Integrated Marketing Communications

Assessment:    In three parts :

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Workshop presentation 10% (group)
Project Proposal : 20%  (individual)
Briefing     12/26   March  2014
Proposal due date    ??? April  2014  ( 30 May 2014)
IMC workshop briefing     Post exams 14-20 may 2014
IMC workshop  – Cambridge      23-25  May 2014
Workshop Assessment      24 May 2014
Feedback from proposal     9- 20  May 2014
Allocation of supervisor     9-20   May 2014
Full Project due date    28  August  2014
Confirmation of grades    October  2014
Graduation       November 2014-03-12
Project :70%  (individual)

Academic Weighting:    30 Credits

Module Timings

Teaching & Learning Methods

The IMC CAMPAIGN PLANNING PROJECT is a 30 credit, with three core assessments thatrequire you to apply your course learning to a ‘real life’ brand and organisation. You will draft a fully justified and  budgeted, time-scaled Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign for a brand of your choice.

Classes and Inputs
Various aspects of IMC are covered across the full taught degree programmein the individual moduleswhich are then supplemented by specific inputs contained in the module Contemporary Issues in Integrated Marketing Communications .  This is further supported by a residential workshop that focuses on the application of an Integrated Marketing Communication plan for a specific brand.   This workshop element will be assessed by a group presentation.

Supervision
Each student is allocated a personal supervisor to guide their progress in the project,  once the initial proposal has been agreed and marked by the module leader.

Working with the supervisor
Each supervisor is allocated approx. 3 hours contact time with the student which could be a series of face to face meeting or distance discussions (skype, email etc)  to be arranged between the supervisor and student.
It is the students’ responsibility to manage their time well over the period and students should not expect  supervisors to be available at the last minute for support.  Some supervisors will be unavailable for periods during the process and you will need to fit around their availability.
Aim to establish availability at the outset, so you can plan your activity carefully.
If you are planning to be away from the London during /between May and August please let me know in your proposal.

Overview of Project module

4MMC715 – ASSESSMENT     Marks    Word Guideline
W1    Workshop Project    10/100    presentation
P1    Project  proposal – concept submitted for appraisal
The rationale for the Project  Proposal of Marketing Communication    20/100    3,000
P2    The Integrated Marketing Communications Project      70/100    12,000
The  Integrated Marketing Communications  Plan for the project – set out in 4parts :
2A       Campaign Objectives and Scope    15/100    3,000
2B      Communications and Campaign Strategy- Specific Proposals    15/100    3,000
2C    IMC  Delivery    30/100    5,000
2D      Campaign Outcomes Evaluation    10/100    1,000

_________________________________________________________________________________________ W 1 –   IMC  Project  Presentation

Marks :    10 /100  Marks
Presentation : 15 mins
Due Date : 24 th  May  2014

This presentation will be a group activity  (self selected)  at the Residential Workshop in  Cambridge UK taking place 23-25th May 2014. Attendance is essential. A unique case will be showcased in the week before the residential by an industry  marketing /comms  manager with a real life case study. Students will work on the brief beforehand and at the residential, preparing for the final presentation of their IMC  solutions on the afternoon of the 24th May 2014.   The presentation will be marked on their interpretation of the brief,  the quality of their solutions.   More detailed guidelines will be given in the briefing sessions for this.

_________________________________________________________________________________________P 1 –   IMC  Project  proposal

Marks :20 /100  Marks
Words :3,000 words
Due Date :17th April 2014

This first stage proposal establishes the background and basis which underpinsthe IMC Project , and proposes an justified IMC  outline plan.    Its purpose is to set out clear strategic direction for the company that is then supported by a well-planned, integrated IMC campaign.

This submission, which is similar in content to the Marketing and Branding module coursework, enables the course team to evaluate the proposal for its suitability and to make suggestions for change and amendment to ensure a robust assignment. The submission may also highlight the need forspecialist supervision thatmay be available from the pool of supervisors available.

