| Course | BU 323 Strategic Marketing Planning and Brand Storytelling |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 6 |
| Paper type | Objectives and measures |
| Length | About 830 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Marketing |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 323 Unit 6
From Zero Stores to Three Bottles a Week: Rio Seco's Objectives and Measures for Arizona, Including the Result That Would Mean Failure
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 323: Strategic Marketing Planning and Brand Storytelling
Instructor Name
April 1, 2026
From Zero Stores to Three Bottles a Week: Rio Seco's Objectives and Measures for Arizona, Including the Result That Would Mean Failure
How the Objectives Were Chosen
When Unit 1 sized up Rio Seco's Arizona move, it found four things the plan must answer: Arizona shoppers need to learn what New Mexico green chile is, the chain will review new products quickly and drop slow sellers, the protected New Mexico claim is the brand's central advantage and the firm has no marketing staff. The objectives below follow from those findings. Each is written with a baseline it starts from, a target it moves to, a date, a person accountable and the place the number will be read from, so that anyone reviewing the plan can check progress without asking the owners. The table's columns put on the page each quality in the acronym Doran (1981) coined for good objectives, from specific and measurable through assignable and realistic to time-related.
Where a baseline does not yet exist, the plan says so and states when it will be measured. Two baselines come from case data Saguaro shares with suppliers, one comes from Rio Seco's New Mexico sales and one will be set by a short survey before the launch.
The Objectives
The table lists five objectives. The first four measure outcomes; the fifth measures activity.
| Objective | Baseline | Target | Date | Owner | Where measured | How often |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Distribution: two sauces on shelf in every Saguaro store | 0 of 34 stores | 34 of 34 stores, both sauces | April 30, 2026 | Co-owner, sales | Saguaro store authorization list and field visits | Weekly until met |
| 2. Rate of sale per sauce per store | 2.4 units per week in New Mexico chain stores (Rio Seco sales records) | 3.0 units per week on average | September 30, 2026 | Co-owner, sales | Saguaro weekly scan data report | Weekly |
| 3. Repeat purchase among first-time buyers | No Arizona baseline; New Mexico chain rate unknown | 25% of first-time loyalty buyers buy again within 12 weeks | December 31, 2026 | Part-time field marketing coordinator | Saguaro loyalty program supplier report | Monthly |
| 4. Aided brand awareness among Saguaro shoppers in Tucson and Phoenix | To be measured by intercept survey of 300 shoppers in March 2026 | At least 15 percentage points above the March baseline | December 31, 2026 | Part-time field marketing coordinator | Repeat intercept survey, same stores and method | March and December |
| 5. In-store tastings completed | 0 | 102 tastings, three per store | September 30, 2026 | Part-time field marketing coordinator | Tasting agency invoices and store sign-off sheets | Monthly |
Why These Targets
The distribution target is set at every store because partial distribution would weaken every other measure: shoppers who see a tasting in one store and look for the sauce in another would find nothing. The rate-of-sale target of 3.0 units per sauce per store per week is above Rio Seco's average of 2.4 units in its New Mexico chain stores, where it receives less promotion, and it is the figure the chain's condiment buyer described as comfortable for keeping a specialty item. At that rate, two sauces in 34 stores would sell about 5,300 bottles in the 26 weeks after full distribution, or roughly 10,600 over a full year, which sits close to the Segment A estimate of about 12,800 bottles in Unit 3.
The repeat target reflects the fact that trial alone does not keep a product on the shelf; a shopper who buys once at a tasting and never again adds little. Farris et al. (2010) note that repeat rate is among the most informative early measures for a new consumer product, because it separates products that satisfy from products that are merely noticed. The awareness target is stated as a gain over a measured baseline rather than a fixed percentage, since the baseline is unknown and any fixed number would be a guess.
If Saguaro changes its review rules during the year, the targets will stay as written and the change will be noted beside them, so the plan is judged against the commitments made at launch.
Outcomes Versus Activity
The first four objectives measure outcomes: whether the sauce is available, whether it sells, whether buyers return and whether shoppers know it. The fifth measures activity: whether the planned tastings happened. Activity objectives belong in the plan because they are the part the firm directly controls and because they show whether the plan was carried out as intended. But only the outcome objectives decide whether the plan worked. Completing 102 tastings would be no success if the sauce still sold a unit a week; missing a few tastings would not matter if repeat buying reached its target. Keeping the two kinds separate prevents the owners from reporting effort as results, a distinction marketing texts draw between measures of output and measures of process (Kotler & Keller, 2016).
The coordinator's weekly report will show the two kinds of measure in separate columns so the distinction is visible every Monday, not only at the year-end review.
What Would Count as Failure
Saguaro reviews new items at 26 weeks, and its condiment buyer has said that items selling fewer than 1.5 units per store per week at that point are candidates for removal. The plan therefore defines failure in advance: if either sauce averages below 1.5 units per store per week in the Saguaro scan data for the four weeks ending October 31, 2026, the Arizona launch has failed for that sauce. In that case the owners will not ask for more shelf time with a larger promotion, which would spend money chasing a weak result. They will ask Saguaro to keep the better-selling sauce only, move remaining promotional funds to that sauce and review the Arizona decision at the end of the year.
