Promotional Strategy

SYLLABUS - MKT 342

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

FALL 2002

Instructor: Yeqing Bao

Office: ASB 362

Phone: 824-6165

Email:

Course Page:

Classes: T, R, 9:35 – 10:55 am, ASB 109

Office Hours: 2:00 – 3:30pm, T, R or by appointment

Course Description

This course examines the theory and techniques applicable to all the major marketing communication functions: advertising, direct marketing, sales promotions, public relations, and personal selling. It provides you a knowledge base that allows you to research and evaluate a company’s marketing and promotional situation and further to use these various functions in developing effective communication strategies and programs.

Course Prerequisites

This course is open to students with junior or above standing who have completed Marketing 301. Any student, who has not completed the prerequisite but wants to remain in this course, needs to get the consent of the instructor.

Any student whose name is on the initial roster, and who fails to attend class for at least one of the first two class meetings, may be administratively dropped from the course. If you know of someone who has signed up for this class but has not shown up for the first class, please make them aware of this policy.

Text

Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective (5th ed.) by Belch, George E. and Michael A. Belch (2001).

Teaching Style

A combination of lectures, discussions, group projects and written assignments will be used to achieve the objectives of this course. The focus of all course activities will be on understanding and application of the concepts presented.

Method of Evaluation

Exams 50%

Exam I 15%

Exam II15%

Final Exam 20%

Group Project 35%

GP1 - GP4 15%

Final Report 3%

Presentation 10%

Managerial Feedback 2%

Peer Evaluation 5%

Written Assignments10%
Class Contributions 5%
Extra Credit (TBA)

Exams (50% of total grade)

There will be three non-cumulative exams during the semester. All exams will be a combination of multiple choice and case/essay questions, covering information from texts as well as lectures. Therefore, keeping up with the reading of texts and attending class is strongly recommended.

Subject to the instructor’s agreement, taking exams in advance is possible, but no make-up exams will be given for any reason. If you must miss an exam, you must have a university excused absence. In such cases, the weight of the missed exam will not be counted in computing your final grade. An unexcused absence will result in a score of zero for that percentage of your final grade.

Group Project (35% of total grade)

In this course, you will be required to complete a group project in order to gain hands-on experience in the development of a marketing communications plan. Groups of 3 to 5 will be formed to work on the project. During the semester, each group is to contact a local business unit/organization (e.g., restaurants, schools, hospitals, clinics, banks, etc.), interview one of its managers who is in charge of advertising and promotion, and develop/propose an integrated marketing communications program for the business.

During the semester, each group will prepare write-ups on the following topics: (i) Introduction; (ii) Situation Analysis; (iii) Developing an Integrated Marketing Communications Program; and (iv) Implementation and Evaluation. These four write-ups are marked GP1 to GP4 on the course schedule and will be due on the noted dates. Make sure you type your group member names on each assignment. In total, GP1-GP4 constitutes 15% of the final grade.

Each group will produce a written report for the entire project. The due date for the written report is indicated in the class schedule. The length of the written report, excluding possible tables, figures/graphs, should not exceed 15 double spaced pages. You are to turn in the graded GP1-GP4 together with the final report. Failure to respond to the instructor’s comments in the final report will lead to significant points off in grading. This report will be worth 3% of your total grade.

You are required to send your final written report to the manager your group work with and to obtain his/her written feedback on your proposed marketing communications plan for their business. Please ask the manager to sign on the feedback. This written feedback will account for 2% of your final grade.

Each group will be presenting their project in class at the end of the semester. It will be a formal presentation and will be worth 10% of your total grade. The instructor and all your classmates other than your group members will evaluate the presentation. The average of their evaluations will be your grade for the presentation.

Group project is a process of relationship development. I expect you to form pleasant and durable relationships throughout this semester. It is your responsibility to manage possible conflicts, organize group meetings and complete the agreed-upon work. In order to foster cooperation, your contribution to the group project will be peer-evaluated by your group members. And this peer rating will be indexed to your total group project evaluation. The peer evaluation accounts for 5% of the final grade.

Written Assignments (10% of total grade)

As noted on the class schedule, many chapters are accompanied with home assignments. A brief write-up for the assignment must be handed in during class on the due day. Type your write-up using eleven or above font and no write-up should exceed two pages. In total, there are 15 assignments. You are required to hand in at least 8 of them, but if you hand in more than that, the highest 8 will be counted. Emailed, handwritten, or late turn-ins will NOT be accepted for any reason. These written assignments constitute 10% of the total grade.

Class Contributions (5% of total grade)

During the class, there will often be small questions and/or cases. You are expected to actively think and participate in the discussion of these questions and cases. Do not bury yourself in drawing tables and models. You could find most (but not all) of the power point slides on my web page for this course I expect you to spend more time on thinking, discussing, and understanding the contents we have in class.