Summary of the proposal
You will need to select a marketing sector and a specific brand within it  thatyou can build a future IMC campaign around.   Youwill need to select and define a geographic region ~ideally this should be the UK where you have most experience and knowledge and where we have the most specialist supervisors.
In this proposal you will need to consider the marketing of the brand and its future direction.  You will need to demonstrate, through a comprehensive situation analysis, an understanding of the market dynamics, the core competition andthe brands key strengths and weakness. You will need to show comprehension of its branding and positioning as well its marketing performance, expressed through the marketing mix elements.   There needs to be a specific emphasis on how it and its competition have managed their marketing communications to date.

From this current situation analysis you will need to formulate credible marketing strategy for the future that needs to consider strategic development for product, for markets and for the brand.   Relevant tools such as Ansoff and SWOT should be employed.  Any product developmentor extension ,re-positioning, re-branding and/or market changes (expansions or reductions) will need to be explained through analysis of their current problems and a clear rationale for change.   However there is no requirement for any significant change to marketing strategy. Youmay consider an unchanged product, market and brand and simply consider, for this project, how the marketing communications element can be improved in the future.   You will need to present financial analysis that reviews and evaluates and projects the brands sales, profit and marketing communications  spend, in relation to that of the other key market players.
The proposal should conclude with clear, quantifies marketing objectives and overview of the core IMC objectives – what you plan to achieve through IMC, what message you will develop and an idea of which media will be selected. The IMC plan does not need quantification at this stage but should indicate a budget.

Key contents of the Proposal :

Executive summary outlining the proposal for marketing communications

•    Market or industry definition and parameters
•    Market dynamics, trends focussing on opportunities and threats
•    Competitor evaluation leading to summation of relative strengths and weakness
•    Overview of selected brand
•    Outline of current brand’s marketing activity – with a focus on communications
o    This should answer the questions ‘Where are we now?
•    Clarification of strategic marketing opportunity to be developed for the brand
what are you are recommending for future
•    This recommendation will answer the questions  Where do we want to be?
•    The quantified marketing objectives and the implications for the IMC.
•    Summary of financial analysis as appropriate throughout the discussion
•    Your discussion must be presented using appropriate analytical frameworks.

These sections need to be clearly and fully expressed as this will form the initial chapters of the final IMC project. This will be marked as the initial stage and will not be marked again in the final submission .
As always much of the detail can be presented in the appendices with the critical analysis and summary in the main text.

Additional Support notes for this section :————————————-

What needs to be done and why?
This stage is essentially the development and detail of the proposal idea within the context of the host organisation and the market environment

Research sources

There is no requirement for you to do any primary research. Indeed, the chances of you doing any that is representative and statistically significant are remote – you do not have either the time or resources.   However if you feel a small scale inquiry would guide you in your decision making then you can use your results to guide our development. In the ‘real world’ you would have  more resources to conduct  proper research but the line of inquiry should be the same.  In addition you may wish to  conduct of one-off in-depth interviews with experts that can been used to direct the development of strategy.
However, evidence based on secondary research is critical to your projects’ credibility, and all analysis and development should be carefully evidenced.
A critical assessment of the secondary research that you have accessed and used is very important to achieve and should be summarised at this point.

You should include a section on your methodology which is supported fully by the reference and bibliography section all presented using Harvard reference system.

Marketing Objectives/Strategic context

From a combination of the macro and micro analyses, a summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations should be produced that will answer the question – Where do we want to be?  This should then be expressed in terms of marketing objectives.  Marketing objective should be expressed through product terminology such as market share, market entry, or market terminology such as customer retention, or customer acquisition/new market development.
These objectives should be SMART and are likely to be expressed by using as appropriate the standard strategic growth models – Ansoff, Porter etc.
There should be a clear presentation of the financial implications of the proposed activity which relates directly to the  IMC budget,  developed in later sections.

