurrence and, as a result, often underestimate the impact of their own actions. Traditional fearbased wildfire messaging has also become less effective, leading to reduced public engagement. In addition, students frequently continue attending classes, work, and outdoor activities during wildfire season, yet many lack the time or resources to adequately prepare. Instead, they prefer clear, concise guidance that outlines the essential steps they should take during wildfire events.

Research (Extensive primary & secondary research using a variety of modern market research

tools):