1. "A study released Tuesday [November 18, 2014] by NerdWallet finds that a number of the deals being offered for Black Friday are no better than what was offered last holiday season, or even a week or two earlier. 'Retailers keep offering the same kind of deals on Black Friday that consumers could have gotten for the same price last year,' said Matthew Ong, senior retail analyst for NerdWallet. Shoppers expect to find incredible bargains when they line up outside stores in the middle of the night after Thanksgiving.
Please choose a retailer (one of your favorites) and briefly describe the retailer's primary product line(s) and one primary target audience.
• Identify two touch points where the identified target audience and retailer brand interact about "Black Friday." Describe each touch point and the interactive, resulting response the retailer is expecting from the target audience at each of these touch points.
•Now, put yourself in the position of the person responsible for all brand communications (digital and traditional) for this retailer. What communication strategy would you recommend so that your customers are not "disappointed?" (Note that you cannot influence products featured on the "Black Friday' sale nor the prices of those products.]
2. A large part of this course has been focused on developing an Integrated Marketing Communication Plan. Being as specific as possible, provide advice to a communication professional about how to develop an IMC Plan. How would you assess whether or not a proposed IMC Plan is actually a good plan? Now, from your individual perspective, what was the most important insight that you gained from this semesters IMC Plan experience? What was your biggest frustration?
3. Please review your class materials on Creativity. What is one idea that you can implement in your professional/student life to develop your creative skills - in how you define and analyze problems, in how you make decisions, in how you present or communicate to others, etc.? Specifically, how do you plan to implement this idea?
4. Throughout this course, vie have used theories (e.g., means-end chain; consumer decision journey), simple concepts/rules of thumb (e.g., "everything communicates"), communication "documents" (creative briefs; IMC plans), professional applications (e.g., personal elevator opportunities, a real, client-focused IMC project, blog posts), guest speakers (Matt Olson, Katrina Galas, Lyndee Kemp), presentations and class lectures, videos, exercises, etc. What are the four most important things you learned in this class? Briefly explain. How will they help you in your educational career, professional career and/or life?