Assignment: Project Guidelines

Overview

The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing, and companies must be nimble and able to develop, evaluate, and change their digital marketing strategies in a short amount of time. Traditional marketing allowed marketers to create brand messaging and control how it was shared with an audience. But now more than ever, control over what is said about a brand or product has been put into the hands of consumers. The internet, social media, and mobile platforms have given rise to the voice of customers, and marketers have had to adapt.

For your final project, you will select a brand from a provided list and analyze its current digital marketing strategy. Using this written analysis (Final Project I), you will then develop a digital marketing plan (Final Project II). This plan will show where the brand's strengths and weaknesses are within its digital marketing presence. Referencing your findings, you will develop recommendations for how the brand can improve its digital marketing strategies and ensure it is using these platforms effectively. This process is vital in the marketing field, as it is through constant review and analysis that marketers are able to make informed decisions regarding strategies.

The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two and Three. The final product will be submitted in Module Five.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

• Determine the appropriate digital marketing platforms for supporting effective marketing strategies
• Determine the role of market research in developing strategic digital marketing plans
• Analyze digital marketing campaigns for determining their role in effective marketing communications
• Develop digital marketing plans that align with organizations' larger marketing strategies
• Examine digital marketing activities for identifying and addressing possible legal and ethical implications in digital marketing

Prompt

For your written analysis, you will select a brand and conduct an analysis of the brand's digital marketing strategies. Using your analysis, you will suggest improvements and develop the framework for a new digital marketing campaign that communicates the brand's message.

Select one of the following brands to analyze:

• Starbucks
• Microsoft
• TED Talks
• Doritos
• Burberry
• Nike
• Oreos
• Denny's
• Pampers
• Netflix
• Dove
• Honest Tea
• ADT
• Taco Bell
• Beats by Dre
• Reese's
• Krylon Spray Paint
• Mastercard
• Prudential
• Target
• IKEA
• Lego
• Harley-Davidson

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. The Brand's Use of Digital Marketing: In this section, you will examine the current marketing strategies used by the brand you selected.

A. Describe the strategy the brand is using to position itself in digital media (social, mobile, and online). Support your description with examples.

B. Describe how the brand's digital media strategy relates to its overall marketing campaign seen in print, television, and online. Support your description with examples.

C. Examine whether the digital marketing activity aligns with the organization's overall brand. Support your response with examples.

II. Social Media Platforms: In this section, you will examine the social media platforms used by the brand you selected. You will discuss how these platforms are used to support the brand's digital marketing strategy.

A. Identify the social media platforms the brand uses and explain how they align to the brand's target market.

B. Describe how the brand uses each social media platform. Consider what the brand's social media posts consist of or look like.

C. Describe how the brand must modify posts in order to accommodate the differing functionalities of social media platforms. In other words, how does a brand need to change a post between various social media platforms in order to communicate the same message?

III. Evaluating Digital Marketing Campaigns: Before recommending changes to a brand's digital presence, you should review and analyze its current state. This will help inform changes and improvements in the new media campaign.

A. Strengths

1. Determine which digital platforms would be most effective for the brand to use. Consider the overall brand, messaging strategy, and other marketing activities. Be sure to cite examples.

2. Describe what the brand is doing well on digital media. Support your response with examples.

B. Weaknesses

1. Identify a platform that the brand is currently using for marketing and could be improved or utilized more effectively. Support your response with examples.

2. Determine what the brand could improve on regarding its digital activity. Support your response with examples.

3. Describe how the brand could use research to better focus its digital activity.

4. Identify current legal and ethical concerns about the brand's current digital marketing strategy. Support your response with examples.

IV. Creating Digital Marketing Campaigns: Using your analysis of the brand's current digital media presence, develop the framework for a new digital campaign.

A. Describe the types of research that could inform a social media, online, and mobile campaign.

B. Create a messaging strategy for the overall campaign, including examples to demonstrate content and tone.

C. Referring to the digital platforms you determined to be most effective for the brand to use, describe the overall media campaign, including campaign goals.

D. Describe ethical and legal concerns that will need to be addressed.

Milestones

Milestone One: The Brand's Use of Digital Marketing

In Module Two, you will submit critical element I of Final Project I.

Milestone Two: Social Media Platforms and Evaluating Digital Marketing Campaigns

In Module Three, you will submit critical elements II and III of Final Project I.

Final Project I Submission: Written Analysis

In Module Five, you will submit the final version of Final Project I. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course.