MKT20021 Integrated Marketing Communication Assessment 3: IMC Plan

MKT20021 Assessment Overview  

This  assessment  task  requires  you  to  collaborate  as  a  team  to  develop  an  integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan for a client.  In completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your team's ability to deconstruct and interpret information, apply advanced learning from this unit, and most importantly, develop a compelling integrated marketing communications strategy and explain why and how it will be executed. 

What is an IMC plan?  

The integrated marketing communications plan, is an approach that achieves the objectives of  a marketing  campaign, through well-coordinated use  of different promotional  methods that are intended to reinforce each other.  

Within  the  IMC  plan,  the  company  carefully  integrates  and  coordinates  its  many communication channels to deliver clear and consistent messages about the organisation and product or service.  The plan involves getting a communication message to a customer; this message has to be clear, consistent and compelling. 

The process of the IMC is important for better managing the communication  mix  with  target  audiences  and  maintaining  the  strong  market  position through brand differentiation.  Planning  provides  direction  for  creating  and  delivering  brand  messages,  it  provides  new opportunities  for  advertising  agencies  and  for  companies  to  create  added  value  for  their customers and ensures that the message being delivered to consumers and clients can be monitored every step of the way.

MKT20021 Assessment Details  

• The IMC plan is to be written as a professional document in business report format.
• The plan should demonstrate a consistent and appropriate style of presentation and use Harvard referencing throughout.
• The IMC plan should reflect the integration of informed decisions and judgements as well as the application of your team’s knowledge of socially responsible behaviour.

In your team’s IMC plan, include the following:  

1. Executive Summary 

• The  plan  should  include  an  executive  summary  which  is  an  overview  of  the  approach taken,  the  main  findings  and  the  key  recommendations  for  the  client,  best  to  be completed after you have completed all sections of your IMC Plan.
• The executive summary should be kept to a maximum of one page and is not included in the total word count.
• Note that executive summary is not introduction to your report.

2. Table of Contents 

• Each page of this IMC Plan should be numbered and the Table of Contents should include those page numbers.

3. Situational Analysis 

• In the main body only include a discussion of significant and relevant factors/trends that directly impact the organisation.
• Your  situation  analysis  will  include  a  SWOT  analysis  and  an  external/internal environmental analysis.
• Include critical success factors and the relevant organisational strengths and weaknesses. Additional detailed analysis should be provided as appendices (e.g. client and competitor analysis).

4. Target Market 

• Decide who your target audience is
• Develop personas to give in-depth insights.
• Then decide the benefits to your audience and why they would engage with your client.

5. Communication Objectives 

• What are the overarching communication objectives?
• Ensure  your  objectives  for  this  project  are  SMART  (specific,  measurable,  achievable, realistic, timely) and in line with the client brief and your external analysis (some examples include: developing/increasing  brand  awareness, changing  customer beliefs, enhancing brand image).

6. Budget 

• The types of budget that companies have can vary. These can be, a percentage of sales, competitive partially, percentage of profit, a budget depending on objectives and tasks and how much the company can afford.

7. Marketing Mix Strategy  

7.1 IMC Strategy 

• Suggest IMC strategies (e.g. advertising, PR) in line with your communication objectives and budget restrictions.
• Justify why each of the suggested IMC strategy is appropriate for the campaign

7.1.1 Creative Strategy: 

• Overarching positioning statement, encapsulated within one paragraph
• Unique selling proposition
• Message strategy (what to say, major selling argument)
• Big idea (brings strategy to life)
• Execution (how to say it: message strategies, appeals and execution techniques)
• Implementation plan
• Justify why each of the suggested creative strategy is appropriate for the campaign

7.1.2 Media Strategy: 

• Media and vehicle selection
• The media schedule for the IMC mix
• Budget allocation
• Justify why each of the suggested media strategy is appropriate for the campaign.

8. Evaluation and Control Measures 

• This can be done by certain social media metrics, by analysing online traffic with the use of Google analytics, by sales and social media tools that allow you to track engagement with certain items.
• Should be in line with suggested strategies.

Group Work The assessment focus is on the process of working in groups: 

• collaboration and cooperation
• analysing the task and assigning responsibility for its components
• leadership, teamwork, delegation and coordination
• preparation and presentation of a report
• setting and maintenance of deadlines for each component
• awareness of issues that arise and techniques for managing difficulties.

MKT20021 Marking Guide:

Your work will be assessed using the following marking guide: