IMC Plan - Outline PDF

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Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Group Assignment Length:

30 PAGE MAXIMUM (appendices should not be used [with the exception of attaching a copy of your already submitted creative brief], 1.5 spacing 12-point serif typeface is requested for the body of the work, with table, figures, etc. at the discretion of students). Students must include creative work, examples, schedules, etc, and these must be bound within the 30 page report.

Value:

Integrated Communication Brief (15%) + IMC Plan – This includes stages 1 & 2 (35%) Total (50%)

Submission Date:

TO BE ADVISED BY YOUR LOCAL LECTURER. PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE 2 SUBMISSIONS REQUIRED. THE FIRST IS YOUR CREATIVE BRIEF (15%) AND THE SECOND IS YOUR IMC PLAN (35%)

Purpose:

To assist students to prepare a practical integrated marketing communication plan for a brand through the application of material presented in the course.

Students must work in teams. Group activities are a strategic element of the course where we challenge you to work with people possessing different personalities and skills. Students are required to work collegially, effectively and with respect. Group members should endeavor to work on all aspects of the assignment and this is the expectation. To improve the accountability of individuals within the group process, a peer review process has been put in place: 1. Groups need to complete a compulsory peer review form (available from the course website) in order to receive a grade for their work. Completing this form involves all group members discussing their contribution, filling out the peer review form and including this form with their IMC Plan. A clear explanation needs to be provided for any group member that has not participated in this process. 2. Groups must agree as to the percentage value of each member’s contribution to the various elements of the assignment when completing the peer review form. Please note: your lecturer MAY ADJUST your individual grade for work on the entire assignment based on your team members’ rating of your performance. It is your best interest to actively contribute to the success of their respective groups. All students are strongly encouraged to keep full and detailed records of their participation, contribution and general involvement in the assignment work. Please remember the expectation is that students work across all facets of the assignment (i.e. students should resist the temptation to segment work and rely on just one individual for work on specific sections). 3. Any individual group member that disagrees with the group’s assessment will need to speak with their local lecturer immediately the assignment is submitted. Your tutor will then evaluate your contribution to the particular assessment by reviewing work that you have evidenced. Based on your lecturer’s assessment of this work, your contribution percentage may be INCREASED or DECREASED.

Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Outline

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STAGE 1 (Campaign Planning) Stage 1 of the IMC plan details the research, analysis and key strategic decisions undertaken in preparing your group’s Integrated Communication Brief (creative brief).

1.

Current Situation Analysis

Perform a thorough analysis of the situation confronting the brand, internally and externally. The purpose of this is for you to get clarity around the marketing problem or opportunity to be addressed by the IMC plan. The situational analysis provides an overview of the IMC functions and an assessment of the environment in which IMC professionals must work. Several factors must be considered in the situational analysis. The company for which the IMC plan is being created must be analysed. The environment in which this company operates must be understood and detailed. A market and consumer behaviour analysis must be completed. Further, you must understand the competitive landscape. Please note: groups may need to make assumptions where data is unavailable. However, you must make an effort to track down information using more than just Google, corporate websites and Wikipedia.

1.1

Background Research and Analysis

Internal Research & Analysis The internal analysis incorporates research and assesses relevant areas involving the brand / service offering and the company itself. The capabilities of the company and its ability to develop and implement a successful IMC programme, the organisation of the IMC department, and the successes and failures of past programmes should be considered. Another aspect of the internal analysis revolves around undertaking research from which an assessment of the company or brand from an image perspective. Often, the image the company or brand brings to the market will have a significant impact on its IMC programme. Other issues to consider include: sales and profitability, mission and vision, organisation’s orientation (e.g., risktaking vs. conservative), finances, technology, human resources, market share, and sales trends. (Ferrell & Hartline 2011) Also consider asking questions such as: “What is the company’s culture like? How ambitious is the company? How much risk is it willing to incur? What is the state of the company’s financial, technological and managerial resources? What are the recent sales trends, profit trends and market share trends?” (Parente 2015) From this research and exploration, you should be able to derive the key strengths and weaknesses for inclusion in section 1.2 SWOT Analysis.

External Research & Analysis The environment in which a company operates must be understood and detailed. Existing market and consumer behaviour analysis must be completed. Further, you must understand the competitive landscape. Finally, a product or service history and evaluation should be included. Macro Environmental Factors: Undertake an external environmental analysis by examining the many different external factors affecting an organisation. Political Economic Socio-cultural Technological Legal Environmental Demographic. Only consider those that are directly relevant. Competitive Analysis: You need to know who your competition is. Further, you need to know how, why and when the competition will respond to changes in IMC tactics and executions. This analysis should examine both direct and indirect competition, with an emphasis on direct competition. Consumer Behaviour Analysis: You will need to complete a consumer behaviour analysis on current users. It is necessary to understand who, what, how, when, and why consumers buy / use your company’s brand item.

Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Outline

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In comparing the profile with the market that exists in aggregate, you may also find some market opportunities for growth. In this section, you should provide detailed analysis of the potential consumer(s) using demographics , psychographics, geodemographics and behaviouristics [brand loyalty]. Consider the CPM and HEM models. Current Brand Item Evaluation: Examine the existing marketing mix (product, price, distribution and promotion) of your brand item. You need to consider: o Brand item quality; o The benefits offered by the brand item and the needs and wants it satisfies; o Has the company developed new markets, or found new applications or uses for its brand item? o How do channel intermediaries feel about the brand item? o Is distribution effective? o Is the brand name well known? o What problems do consumers see with the brand item? o What are the brand item’s unique benefits or features? o How does the company differentiate its brand item from its competitors? o How do consumers perceive the brand item? (Baskin 2010) From this research and investigation, you should be able to derive the key opportunities and threats for inclusion in section 1.2 SWOT Analysis.

1.2

SWOT Analysis

Key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats are derived from your research and analysis. This SHOULD NOT contain any issue / insight that cannot be traced back to the internal and external research & analyses.

1.3

Key Marketing Problem or Opportunity

Overview of the key problem your campaign aims to solve and/or key opportunity it will address. Importantly, in many cases, an IMC campaign cannot solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity. There are things that a well-run IMC campaign can do and things that it cannot do. In the event that your selected marketing problem requires more than a new IMC campaign, you will also need to make changes to some or all of the other elements of the marketing mix before addressing Key Strategic Decisions. Any changes to the existing marketing mix need to be detailed in this section: i.e. new packaging, new distribution, new flavour / ingredients, premium pricing, line extension etc. It is strongly recommended however that this being an IMC plan you focus clearly on the main objectives inherent in this.

2.

Key Strategic Decisions

2.1

Marketing Objectives

Sales, market share, profit etc. (need to be SMART - measurable, achievable, realistic and over a specific timeframe).

2.2

Communication Objectives

Campaign communication objectives include: category need, brand awareness, brand image / attitude / preference, brand purchase / action intention. Please note: brand awareness and brand image / attitude / preference are almost always communication objectives. o

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Category Need - Establishing a product category to remove or satisfy a perceived discrepancy between a current motivational state and a desired motivational state. Brand Awareness - Fostering the consumer’s ability to recognise or recall the brand within the category, in sufficient detail to make a purchase. Recognition is easier to achieve than recall. Brand recall is important outside the store; brand recognition is important inside the store. Brand Attitude (brand image) - Helping consumers evaluate the brand’s perceived ability to meet a currently relevant need. Relevant brand needs may be negatively or positively oriented). Brand Purchase Intention - Moving consumers to decide to purchase the brand or take purchase-related action. Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Outline

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2.3

Positioning

No company can be successful if its products resemble every other product . Strategically, each brand item must represent the right kinds of things in the minds of the target market. Positioning requires that marketers define and communicate similarities and differences between their brand and their competitors. Positioning requires: (1) determining a frame of reference by identifying the target market and relevant competition, (2) identifying the optimal points of parity and points of difference brand associations given that frame of reference (consider a perceptual/positioning map), and (3) creating a positioning statement to summarise the positioning and essence of the brand.

2.4

Campaign Target Audience

Identifying the target audience for a campaign starts with looking at potential buyers of the brand item, current users, deciders, or influencers, and individuals, groups, particular publics, or the general public. The target audience is a critical influence on the communicator’s decisions about what to say, how, when, where, and to whom. You need to first look at the target audience in terms of usage / brand loyalty (Behavioural Segmentation): Is the target new to the category or current user? Is the target loyal to the brand, loyal to a competitor, or someone who switches between brands? If a brand user, is he or she a heavy or light user? In behavioural segmentation, buyers are divided into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude toward, use of, or response to a brand item. Your strategy sections in stage two of the IMC Plan will differ depending on the answers to these questions. Your target audience can be further delineated using the major segmentation variables of: geographic, demographic and psychographic segmentation.

2.5

Campaign Budget

You need to develop your Campaign Budget using at least one of the four budgeting methods discussed in the lecture series. These include: the objective-and-task method, the percentage-of-sales method, the competitive-parity method and the affordability method.

2.6

Brand Personality / Character

This is a description of the personality and character your brand should consistently portray. People have relationships with brands just as they do with people. That’s why marketers define the brand personality carefully. Some brands have subtle, and often unconscious, relationships with customers. A brand’s personality has those human personality traits. What kind of person would the brand be if it were human?

