MSc in International Strategic Marketing

MSc in International Strategic Marketing
Topic:
Select an organisation or a brand, analyse its curr
ent Marketing Communications and
Suggest a New Marketing Communication Strategy and
Tactics.
Report structure:
1. Executive summary
summarises key issues raised in the report. The Su
mmary should
commence with a general description of the current
communications organised by the firm. It
should also include the
NEW
key communication aim and subordinate communicatio
n
objectives. It is a summary of the key propositions
for the campaign, as well as a summary of
how plans will be implemented. It should be present
ed in a separate page on its own and
should not be longer than 1 page long.
A table of contents should follow the executive sum
mary.
2. Situation analysis.
An examination of the current position and its offe
r. This analysis of
background information is the research that provide
s the basis for the objectives, strategy and
tactics. It refers to the analysis of the current c
ommunications of the selected firm. It could
include areas such as:
•
Company’s analysis, Brand and product analysis
•
Customers’ analysis (target markets, target audienc
es)
•
Competitors analysis
You should focus on situational issues that are rel
ated to the communication strategy and
APPLY the theoretical concepts in a manner that you
will provide input to the communication
strategy. Try to organise your thoughts in tables a
s much as possible.
Information in this section may derive from primary
or secondary sources.
3. Objectives
are goals or aims or end results that communicator
s should seek to achieve.
Marketing communications objectives typically refer
to the goals that marketing
communications have in affecting the mind of the ta
rget audience. They should be Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Relevant, Target
ed, and Timed. They should be presented
in a hierarchy:
•
Marketing Objectives
•
Communication objectives. Within these communicatio
n objectives, think of the
contribution of the various elements of the integra
ted marketing communications in
achieving them. You might want to think about subse
ts of Advertising objectives or Other
Communications Mix Elements’ objectives
Link the objectives with the suggested communicatio
nal tools in part 4.
4. Marketing Communications Strategy and Action Pla
n.
Strategy provides the direction for all
those involved in the campaign to follow. It provid
es the framework within which they should
operate. It is a means by which it is intended to a
chieve the objectives stated. You should think
of the DETAILED decisions on each one of the sugges
ted marketing communication tools.
The structure of this section per each component of
the mix can be broken down to something
like this:
4.1 Advertising Strategy and tactics
4.2 Sales promotion strategy and tactics
4.3 PR strategy and tactics
4.4 Direct Marketing and tactics
4.5 xxx
You do not necessarily have to use all the marketin
g communications mix element. It very
much depends on the chosen product, the objectives
of your campaign and the target
audiences.
You should state the objectives for each communicat
ion tool. Think how these objectives relate
to the overall communication objectives (see point
3). You should also analyse the suggested
tactics. The Tactics section of the planning proces
s details the specific activities and events
that are going to be undertaken to address the obje
ctives, so the action plan should be slotted.
Some areas that you should think about include:
•
The development and continuous monitoring of the ca
mpaign
•
Campaign flow (what are the functions to be perform
ed)
•
Resource management (do we need internal or externa
l resource?)
•
Briefing (what do we need from our internal/ extern
al suppliers?)
You should also include a detailed Schedule of the
marketing communications plan. Here a
comprehensive calendar describing when each one the
activities for each component of the
communication mix should take place.
Make sure that you are thinking of the situation th
e company faces and the marketing
communications objectives as you are developing you
r suggestions.
5. Campaign evaluation
. The campaigns need to be evaluated in terms of th
eir efficiency – how
productive is the campaigns in terms of providing v
alue for money and their effectiveness – how
productive is the campaign in terms of achieving wh
at is supposed to be achieving.
6. Budget
. In this section a break down of all costs need to
be presented. This should be linked
with the method used to determine the promotional b
udget. Detail the cost associated with
specific activities.
7. References
. Both on theory and on market data (i.e. media cos
ts, trends in consumer
behaviour, academic references that support your en
coding choices etc)
8. Appendices:
This section should be used to present details or e
xamples of all the issues
raised in the rest of the campaign plan.
Important information:
This is an INDIVIDUAL report. Reference should be m
ade to relevant theories, concepts or
frameworks as well as to current Marketing Communic
ations practices and examples, but only in
the way that they are applied and
not
as theories themselves.
All references should be cited and a bibliography d
etailing the source be positioned at the end of
the report. Students should use relevant diagrams,
models and figures throughout the report.
The reports should be clearly divided to the pre-me
ntioned sections. The emphasis should be on
the marketing communications plan, rather than the
situation analysis. Details on the choices made
on the communication approach is expected.
The length of the reports should be around 3,000 wo
rds (excluding executive summary, table of
contents, situation analysis, appendices, tables an
d references).
Only the marketing
communication objectives and action plan counts in
the word limit, not the situation
analysis
. However, you are expected to provide all the nece
ssary background information that
made you make these communication choices.
Please make sure that you do include the Turn It In
report with your assignment. More information
on how you can access this facility will be send to
you from the administrative staff. If your
submission is delayed, it will be penalised accordi
ng to the information in your handbook.
Marking
Marking will focus on your written demonstration of
your understanding of the concepts covered in
the Marketing Communications and your ability to ap
ply these concepts in a real situation. The
main elements that are assessed is selection, analy
sis, and evaluation of relevant to marketing
communications decisions elements of the situation,
the suggestion of robust and relevant
marketing communications objectives and the choice
and full development of appropriate
marketing communications tactics. The marketing com
munication strategies and tactics should be
developed to the level that are executable. The pre
sentation of the situation analysis and the
suggested marketing communication decisions are exp
ected to be based on your academic
reading. The suggested marketing communication obje
ctives and decisions on strategies and
tactics should also be related to the situation ana
lysis. A successful essay must of necessity go
beyond development and presentation at the level at
which material is covered in class as well as
that which is simply restated from the text.
Starting your assessment early will very likely imp
rove the quality of your essay. An assessment
such as this cannot easily be done with little time
for considerable and careful development and
crisp, clear presentation.
All participants must work independently for the pr
esentation of their written assessed assignment.
Far more reading (theory) is needed at this level. Papers from academic journals should have been also used for assignments in the MSc level. The situation analysis lacks depth. Very limited use of appropriate theoretical frameworks to analyse the situation. The objectives weak. It would be really surprising to have only 1 marketing and 1 marketing communication objective. 3 pages of marketing communications of the quality submitted really do not meet the requirements of what was asked. There is not enough detail to make this communication program ready for implementation. The evaluation is not existing.