Download Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan

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Student Workbook
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an
integrated marketing communication plan
Part of a suite of support materials for the
BSB Business Services Training Package
1st Edition 2016
Acknowledgement
Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council (IBSA) would like to acknowledge Move
Marketing for their assistance with the development of this resource.
Writer: Dina Zaitman
Copyright and Trade Mark Statement
© 2016 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
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Use of this work for purposes other than those indicated above, requires the prior written permission of IBSA. Requests
should be addressed to the Product Development Manager, IBSA, Level 11, 176 Wellington Pde, East Melbourne VIC
3002 or email [email protected].
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‘Innovation and Business Skills Australia’, ‘IBSA’ and the IBSA logo are trade marks of IBSA.
Disclaimer
Care has been taken in the preparation of the material in this document, but, to the extent permitted by law, IBSA and
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(a)
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Published by: Innovation and Business Industry
Skills Council Ltd
Level 11
176 Wellington Pde
East Melbourne VIC 3002
Phone: +61 3 9815 7000
Fax: +61 3 9815 7001
Email: [email protected]
www.ibsa.org.au
ISBN: 978-1-925379-87-7
Stock code: BSBMKG5231W
First published: 2016
1st edition version: 1
Release date: 2016
Table of Contents
Introduction .........................................................................................................................1
Features of the training program .................................................................................1
Structure of the training program ................................................................................1
Recommended reading ................................................................................................1
Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan ...........................................3
What skills will you need? ............................................................................................3
What is a marketing plan? ...........................................................................................4
The situation analysis in marketing .......................................................................... 10
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Section summary ....................................................................................................... 22
Further reading .......................................................................................................... 22
Section checklist ........................................................................................................ 23
Section 2 – The Goal Setting and Strategic Phases ...................................................... 24
What skills will you need? ......................................................................................... 24
Setting objectives....................................................................................................... 25
Identifying your target audience ............................................................................... 29
Crafting your unique selling proposition ................................................................... 33
Determining your strategic direction ........................................................................ 35
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Selecting your marketing channels .......................................................................... 39
Section summary ....................................................................................................... 50
Further reading .......................................................................................................... 50
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Section checklist ........................................................................................................ 51
Section 3 – The Execution Phase: Campaign Planning ................................................. 52
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What skills will you need? ......................................................................................... 52
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Preparing the client/marketing brief ........................................................................ 53
Executing the plan: budgets and scheduling ........................................................... 57
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The creative brief: A framework for developing marketing materials .................... 62
Control – Monitor, manage and improve ................................................................. 67
Section summary ....................................................................................................... 69
Further reading .......................................................................................................... 69
Section checklist ........................................................................................................ 70
Glossary ............................................................................................................................ 71
Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 74
Appendix 1: Global Ugg case study........................................................................... 74
Appendix 2: Marketing plan template ...................................................................... 78
Appendix 3: Example strategy for a technology brand ............................................ 80
BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
© Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
1st edition version: 1
Appendix 4: Marketing channel list .......................................................................... 82
Appendix 5: Marketing brief template ...................................................................... 85
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Appendix 6: Example media schedule and associated budget .............................. 88
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
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Student Workbook
Introduction
Introduction
Features of the training program
The key features of this program are:
● Student Workbook – Self-paced learning activities to help you to develop an
understanding of key concepts and terms. The Student Workbook is broken down
into several sections.
● Facilitator-led sessions – Challenging and interesting learning activities that can be
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completed in the classroom or by distance learning that will help you consolidate
and apply what you have learned in the Student Workbook.
● Assessment tasks – Summative assessments where you can apply your new skills
and knowledge to solve authentic workplace tasks and problems.
Structure of the training program
This training program introduces you to designing and developing an integrated marketing
communication plan to meet client needs. Specifically, you will develop the skills and
knowledge in the following topic areas:
1. Determine client requirements
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2. Develop a marketing communication brief
3. Design and recommend an integrated strategy
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4. Develop the creative brief.
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Your facilitator may choose to combine or split sessions. For example, in some cases, this
training program may be delivered in two or three sessions, or in others, as many as eight
sessions.
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Recommended reading
Some recommended reading for this unit includes:
● Boyce, J., 2002, Market research in practice, McGraw-Hill, Roseville, NSW,
Chapter 1.
