Integrated Marketing Communications

Assessment item 2 requires students, acting as the IMC Director of a fictitious advertising firm, to develop an IMC plan (this is not a business or marketing plan). Students have the option of choosing one of the two following tasks:

Task 1 presents two start-up companies of which you select one of these companies as the basis for your IMC plan with a focus on launching the product in Australia; or

Task 2 provides the flexibility of developing an IMC plan for your current employer or a business you wish to start-up (but not both).

Report structure

Title page

This should include the name of the organisation, duration of the IMC plan (start and end date) and the campaign name.

Executive summary (no more than 400 words)

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 dot or bullet points is perfectly acceptable.

Table of contents

Each section of the report, including sub-headings, should be numbered and with the appropriate page numbers.

Introduction (no more than 400 words)

An outline (briefly!) of the history of the existing organisation (or proposed business) and product/service is required. In addition, the background to the report, aims and structure of the report also needs to be presented.

3 to 5 communication objectives (no more than 1000 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. Communication objectives can be found under the heading Advertising functions’ in chapter 5 of the prescribed text. Think about, and justify, why you have chosen these communication objectives for this particular market. In order to do this, you will need to provide a target audience profile (including demographics, psychographic, behavioural factors etc.). Use of additional sources of information to help support the discussion is expected.

Creative strategy justification (no more than 1000 words)

Students must choose one of the alternative styles of creative advertising (see table 6.1 from chapter 6 on page 137) 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. Use of additional sources of information to help support the discussion is expected.

Media plan (no more than 1000 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. There is no set budget but I’d like you to provide one here and to 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 400 words)

In your opinion, why do you think it will be possible to achieve each of your chosen communication objectives? Briefly explain your answer.

Reference list

The report should include at least fifteen (15) sources of information from a combination of scholarly academic journal articles, academic textbooks, trade journals and websites.