MKTG 7326: ADVERTISING & PROMOTION
MANAGEMENT
Professor Rotfeld
Auburn University, Alabama
Term Paper Assignment
Based on an assessment of
the client's mass communication needs and possible audience
reactions,
you
will recommend communication goals, plus mass media and message
strategies to
attain
those goals. The focus of the assignment is on your strategic
recommendations
and (more importantly) your pragmatic and research-based reasons
why
you
think they might be the optimal approach.
The paper must present a tight, logical,
step-by-step assessment, such that each section is based on your
discussion of information and materials
that came before it and all data presented must be relevant for
decision
making. Do not write
lists
or bullet points. For
the
entire paper (except for the reference list and optional
appendices),
you
are to write in prose form, with sentences and paragraphs.
Below is the outline you are to follow in writing the paper, with
each
bold <> numbered item a major subhead, and each letter item
in
bold a minor subhead. The rest of the
statements in regular type describes the information that should
be
included in the discussion.
<1>
MARKETING EXPECTATIONS. A short specific
statement of the client's priorities and concerns.
[See the videos on the project for more details, particularly the
just-instructor-and-camera video segments that goes step by step
through the project outline. Realistically, most subject
businesses wouldn't be able to tell you marketing goals as described
in the readings and class. At
best, they could tell you what they think they can do in the coming
year. For
example, a small motorcycle dealer would say how many new bikes they
sell, or
used bikes, how much in equipment, and so on. For the project, this
preamble is to be a couple sentences that most of the time can be
assessed by just looking around the place, giving me a statement of
the type of place you studied, the mix of products
or services that drive their revenue. In other words, what are they?
This is not asking for a textbook statement of marketing goals, but
a more general grounding in stating what the business is in making
the project about a real
business.]
<2>
SITUATION ANALYSIS
A. Product Features. An analysis of the
client's attributes and how those features are (or
might
be) perceived by present and potential customers. This is not a list
of features and should be a critical review.
B. Present &
Potential Customers. Tied to <1> and
<2>A, analysis of the "types"
of people who are customers, possibly in terms of benefit segments
of what gets them to buy the first time
&
what brings them back. As the basis for mass communications
decisions,
emphasis
must be placed on mental perspectives (beliefs & benefits
desired). As explained in class, demographic data are only necessary
for media tactics, and this project is focused on strategy, any
reference to demographic variables should be minimal. Since the
original research directions are
very small scale, the results are qualitative, not quantitative, but
that does not mean the report has license to be haphazard.
<3>
COMMUNICATION GOALS
A. Target Audience. Based on <2>, recommendation
of primary
target audience and why it was selected. Again, since this is for
communications, emphasis must be in terms of consumers' frames of
reference and benefits, as well as relevant demographic data that
might
correlate with those segments. This must be based on situation
analysis
and provide a pragmatic and relevant basis for decisions.
B.
Communications Objectives. A specific and measurable
statement, with your logic and rationale for why these specific
goals
should be used. Based on the
situation analysis, and as will be explained in class, you
will
need to use a model of consumer decision making for relating the
communications
goals to buyer behavior of the marketing goals. The discussion in
this
section
needs to have adequate detail to provide guidance for your
strategy
recommendation. Accordingly, this section is the core of the paper
and
provides the basis for all that follows in section <4>. [As
we
will discuss in class, there
are many useful consumer behavior models of their decision making
that
could
link communications goals and the final consumer actions that
underlie
marketing
goals, but we want the term paper to focus on decision making, not
the
value
of different consumer psychology models. Therefore, despite its
limitations as a model of consumer decisions, the goals will be
stated in terms of the basic Hierarchy of Effects. More details on
this
will be explained in class.]
<4>
STRATEGIES AND TACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR ATTAINING GOALS
A. Creative Strategy. Determination of message strategy
that
would be the central theme and message of the campaign. This copy
platform must be both realistic and tied to communications goals,
and
should include:
image to develop, engender and/or reinforce; how primary
benefit(s) can
be "creatively" conveyed to the target; and central appeal(s) to
be
made. Remember, the goal is to develop a coherent image for the
client
that is
based on: a) how present or potential customers can realistically
perceive
the client; and b) what the customers consider important benefits.
B. Media
Strategy,
tied to communications goals, it should include: (a)
Selected
allocation to media classes
& your
justifications; (b) A general statement of reach, frequency,
continuity
and
size of messages; and, (c) Qualitative factors of media selections
to
optimize
communications. Any discussions of relevant usage of publicity
also fits under the media mix.
C. References:
List of references of secondary non-textbook sources cited in body
of
paper.
D. (Optional)
Appendix: Example of communications message tactics as
an example of how the strategy would be executed. However,
it is important to remember that the focus of concern of the project
is on a proposed strategy.
E. (Optional)
Appendix: Details of research materials not used for
other
parts of the report.