● Chitty, W., Barker, N., and Shimp, T. A., 2008, Integrated marketing
communications, 2nd edn, Cengage Learning Australia, Melbourne.
● Gillies, P., and Selvadurai, N., 2008, Marketing law, The Federation Press,
Annandale, NSW.
● Jobber, D., and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012, Principles and practice of marketing, 7th
edn, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Roseville, NSW.
This edition offers a contemporary perspective on marketing, with the latest digital
developments and ethical accountability emphasised throughout.
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Introduction
Student Workbook
● Kitchen, P. J., and Burgmann, I., 2010, ‘Integrated marketing communication’, in J.
Sheth (Ed.), Wiley international encyclopedia of marketing, John Wiley & Sons,
Richmond, Victoria.
● Kotler, P. T., 2012, Kotler on marketing, Simon and Schuster, New York.
● Kotler, P. T., Adam, S., Denize, S., and Armstrong, G., 2011, Principles of marketing,
5th edn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
● Kotler, P. T., and Armstrong, P., 2015, Principles of marketing, Global Edition, 16th
edn, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, United Kingdom.
● Kotler, P. T., and Keller, K. L., 2015, Marketing management, Global Edition, 15th
edn, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, United Kingdom.
● Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., and McDaniel, C., 2016, MKTG 9: Principles of marketing,
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9th edn, Cengage Learning, USA.
● Perreault, W., Cannon, J., and McCarthy, E., 2013, Basic marketing: a marketing
Strategy Planning Approach, 19th edn, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, USA.
● Scott, D. M., 2013, The new rules of marketing and PR: how to use social media,
online video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to
reach buyers directly, 4th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Richmond, Victoria.
● Solomon, M. R., Marshall, G. W., and Stuart, E. W., 2015, Marketing: real people,
real choices, Global Edition, 8th edn, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, United
Kingdom.
● Tong, E., and Taylor, D., 2004, Understanding marketing research, Pearson
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Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
● Zikmund, W. G., and Babin, B. J., 2013, Essentials of marketing research, 5th edn.
Cengage Learning Australia, Melbourne.
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Please note that any URLs contained in the recommended reading, learning content and
learning activities of this publication were checked by IBSA and correct at the time of
publication. Note, however, that IBSA cannot vouch for the ongoing currency of URLs.
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Every endeavour has been made to provide a full reference for all web links. Where URLs
are not current, we recommend using the reference information provided to search for
the source in your chosen search engine.
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
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Student Workbook
Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing
Communication Plan
This section provides a quick overview of the contents and purpose of integrated
marketing communication plans. Such plans provide the basis for planning strategic
approaches to marketing goods and services; they also provide for later development of
marketing and creative briefs for specific campaigns. This section also discusses one of
the most important first steps in developing a marketing plan – situation analysis – in
order to discover where the organisation is at present with respect to the marketing of its
products and services.
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Scenario: The new marketing manager at Global Ugg
Tammy is the new marketing manager at Global Ugg, a sheepskin ugg boot
manufacturer based in Melbourne, Australia. As her first task, Tammy has been asked
by the marketing director to put together a marketing and communications strategy
and plan for the next 12 months.
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Tammy doesn’t know much about Global Ugg yet, but she has been provided with a
background document to get her up to speed. In any case, Tammy will have to do a full
marketing audit (or situation analysis) to fully understand Global Ugg’s current situation
before she can recommend the appropriate strategies and tactics. Once the strategy is
complete, Tammy is to brief XYZ Brand Agency on the Global Ugg brand awareness
campaign specifically.
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Tammy is ready to get started on developing the marketing and communications
strategy and plan. Her first step will be to do a thorough review of Global Ugg’s current
situation. She will need to conduct research both internally and externally and gather
together a number of relevant documents as inputs.
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For more information, see the Global Ugg case study background document in
Appendix 1.
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What skills will you need?
In order to undertake initial planning in order to meet marketing communication
requirements, you must be able to:
 state the purpose of and main features of the marketing communication plan:
defining broad goals, situation analysis, objectives setting, planning timelines and
budgeting and evaluation
 conduct situation analysis: defining the key characteristics, competitive factors and
market situation facing the organisation as it markets products and services
 summarise legal and ethical constraints.