Recommendation  of IMC  Plan

An outline of your proposal for IMC activity should be given, which shows how IMC can deliver to the identified marketing objectives.   This should include and overview of the message and media as well as budget and timings.

_________________________________________________________________________________________PART2  TheIMC Project

This part sets out the detail of the how the potential opportunity should be realised.

Marks :70/100  Marks
Words :12,000 words
Due Date :28th August 2014

P2    The Integrated Marketing Communications Project      70/100    12,000
The  Integrated Marketing Communications  Plan for the project – set out in 4parts :

2A       Campaign Objectives and Scope    15/100    3,000
2B      Communications and Campaign Strategy- Specific Proposals    15/100    3,000
2C    IMC  Delivery    30/100    5,000
2D      Campaign Outcomes Evaluation    10/100    1,000

________________________________________________________________________________________(2A) Campaign Objectives and Scope     15 Marks: 3,000 words
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Based on the identified opportunity and marketing recommendation outline in the proposal, you will need to define and develop the IMC campaign that will support your marketing objectives. This will include setting clear quantified IMC project objectives and exploring the scope and brand positioning  (both current and desired).
The role that IMC plays in enhancing the company/brand’s promotional strategy is identified and fully explored.
It must consider relevant branding issues and how the campaign will change the brand and what consequences that will have on the target market, the brand, other related brands and the IMC campaign.
In this section you must include a detailed quantification of the target market, analysis of consumer behaviour by target market, exploration of potential motivational insights – including the decision making process – using appropriate methodology..

Support notes for this section :——————————————

Campaign Objectives and Scope

The Role of IMC in Marketing Management

The IMC campaign objectives & scope embarks on an attempt to answer the question – How might we get there i.e., meet the project objective(s)?

In the first place, you need to display your knowledge of integrated marketing communications and its growing role in the marketing management process and why this is so. You  willneed to relate your understanding of IMC to your own chosen company/brand, discussing the extent to which it seems to have adopted IMC.  Appropriate academic sources should be quoted.
If your proposal is requires contribution from marketing activity other than IMC then you need to address and quantify the role of IMC within the Marketing mix. For example the launch of a retail chain into UK will require marketing activity such as location, in store, product selection, etc. How will this fit in with marketing communication.

IMC Performance Objectives

From the marketing objectives, you must define the purpose of the IMC campaign, addressing the question – what you are seeking to change about the brand’s position and image, the degree of change that is being sought and the timescale over which this change is to be achieved.   You need to consider the implication of changing position and the consequence of current positioning / target market and other products in the portfolio which might be affect. It is normal to think in terms of one year for your IMC, starting sometime after your submission date.  In some cases, a longer time horizon is required and should be specified and justified.

Target market and Consumer profiles

It is essential to quantify and profile this as precisely as possible, otherwise your campaign will lack the necessary focus.

There are many sources of data, which have been covered during the course – National Statistics being the key one from which all others derive, such as ACORN, MOSAIC.  The information and data that you gather in this part should be geared to an assessment of the target market’s underlying motivational and behavioural psychology – the purchasing decision making process- using frameworks such as AIDA, Means End Chain.  These insights should be balanced against the category product area/brand claims, via the  positioning process.  The use of profiles of typical consumers in the target market should be provided.  Differences should be clearly identified between existing and new target markets.

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The question to be addressed is “Who are our customers, how, when and why do they buy?”

If your positioning has changed you may lose some customers in order to gain new ones. You must evaluate these consequences.

