Task 2: 2500 word Marketing Communication tool evaluation report

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Assessment requirements Task 1 Course work Group task (40% in total) An outline integrated marketing communications plan pitch presentation A 15 minute pitch presentation recommending and justifying an outline integrated marketing communications plan to raise the tourist profile of Sheffield.

Your brief In groups of 4 or 5, you will form your own marketing communications agency. Sheffield City Council have recently announced that they are looking for a marketing communications agency to help them to change perceptions and raise the tourism profile of Sheffield, increasing visitor numbers to the region and therefore benefiting the local economy. You are an ambitious, local, marketing communications agency interested in adding a high profile local government campaign to your portfolio. You will be pitching for the business against other local agencies and the process will be highly competitive. You really want to win this account with Sheffield City Council as you are passionate about your city and the surrounding area and would like to encourage other people to visit and spread the word! Your presentation should be both persuasive and engaging. Sheffield City Council has confirmed that the allocated marketing communications budget is £280,000 in total but that staff costs are excluded. The council are fully aware that this is a relatively small budget compared with other UK cities tourism budgets, however it is funded by tax payers and the council has a responsibility to ensure that the budget is spent as effectively as possible. Sheffield City council have asked your agency to produce an outline integrated marketing communications plan for the next 12 months marketing communications activities. This outline plan should provide a solid foundation from which to promote Sheffield as a tourism destination in the future, it must leave a legacy beyond the 12 months of the plan. They have requested that each agency provide the outline integrated marketing communications plan as a pitch presentation. Your plan must offer something new, a new angle or 'hook' to encourage people to visit Sheffield from beyond the surrounding area. Promoting existing events in the Sheffield (e.g. the Tramlines festival or the World Snooker championships) is not what the council are looking for, this activity happens already and will not add significant additional tourist numbers to the city and the surrounding area.

Continued overleaf….

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To assist each agency Sheffield City Council have provided further instructions on the elements they expect to see in your outline integrated marketing plan pitch presentation.

(Adapted from the SOSTAC® Planning model, P.R.Smith, 2014).

1.0 Introduction A brief introduction to your marketing communications agency, the team and their responsibilities, previous experience 2.0 Situation Analysis (Where are we now?) What are current perceptions of Sheffield and the surrounding area? How many people currently visit the city/surrounding area? How does this compare against other tourist destinations in the UK? 3.0 Marketing Objectives (What does your plan aim to achieve?) Based on your situational analysis, what do you want to happen as a result of your proposed plan? Include three appropriate SMART objectives. 4.0 Marketing Communications Strategy (How will you get there?) What is your angle or ‘hook’ to encourage people to visit the city? Who is your proposed target audience (B2C, B2B or both?) How will your proposed plan leave a legacy for the future? 5.0 Marketing Communications Tactics (What is the detailed marketing communications mix you propose?) With the limited budget, which marketing communications tools do you recommend to ensure you maximise the budget and ensure your proposed target audience receive your message? Justify your choices. Advertising, public relations/ media relations/celebrity endorsements, sponsorship, direct marketing, personal selling, sales promotions, exhibitions, mobile or digital communications, social media Illustrate some examples of how this will be executed (e.g. adverts, storyboards, social media page) to help the audience to visualise your proposals 6.0 Action (What will happen and when?) For the next 12 months provide a schedule of what activity will happen and when 7.0 Control (How will the success of the plan be measured?) How will the budget be allocated? Have you included SMART objectives for each of your recommended marketing communications tools? (E.g. awareness, likes, follows, bookings and so on) 8.0 References An APA referenced list of all sources of supporting data you have cited throughout your presentation.

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The pitch presentation Your marketing communications agency will be allocated a slot in a meeting with Sheffield City Council to pitch your response to the brief to produce a 12 month outline integrated marketing communications plan to raise the tourist profile of Sheffield.

Each agency will have only 15 minutes (strictly timed) to present their proposals with 5 minutes questions at the end, where Sheffield City Council may want to clarify some of the points made.

You will be going head to head in the meeting against the other local agencies who are pitching for the business, so you must produce a pitch presentation that is clear and concise, as well as persuasive and attention grabbing. You need to convince the council that you have understood and can handle the brief you have been given. This is a tall order in only 15 minutes, but this is not uncommon when pitching to clients for new business.

With a limited marketing communications budget of only £280,000 (excluding staff costs) you will need to have a clear ‘hook’ to draw a specific target audience into Sheffield from outside the region and aim to change their perceptions of the city and the surrounding area and importantly, to leave a legacy for the future.

Submission guidance and deadlines The pitch presentation will take place in your seminar in the w/c 8 April 2019

Your agency’s presentation and debrief slot will be allocated in advance of this seminar to ensure the smooth running of the session. All agencies will be presenting in front of each other.

