Marketing 432
Marketing Communications
Professor: Dr. John W. Pracejus Office: 3-40J Business Building Phone: 492-2023
E-mail:
Office hours: By appointment
COURSE OVERVIEW:
This course is designed to introduce you to the field of marketing communications and its role in integrated brand promotions. A major objective is to provide a broad overview of the marketing communications process, together with an insight into the changing nature of the marketing environment. The course will examine the importance of integrated marketing communications (IMC) and advertising relative to the marketing mix in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. You should gain an appreciation for the challenges created by the dynamic and the ever changing marketplace and how these conditions impact the IMC process.
You will also gain an appreciation for the importance of the consumer and how the objectives of consumers impact the development of an IMC program. You are encouraged to view integrated marketing communications as an applied and integral area of management and to look for examples of how IMC principles are applied in the marketplace.
REQUIRED TEXT:
O’Guinn, Thomas C., Chris T. Allen and Richard J. Seminik (2006) Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotions, (fourth edition) Southwestern Publishing, Toronto.
Various additional readings will be posted to the course web page
GRADING
Evaluation will be based on the following components
Midterm #1 (chapters* 1,2,3,4,5 and 6) 25%
Midterm #2 (chapters* 7,8, 9,11,12 and 13) 25%
Media Assignment 5%
Communication Plan Presentation 5%
Written Communication Plan 40%
(* midterms will also cover lecture material and associated additional readings)
Mid Terms:
The mid terms will test your knowledge of the material covered in the assigned readings and the classroom discussion. They will be mostly short answer and essay questions, but may also include other formats. Questions will focus on concepts and theory.
Media Assignment:
In this take home assignment, you will apply your media planning knowledge to solve media problems. This is to be an individual assignment. Collaboration with others in the completion of this assignment constitutes academic misconduct (see below).
The media assignment is due at the beginning of class on March 20th. Communication Plan:
In a group of four (possibly five), you are to develop a communication plan for the national Canadian launch of a new consumer product or service (selected by the instructor). This plan is to be no longer than 20 pages, double-spaced, (appendices, references, and tables are excluded from this page count). Further information about this assignment will be distributed on January 24th.
Communication Plan Presentation:
You will present a 20-minute overview of your campaign to the instructor and the class.
While you should include general budget numbers and perhaps a brief situation analysis, the focus should be on describing what the creative will look like, and providing an overview of the media plan. All group members should participate in the presentation.
Academic misconduct
Please note that academic and nonacademic misconduct of any kind will not be tolerated.
This includes, but is not limited to, including the work of others in your communication plan without citing the source (i.e. downloading things from the web without making it clear the source of the writing). All direct quotes should be placed in quotation marks followed by an indication of the work’s origin. Please consult the University of Alberta calendar regarding information pertaining to academic and nonacademic misconduct.
Detailed Schedule
(Note: I will do my best to stick to this outline, but it is subject to change.)
DATE TOPIC Assignment READING due Prior to Class Jan 8th What is Marketing Communications?
10th Marketing Communications as a Process
Chapter 1 15th Structure of the industry Chapter 2
17th History and evolution Chapter 3
22nd Regulation and society Chapter 4 (skip USA stuff) Canada material on web page 24th Consumer behavior
Finalize groups – Get Products!
Chapter 5 29th Library resources for the
communications plan
31st Segmentation and Positioning Chapter 6
Feb 5th Research Chapter 7
7th Mid Term 1
12th Advertising planning Chapter 8
14th Message strategy Chapter 11
19th Reading Week (No Classes) 21st Reading Week (No Classes)
26th Copywriting Chapter 12
28th Art Direction/Production Chapter 13
March 4th International perspectives Chapter 9
6th Media planning - intro Chapter 14
11th Mid Term 2
13th Media part two Chapter 15
18th Media part three Chapter 16
20th Integrated Brand Promotions Part 1 Due: Media assignment
Chapter 17 25th Integrated Brand Promotions Part 2 TBA 27th Event Sponsorship
April 1st In-class presentations 3rd In-class presentations 8th In-class presentations
10th In-class presentations Communication Plans Due