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
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What is a marketing plan?
Marketing plans are vital to marketing success. They help to focus the mind of companies
and marketing teams on the process of marketing; i.e. what is going to be achieved and
how they intend to achieve it. The marketing plan is the foundation on which to scrutinise
a business, assess its standing in the marketplace and build future growth. Every section
of the plan is relevant and needs to be addressed to achieve a clear outcome. Any
organisation intent on future growth needs to implement a marketing plan. Unless careful
planning goes into the blueprint, a great deal of energy is likely to be consumed for very
little return.
An article by the Small Business Administration says:
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A strong marketing plan will ensure you’re not only sticking to your
schedule, but that you’re spending your marketing funds wisely and
appropriately. A marketing plan includes everything from understanding
your target market and your competitive position in that market, to how
you intend to reach that market (your tactics) and differentiate yourself
from your competition in order to make a sale. 1
When completed, the plan becomes a working document that the organisation can use to
guide and coordinate all the marketing activities it undertakes to achieve its goals,
including campaigns. The marketing plan is a living document: As conditions change or
more information becomes available, the marketing plan can be adapted.
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What is ‘integrated’ marketing communications?
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With so many products and services to choose from, consumers are often overwhelmed
by the vast number of promotional messages flooding both online and offline
communication channels. Today, marketing is about being wherever customers are,
giving them relevant messages, and making sure that each interaction is intelligently
connected to the next.
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Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach to creating a unified and
seamless brand experience for consumers across channels. 2 IMC is used by organisations
to brand and coordinate their marketing efforts across multiple communication channels
to deliver great customer experience and truly integrated marketing, across any and every
channel: web, social, mobile, broadcast, email, in-store, outdoor and beyond.
An integrated marketing communications plan, as the name suggests, is the development
of marketing strategies and creative campaigns that weave together multiple marketing
disciplines such as paid advertising, direct marketing, blogging, public relations,
promotion, and social media that are selected and then executed to suit the particular
goals of the brand.
Small Business Administration, 2016, ‘Developing a marketing plan’, Small Business Administration (SBA),
<https://www.sba.gov/content/developing-marketing-plan>.
1
Boundless, 2015, ‘Introduction to integrated marketing communications’, Boundless marketing, <https://www.boundless
.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/integrated-marketing-communications-12/introduction-tointegrated-marketing-communications-81/introduction-to-integrated-marketing-communications-403-4061/>.
2
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
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Student Workbook
Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
The primary idea behind an integrated marketing communications plan is to create a
seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix and
along the customer’s journey, whether it is online or offline.
Typically, communication tools for IMC encompass both traditional and digital media,
such as blogs, webinars, search engine optimisation, direct mail, radio, television,
billboards, and magazines.
The purpose of the integrated marketing communications plan
The purpose of the integrated marketing communications plan is to:
● outline the steps or actions that will be undertaken to achieve the marketing
objectives and short‐term goals of the business
● set out how you will communicate your key messages to your chosen audiences by
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allocating time and resources in the best possible way
● describe the appropriate combination of communication tools that will be used
during campaigns to build a strong brand-consumer relationship and ensure
messaging is consistent and credible across all communication channels.
Some of the major benefits of integrated marketing communications are the following.
● Marketers can clearly and effectively communicate their brand's story and
messaging across several communication channels to create brand awareness.
● IMC is more cost-effective than mass media since consumers are likely to interact
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with brands across various touchpoints. Companies can then view the performance
of their communication tactics as a whole instead of as fragmented pieces.
● IMC creates a competitive advantage for companies looking to boost their sales
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and profits. This is especially useful for small- or mid-sized firms with limited staff
and marketing budgets.
● IMC immerses customers in communications and helps them move through the
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various stages of the buying process.
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● IMC can be instrumental in creating a seamless purchasing experience that spurs
customers to become loyal, lifelong customers.
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The main components of the IMC plan
So what is typically found inside a well-crafted IMC plan? Simply put, every time you do a
marketing plan you will define your goals, do some research, decide the overarching
marketing direction you want your marketing efforts to focus on, then break down the
different elements of your strategy.
This all culminates in a plan of action that describes the specific detailed marketing
activities you plan on engaging in.
