Strategic Marketing

Communications
(7MKO5O)
Marking Tutor : Richard Mayer

Sonia Daswani Merwani (100069701)

27/07/2009
Table of contents

Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 3
Integrated Marketing Communications Definition.......................................................................................... 4
Integrated Marketing Communication Plannning........................................................................................... 5
 Situation Analysis.........................................................................................................................................6

 Identifying Audience....................................................................................................................................6 2
 Defining Objectives......................................................................................................................................6

 Strategy........................................................................................................................................................7

 Budgeting.....................................................................................................................................................8

 Timescale.....................................................................................................................................................9

 Control and Evaluation................................................................................................................................9

Integrated Marketing Communication Mix................................................................................................... 10

Austin Community Enterprise Campaign Brief.............................................................................................. 12
 Stay and Play Campaign Planning..............................................................................................................12

o Situation Analysis.........................................................................................................................12
o Identifying Target Audience.........................................................................................................13
o Campaign Objectives....................................................................................................................13
o Budgeting................................................................................................................................... 14
o Timescale.....................................................................................................................................14
o Evaluation....................................................................................................................................14

 Stay and Play Campaign Strategy..............................................................................................................15

o Outdoor Advertising....................................................................................................................15
o Public Relations...........................................................................................................................16
o E-Commerce................................................................................................................................16

Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 17
References .................................................................................................................................................. 18
Appendices ................................................................................................................................................. 19
Appendix 1 Research analysis..........................................................................................................................
Appendix 2 Budget..........................................................................................................................................
Appendix 3 Timescale......................................................................................................................................
Appendix 4 Posters..........................................................................................................................................
Appendix 5 Calender.......................................................................................................................................
Appendix 6 Flyer..............................................................................................................................................
Appendix7 Leaflet...........................................................................................................................................
Appendix8 Letter.............................................................................................................................................
Appendix9 Carnival Poster...............................................................................................................................
Executive Summary

This assignment explores the challenge of creating a marketing communication plan

for a non-profit organization. This is done by examining the creation of a marketing campaign
for a non-profit organization based in the UK: The Austin Community Enterprise.

In order to do so, it is necessary to understand the different elements that marketing 3

communication involve, and how these can be integrated to create a clear message that
maximises the impact on customers.

Once the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications is clear, this paper will be
looking at the different steps that have to be taken to build an integrated marketing
communication plan, together with the different communication mix elements that can be
used to put this plan into action.

The last part of this document focuses on the process followed to produce the
marketing campaign for Austin Community Enterprise and also, the reasons and the way that
the strategies for this campaign were formulated and developed.

The appendices, added at the end of this paper, include some outcomes that were
created for the Austin Community Enterprise marketing campaign.

Integrated Marketing Communications Definition

 Kotler (2003), defines integrated marketing communications as, “a way of looking at
the whole marketing process form the viewpoint of the customer”.

Clow and Baack (2001), define it as “The coordination and integration of all marketing
communication tools, channels and messages into a seamless programme that maximizes the
impact on customers and other end users at a minimal cost”.

(Pickton & Broderick, 2005) suggest the following framework.

4

Figure 1: The IMC Framework

Source  : Pickton & Broderick, 2005; Integrated Marketing Communications second edition.

In this document, we will be focusing more in the planning model and the IMC mix
model.

Integrated Marketing Communications Plan

 This section looks at how Integrated Marketing Communications are planned.
Radke(1998) suggests seven steps to create a successful plan for non-profit organizations,
which are:

- Step 1: Invest in a communications plan to advance the mission

- Step 2: Identify and know your audience
- Step 3: Target your message
- Step 4: Communicate the message with practical strategies and appropriate vehicles
- Step 5: Know when and where the marketing communications plan is going to be 5
implemented
- Step 6: Turn obstacles into opportunities
- Step 7: Evaluate what happens

On the other hand, as seen in figure 2, Pickton & Broderick (2005) talk about the
RABOSTIC planning model. The planning process is seen here as a cycle, where the insights
gained in the evaluation level of a marketing communications plan, are put back into the
research and analysis stage for the next planning phase.

Figure 2. The RABOSTIC planning model

Source  : Pickton & Broderick, 2005; Integrated Marketing Communications second edition.

For this document, a combination of both of the previous model plans will be done in
order to create a customized marketing communications plan, for the given non-profit
organization. This will cover the following elements:

• Situation Analysis
 A situational analysis should cover the business requirements along with the
information on current activities and also, the current position.

“The purpose of a situational analysis is to help key players within your organization
know as much as possible about the internal and external environment in which your
organization exits.” (Radtke, 1998)

It is important to know about the macroenvironment and microenvironment in which

an organization is working, in order to communicate the message more effectively than
competitors, to the people that have an interest in the business activities. 6

• Identifying Target Audiences

It is fundamental in any marketing communications plan to know who are the

individuals that have direct or indirect effect on the business performance, and who will
receive the marketing communication. These could be people within the organization or
outside it, for example, stakeholders, local authorities or different categories of customers
such as, volunteers, community leaders etc...

