Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for Aptamil

Main Objective of the assessment

The objective of this assessment is to allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of the concepts and models taught in this module and your ability to apply the concepts and models to a real-world scenario. You will have to conduct research about the marketing communications of a real-world company (or organization, brand) of your choice, their product/service offerings, and their markets. Furthermore, you will have to utilise your knowledge of marketing communications, acquired in this module, to propose a new integrated marketing communication (henceforth, IMC) campaign.

Description of the Assessment

You are to assume the role of a junior marketing and communications executive at your chosen company; in this role you are tasked to develop a new IMC campaign for an existing baby product/service serving consumers in the UK, including but not limited to baby milk formula, toys suitable for babies, early childhood education, personal care (e.g., nappies), transport (e.g., car seats), entertainment, and healthcare. For the purpose of this coursework, “baby” refers to any humans before 6 years of age (that is, first grade in elementary schools in the UK). Any products/services with a clear prosocial message are highly encouraged such as those serving children from a typically disadvantaged background or families of lower socio-economic status.

The objective is to convince your manager (e.g., the Chief Marketing Officer) by creating a compelling, original, and effective integrated marketing communications plan. Your campaign must be developed with a clearly argued rationale, based on academic literature and real-world industry and market secondary information, to support your arguments.

Required Structure

Executive summary (not included in word count)

• Provide a concise summary of the main findings and recommendations. No more than 300 words. Table of Contents (not included in word count)

1. Introduction

• Briefly introduce your chosen brand/organisation and the product/service your coursework focuses on, and provide relevant background information about their industry, their market, their IMC, etc. (But no irrelevant history lesson please.)

2. Critical literature review

• Critically discuss IMC and how it can be useful to engage the target segment.

• The critical literature review should be firmly based on existing academic literature. Theoretical models and frameworks should be employed to support your arguments in other parts of this coursework. For this coursework, “academic literature” refers to the books and published articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, such as those from the module’s reading list . Online study guides, essay mills, Wikipedia, or blogs are not considered academic references and thus should be avoided.

• There is no restriction on the publication years of the academic references. But you should be mindful that IMC is a fast-evolving subject area. Thus, it may be more appropriate to review academic sources that are more recent.

3. Target Audience(s) and Positioning

• Describe your target audience(s) in terms of its/their behaviour, attitude, and/or lifestyle, and classify it/them using the Five Buyer Groups model in the core textbook Rossiter, Percy, & Bergkvist (2018).

• Develop the positioning for the product/service using the T–C–B positioning model in the core textbook Rossiter, Percy, & Bergkvist (2018). Feel free to use additional models in Rossiter, Percy, & Bergkvist (2018), such as the I–D–U model, as you see fit.

4. Marketing communications objectives

• Building on the analysis above, identify your IMC campaign’s objectives and justify your rationale based on the Brand Communication Effect model in the core textbook Rossiter, Percy, & Bergkvist (2018).

5. IMC campaign planning

• Building on the literature review and the analyses above, describe your IMC campaign plan, which should include all the four subsections below:

a) IMC platforms: Choose at least three IMC platforms (e.g., advertising, sales promotion, events and experiences, public relations and publicity, online and social media marketing, mobile marketing, direct and database marketing, and personal selling). Describe how they are going to be integrated in your marketing communications campaign.

b) Creative strategy: Describe your creative idea (illustrations are welcome).

c) Media planning: Describe your choice of media mix and frequency.

d) Budgeting: Propose a budget suitable for your campaign. The potential budget and all other variables are left open but please ensure that the scenario is realistic and feasible by grounding your suggested budget on actual market information and figures. For budgeting metrics, feel free to refer to Bendle, Farris, Pfeifer, & Reibstein (2017).

6. Conclusion

• Be brief, 1-2 paragraphs. No new analysis, findings, or recommendations. References List (not included in word count)

• Provide full bibliographical information of all the sources you have cited in the coursework. The Harvard Referencing style must be used. Consult Cite Them Right - Home (citethemrightonline.com) if you are unsure how to cite a source in the Harvard style. Appendix(es) (Optional, not included in word count)

• Should include only supplementary, succinct material. Strictly NOT to be used as an alternative location for materials (e.g., tables, images, etc.) that should appear in the main text. Length and Formatting Length requirement The coursework should not exceed 3,000 words. When submitting the coursework on WISEflow, you will be asked to declare your coursework’s word count in the WISEflow coversheet. You are responsible for declaring the correct word count by following the points below:

• Included in the maximum word count: Sections 1 to 6, from Introduction to Conclusion. • Excluded from the maximum word count: CBASS coursework e-coversheet, table of contents, executive summary, references list, appendix (if any). Typographic guidance • Body text: Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri, 11- or 12-point, justified.

• Headings: Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri, 12 points minimum.

• Page setup: A4, normal 1-inch margins, 1.5 spacing.

• All pages must be numbered.

• All tables must be editable text, not images.