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
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marketing plan
channel strategy
marketing strategy
market deep dive
marketing goals and objectives
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business goals
There is a difference between goals, objectives, strategy, and tactics. These are often
confused and can lead to a highly tactical plan with no overall direction that relates to the
business goals.
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The simplest way to understand the process of planning strategically is as follows: first
you develop the overall marketing strategy that supports your company's business goals;
then you choose marketing programs (tactics) that support the overall strategy; and lastly,
you plan it all out in a detailed marketing plan document with costs, timings and
resources.
What is given below is a simple version of the key stages and components of a
comprehensive marketing plan.
Description
Key components
Mission
statement
A meaningful statement of
the purpose and direction
of the business
● Vision statement
The overall business
objectives that shape the
marketing plan
● Business objectives
Answers ‘where are we
now?’ and assesses the
situation of marketing in
the business
● Corporate identity
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Corporate
objectives
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Key stages
Situation
analysis
● Mission statement
● Product/services audit
● Resources
● Distribution methods
● Audience and customer analysis
● Competitor benchmarking
● Market share
● SWOT
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Key stages
Description
Key components
Objective setting
What specifically are you
trying to achieve (in the
long- and short-term)?
● Marketing goals
The approach you will use
to achieve your goals
● Target market
Integrated
communication
strategy
● Marketing objectives
● Brand positioning and value
proposition
● Key strategies
The detailed
implementation plan.
Answers ‘what exactly do
we need to do’?
● Marketing activities
Budget and
timings
What will it cost and what’s
the timing?
● Timeline
Evaluation and
adjustment
How are we doing? What
needs to change?
The situation analysis
● Specific campaigns
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Action plan
● Creative brief
● Budget and ROI
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This stage answers the question ‘where are we now?’ Here you will carry out research to
ensure you’ve thoroughly analysed your company, audiences, competitors and industry. In
this critical phase you will gather as much intelligence as you can on the circumstances a
company is facing today both internally and externally, including elements such as
historical performance, industry trends and reports, technology infrastructure, market
opportunities, competitors, internal brand surveys, industry trends and resources,
customers, marketing analytics, website reviews, and customer experience analytics.
Discovery research allows you to establish a strategy, confident that no stone has been
left unturned.
Goals and objectives
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What do you want your marketing plan to accomplish? This stage outlines the specific
goals and marketing objectives for your business. Your objectives may be financial, with a
goal to increase sales, or marketing-focused in order to build your brand and increase
awareness of your product.
The marketing strategy
An effective strategy will help you to define the overall direction for your marketing
program. In this section you will detail how you plan to reach your primary audience and
how you are going to bring your products and services to market in ways that will satisfy
your customers and achieve the established business objectives. This section will typically
detail your brand positioning, your content strategy and broad strategies for
communicating and engaging your audiences.
BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
© Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
1st edition version: 1
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Student Workbook
Tactical action plan
In simple terms, a strategy is a plan for reaching a specific goal, while a tactic is the
means you use to execute the strategy. When creating marketing plans, you start with
broad strategies and support them with specific tactics. Tactics can include writing copy,
writing news releases, composing e-newsletters, designing postcards, designing flyers,
writing blog posts, building landing pages on the web, and writing social media posts.
Budget and timings
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Your action plans and budgets will bring your strategies to life. Your action plans and
budgets are your key tools for implementation. To ensure that they are successful, they
should be detailed, definitive and revisited regularly. The budget section lays out the
expected expenses based on the plans and activities revealed in the marketing program
section.
Evaluation and monitoring
To ensure ongoing improvement, it’s critical to test and measure the results of your
marketing activities. Whatever method or technology you choose to use, formal methods
of evaluation and monitoring will help you to understand the effectiveness of your
marketing and return on investment. These should allow you to make adjustments as you
go, so you stay on track.
Learning activity: Find some marketing plan templates
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There are many different marketing plan templates. They have similar features and
sections but vary in the amount of detail they require. Have a look at three marketing
templates below and note down the differences and similarities between them.
● Australian Government, 2014, ‘Marketing plan template and guide’, Business,
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<http://www.business.gov.au/business-topics/templates-and-downloads/Pages
/marketing-plan-template-and-guide.aspx>.