A partial result is also defined. If both sauces sell between 1.5 and 3.0 units per week, the plan has survived but not succeeded, and the owners will look at the repeat and awareness measures to decide whether the problem is trial, which more tastings could fix, or satisfaction, which they could not. Every figure in this section, including Saguaro's review rules, is case data in a composite created for this course.
References
Doran, G. T. (1981). There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), 35-36.
Farris, P. W., Bendle, N. T., Pfeifer, P. E., & Reibstein, D. J. (2010). Marketing metrics: The definitive guide to measuring marketing performance (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.
Reading the BU 323 Unit 6 instructions
The objectives unit asks students to set measurable objectives for the marketing plan and explain how each will be tracked. Most versions want objectives written in SMART form, with a baseline, a target, a deadline and a measurement source. Many rubrics ask you to connect objectives to earlier analysis, separate outcome measures from activity measures and explain how results will be reviewed. Some instructors also want a definition of success or failure. When the firm is composite, baselines may come from case data or from an early measurement the plan schedules, but their source must be clear. Expect a table plus two to three pages of explanation in APA 7.
How the BU 323 Unit 6 example is put together
The sample begins by linking the objectives to four findings from the situation analysis and noting where baselines come from. A seven-column table lists five objectives with baseline, target, date, owner, source and review frequency. The next section explains each target, including a check that the rate-of-sale goal matches the size of the target segment. A section on outcomes versus activity explains why tastings are tracked but do not decide success. The final section defines failure as a rate of sale below 1.5 units at the chain's review and states what the owners will do in that case, as well as how a partial result will be read.
Reading the BU 323 Unit 6 rubric
Herzing's grading for objectives and measures usually covers the quality of the objectives, the measurement plan, the connection to earlier analysis and the definition of success. Quality earns full points when each objective has a baseline, target, date and owner. The measurement criterion rewards a named data source and review frequency for every objective. Connection is judged by clear links between objectives and findings from the situation and targeting sections. Instructors increasingly reward a predefined failure threshold and a plan for responding to it, which the sample provides. Separating outcome from activity measures also earns credit. A readable table and correct APA citations support presentation.
BU 323 Unit 6 help: mistakes that cost points
A common Unit 6 mistake is writing objectives with no baseline, such as increase awareness, which cannot be measured. Another is choosing targets without explaining where they came from. Students often list activities, such as run social ads, as if they were outcomes. Measurement sources are frequently missing, leaving no way to check progress. Some plans set so many objectives that none can be tracked well; four to six is usually enough. Finally, define failure before launch; deciding in advance what result would stop or change the plan protects the firm from spending more money to rescue a weak result. Make sure the owner named for each objective actually has the authority and the data access to track it.
Get a BU 323 Unit 6 example written to your instructions
Forward the Unit 6 instructions with the BU 323 rubric and any figures the case supplies. We write a custom example that gives every objective a baseline, a target, a date, an owner and a named data source, separates outcome measures from activity, and states the threshold for calling the plan wrong. First custom sample free, returned in 24 to 48 hours.
More BU 323 papers and marketing samples
- BU 323 Unit 1: Situation analysis
- BU 323 Unit 2: Competitor analysis
- BU 323 Unit 3: Segmentation and targeting
- BU 323 Unit 4: Positioning statement
- BU 323 Unit 5: Brand narrative
- BU 323 Unit 7: Tactics and budget
- BU 323 Unit 8: Complete marketing plan
- BU 321 Unit 6: Two sample comparison paper
- BU 380 Unit 6: Strategic commitment paper
- BU 106 Unit 6: Finance fundamentals exercise
- BU 217 Unit 6: Corporate responsibility paper
BU 323 Unit 6 questions, answered
Where do baseline numbers come from if the firm is invented?
From the case, and the section should say so. Constructed figures are entirely acceptable in a plan built for a course, provided the document states they belong to the case rather than to the market. What fails is presenting an invented baseline as a researched fact. One sentence at the head of the table settles it and protects everything underneath.
How many objectives should the plan carry?
Three to five is usually right unless the instructions specify. Each one has to be funded in the tactics section and measured afterward, so a list of nine produces a budget spread too thin to move any of them. Where you have more candidates than that, keep the ones tied to your situation findings and note the rest as secondary.
Do objectives have to be financial?
Not all of them, though a plan with none tends to read as detached from the business. Mix something the firm cares about commercially with measures of awareness, consideration or retention that marketing can plausibly move. What each one needs is a way of being observed, which is where non-financial objectives usually run into trouble.
Where can I find a free BU 323 Unit 6 sample paper?
Everything in the BU 323 Unit 6 section, from the objectives table to the failure definition, can be read above free. If your plan needs objectives built on different findings, send your instructions and earlier sections, and a custom set of objectives will be written for you free, usually inside two days.
Where do BU 323 Unit 6 baselines come from for a composite firm?
From the case, from comparable data or from a measurement the plan schedules. The sample takes one baseline from the firm's home-state sales, uses case data for the chain and schedules a survey to set the awareness baseline. State the source for each.