MKT301 Module 3

Promotion

Case Assignment

The format of this assignment is similar to that of the previous case assignment, as you will again be giving recommendations based on a series of situations that a company might face. Of course, make sure to thoroughly review the background materials and make sure you have a strong familiarity with the five main promotional strategies and advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of each. You should also familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of different types of media.

For each of the following situations below, give a recommendation for A) which one or two of the five main promotional strategies should the company emphasize, and B) one or two types of media should the company emphasize in their promotions, and C) at least one reference from the background materials in support of your recommendations. Your paper should be four to five pages in length, and should include at least three references in total from the required readings.

1. A company has developed some advanced new animation software for use in making professional quality animated television shows and movies. This company’s customers will be small in number overall – the major movie and television studios, a few independent studios, and some of the larger animation schools.
2. A new toy has come out shortly before Christmas which is based on a popular TV show for kids. The producer of the toy is hoping for big sales during the holiday season, as Christmas is when they make most of their profits for the year. But due to licensing issues they had faced delays in releasing the product and only have a short time before Christmas to get the word out about their new toy.
3. A major food manufacturer is planning to come out with a brand new fiber drink designed to promote colon and intestinal health. The target market is senior citizens.
4. You are running a small airline that connects a few regional cities. Your sales are generally high which indicates that there is a strong market for flights that connect these cities. However, your research department has found that you have a low rate of repeat customers compared to similar airlines.

Assignment Expectations

• Answer the assignment questions directly.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, and don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references. Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make sure it is from a credible source.
• Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide”, which is found under “My Resources” on the TLC portal.

Promotion

Continue to do research on the company you wrote about for Modules 1 and 2. Now focus your research on this company’s promotion and communications strategy. Find out as much as you can about the company’s promotion mix.

Before starting on your paper make sure you are familiar with the five main aspects of the promotion mix – advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and direct marketing. Review all of the background materials regarding these five aspects, and make sure to include in your paper references both to sources of information on your chosen company and to the required background readings. When you have finished researching your company’s promotion strategies and thoroughly reviewed the main promotion strategies covered in the background readings, write a two- to three-page paper addressing the following questions:

1. What kind of advertising campaigns is this company currently engaged in? What kind of media do they advertise in, for example television, the internet, etc.?
2. What kind of public relations efforts does this company engage in?
3. Does this company ever use sales promotions such as coupons, giving away free samples, etc.?
4. Does this company use personal selling at all? If so, did you ever deal with one of this company’s salespersons when you purchased their product?
5. Does this company use direct marketing? For example, do they send out emails to customers? Or use telemarketing?

SLP Assignment Expectations

• Answer the assignment questions directly.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, and don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references. Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make sure it is from a credible source.
• Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide”, which is found under “My Resources” on the TLC portal.