ALA203 Research and Planning Report

Task:

The scenario

Imagine you have just begun a marketing communication internship with Mr William, reporting to the marketing manager. She is keen to learn more about you, and how you apply your knowledge and skills  to develop an integrated marketing communication plan.

She also wants to see:

• how you work in a self-managed team (Assignment 1); and
• how you work independently (Assignment 2)

So, you will complete a marketing communication plan for Mr William in two stages:

1. Stage 1 - Assignment 1: working with your group, you will help to research and report on external factors that will impact the foundation sections of the first draft of the Mr William
annual (12 month) plan.
2. Stage 2 - Assignment 2: working solo, you will finish your group’s plan by developing the creative and promotional strategy for your brand.

Advice on desk research

The manufacturing company Mr William, your new brand and product line are all fictional – but the positioning, market conditions, retail context, and target audiences should be based in reality. You will  therefore need to build your knowledge of your product’s retail market and target audiences (and the social and other factors that influence their behaviour) by finding and referencing reputable industry  documents, such as: • Footwear Retailing in Australia: IBISWorld Industry Report G4252. You can access this from
IBISWorld You must be logged into the Deakin Library as Deakin student to access it. Other product market/retail sector reports might be available (or not) via IBISWorld. This is for you  and your group to pursue. However, you should not rely solely on the IBISWorld report.

Group: The group must:

a) Establish a unique brand name, complete a marketing mix, and upload it to the assignment drop box titled Assessment Task 1: Research and Planning Report by Friday 29 November 2019. If there are delays in group formation you must have the unit chair’s permission to vary this date.

b) Upload a complete working draft of the assignment by Friday 6 December 2019. The group reserves Saturday 14 December 2019 and Sunday 15 December 2019 for editing, before submitting to the assignment drop box by 11.59 pm on Sunday 15 December 2019.

Environmental analysis

 Analyse any relevant factors in the political, economic, social/cultural, technology, legal and natural environments that might impact the promotion of your new brand  over the next 12 months. (You may have learned the acronym PEEST, or even PESTLE – it  is the same as PESTN). Remember: this is not a marketing plan – you are not  documenting things such as product development opportunities or new distribution  channels. What you discuss in this section must provide insight for the development of  creative or promotional strategy.

SWOT analysis

You will create this analysis from your marketing mix analysis and external analyses –noting that ‘SWOT’ stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You  will use the layout template provided in the Assignment folder and integrate this into your report. BUT do not complete this until you have finished the marketing mix and situation analysis.