Assessment item 1 – Write an integrated marketing communications report

Due date: Monday of Week 10 by 5.00 p.m. AEST

Weighting: 50%

Length: 2000-2500 words

Assignment submission

All assignments should be submitted online through the MRKT19030 Moodle site. All reports will be checked by Turnitin to compare the report to other sources and will provide students and lecturers with a similarity score for the report. Reports with a similarity score index of more than 20% will be checked for plagiarism by the marker (although it may not necessarily mean that the student has plagiarised).

Assessment task

Option 1 is you work as the IMC manager for an Australian based business that specialises in selling topical flea treatment and flea preventative for cats/dogs (similar to brands such as Advantage or Advantix). You initially want to test market the product in a few cities in Australia, then commercialise the product nationally. With a budget of no more than AUD $10,000, your task is to develop an IMC plan for the launch in 2017 of a newly developed product featuring quarterly application (rather than once a month).

Option 2 provides the flexibility of developing an IMC plan for your current employer or a business you wish to start-up (but not both). If you choose option 2 then you must gain approval from your local lecturer/tutor (on-campus students) or from me (external students).

Whichever option is chosen, it is expected that a number of rough drafts are worked on before making the final submission through Moodle. This is not the type of assessment you can work on at the last minute if you are expecting a good mark.

Please note that the word count (2000 to 2500 words maximum) will be taken from the first word of the introduction. It will not include your executive summary, title page, table of contents, reference list and any tables or appendices (if you have any). The maximum number of pages will be 25 for submission.

Recommended IMC plan structure (this closely follows the marking criteria)

Title page

The title page will include the name of your organisation, the start and end date of the IMC plan (e.g. July-Sept. 2017), campaign name, your name, student id number and lecturer/tutor name and campus (for on-campus students) and course name and code.

Executive summary (no more than 200 words)

The executive summary should not read like an essay. You need to highlight only those critical aspects from your IMC plan. You should provide a brief overview of the existing organisation (or proposed business) and product/service, outline the 3 to 5 communication objectives chosen with quantifiable targets and timeframe for achievement, present the creative strategy selected (including target audience) and highlight the main elements of the media plan (including total budget). Use of sub-headings, dot or bullet points is recommended to better present the required information.

Table of contents

The table of contents will present each section of the IMC plan, including sub-headings, with their appropriate page number(s). Sections should be numbered with page number (e.g. 1.0 Introduction on page 1). Do not use page numbering for the title page, executive summary and the table of contents itself.

Introduction (no more than 200 words)

The introduction should present a brief outline of the history of the organisation (or proposed business) and the product/service that is the major focus of this IMC plan. In addition, aims and structure of the report should be presented.

Background and target audience analysis (no more than 400 words)

This focus here will be on presenting information as to your chosen target audience. If you chose option 1, then it is expected you research the marketing literature to better understand who is likely to have an interest in flea treatment/prevention for dogs/cats. A profile then needs to be outlined that gives the reader of your IMC plan a better understanding as to who you will be directing the proposed marketing communications at. Consider market segmentation according to demographic, psychographic, socioeconomic and geographic customer characteristics. Use of additional sources of information to help support the discussion is expected.

3-5 Communication objectives (no more than 500 words)

Students must present and explain 3 (minimum) to 5 (maximum) communication objectives for their IMC plan with quantifiable targets and timeframe for achievement. Some objectives of marketing communications include creating brand awareness and recall, establishing a positive brand image and encouraging purchase behaviour. Think about, and justify, why you have chosen these communication objectives for this particular target audience. Use of additional sources of information to help support the discussion is expected.

Creative strategy justification (no more than 500 words)

Students must choose one of the alternative styles of creative advertising and justify your choice against the target audience profile and your communication objectives. I’m looking for a brief description of your creative ideas with appeal and execution outlined that matches the style of creative advertising chosen. Creative approach is covered in chapter 11, e.g. type of message (pages 316-321), advertising appeals (pages 323—325) and advertising execution (pages 325-328). Use of additional sources of information to help support the discussion is expected.

Media plan (no more than 500 words)

Select the media and vehicle(s) you will use to achieve each of your communication objectives and justify your use of this media based on how this best communicates with your target audience. The media plan should be a reflection of the duration of the IMC plan (start and end date) as presented in the title page. You must take into consideration the creative strategy to be adopted when selecting the most appropriate media to use. For option 1, the budget is fixed at AUD $10,000. For option 2, think of realistic figure/s given the organisation, communication objectives and creative strategy to be adopted. A table (including budget totals) summarising this discussion is encouraged. Use of additional sources of information to help support the discussion is expected.

Conclusion (no more than 200 words)

In your opinion, why do you think it will be possible to achieve each of your chosen communication objectives? Briefly outline the target audience, each of the communication objectives and the creative strategy adopted to explain your answer.

Reference list

The IMC plan should include at least ten (10) sources of information from a combination of scholarly academic journal articles, academic textbooks, trade journals and websites. All sources listed should be in alphabetical order and be cited in the main body of the IMC plan using the APA referencing style.

Note: This is a recommended outline for your IMC plan. Any deviation from the above recommended outline runs the risk of not addressing the assessment criteria.

To enhance the presentation of your assignment, you can use many headings and sub-headings used to specify the information required for each of the above criterion. The assessment marking criteria below should guide you for this assessment task, in particular the weighting attributed to each section of the assignment.

Important:

- You should start working on the assessment as early as Week 3, even though it is due for submission in Week 10.

- Selection of literary support from Wikipedia, www.NetMBA.com, www.marketing, teacher.com, www.tutor2u.com, etc. will be treated very negatively. These are not appropriate sources for your academic assignment and their use is not acceptable.

- Students’ requests for an extension of the deadline for this assignment need to be submitted through the Assignment Extension System. Requests for reasons not mentioned in the CQUniversity Assessment of Coursework Procedures policy and not supported by appropriate evidence will not be considered. For example, if a student has been sick for 2 days before the assignment is due, the student needs to submit his/her request in the AES by the due date for the assignment and upload a medical certificate dated the day(s) of the sickness.