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● Good Egg Marketing, 2015, ‘Small business marketing plan template’, Good Egg
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Marketing, <http://goodeggmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/
Small-Business-Marketing-Plan-Template.pdf>.
● Meerman Scott, D. 2010, ‘Free marketing strategy planning template’,
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WebInkNow, <http://www.webinknow.com/2010/07/free-marketing-strategyplanning-template.html>.
Answer the following questions.
● Under what sorts of circumstances or for what types of organisation might you
use the templates?
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
● How do the planning templates compare in terms of the main components of the
IMC plan?
● How do the planning templates compare in terms of how they promote a
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strategic approach to marketing?
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● Which planning template would be best for you to use:
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○ as a learner in this course?
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○ as a marketing professional in your organisation?
○ as a small business owner?
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○ for a start-up?
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○ for a business owner requesting a loan from a bank to start a new
business?
How often should you update your plan?
Some marketing professionals recommend updating a marketing plan at least once a
year. However, you can revisit your plan every 6 months or every quarter to remind
yourself of your goals, especially if you’re getting off track or going along a course that is
not paying off.
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There are many approaches to marketing plans. If you search for the term ‘marketing
plan template’ on the web, there are literally hundreds of marketing plan examples you
will see. However, many of these templates may not be right for the business you are
working on, or they may be too complex or too basic.
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The situation analysis in marketing
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A situation analysis (or marketing audit) is a critical review of your current business
situation. It serves as a starting point for your marketing plan and is a fundamental part of
the marketing planning process.
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It is conducted not only at the beginning of the process, but also at a series of points
during the implementation of the plan, as you will need to look back over your marketing
activities and communications, identifying what has worked, what hasn’t and how much
each activity and communication has cost.
Learning activity: What is your digital footprint?
As part of your situation analysis, it is very important to analyse your digital presence
and performance across a number of key areas. Choose a well-known brand and
conduct a digital footprint analysis on them by answering the following questions.
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
You can use the following tools to help you search for information.
● Google, <http://www.google.com>.
● SocialMention, <http://www.socialmention.com>.
● Tweet-Tag, <http://www.Tweet-tag.com>.
● Fanpage Karma, <http://www.fanpagekarma.com>.
Name of brand:
Description
Website
presence
Provide URLs of any
websites the brand owns.
Social presence
List social platforms the
brand has a presence on.
Hint: visit the company
website.
Data
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Digital presence
List the number of
likes/followers/members
on each social platform.
Social media
mentions
Use a social media
analysis tool, such as
SocialMention, How
Sociable, or WhosTalkin,
to track how many times
the brand is mentioned
on different social
networking platforms.
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Social metrics
Email
marketing
Does the brand send out
an email newsletter or
other regular marketing
emails?
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Description
Social media
engagement
What level of
engagement exists on
social media platforms?
Corporate blog
Does the company have
a blog and post regularly?
What about?
Google ranking
Where is the brand name
ranking on Google?
Data
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Digital presence
Student Workbook
Why do a situation analysis?
The purpose of the analysis is to fully understand the landscape in which a brand is
operating. Any worthwhile project begins with a careful analysis of the starting point, and
marketing is no exception. You need to be clear and realistic about your current product,
market, opportunities, and challenges so that you can devise a clear path from your
current to your desired situation.
A situation analysis will help you:
● determine your strategy and tactical plan
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● determine how best to spend your marketing budget
● define your target audience in the right way
● conduct regular data analysis to measure your success
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● keep your objectives and goals in check
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● measure what is working and what isn’t.
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What should be included in a situation analysis?
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A situation analysis is designed to be detailed and will require in‐depth research, a lot of
brainstorming, and deep thinking. The key points it will need to address are the following.
Focus area
Key points to address
Product/services
What do you offer in terms of products and services and what
value do they provide?
Price
What is your current pricing strategy? Is it consistent with your
marketing approach?
Place
How do your products or services reach your target markets?
People
Do you have business partners or staff? Are there areas requiring
attention?
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Focus area
Key points to address
Processes
What steps need to be fulfilled to make your product or service
customer-ready?
Marketing
approach
What tactics are you currently using? Is there consistency
between each aspect?
