problem 1) Suppose you work for the advertising agency and your client is Rogers Communications Inc.  You have been asked to create and present the Advertising Plan for the launch of their latest product, a credit card.

Rogers will be the first telecommunications company in industry to launch a credit card.  Back in 2011, Rogers applied to create its own bank.  The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions just recently provided authorization for this initiative and now Rogers is planning to launch their credit card by Summer 2014.

Credit card will be targeted to both present Rogers customers, as well as prospective consumers in the market.  The target audience includes both men and women, age 18-55.

The credit card will earn cardholders points in Roger’s First Rewards Loyalty Program.  First Rewards was created with objective of improving relationships with existing customers.  Cardholders will be able to redeem points earned in the program for different benefits, including roaming packages, internet package upgrades and long distance for home phones.  At present, First Reward customers are assigned to one of three tiers: Silver, Gold, or Platinum. The tiers earn different amounts of points per dollar spent.

The Rogers credit card will be the joint venture with Mastercard.  A third party Canadian financial institution partner is not required, as Rogers has been granted authority to operate as a financial services provider.

Extra details about the credit card include the following:

• There will be no annual fee for the card.

• The interest rate will be competitive at 19.9%.

• The card will have PayPass technology.

Working with a $3,000,000 Cdn budget, you will create and present a comprehensive advertising plan.

Advertising Plan

Written Report Format:

The report will be typed in 10 pt. Century Gothic font.  Paragraphs will use single spacing. Titles within the report will be in 12 pt. font and bolded.

The report will be 10-12 pages long and will contain the sections described below.

The report will be printed on white paper and bound in clear report folder so the title page is clearly evident.

The report will be written using a formal writing style and not in the first person. 

1. Title Page:

2. Table Of Contents:

a. Each section of the report will be listed with the corresponding start page.

b. The Table of Contents page will not be numbered.

3. Executive Summary:

a. The Executive Summary will be one page summary of the analysis and recommendations. It is not a summary of the case.

4. Advertising Plan

5. Bibliography:

a. “You should suppose the ethical responsibility of formally acknowledging all borrowings made from sources you have used in completion of your case analysis, whether they are quotations, paraphrases, summaries, facts or perspectives. Any failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. You are not needed to document common knowledge, information that is widely known and accessible from multiple public sources.”  

b. Every other borrowing should be formally cited as footnote or endnote and identified in a bibliography.

c. Footnotes or endnotes should be included either at bottom of the page or a separate page at the end and should follow format identified on the attached handout and as provided in the footnote below.

6. Footnotes:

1. Will be completed as per above.

2. They will appear in the body of the report in the order of the quotes/borrowings they are acknowledging.

Written Report

1. Situation Analysis

a. Discussion of the total market.

i. Discussion to include size and growth of the market, (in units and/or dollars), stage in the product life cycle and any other information you find that helps to establish the size of the market in Canada.

b. Identify key competitors.

i. Key competitors need to be identified with market share, size and position in the market discussed.

c. Discussion of the consumer.

i. The buying behaviour of the typical consumer of credit cards needs to be discussed to assist in understanding the requirements of the communication plan.

ii. Link to Rogers’ Target Audience.

d. Summary of key environmental forces, as applicable:

i. Regulatory

ii. Economic

iii. Social

iv. Cultural

v. Technological

e. Company analysis

i. Rogers’ position in the market

ii. Rogers’ reputation in the market

f. Product analysis – Rogers First Rewards Mastercard

i. Strengths

ii. Weaknesses

2. Blocking Chart

a. An Excel blocking chart for the proposed 12-month advertising campaign

3. IMC Overview

a. A discussion of the other Promotional Mix tools and how they could be used to support the recommended Advertising Plan.