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Business Plan
Bradford School of Management

Strategic Marketing Plan for InterviewBay
Balaji Bangalore Varadarajan
UB No. 08013436

UB No. 08013436

Page 1 of 84

Statement of Authenticity

I have read the university regulations regarding plagiarism and certify that this project is my own work and does not contain any unacknowledged work from any other sources

WORD COUNT: 14591

UB No. 08013436

Page 2 of 84

ABSTRACT


This is a real-time project done for InterviewBay, a start-up venture specializing in MBA Admission consulting field (providing mock interview services for top business schools). The aim is to create an effective and viable strategic marketing plan to improve the revenue of this company.



Some of the well-known classical marketing theories of Jobber, McDonald and
Cohen have been used here to analyse and develop a new marketing template that would fit InterviewBay appropriately. Even though these marketing plans were framed few years ago, they are still appropriate to the contemporary business environment through customisation.



Research has been carried on to determine cost-effective means of advertisements for InterviewBay. The author has collected primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through personal interviews as well as by conducting online survey to get feedback from aspiring MBA students.
This information has been used for setting up pricing strategy as well as to understand the need of these students from the Admission Consultants. The secondary data was sourced from various b-schools and Admission consulting websites. Based on the research results, the author has identified the main market segments that the business can focus on.



Financial forecast (Break-even analysis, Revenue and Cost Projections) for next
3 years of operation has been performed. Suggestion about strategic alliances has also been provided to capture business across the globe.



The author has also provided more recommendations in terms of the pricing,



References: Abell, D. (1980) Defining the Business: The Starting Point of Strategic Planning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Ch Ackoff , R.I (1987), Mission Statements, Planning Review 15(4), 30-2 AdmissionConsultants (2008), Economic Downturn MBA Poll Admissions411 (2009), MBA Admission Consultants http://www.admissions411.com/AdmissionConsultant.aspx [Accessed on 28th Aug 2009] AIGAC (2009), Principles of AIGAC Baron, P (2008), Educational Consulting from the perspective of an Industry leader http://www.admissionsquest.com/onboardingschools/2008/04/educational-consultingfrom-the-perspective-of-an-industry-leader.html [Accessed on 28th Aug 2009] Brassington, F. & Pettitt, S. (2007), Essentials of Marketing http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qSrS3cbv0RAC&pg=PP1&dq=Essentials+of+Mark Press BusinessWeek (2007), A Booming Business in MBA Coaches BusinessWeek (2008), MBA Applications Surge Again http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/aug2008/bs20080826_158181.htm Cavaye, A.L.M. (1996). Case study research: a multi-faceted research approach for IS. Chow, C.W., Haddad, K.M & Williamson, J.E (2002), Applying the balanced scorecard to small companies Cohen, W.A (2005), The Marketing Plan, 4th Edition, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons Couper, M.P Drucker, P. F. (1993) Management Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, New York: Harper and Row, 128 05B68E39FD1CED3 [Accessed on 20th Aug 2009] Financial Times (2009), Global MBA Rankings 2009 GeekMBA360 (2009), A brief survey of the MBA Admission Consulting market http://www.geekmba360.com/?p=677 [Accessed on 18th July 2009] Gardner, D., Witherell, S (2007), International Students enrollment in U.S. rebounds http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=113743 [Accessed on 4th Sep 2009] Ghauri,P. & Gronhaug,K (2005), Research Methods in Business Studies, Third Edition, London, Prentice Hall GMAT (2008), Regional Market Developments and Supply-Side Dynamics http://www.gmac.com/globaltrends/global%20trends%20reports/4a.%20Regional%20M Green,G. & Willams,J. (1996), Marketing: Mastering your small business, IL, Upstart Publishing Company Gordon, A.V (2005), MBA Admission strategy: from profile building to essay writing http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UazrkPZTPIwC&pg=PA18&dq=MBA+admission and Comprehensive Approach, IL, NTC Business Books Heiser, S (2006), International Graduate School Students Increases, Council of 2009] Heiser, S (2009), International Graduate admissions decline for first time in five years,

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