2.7

Integrated Communication Brief (creative brief)

You need to use the insight and key strategic decisions from stage 1 of the IMC plan to prepare your Integrated Communication Brief. The creative brief is due to be completed and submitted approximately midway through the semester (the exact date will be advised by your local lecturer). The brief is worth 10% of the marks in this course. Remember you have been provided a brief template to use for this. Top Tips for Top Briefs • • • • • • •

Your briefing template is a useful tool; learn how to use it Define the problem clearly. Inform and inspire. Aim to surprise and challenge preconceptions. Be clear and single-minded. Make sure it hangs together as a coherent whole. Clearly define the role for each media channel or activity. (Baskin 2010) Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Outline

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STAGE 2 (Campaign Strategy and Implementation) Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy For the IMC plan, it is essential that the work you submit demonstrates adherence to the Integrated Communication (creative) brief already submitted. You will be assessed on how this strategy is executed across media choices and planning, how the plan is to be monitored and evaluated and how well the central concept to your IMC strategy adheres to the key positioning of your brand, including target audience(s) selected and justified. While these specific elements will be considered, it is important to note that your work, being a practical plan (and brief) will need to be fully integrated and demonstrate synergy, fluency and structure. Provide mock-ups of / storyboards for advertisements, radio scripts, QR Codes, schedules, press releases, mock-ups of product placement, mock-ups of social media, media schedules, etc. used in your IMC plan. Your plan must be realistic, well thought out and demonstrate suitable creativity to achieve the objectives specified. A copy of the Integrated Communication (creative) brief done earlier in the course is to be attached as an appendix to your completed IM C plan.

3.0

Creative Strategy

Communications effectiveness depends on how a message is being expressed, as well as on its content. If a communication is ineffective, it may mean the wrong message was used, or the right one was poorly expressed. Creative strategies are the way marketers translate their messages into a specific communication. The plan needs to contain:

3.1

Development of Creative idea

A Key Creative Idea [needs to thoroughly described and developed around the key benefit claim/brand proposition] usually uses one of the creative strategies noted in the textbook and lecture series. Brainstorm the creative idea from the key creative brief insight and direction. Make sure you take into consideration the components of Brand Awareness & Brand Image / Attitude. You also need to demonstrate an understanding of persuasion and the Elaboration Likelihood Model from your text. This knowledge / understanding needs to be incorporated into the execution of outdoor mock ups, TV storyboards, radio scripts, social media, blogs, video etc. for traditional media and new media.

3.2

Detailed Explanation and Mock-ups (Tangible Executions) across all Media

You need to include detailed explanation and mock ups (TV storyboards, radio scripts, social media, blogs, video etc.) for all traditional media and new media selected for the IMC Campaign in this section. Traditional Advertising Media – includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, outdoor, and cinema etc. New Media – includes social media, Internet display (banner / remarketing), Internet search (SEO & SEM), websites / campaign microsites, video, forums, crowd sourcing, mobile (geo-targeting and apps) etc. DO NOT incorporate activities / tools outside those referred to above. Instead they need to be thoroughly developed under section 5.0 Other IMC Activities / Elements.

4.0

Media Strategy

Here we have broken down media into two sub-groups: traditional advertising media and new media. All other communication (IMC) tools are addressed separately in section 5.0.

Traditional Advertising Media Your selection of primary medium and secondary traditional media need to be strategically aligned to identified consumer behaviour (CPM and HEM) and communication objectives. They should not be selected in isolation! Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Outline

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Traditional Advertising Media – includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, outdoor, and cinema etc.

New Media New Media – includes social media, Internet display (banner / remarketing), Internet search (SEO & SEM), websites / campaign microsites, video, forums, crowd sourcing, mobile (geo-targeting and apps) etc. You need to include:

4.1

Justification of Media and Media Vehicles Selected

You need to demonstrate the strategic benefits and justify the use of all campaign media and media vehicles. This needs to be linked back to the client’s brief.

4.2

Media Objectives

You are required to demonstrate an understanding of the media objectives of reach, frequency, continuity, weight, recency (if relevant) and cost.

4.3

Media Plan / Schedule / Social Media Content Calendar

Appropriate and suitable plans, schedules and calendars that clearly highlight the roll-out and usage of media types

5.0

Other IMC Activities / Elements / Tools

It is important to understand that there are a range of techniques aside from traditional advertising and new media that allow a brand to communicate with its target audience(s), and can be integrated into an IMC campaign for greater overall success.

5.1

Selection, Integration & Detailed Explanation / Mock-ups of Other IMC Activities

You need to thoroughly develop and integrate your selected IMC activities. Elements to consider (certainly not exhaustive) include: Point of Purchase - Remember POP is the last opportunity for a campaign to affect behaviour of the target audience. Direct marketing - Direct marketing includes any marketing communications tool that interact directly with customers. Sales promotion - consists of a collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular products or services by consumers or the trade: sampling, bonus packs, sweepstakes, contests, trade promotions etc. Proactive Marketing Public Relations – Publicity is the major tool. However, proactive MPR plays an important role in: launching new products; repositioning products, building interest in a product category, influencing specific target groups and building the corporate image in a way that reflects favourably on its products. Sponsorshi...