Place
How do customers purchase your products or services? Consider
both physical and virtual environments.
In addition, you should be mindful of any actions undertaken by your competitors and
whether there have been changes in customer demographics or attitudes.
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There are eight main sections to a situation analysis:
2. The market
context
3. Core product
or service
description
4. Distribution
channels
5. The target
buyer
6. The
competitive
landscape and
challenges
7.
Communication
review
8. Issues,
opportunities
and goals
(SWOT analysis)
SA
1. Overview of
your company
Let’s look at each of these in more detail.
1. Overview of your company
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This section includes some important background information about the company, like
location, date established, sales history, business goals, number of employees, key
personnel, and revenue history (five years).
2. The market context
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What factors do you see impacting this marketing plan? The market context should
provide information on:
● market size in volume and value
● sales per market, if more than one
● regional breakdown
● seasonal variations
● market trends and segments
● brand sales history and trends
● legal, ethical, political climate, environmental regulations, economic, social,
cultural, and technological factors impacting your marketing.
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© Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
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3. Core product or service description
What do you offer the market? In this section you will need to describe the key products
and services that you offer in terms of their purpose, features, benefits, pricing, sizing and
distribution methods. You should also include information like:
● name, including corporate owner, manufacturer or ‘house’ name, brand and variant
names
● history – new/old/how developed and stage in life cycle
● physical appearance, ideally presented photographically
● packaging, ideally presented photographically
● description, including variants
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● properties of a practical or functional nature
● cost structure, including pricing, margin and profitability
● strength or weakness as compared to competition
● current awareness level as well as perception of your product/service
● product positioning (high quality, low price?)
● product trends.
Learning activity: Obtain client/business and product information
SA
Answer the following questions with respect to your own work as a marketing
professional or by researching a brand or organisation.
● How do you go about getting comprehensive organisational and product
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information? For example:
○ initial research into business, industry, competitive environment, market?
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○ interviews, meetings?
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
© Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
Student Workbook
Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
● What are the product or services offered?
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● What value do they offer customers?
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● What approach has the organisation taken to marketing communication so far?
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● How successful has the organisation been in the past?
4. Distribution channels
How is your product/service sold?
● Bulk/individual packs/one-off/subscription/membership, etc.
● Where sold: if more than one market, relative importance
● How distributed – online/wholesale/retail/direct
● Selling arrangements, strengths and attitudes of sales force, distributors or
franchisee
● History of the brand’s communications campaigns.
BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
© Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
1st edition version: 1
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Section 1 – The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Student Workbook
5. The target buyer
Who are your desired customers or clients? In other words, the people you are seeking to
do business with. Are they teenagers looking to buy primarily online, or local residents
needing a local professional? In this section you should include which sector/s of the
target market you want to reach, including information such as:
● demographics like age, sex, race, income, value drivers and reason they are
purchasing the product
● wants, needs, perceptions and attitudes and the way they like to buy.
6. The competitive landscape and challenges
Who are you competing with? In this section you should aim to identify at least three to six
direct competitors. For each competitor, provide succinct information, including:
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● the company name, location and website address
● description of key competitors and their market positioning
● size of key competitors in units/dollars
● market shares of key competitors
● sales trends of key competitors
● strengths and weaknesses of key competitors compared to your company's product
or services
● perceived marketing strategies of key competitors and their probable impact on
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your company
● competitors' communications spending history
7. Communication review
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● competitors' communication themes and ‘copy platforms’.
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This section should summarise your brand history and communication plans (with
budgets) and examples of any marketing materials or communications campaigns you
have produced. It should include:
● where the brand sits in the market and its competitive set, based on a combination
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of qualitative and quantitative research (presented as a ‘brand map’ of relative
market positioning if possible)
● what the brand has learned from previous campaigns
● evidence of effects of communications in market
● marketing spending history (five years), including the return on investment (ROI)
from each marketing activity.
8. Issues, opportunities and goals (SWOT analysis)
In this section you will do a SWOT analysis. SWOT analyses strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats that are associated with a situation by considering all the
internal and external aspects of the business and market. This way, business managers
can understand whether a situation has enough aspects in its favour and is ultimately
worth being pursued.
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BSBMKG523 Design and develop an integrated marketing communication plan
© Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd