Final Paper - Communications Strategy Plans

Week 4 Draft Details

For this week’s deliverable, you are to provide a summary draft of your plan for the final paper.
Similar to an outline, your draft will include each of the major headings of the paper; however, you
will also need to include brief details in paragraph or bullet point format of what you will include
within each heading. You must also include inline (intext) citations where appropriate; 1000 – 1500
words and include the references at the end in APA format.
The more details or direction you provide here, the easier it will be to write your final paper in Week
7. In addition, you can obtain higher quality feedback from the instructor if you include your full
outlined plan in this first draft. This feedback can be very helpful in elevating your grade.
In this draft, you should include the following sections that will be in your written report:
Executive Summary (this is written last and is usually one page long)
A. Introduction
B. IMC Objectives (Quantify)
Identify the brand and the principle objectives of the campaign and quantify where possible:






Attract new customers
Retain existing customers
Branding objectives
Marketing and corporate objectives

C. Market Analysis
A detailed analysis will provide the specific details for decision-making:

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

SWOT
Segmentation and Targeting
Positioning
Product/Service
Customer Profile
Marketing Channels

D. Communications Strategy Plans
Listed here are the typical options available that form the communications strategy mix – marketers
must think about how they need to match competitors or provide novelty, each strategy requires a
specific objective, a media strategy, a media plan, and a budget. Each communications strategy (e.g. a
traditional media campaign involving a print ad in a magazine) requires:

Week 4 Draft Details






Specific Objective
Media strategy: Big idea, Message, Copy, Visuals
Media Plan: Reach and Frequency
Budget: How much will this cost?
a) Traditional Media
A paid for, mass-mediated, attempt to persuade, use to build brand identity, this is a big
investment:

b) Internet
As advertising became more expensive and the Internet grew – online communications have
become a cost effective option with the added benefit of being measurable (closed-loop
marketing) – this area has become highly specialized:

c) Direct Marketing
Direct marketing evolved from the catalog business, which involved gathering customer
information – this approach is data base driven and is used to send personalized messages.
There is an important role for direct marketing in branding as it facilitates relationship building
and customer retention. This is becoming integrated into a web campaign. Direct marketing
might include:

d) Sales Promotion
Alongside traditional advertising, there are many options for communicating with customers and
building positive associations with the brand – sales promotion is growing in popularity and can
be incorporated into a direct marketing piece such as a postcard or email. Sales promotion is
instant demand stimulation, it creates a perception of greater value through contests and
samples, it compliments the longer term advertising campaign, it motivates trial use, and
encourages larger purchases or stimulates a repeat purchase. Sales promotion is helpful when
launching new products and new product samples can be attached to existing brands.

e) Public Relations (PR)
PR is a communications function used to promote understanding between an organization and
its various stakeholder groups. PR is a critical component of brand building and generates

Week 4 Draft Details
publicity for the brand, helps solidify the public’s opinion of the brand and defines the brand;
seamlessly.
To elaborate further on the Communications Strategy Section there are numerous options; marketers
should consider a mix of the following depending on the problem being addressed – you may wish to
provide additional strategies that you feel are more relevant.
E. Communications Schedule
Using a calendar that covers the timeframe of the proposed IMC indicates when the specific elements of
the communications strategy mix will occur – including:




Launch dates
Key events

F. Budget and Evaluation
Develop a list of the planned communications strategy mix and estimate the costs of each component

G. Conclusions
Summarize and tie the overall plan to the IMC objectives.

RUBRIC USED FOR GRADING:

Outline
Good Quality Content
Clarity
Includes all Sections
Relevance and
Accuracy
Total

Points
25
25
25
25
100

%
Description
25 Use of high-quality sources
25 Ideas expressed clearly
25 Mapped out all sections of the plan
25 Ideas and data are relevant and reported accurately
100

A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above
requirements.