Branding Issues

Branding issues should be  addressed in full with consideration of brand architecture (egcorporate ownership, brand extensions)   The image of the brand, its strengths, performance, promise, claims and value should be analysed, using one of the appropriate frameworks – brand aura,brand pyramid, brand wheel.
Confirmation about the degree of change needs to be provided, along with desired change in positioning – there may be none necessary, of course.  How successfully is the brand communicated to the target market now? The key question to be answered is “What does our brand mean in the market-place and does it need to be improved” – if so, how?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
(2B) Communications and Campaign Strategy- Specific Proposals     15 Marks: 3,000 words
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Based on the above, the message to be communicated needs to be devised and each available communication tool should be explored for its suitability to the delivery of the chosen communication strategy. This will require an appreciation of the role of each of the tools in IMC, in general, and specifically to the chosen topic, providing reasons for the acceptance and rejection of the tools. You do not have to include every IMC tool;  you need to select those that are  appropriate to the situation. However consideration should be given to the comprehensive range of tools; thus if you make a decision to not use a tool  you should provide a brief rationale for exclusion, rather than simply ignore it.  You should also select tools that enable you to demonstrate mechanisms of integration.
Evidence  should be provided on:-
(a)    the quality of vertical integration  throughout the project for the  objectives  and strategy at corporate, brand, and IMC level
(b)    (b) the quality of potential horizontal synergy in the message delivery programme between the selected media.

Support notes for this section : —————————————–

The Communications and Campaign Strategy – Specific proposal

Message Development

On the basis of the above analysis, you should now be in a position to devise aCentral Organising Idea (COI) or appropriate message “strap line” for your campaign,that will serve as the basis for the communication process. This is not just for the advertising but will hold together the whole campaign and resonate with the brand strategy. It should answer the question – “what are we saying”

The strategy needs to take account of the various stakeholders to give their agendas the appropriate attention.  These will include employees.  The microneeds analysis refers to internal marketing and the availability of internal resources that will be needed to implement the campaign.

You will then need to devise the appropriate strategy to communicate the message effectively to the target market.  This seeks to address the question –“Which channel is best?” . You need to explore all of the available communication tools and assess which ones are appropriate and which ones are not, with justification provided in each case.  You will need to consider both the existing channels used and those used by competitors as well as any changes in your identified target market.

Push&  Pull Strategy

Your campaign strategy will need to evaluate the role of push and pull strategy and the appropriate emphasis of each. For large complex brands you may decide to build a campaign for just one element but you will need to briefly address the needs of the other. The balance between push and pull strategies will vary according to your brand and market-place and will be unique to your IMC.

Push
The analysis should relate to the extent to which the company/brand is established in the routes to its markets.  If your brand/product is in a market entry situation, which are the routes to market and how does the brand obtain access to these routes and with what degree of difficulty.  If the brand is already well established, are there any special measures that need to taken to enhance the point of sale situation?  Consideration should be given to the appropriate IMC tools for this strategy

Pull
You will need to consider the role of pull directly at increasing consumer demand and identify key tools for this strategy – advertising, PR, DIM.

Integration strategy

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Vertical Integration
Is best illustrated as the interpretation of a corporate mission down through the organisation via SBUs, to the operating departments, their teams, products and brands. The SBUs and departments take responsibility for their share of the delegated mission as sub-task/s. The teams and individuals accepting the sub-tasks and breaking them down into mini-task/s.Each new layer becoming the strategy/solution of the layer above. It is the successful completion of the mini-tasks that deliver the sub-tasks, that: in total deliver the mission. The quality of this process is the ‘vertical integration’.

Horizontal Synergy
Is a comment on the quality of marketing strategy implementation and refers to marketing communications delivery. It is only created when all the strategic and tactical elements/activities come together to create synergistic  impact  that is greater than the individual components could be reasonably expected to achieve on their own.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
(2C) IMC  Delivery    30 Marks : 5,000 words
_____________________________________________________________________________________

In this section you need to  provide details on the delivery and integration of  the chosen communication tools into a single homogeneous solution, distinguishing between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ needs.  Clear time lines for both individual delivery by chosen tool and the overall campaign must be defined, along with the costs of deploying the selected media. An overall budget and time line must be provided, along with its justification. The financial implications of the campaign must be  estimated.   This section will be different for each project as it

Support notes for this section : ——————————————

The Campaign Delivery Recommendations

By now, you should have decided upon which communication tools will be used and why.  Now, you have to decide on the extent to which each one will be used, in terms of reach, frequency and cost. This needs to be planned and shown in  time sequence for  the timescale of the campaign.  A cohesive and integrated communications strategy should be delivered by a programme that meets all the diverse objectives and needs of stakeholders.