At the end of the semester, each student will be required to submit a brief self-appraisal of his/her contribution and destruction to the class. The instructor will assign a maximum of 5 points based on this appraisal. Examples of contribution include but not limited to:

Always attending class
Actively participating in class discussion
Helping classmates understand the course
Proposing good ideas to the instructor in teaching the class
Providing helpful course-related materials to the instructor
Helping the instructor correct mistakes in teaching the class
Contributing questions to be included in the exams

Examples of destruction include but not limited to:

Missing classes regularly
Late entry to the class
Early retreat from class
Talking to others during the instructor’s lecture
Exiting room during class
Use BP or cell phone during class

Extra Credit

You may earn extra credit by participating in research projects. I will inform you of such opportunities as they become available.

Grade Distribution

>= 90 A / 80-89 B / 70-79 C / 60-69 D / <= 59 F

Honor Code

The honor code will be strictly enforced in this course. All aspects of your work are covered by the honor system. Honesty in your academic work will develop into professional integrity. The faculty and students of UAH will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty.

GUIDELINES FOR GROUP PROJECT

Each group is required to contact and further work with a local business unit/organization involved in business marketing (e.g., banks, manufacturing companies, agents, grocery stores, etc.). You should interview one or more of its marketing managers to understand the business/organization's current activity in marketing communications, collect background information through available sources, and then develop/propose a marketing communications program for the business.

Put yourself in the position of a consultant to the organization. However, try not to allow their current focus narrow your creative processes. Think things through. Note that you are required to send copies of your final report to the business unit/organization and get the manager’s feedback. You have an opportunity to make a real difference!

You will probably need to look up multiple information sources (or even develop customer surveys if you want) to collect information about the business/organization and their product/service. Use footnotes or endnotes to specify sources of information (e.g., if you gather information from the Web, make sure you list the web site starting with Finally, when you interview with managers, please call for appointments, prepare your questions in advance, and be respectful of the organization’s time.

GP1: Introduction

The first write-up for the project should address the following issues. It should not exceed two double spaced pages.[1]

1. Organization

Name and address of organization
Type: for profit, not-for-profit, government, etc.
Business: what does the organization do?
Names and titles of people you have talked to.

2. Marketing Program

Give a brief description of their marketing mix.

Product – what exactly is the product or service being marketed? What is the organizations’ mission?
Price – what is the company’s pricing strategy for its products or services?
Place of Distribution – briefly describe the company’s distribution system, if any.
Promotion – what are the advertising/promotional campaigns going on currently?

GP2: Analysis of Promotional Program Situation

The second part of the project emphasizes the internal/external analysis and the examination of major marketing communication programs the business/organization is doing. This part should be a maximum of four pages.

1)Internal Analysis

Promotional Department Organization – does the company have in-house promotional department/personnel? If so, how is it organized?
Use of advertising agencies - does the company use ad agencies? If so, to what degree does it use the agency’s service? How is the relationship between the company and the agency? etc.
Review of previous program results – what were the major advertising and promotion programs run by business/organization in the past? How effective were they? If the company is currently running some promotional program, how effective is the program?

2)External Analysis

Consumer behavior analysis – who are the consumers using the product and service? Why are consumers using the product/services?
Competitive environment – who are your competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses? How are you perceived relative to these competitors?
Social and cultural environment – what are some of the cultural or social trends that are likely to impact the current market situation? E.g., Influential governmental policy, technological impacts …

3)Analysis of the Company’s Communications

Analyze the source, message and channel factors and explain what your analysis means in terms of how to most effectively promote the product or service.

Source and Encoding – who are the sources and are they effective in getting consumers’ attention? Are there any alternatives?
Message – is the message appropriate in creating favorable attitude or feelings?
Channel – how effective is the media in delivering the message? Any alternative that could increase presentation?
Receiver – can the receiver comprehend the message?
Noise – what, if any, is the noise during the communication process? How to reduce it?
Response/Feedback – what are consumers’ response to the company’s communication program? How could they be used for improvement in designing the future program?

GP3: Development of an Integrated Marketing Communications Program

In this part, you should first set up specific promotional goals and objectives for the business/organization and then develop an integrated marketing communications program for them. Your program should ate least include advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, and PR/publicity. Although not required, it will be great if you could specify how personal selling could be integrated into the program. This part should not exceed five pages (not including appendix such as print ads, direct mails, bronchus, etc.).

1)Goals and objectives

What are your specific communication goals and objectives for this business unit/organization for a certain period (e.g., one year, three years, five years)? They could include brand awareness, consumer attitude, consumer satisfaction, market share, sales, profit, distribution channel improvement, etc. (Note: Make sure they are measurable)
Are these goals realistic?

