Reference no: EM133041352

BADM 241 Group Final Project - Donald School of Business

IMC Plan: Helping Our Local Businesses out of this Pandemic

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic has further brought its toll on our city. Beyond the forced closures, small organizations in our economy face larger challenges in bouncing back, considering the importance of person-to-person and proximal interactions in how they deliver their services and create value to customers. Some small organizations may have business continuity plans, but those plans may not fully address the fast-moving and unknown variables of a pandemic like COVID-19. Besides, some of the locally owned and operated businesses are not very well equipped to make the transition to attracting business online. Although the federal government has put in some measures to support small- to medium-sized businesses, many still lack the ingenuity and marketing skills to reinvent themselves to face the current challenges. With each passing minute, the complexity of this pandemic is threatening the survival of our local businesses and non-profits. The time to act is now!

PURPOSE:

In this final project, student teams are required to develop a comprehensive Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan for any local Red Deer organization of the team's choice. The team should see this project as their widow's mite towards the economic recovery of our city. To develop a functional IMC plan, teams are highly encouraged to liaise with the chosen business or non-profit for the requisite information, possible mentorship, and support. In this regard, this business or non- profit should be a client. The focus areas include but not limited to the following industries: Retail (including restaurants, theaters, bars, clothing, grooming etc.), Hospitality & Tourism, Arts & Culture, Gig Economy, Press/Media, and Non-Profits.

Overview of the project:

PART 1:

• Situation analysis that provides an overview of the chosen business or organization, the market, and the marketing needs of the client
• Target market profile for the selected business or non-profit.
• Overall objectives for this IMC Plan.

PART 2:

Promotional element development: creative corresponds to your IMC plan

• Each marketing communications piece should identify key elements as described below.
• There will be three creatives for the project. This means you must create (design, execute, layout, storyboard, etc.) three pieces and include design for any tactics you're suggesting. You will explain where you are using the various elements for their optimal impact. See if you can persuade the client (this chosen business or non- profit) to provide imagery and brand guidelines to be followed.
• A set of metrics (evaluation) will be provided to evaluate each promotional element.
Some metrics may measure multiple elements.
• A chart illustrating the overall proposed timeline needs to be included. Thus, a master (overall) timeline should be provided to show the entire campaign and how all the elements intermix and when the evaluations are scheduled to manage the promotional material over the duration of the plan. This part can be revisited after completing part two for proper alignment and consistency.
• A master(overall) budget should be broken down to show the cost of the entire campaign (client will provide total budget, you are to show how it will be allocated)
• The project layout and design need to be reflective of your professional standards, education level and dedication.

FURTHER DETAILS ON PART 1:

This section serves as the introduction to your plan. It is where your team comes up with all the main ideas and how your campaign will unfold.

1. Background/Introduction:

Based on your research, you will assess the overall environment and provide an overview of this chosen business or organization. This will set the stage for the plan and the entire planning process. Specify the strategy this plan will achieve for this business or organization, justify why your actions are needed and why this is a perfect fit for them at this time. This section should be clear and concise.

2. Integrated Marketing Communications Objectives:

Based on the background and the challenges facing this business or organization, your team will develop objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound (SMART). Work together to build three strong SMART objectives and explain how these objectives will help your chosen business or organization meet their goals.

3. Target Market Profile:

In this section, you will provide a concise description of your proposed target market. Again, you will build on the research done earlier. You must outline full details on the target market including as much insight into the consumer as you can. You'll want to include demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioural details, as well as a customer overview. Give
this customer a name and include their typical picture.

FURTHER DETAILS ON PART 2:

This section of the plan is where you will display all the details of your campaign. You will take the plans from Part One and turn them into visuals. From digital and traditional advertising to direct response communications initiatives, you will have visuals for each one (within the selected three promotional elements) in the campaign plan, and they will all have to integrate. They will all be on brand, on target and of course on message for this chosen business or organization. Make sure your team works together to review each of the creative pieces being produced so they look like they come from the same family. You will also give the details for THREE PROMOTIONAL ELEMENTS you will choose from point 2 below to develop the creatives for.

1. Promotional Element Creative: The creatives you produce will be the main features of the plan and most importantly this section. Provide a creative (artwork) to the best of your ability to represent each promotional element.
2. Label the specific promotional type used: Promotional elements to choose from:

• Public Relations
• Traditional Advertising
• Social Influencers/Opinion leaders
• Direct Response Communications
• Digital Marketing

• Experiential Marketing, Events & Sponsorships
• Sales Promotion

You can also design some collateral materials like price list, business card, flyer, logo, sales brochure, catalogue etc. This is not a requirement but can add value to your plan.

3. Individual budget: Provide a complete budget broken down for each of the three promotional elements separately.

4. Timeline: Show the timeline for each promotional element.

5. Measurement and Evaluation: Indicate how each promotional element will be measured.

Attachment:- Group Final Project.rar