The Campaign Budget
The resultant budget needs to be related to the financial situation of the organisation/ brand. Is it realistic and robust enough for the recommendation outlined? Are solutions both effective and efficient?
The acid question is “Can you persuade the Board of Directors to sign off the funds?
Details of the revised performance of the organisation need to be detailed and compared with your estimates of current spend

The Campaign Timelines

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A detailed and integrated time line should be presented for all elements of the campaign.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
(2D) Campaign Outcomes Evaluation     10 Marks :1,000 words
_____________________________________________________________________________________

In addition, methods that can be used to evaluate the performance of the campaign must be identified, so as to provide a basis to address the questions “How well did the campaign do?”, How much return did it make for the company?” and “How  might we do it better in future?’

Support notes for this section : ——————————————

Campaign Performance Evaluation

You are required to detail the quality of your own campaign and how you will capture the data that will measure actual performance. This section must identify those key performance indicators  that will determine the success or failure of your project and how the outcomes will be measured and the data captured for analysis, e.g., awareness, channel penetration, trial and first purchase. This section should also address issues of vertical integration and horizontal synergy, as described below

Presentation of  Proposal and Project

Proposal
For the proposal you are required to submit one copy into registry and to upload it onto blackboard
Project
For the final project you are required to submit two hard  copies into registry and to upload it onto blackboard. The final project should incorporate the proposal.
These submissions should be double line spaced, printed one side only, presented between good quality covers with your name, student number, degree course, module title, date and year clearly identified CA1 form.
All component Parts (1 &2)  must be handed by the deadline to the  Coursework Lobby . Any resubmissions also need to be delivered through the Coursework Lobby
Location : WBS Registry 35 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS.

Other Details and Requirements
•    The proposal will be  markedby your supervisor and returned with comments / feedback  for your consideration.   After submission  of the proposal  you will be allocated an appropriate supervisor who will support you throughout  the process of  your IMC project .

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•    The final project should be a the comprehensive IMC Campaign Plan plus appendices, a full  bibliography, a full list of references
•    Include a word count at the end of the contents page.   This word count should exclude the executive summary, the appendices, references and bibliography and any tables in the text.
•    Any included tables, diagrams, charts  etc that are excluded from the word count should have commentary, summary or analysis  in the main text which is included in the word count.
•    Emphasis will be placed on the quality of the analysis and decision-making throughout.  The quality of the vertical integration from one stage of the process to the next and the potential for synergy across the communications solution ,as well as the overall  presentation  of the document.
•    Your project supervisor is your primary source of reference but members of the module leadership will also advise you on any issues arising from the module and its successful completion.
•    Please ensure that all tables, figures and graphs are numbered sequentially and have titles.

Notes on topic selection :

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•    Choosing markets or sectors with limited data availability may prejudice the quality of your situation analysis and IMC campaign and the subsequent mark awarded. However,  if you are able to make realistic assumptions and projections for relevant data then this may compensate, but these assumptions must be clearly stated throughout the project.

•    Choosing very small organisations with limited financial resources may cause budget-funding problems to support a realistic integrated communications plan.  Thus whilst you do not have to utilise all MC tools,  if the budget only allows very limited scope for MC development then you may not be able to fully explore the interrelationships of an IMC campaign, thus limiting your opportunities to achieve the module objectives.

Essential reading: Key Texts :

This module draws on all the resources from the other modules as well as some specific texts :-

Integrated Marketing Communications    David Pickton& Amanda Broderick
2nd ed. Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall 2005

Essentials of Marketing Communications    Chris Fill
Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall   2011

Marketing Communications: Interactivity, Communities and Content ;  Chris Fill
Pearson Education  2009

Plus texts from the individual Modules

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