MKT7044 Strategic Brand and Communications Management Assessment Brief | BCU

Assessment Brief 

The assessment consists of a 3500-word written report that is split into specific tasks, with tasks matching the learning outcomes of the module.

To pass this module, you must achieve a final overall mark of at least 50%.  If your mark is less than 50%, you will be required to retake the assessment. 

The maximum word count is3 500 words (+/- 10%). This assessment item will assess LO: 1, 2, 3

1.1. Scenario

You must select an organisation with a presence in the UK, falling within anyindustry or sector and your choice of organisation must be approved by your tutor. As part of the marketing team for your chosen organisation, you are required to address the following tasks.

1.2. Required tasks

Task 1 (Learning Outcome 1)

Critically evaluate the Brand equity of your chosen organisation/brand using a brand equity model. Moreover, discuss the role that primary brand elements and secondary brand associations play in contributing to your chosen organisation’s brand equity. You should also analyse the PODs and POPs for your chosen organisation/brand, comparing it with its main competitor(s).

In addition, the chosen organisation wishes to enhance its product portfolio by introducing a new product line. Using secondary market research data to support your ideas, discuss your plan for a brand extension idea that could help contribute towards the organisation’s overall sustainability and ethical propositions.

Task 2 (Learning Outcomes 2 and 3)

Develop a marketing communications plan that explains how your chosen organisation could create awareness of its new range of products in the UK market. The brand wishes the campaign to run for a period of 3 months between June 2025 and August 2025 and are looking to integrate various elements of the marketing communications mix. The budget for the campaign is £250,000.                                    

Following Chris Fill’s Marketing Communications Planning Framework (MCPF), the Marketing communications plan must include the following:

1. A brief contextual analysis with clear indication of the insights used in devising the campaign 
2. Communication Objectives for the campaign
3. Communication strategy for the campaign
4. Clear definition of who the key audiences are for this campaign, providing comprehensive pen portraits of the target audiences
5. A succinct (no more than 20 words) description of the campaign proposition
6. Detailed and justified recommendations on the communication tactics and media to be used
7. Campaign implementation plan
8. Budget allocations
9. Campaign evaluation

Report Criteria

Marks are also allocated for the use of academic writing, report structure, layout and presentation, and the use of Harvard Referencing.

1.3. Task 1 guidance (Learning Outcome 1)

1. You are expected to undertake in depth academic and industry research to address the given task. It is anticipated that this task can be completed from public sources of information (e.g. academic literature in the form of key text books and peer reviewed journal articles, market research reports/databases, press reports, websites, and promotional literature).
2. You should evaluate the relevant primary brand elements of the brand such as brand name, slogan, logo, etc. and the role they play in contributing to your chosen organisation’s brand equity.
3. You should also evaluate the relevant secondary associations for the brand such as the company itself, country-of-origin, celebrity endorsement, etc. and the role they play in contributing to your chosen organisation’s brand equity.
4. Ensure you compare the PODs and POPs of the brand with its closest competitor(s). Support your analysis with evidence where possible.
5. Provide evidence that supports your analysis of the organisation’s brand equity using secondary research in the form of appropriate theory/data/tables/images. A subjective view without a proper theoretical foundation may not be enough to achieve this learning outcome.
6. Complete this section/task by recommending a brand extension idea. Your idea must be justified/supported with secondary research.

1.4. Task 2 guidance (Learning Outcomes 2 and 3)

1. You need to ensure all 9 elements of the Marketing Communications Planning Framework (MCPF) have been addressed. 
2. You can start this section by undertaking a brief Context Analysis that highlights the important and relevant points that could have an impact on the overall marketing communications plan. These points could relate to the relevant PESTLE factors, the market factors such as market growth and competitors, and any relevant internal factors such as organisation culture, marketing expertise and financial constraints, etc.
3. Remember that this is a Marketing CommunicationsPlan and NOT a Marketing Plan. As such, the recommendations should focus on communications. So, for instance, you should develop communication objectives and not marketing objectives. You should consider the appropriate communications strategy and not a marketing strategy.
4. Communication strategy and Campaign Preposition should be relevant, clear, and interesting.
5. You must develop at least one pen portrait of the target audience and include it in the appendices. If you have 2 or more distinct target audiences, then you should have as many pen portraits.
6. Your recommendations should consider and justify the choice of tactics (advertising/sales promotion/public relations/direct marketing/personal selling) and media (broadcast/print/digital/outdoor). This should be done by supporting your points with academic and/or practitioner research.
7. You must recommend how the campaign would be implemented. This can be done graphically (in the form of a table/GANTT chart) with a brief justification of the timeline and activities.
8. You must include a clear breakdown of how the budget would be used for the various activities. This could be demonstrated as a table or as a graph and could be demonstrated as amounts or percentages. As long clear evidence of the budget breakdown is evidenced.
9. You must consider the evaluation and control measures that will be needed to ensure the objectives have been met.

1.5 Report Criteria

1. Your report is expected to reach a word count of 3500 words. A 10% leeway applies to the word limit.
2. You may include appendices of key supporting information (but not analysis) of up to 2 pages and these must be cross-referenced in the report.
3. You are expected to undertake further academic and practitioner research to address the given tasks.
4. It is not a mandatory requirement to produce any creative executions of your ideas, however you can include any creative mock-ups of your ideas if you feel it to be valuable to your overall plan.
5. Your report should be presented professionally, include a contents page, an executive summary, be numbered and follow a logical structure. Please be aware that the content page and executive summary will not be included in the word count for assessment.
6. Ensure your work is proofread and edited, and written in a professional manner.
7. You must make full and accurate use of the Harvard referencing style to present all your sources that support your claims.

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this assignment, students should be able to demonstrate their ability to

• Critically analyse the current brand equity of a business.
• Comprehensively evaluate and select the most appropriate marketing communications method(s) applicable to a given business scenario.
• Develop a fully justified integrated marketing communications plan in response to a live client brief.