The Course Project will involve you in developing an integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan for a brand of your choice. Integrating marketing communications entails identifying a brand message and then conveying that brand message through a series of touch points that are relevant to the target customer. The figure presented in the Week 1 Lecture captures the steps involved in developing an IMC plan-the brand is the central concern around which the IMC plan is developed. Early in the process, we establish who the customer is, what the customer wants, where the customer is, and then we think about how we will reach the customer in the space they are in, with what message, and which media. Please note, this is not a marketing plan or a business plan. The IMC plan focuses on the what we traditionally refer to as the promotion P, and what we are now viewing as communicating the value.

The objectives of this project are to

1. demonstrate a good understanding of a typical marketing problem, through a clear identification of the problem and careful analysis;
2. apply marketing concepts associated with branding and communications;
3. implement steps that are sufficiently clear and detailed for effective execution; and (Would your plan work?)
4. present your work in clear, compelling, and relevant documents.

Guidelines

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Select a brand that you feel passionate about. You are going to live with it for the next 2 months. You might select a brand that you can see has an obvious problem that can be helped by an IMC. For example, the brand may be organic but nobody that matters knows this, and because this is a growing market, there may be considerable growth potential that could be realized with a campaign that creates awareness, interest, desire, and gets action. Follow the process presented in the Week 1 Lecture carefully. Give extensive thought to your topic proposal, which can be downloaded from Doc Sharing, and complete this in Week 1. Use the brand analysis document to gain an understanding of your selected brand. Work on gathering data, and map out your ideas for the Week 4 deliverable, the Course Project draft. The draft should help you determine what you know and where gaps still exist. This document will guide you through to successful completion.

Your final report should be about 10-15 pages, please use the APA format for your paper and references. Keep in mind that you should use a professional writing style. This should be based on business English, and involve the correct use of marketing terminology. Use tables to summarize your information. A report is more likely to be implemented effectively if it is brief, but sufficiently detailed, clear, and relevant. Remember to experiment with the demand metric tools that are included in the Week 6 Lecture, these may give you some ideas for organizing your campaign. For each of your communications strategy plans, you should identify a specific objective, a media strategy, a media plan, and a budget. You are asked to provide the five typical options that form the communications strategy mix. Marketers must think about how they need to match competitors or provide novelty, you may want to substitute a campaign for something different-check this out with your professor.

You should include the following sections/headings in your draft and final write up.

Executive summary (1 page long, written last as a summary of the entire paper)

Introduction

IMC objectives

Market analysis

Communications strategy plans

• Traditional Media
• Internet
• Direct marketing
• Sales promotion
• Public relations (PR)

Conclusions

Your PowerPoint presentation will be based on your final report and should include 10-15 slides. A professional PowerPoint presentation in marketing should be based on good quality content, your slides should be clear and compelling. It is important to engage your audience and convey all of the important points that you have developed in your written report. Please include the artwork that you have developed, this is what your audience will want to see.

Rubric: Final Report

 POWERPOINT Rubric: Final PowerPoint Presentation