• Defining Objectives

Any marketing communications plan should be done to achieve a goal, an aim or an end
result. Usually, objectives are prefaced by the word ‘to’ and are statements about what the
organization wants to achieve with the marketing campaign.

Moreover, Objectives should be SMARTT. This is “An acronym that represents the level of
detail that objectives should aim to achieve.” (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). The following figure
illustrates the meaning of SMARTT objectives.
 7

Figure 3. SMARTT Objectives

Source  : Pickton & Broderick, 2005; Integrated Marketing Communications second edition.

• Strategies

“An objective is where you want to be, a strategy is how you intend to get there.”
(Butterfield, 1977). When formulating a strategy, it is necessary to find out for example,
which magazines does the target audience read, which TV stations they watch etc. This
information will help to identify the vehicles needed to communicate with the audience.

Strategies need to integrate the different elements of the communication mix in order
to deliver the right message to the right people and also, to reach defined objectives.

• Budgeting
 The organization should plan how much money they are ready to spend in a marketing
campaign. There are several methods to set budgets. These are illustrated in the following
figure.

Figure 4. Budgeting Methods

Source  : Blythe J. (2006), Essentials of Marketing Communications, Third Edition.

There is not a fixed way of setting budgets therefore the above methods can be
combined and it can vary depending on the organization.

• Timescales
 For every marketing communications plan, it should be defined a start date, this is,
when the plan is intended to be put into action and also, it should have an end date. This is
not as in, when the marketing plan is going to finish but, for example, when is a certain
activity going to end.

In addition, a timeline must include key dates and key actions for every strategy
defined, and it should be real, affordable and doable.

9
• Control and Evaluation

Once the plan is implemented is important to evaluate the objectives seeing whether
the defined target has been met or not. That is why is necessary for an objective to be
measurable.

The question to ask would be whether the marketing communications is working or

not for the defined target audience. If a change has happened and if not, what are the reasons
for this? Also, it has to be analyzed the specific knowledge, attitude or behavior that the
target audience has achieved after the marketing campaign.

Integrated Marketing Communications Mix

 In order to put a marketing campaign in action, it is necessary to build a strategy that
used different communication methods that help spread the message to the target audience.
The following figure lists, the elements that can be used in a marketing communications
strategy.

10
 11

Figure 5. Elements of the Communication mix

Source  : Blythe J. (2006), Essentials of Marketing Communications, Third Edition.

Austin Community Enterprise Campaign Brief

 University of Derby’s Master Students, have volunteered to create a marketing
campaign, for each of the coming projects that Austin Community Enterprise is planning to
launch. This particular marketing campaign is focused in a project called Stay and Play.

• Stay and Play Campaign Planning

12
o Situation Analysis

In order to know the situation of Austin Community Enterprise (ACE), we

interviewed people who worked there and collected secondary data from the Derbyshire
police web page: [Link]

We also carried out a research among the people who would receive the services
offered by this organization. (Please see Appendix 1 for more details)

The results of our research were as following:

- ACE Limited is a non-profit organization established since 1994 and located in

Austin Estate (Normanton).

- Austin Estate is a small neighborhood based in Derbyshire where there are 7.177
people living approximately.

- ACE offers services to the local community. The services include financial advice,
computer courses, support and advice in a variety of topics, childcare and volunteer
opportunities.

- ACE receives funding through several entities and also, from profits generated by
the Austin Estate’s nursery.

- Locals have a negative perception and attitude towards the Community. They see
it as a place where people go when they have problems and to ask help.

- Majority of locals do not know about the existence of ACE.

- ACE has future projects to launch and want to create awareness and increase
participation among the locals. Future Projects are: Grow and cook, Stay and Play,
Computer Club.

- Stay and Play project is directed mainly to young parents and their
babies/toddlers.
 - Majority of people do not access the statutory services provided due to fear, lack
of understanding and lack of confidence.

- Stay and Play project is about providing a place for parents to come with their
children and while these play, they can meet other parents, have a coffee and attend
short talks sessions where a variety of topics will be discussed. Topics include how to
manage your money, dealing with stress, nutrition for babies etc.

o Target Audience 13

- Young parents with children under 5 years old.

- The Austin Estate Local Authority, University of Derby and the media, as they
could provide help in funding and in getting engaged in the activities provided by ACE.

o Campaign Objectives

After knowing the results of our research, we realized that most of the people did
not know about the existence of ACE. This created a major problem for promoting the
stay and play project as we thought that is was necessary first, to create awareness of the
existence of the community and then, work on the stay and play project.

For this reason, our objectives are related with branding ACE and promoting Stay
and Play.

1. TO CREATE AWARENESS OF THE EXISTANCE OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE

AMONG, AT LEAST THE 60% OF THE LOCALS (4.306 people aprox.)