2)Specific strategies and tactics

Market segmentation – who is your primary target audience? Are there secondary target audiences your need to communicate with? What the defining characteristics of your primary audience (e.g., benefits sought, age, gender, life style …)? How do these characteristics differ from your secondary market (if they is one)?
What is the promise – what benefits will your deliver to the consumer?
Specific promotional tools that you will use to communicate the promise and encourage consumer involvement/purchase for your primary/secondary target markets? You are required to design:

-One print ad

-One broadcast ad (radio or TV). If you choose radio ad, you need to provide the finished cassette. If you choose TV ad, you need to provide the VHS tape or digital file.

-One public relation/publicity plan

-One sales promotion plan (specify or design the coupons, sample items …)

-One direct mail piece

Be creative and give specific and highly detailed ideas/suggestions/tactics. Explain how your proposed tools will work in an integrated manner.

GP4: Implementation and Evaluation

The fourth part of the project proposes the implementation and evaluation of your integrated marketing communications program. It should not exceed four pages.

Timing - What is the time line for implementing your proposed campaign? Specify for each of your proposed communication messages. A chart may be very helpful for readers.
Media – what is the media (if applicable) for each of your communication message?
Budget - How much money does each of your proposed promotional tools require? (Make sure you provide somewhat detailed budget with cost estimates.) Is this amount feasible/realistic?
Evaluation - What specific measurements will you use to measure the success of the proposed strategies? And how?
Give summary and conclusions of your integrated marketing communications program.

Final Project Report

Suggested Outline[2]

Title Page

Executive Summary (1 page)

Introduction (1-2 pages)

Situation Analysis (3-4 pages)

Integrated Marketing Communications Program (4-5 pages)

Implementations and Evaluations (3-4 pages)

Conclusions (1 page)

References

Appendices

-- Ads

-- Bronchus

-- Tables

-- Graphs

-- etc.

Group Presentation

Suggested Outline[3]

Introduction (2')

Background

Marketing mix

Situation Analysis (4')

Internal analysis

External analysis

Analysis of the company’s communications

Integrated Marketing Communication Program (5')

Goals and objectives

Target audiences

Proposed promotional ideas

Implementation and Evaluation (4’)

Time schedule for the program

Performance measurement

Budget estimation

Summary and conclusions

Preparation Guidelines

Please time yourself. Prepare for a 15-minute presentation and a 5-minute question/answer session. In all you have 20 minutes.

Practice several times as a group before the final presentation.

Please communicate your equipment related needs to me at least a week before the presentation.

Dress code: Formal business attire.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Date

Day

/ Topic / Reading /

Home Exercise

Project Due

8/22 / R / Course Introduction
8/27 / T / IMC & Its Role in Marketing / Ch. 1, 2
8/29 / R / Ad Agencies & Consumer Behavior / Ch. 3, 4 / p. 65, Q1
9/3 / T / Communication Process / Ch. 5 / p.102, Q5, 8
9/5 / R / Group Project Work Day
9/10 / T / Communication Factors / Ch. 6 / p. 166, Q4
9/12 / R / Objectives and Strategic Budgeting / Ch. 7 / p. 197, Q1 / GP1
9/17 / T / Creative Strategy I / Ch. 8 / p. 240, Q2, 4
9/19 / R /

Exam I

9/24 / T / Creative Strategy II / Ch. 9 / p. 271, Q10
9/26 / R /

Media Planning and Strategy

/ Ch. 10 / p. 301, Q6
10/1 / T / Broadcast Media / Ch. 11 / p. 335, Q2
10/3 / R /

Fall Break

10/8 / T / Print Media / Ch. 12 / p. 393, Q4 / GP2
10/10 / R / Support Media / Ch. 13 / p.434, Q6
10/15 / T /

Exam II

10/17 / R / PR/Publicity and Corporate Image / Ch. 17 / p. 465, Q2
10/22 / T / Direct Marketing/Internet Marketing / Ch. 14, 15 / p. 611, Q10
10/24 / R / Sales Promotion / Ch. 16
10/29 / T / Personal Selling / Ch. 18 / p. 572, Q5
10/31 / R / Group Project Work Day
11/5 / T / Effectiveness Measurement / Ch. 19 / p. 632, Q3 / GP3
11/7 / R /

Group Project Work Day

11/12 / T / B-2-B IMC / p. 668, Q7
11/14 / R / International IMC / Ch. 20 / GP4
11/19 / T /

Group Project Work Day

11/21 / R / Project Presentation
11/26 / T / Project Presentation / Final Report
11/28 / R /

Thanksgiving Break

12/3 / T / Study and Prepare for Final / Managerial Feedback
12/5 / R /

Final Exam (8:00 – 10:30 am)

Syllabus is subject to modification as necessary.

You are responsible for keeping up with any changes announced in class.

[1] Suggested font type: Times New Roman. Font size: 12.

[2] Numbers in parentheses indicate suggested length. Please use your own judgment in determining the page length for each section.

[3] Time in parentheses is the suggested duration for each section. Please use your own discretion in assigning time for each section.