Each agency should bring 2 printed copies of the presentation with notes pages. The notes will include any supporting information justifying your agency's decisions. As you are also required to individually submit your assessment electronically (see below), the recommendation is that you use the notes pages in Powerpoint so you only have to upload one document to the submission point and Turnitin.

Each member of the agency must attend the pitch presentation (unless there are extenuating circumstances approved by Student Support) although not every member has to present. It is down to each agency to determine the equitable allocation of work across the pitch presentation.

A compulsory process of peer assessment will be applied in the group task reflecting on the contribution of individual group members over the duration of the preparation for the pitch presentation completion. Each member of the group must submit a completed individual peer review form alongside the printed copy of the presentation. The peer review form is available electronically on Blackboard under Assessment Task 1.

Please note you should talk to your tutor prior to the seminar if you are planning to mark down a team member's mark. You will be asked to attach evidence to support claims for any changes in individual marks (for example meeting minutes or copies of emails). Without this evidence your group's mark may be delayed. The tutor and module leader's decision is final.

For detailed guidance on the peer review process, please refer to the next page of this module guide.

Electronic Submission

Please note that in addition to each group bringing along printed copies of the slides and notes to the seminar, each student must submit an exact copy of the group presentation including notes as well as an individual peer assessment form electronically to Blackboard and once through Turnitin before the deadline of Wednesday 10 April 2019, 3.30pm. If you have a Friday afternoon seminar please ensure you submit your work electronically before the above deadline.

Whilst the physical copies will be marked by tutors, it will also be available electronically if required for internal moderation and external examination.

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Working in Groups and Peer Review Marketing Communications and working in an agency environment is challenging and a percentage of the module mark comes from group work. Working as part of a team takes place in much of modern business and is recognised as a key skill. It is also an integral part of the employability thread that runs through the Business School. Just as in real life, you have to pull together to complete the project on time and to the best of your ability. Working in groups does not always progress smoothly and so you will be managing the downs as well as the ups! I hope that difficulties and differences are resolved as part of the process of working together in groups. Any early problems MUST be brought to your seminar tutors' attention immediately. Complaints about group members that are brought up at the end of the module are too late to be acted upon. Once the project and peer group assessment forms are submitted the assessment process will stand. The module leader will be the final arbiter. The work you undertake in seminars contributes directly to the project and consequently, you must attend seminars to work with your peers. Tutors will be monitoring attendance and contribution. If you do not attend seminars you may not be contributing to the project outside of seminars. If you do not have good reason for this behaviour you risk receiving a zero for the group work element of the assessment. If you need to talk to a student adviser for personal reasons book an appointment at SHIP and talk it through. The Process For the group work task each member will submit a completed peer group assessment form reflecting on the contribution made by each group member, including themselves. Any student giving a colleague a low score on the peer group assessment must clearly justify their actions with supporting comments. This should not attempt to measure their colleagues’ level of academic ability but should assess their contribution in terms of reliability, attendance, initiative and overall commitment to the achievement of the task. Each team member’s individual score will be summed. Should one member’s total score fall significantly below the rest it will be compared with the average score for the rest of the group. How it compares will result in modification to their mark as follows: Score is 90% and above of group average No adjustment to mark Score is between 80% & 89% of group avg. Reduce mark by 5% points Score is between 70% & 79% of group avg. Reduce mark by 10% points Score is less than 70% of group average Reduce mark by 20% points The usual rounding of decimals to whole numbers applies (0.5 and above will be rounded up and below 0.5 will be rounded down). Groups should make every attempt to resolve any internal difficulties. However, any major problems encountered should be brought to the attention of the seminar tutor as soon as they occur. The following examples show the total peer group scores achieved by each group member and how this would affect their mark on work assessed at 60% Brown 151 White 112 Small 141 Dodds 147 Jones 152 Winsor 87 Johnson 115 Harris 122 Smith 148 Preston 97 Phillips 148 Finch 148 Grey 135 Holmes 108 Maitland 104 Leigh 96 Stokes 149 Aaker 150 Walsh 150

1 Anne Grey scores 90% of average of rest of group. No adjustment to her mark. 2 Carol Winsor scores 82% of average of rest of group. Her mark reduces by 5% points to 55%. 3 Tony Maitland scores 75% of average of rest of group. His mark reduces by 10% points to 50%. Phil Johnson scores 86% of average of rest of group. His mark reduces by 5% to 55%. 4 Mike Leigh scores 68% of average of rest of group. His mark reduces by 20% points to 40%.

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS TASK 1: An outline integrated marketing communications plan pitch presentation PEER GROUP ASSESSMENT: Each member of the group should complete this peer assessment form for physical submission to your seminar tutor on the day of the presentation and electronic submission via Blackboard by the submission deadline. Mark each team member out of ten for each factor listed below.