2. TO GENERATE A POSITIVE INHABITANT’S OPINION TOWARDS THE COMMUNITY.

3. TO ATTRACT BETWEEN 30 TO 50 PEOPLE TO EACH OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY

ENTERPRISE’S OPEN DAYS EVENT.

4. TO ENGAGE, AT LEAST 50 LOCALS, INTO THE COMMUNITY ‘S «STAY & PLAY» ACTIVITY.

o Budgeting

The method followed for setting the budget has been “All you can afford method”
as illustrated previously in figure 4. ACE had provided us with a maximum of 100£ to
 spend in our marketing campaign. Details of how this money was distributed are included
in Appendix 2.

However, if University of Derby could get engaged with ACE, and provide its
printing department in order to print the posters and leaflets for ACE, that money could
be invested in other advertising methods.

14
o Timescale

Appendix 3 includes the Timescale with the key dates and key tasks in order to put
the marketing campaign plan into action.

o Control and Evaluation

The control and Evaluation period would last from three to six months since the
launch of the campaign. We would be controlling that the Open days for example, get at
least 30 people into ACE. We would also be measuring the number of people participating
in the activities and asking for information, via email, web page. In this way we will know
if the communication vehicles are working efficiently or not.

• Austin Community Enterprise Campaign Strategy

Austin Community Enterprise has as its core value, repositioning some of the negative
perception that the locals might have of the Community and, provide support to the people
who live within the Austin area, by offering valuable services that help them and their
families, with their day to day activities and their careers ahead.

In order to spread this message, we have used a combination of marketing

communication elements.

o Outdoor advertising:

15
-Posters, that would be in local bus stops, local schools, the local nursery and local
businesses. (See Appendix 4 for posters). What we want to achieve through this posters is
creating a visual impact on the customers, where they can see the services that are
offered by ACE. These posters can always be changed if the activities in ACE are changed.

-Calendars, with key dates of ACE activities and events highlighted so that the
target audience can know when are the activities running. (See Appendix 5 for calendar).

-Flyers, that would be distributed into local businesses, schools and the local
authority. These would include information about a specific activity, in this case stay and
play. (See Appendix 6 for leaflet).

-Leaflets, that would be distributed into local businesses, schools and the local
authority. These would include general information about ACE to create the organization
awareness. (See Appendix 7 for leaflet).

All posters, leaflets, flyers and calendars include:

- The Organization’s logo. An image of a House that is created to give the

impression that ACE is your house.

- A slogan: “Breaking the Ice”. Because the locals have got a barrier towards the
local community, with this slogan we want to communicate to them to “break that ice”
and take the first step to get to know ACE.

- Information on how to contact ACE. This is, the address, the telephone number,
the email address and the web page

- A short description about ACE.

o Public Relations:

Public Relation is defined as “the planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics:
 customers, employees, shareholders, trade bodies, suppliers, government officials, and
society in general” (Institute of Public Relations, 1984).

For this marketing campaign, the public relation programme organized was a “kids
carnival”. This would consist in organizing a fancy dress competition among the children
aged until 12, and would be a 30 minutes trajectory that would end in ACE.

In this way, we would be engaging the local school, the local authority, the local
business for example, for providing the competitions awards.

We would be inviting the local press, the local East Midlands TV station, the local 16
authority and Derby city council to this event. (See appendix 8 for the letter that it would
be sent)

The objective behind this is to create relationship between the organization and its
publics. This event would be spread through posters as well that would be distributed on
the local area. (See Appendix 9 for viewing the Carnival Poster).

o E-Commerce

The creation of a web page that includes all the information about ACE, and its
coming events and activities schedule, will enable people to know more about the
organization from home. (Please visit, [Link] to view
the web page)

Conclusion
 Integrated Marketing Communications is about integrating the marketing
communications tools and also, the communications mix in a way that maximizes the impact
on customers.

It is not necessary to use all the elements of the communication mix to produce a
better marketing campaign but, it is essential that whatever the elements used, they should
be integrated in some way. Marketing integration helps to create more awareness of the
brand or organization on customers.

The Campaign created for Austin Community enterprise, was integrated because all 17
the outdoor advertisement contained the same logo, slogan the way to contact the
community and the information about the community. In addition the structure of every
poster was similar as the common elements where always displayed in the same place.

Because this campaign has not been implemented yet, it is difficult to say whether the
strategy followed is a good strategy or not. For this reason, it is necessary to wait until the
campaigns implementation so that an evaluation can be taken place to know, if the main
objectives of this campaign, have been accomplished or not.

References

Blythe J. (2006), Essentials of Marketing Communications, Third Edition, London: Prentice

Hall/Financial Times.
Pickton D., Broderick A. (2005), Integrated Marketing Communications, Second Edition, New
York: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.

Radtke J.M. (1998), Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations, seven steps to
creating a successful plan, New York: Wiley Nonprofit Series.

18