Digital Marketing, Branding and Strategy.

Overview:

You are to take the role of a brand consultant and develop a corporate brand revitalization strategy and a communication plan to generate better engagement around Apple inc Your strategy for revitalizing the brand image will serve as a springboard for converting the engagement into new customers and more revenue, as well as retaining and building loyalty with existing customers

Requirement:

Focusing on the market of one country (UK, B2B, area main technology hardware segment of Apple), you are expected to develop a corporate brand revitalization strategy including a communications plan to generate engagement around the brand. As part of this, the following are required:

1. An executive summary of no more than 200 words. – 5 Marks
2. An introduction to the report specifying the chosen corporate brand, its business, the chosen country/region and a summary of key proposals made within the report.  – 10 Marks
3. A situation analysis of the relevant industry/sector in the chosen country region (clearly identify this in the introduction) from macro and micro perspectives. This should result in the identification of key strategic issues with respect to the problems described in the background.  – 15 Marks
4. Conduct a brand audit and develop a conceptual map for the brand (based on secondary research) – explain the key perceptions and associations of the brand and evaluate these critically (e.g. strength vs. weakness?).  – 15 Marks
5. Identify and describe the characteristics of the brand’s main current customers. Further, develop two profiles (personas) of potential target audiences (i.e. a group of people who are likely to be future customers), so that they can be targeted through a subsequent communications campaign. Demographics and behavioural concepts  – 15 Marks
6. Analyze the media landscape of your chosen market in relation to your two profiles from the preceding task – what media are available, what sort of reach and influence do these have on your profiles? Discuss specific media that are of relevance (e.g. Instagram, radio channels, specific trade magazines) instead of grouping them together (e.g. social media).   – 15 Marks
7. Propose a detailed communications strategy (start by specifying a set of objectives) on how you intend to engage these two targeted audiences with a view to ultimately recruiting them as customers/clients. Using the knowledge of your target audiences, their profiles, and your analysis of the media landscape, create a customer journey map for each profile to summarize and present your communications strategy – this will show what type of message, method, medium you will utilise to engage the audience (potential customers) at each relevant touch-point.  – 20 Marks
8. Provide a summary of what relevant metrics and performance evaluation mechanisms you will incorporate into your communications strategy – you may use an augmented version of the customer journey map from the previous task to achieve this.  – 5 Marks

Additional Guidance Notes

• Treat this as a business report, and therefore whilst addressing all the requirements above, sections need to be succinct and impactful. Use well-structured paragraphs and include headings and sub-headings. Ensure that the sections are well linked to each other. Keep to the word limit of 4,000 words.
• Consider the impact on the reader, please use creative/visual techniques to make and strengthen your arguments – e.g. infographics, graphs/charts, and mock-ups of social media pages or webpages.
• You can use appendices if you wish, for supplementary information to the main contents of your report; e.g. to show how a new and innovative marketing technique has been effectively used for another campaign – a point which you have made in the main body of the report but would like to supplement with the contents in the appendix. However, please do so judiciously, and bear in mind that the marker has no obligation to award marks for your appendices. In other words, there is no benefit in having several pages of appendices because marks are, strictly speaking, awarded only for the contents of the main report.
• Good use of references is welcome, including academic articles, market research reports, and credible web-sources (referenced according to the university’s referencing guidelines). Use these to add credence to your arguments, to support your points, or illustrate your understanding of techniques, theories etc. However, there is no benefit in simply stacking-up references to support obvious points, or basic theories (e.g. 4Ps, Segmentation criteria etc.).
• As this is a business report, lengthy descriptions of basic theory do not add value. So, please use only brief descriptions, if needed. If you use an advanced theoretical approach (e.g. a framework proposed in a recent journal article) or refer to something very technical (e.g. DMP – Data Management Platform), then it might be worth providing a description or explanation for the benefit of the reader.

Format/Tips

Executive Summary – 1/2 Paragraphs

To include the context or key problem, scope and objective of the report, main findings and conclusions, key recommendations.

Introduction – Specify the chosen brand, its business, the chosen region/country, sector etc, data

Situation Analysis Discussion – Relevant theory/frameworks. PESTLE/SWOT Analysis Macro/Micro environment analysis/5 forces/4 PS, no need to explain what they are just do them. Applying to show them what is working, what is not and why. What impacts does it give to society, environmental, technological economy etc. Show reasoning in clear sentences as a summary.

Brand Audit & Conceptual Map – Secondary Research and evaluation

Customer Segmentation – demographic information, consumer behaviour, evaluate campaign, customer journey, political views, media consumption habits, earning capacity, business models

Analysis of Media Landscape – social media, traditional/linear media landscapes, cross reference from last sections, cross link

Your Proposed Communication Strategy – customer journey map, propose your ideas, you need to show the marker how you are using the tool mentioned to your target market audience, theory is merging into reality. Communication aims and targets what campaign awareness to use.

Summary – Evaluate matrix, how each stage has worked out, how you will measure the impact for each communication method you deploy in what phase. Use the customer journey map – redo it with metrics, link it back to your overall aims and objectives. Show return on investment, how you would manage the budget on the customer journey. Justify why it will be effective, show an appreciation return on investment.

References – Harvard method A-Z

Appendices – supporting materials, illustrations, charts, detailed analysis which supports your key arguments within the main body of the text

WRITING TIPS

Active voice ideally

Written for an executive reader – to get to the core of the argument

Report Style and include Table of contents, Appendix

Process of an investigation, link argument to ensure report flows

Report was done and what was found

Bullet points, visual tools, charts, graphs and diagrams, sales figures and improving them

Define pie charts, use phases for more marks

Include future recommendations

Apply frameworks and if they work, application orientated and evaluated

Do not be descriptive

Use publically available sources, annual reports

No need to work out costs of how to deploy your methods

Marking Guide TO FOLLOW

Excellent evidence of selection and application of appropriate theoretical concepts and frameworks, and their application to context of identified problem exceeding expectations. A comprehensive review of all critical elements related to the case is adopted throughout, integrating secondary research to a commendable extent. A robust submission in terms of support for arguments but additional advanced features showing clear link between how application of theories may be used to develop objectives and strategy to tackle a clearly identified business problem. Evidence of excellent appreciation of interrelationships between different aspects of a brand strategy and therefore application. The proposal is highly developed and meets industrial standards as well as academic.