Name of group member

(Insert your name here)

Reliability, delivering on time, as briefed

Attendance at group meetings

Using initiative and being an active member of the group

Overall contribution to the achievement of the task

TOTAL

/40 /40 /40 /40 /40

Note: Should you wish to mark a colleague down significantly then you must clearly justify your actions with supporting comments otherwise the peer assessment may be discounted. Comments / justification:

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Integrated marketing communications Level 5: Group Task (40% of the module) Task 1: An outline integrated marketing communications plan pitch presentation Group names:

Assessment criteria Marks available

Marks awarded Feedback

Pitch content:

x A situational analysis that demonstrates understanding of the brief and current situation.

x Strategic marketing objectives based on the opportunities arising from the situational analysis.

x A marketing communications strategy which includes a clear angle, defined target audience and considers the future legacy of the plan

x A marketing mix which includes justified recommendations on the marketing communications tools you recommend to deliver the strategy.

x Implementation and control of the proposed integrated marketing plan is considered including a schedule of activity, budget allocation and how the success of the plan will be measured against objectives.

60

Grade % =

Mark = (60 marks x grade %) =

Feedback:

Academic rigour:

x Suitable analysis using relevant IMC theory, concepts and frameworks.

x Fluent use of appropriate marketing terminology.

x Evidence of wide reading. x References list x APA referenced.

20 Grade % =

Mark = (20 marks x grade %) =

Feedback:

Presentation:

x Professional and cohesive delivery. x Persuasive and engaging. x Effective use of the time allocated. x Clear and concise handouts provided.

20 Grade % =

Mark = (20 marks x grade %) =

Feedback:

Total marks available: 100 Mark out of 100 =

Tutor: Date: Mark: %

Please note: Individual marks on grade centre will take into account any resulting peer assessment adjustment

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Grade Integrated marketing communications Level 5: Group Task (40% of the module) Task 1: An outline integrated marketing communications plan pitch presentation

IMC Plan content Academic rigour Presentation

70%+ Excellent situational analysis and understanding of the brief and sound justification of proposed strategic marketing objectives. Thorough marketing strategy with justified recommendations on angle/hook, target audience and consideration of the future legacy. A coherent marketing mix recommendation to deliver the marketing communications strategy. Excellent consideration of implementation; timescales and budget and success measurement against objectives.

Excellent use of IMC theories and frameworks to carry out analysis. Evidence of wider reading and research. Excellent use of underpinning data.

Extremely professional and cohesive presentation. Highly persuasive and engaging content. Delivered on time and demonstrating excellent use of the time allocated. Professional standard of handouts provided.

60-69% Demonstrates a good understanding of the brief and the current situation. Good justification of the proposed marketing objectives. A clear and logical marketing strategy with some justification of the proposed angle/hook, target audience and consideration of the future legacy. A marketing mix recommendation to deliver the marketing communications strategy with some justification of the chosen tools. Shows good consideration of implementation; timescales and budget and success measurement against objectives.

Good use of IMC theories and frameworks to carry out analysis but patchy in areas. Good evidence of reading. Good use of underpinning data but further research needed.

A clear and logical presentation. Engaged with the audience and good level of persuasion. Delivered on time and demonstrating good use of the time allocated. Good quality handouts provided.

50-59% Demonstrates a reasonable understanding of the brief and the current situation. Some objectives address key issues arising from situational analysis. Marketing strategy is reasonably descriptive with some consideration of the proposed angle/hook, target audience & future legacy. Marketing mix recommendations made but with limited justification of the chosen tools, Reasonable consideration of implementation, timescales, budget and success measurement against objectives.

Satisfactory use of IMC theories and frameworks to carry out analysis but overly descriptive in areas. Some evidence of reading. Some reference to data but further research needed.

A reasonably structured presentation. A sufficient level of engagement with the audience and reasonably persuasive. Delivered broadly on time and demonstrating a reasonable use of the time allocated. Clear handouts provided.

40-49% Demonstrates limited understanding of the brief and the current situation. Objectives that do not address key issues arising from situational analysis. Marketing strategy demonstrates limited consideration of the proposed angle/hook, target audience & future legacy. Marketing mix recommendations are made with limited rationale. Limited consideration given to the plan implications; timescales, budget

Limited use of IMC theories and frameworks to carry out analysis and work is descriptive. Limited evidence of relevant reading and research.

A basic presentation with an insufficient level of engagement with the audience. Delivered broadly on time but time is not used effectively, demonstrating poor preparation. Basic handouts provided.

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(Tutors will highlight comments which apply)

and success measurement against objectives.

Below 40%

Little or no demonstration that the brief and current situation is understood.

Limited or no objectives and the marketing strategy does not address the key issues arising from the situational analysis.

Marketing mix recommendations are very basic with no rationale.

Poor or no consideration given of the plan implications; timescales, budget and success management against objectives.

Little or no use of IMC theories and frameworks to carry out analysis. Work is mainly descriptive. Little evidence of relevant reading and research.

A muddled and unclear presentation, neither engaging nor persuasive. Not delivered on time, demonstrating poor/no preparation. No/poor quality handouts provided.

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