Students

MKTG802 – Marketing Communications

2016 – S1 Day

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Lecturer in Marketing, Department of Marketing and Management
Dr. Stephanie Yimin Huang
stephanie.huang@mq.edu.au
Room450, E4A
2pm-3pm, Thursday
Lawrence Ang
lawrence.ang@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
4
Prerequisites Prerequisites
MKTG696
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
Marketing communications are an integral part of a company's overall marketing mission and play a critical role in determining its success in the market. It accommodates both creative and analytical processes guided by a company's targeting and positioning strategies. This unit aims to provide you with an understanding of the various decisions and principles that marketing managers have to consider when developing communications strategies and action plans. An integrated perspective is adopted for this unit that allows you to analyse, design and evaluate the different roles of advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, public relations, sales promotion and event marketing. Relevant and up-to-date theories, concepts and practices in marketing communications will be provided and discussed in classes.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • An understanding of the elements of contemporary marketing communications, including the decisions, the strategies, the tools and the trends
  • A capacity of identifying and analysing marketing communications problems as well as devising sound and practical solutions
  • An appreciation of the need to plan marketing communications in a comprehensive and integrated manner
  • Development of the analytical and creative skills necessary to prepare a marketing communications plan
  • An ability to effectively communicate each component of the marketing communications campaign in both oral and written forms

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Due Groupwork/Individual Short Extension AI assisted?
Advertising Critique 30% Week 3 to Week 10 No
IMC Campaign Development 30% Week 5, 8,11,13 No
Final Exam 40% TBD No

Advertising Critique

Due: Week 3 to Week 10
Weighting: 30%
Groupwork/Individual:
Short extension 3: No
AI assisted?:

This assignment is based on individual work. It brings real-life experiences to the learning about creative evaluation of advertisements, aiming to develop students’ critical, analytical and integrative thinking. Students will be randomly assigned to specific themes and present a rigorous and critical analysis of the advertisements that are chosen by students guided by the themes. Students are expected to develop logical and convincing arguments in regards to what are specific qualities that make this advertisement a good/bad one. Relevant theories/concepts in Marketing Communications may be applied as appropriate frameworks and perspectives in the discussion.

The presentation should be max. 4 minutes long, assisted by Powerpoint slides. Given the time limit, no more than 8 slides are recommended as manageable for the presentation. A hardcopy of the slides MUST be submitted on the presentation day before the presentation starts. A summary report must be submitted in class on the presentation day, which should be max. 2 pages, using single space, Times New Roman and font size 12. This assignment will be assessed on a combined base of presentation (20%) and summary report (10%).

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • An understanding of the elements of contemporary marketing communications, including the decisions, the strategies, the tools and the trends
  • An ability to effectively communicate each component of the marketing communications campaign in both oral and written forms

IMC Campaign Development

Due: Week 5, 8,11,13
Weighting: 30%
Groupwork/Individual:
Short extension 3: No
AI assisted?:

The task in this assignment is to prepare a marketing communications plan in response to a brief. To undertake this task students are required to work in a group consisting of approximately 5 members. There are 4 stages of work involved in this project, including reports and a group presentation.  A peer review will be conducted at the completion of this project, the result of which will help to determine individual scores for the group project.

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • An understanding of the elements of contemporary marketing communications, including the decisions, the strategies, the tools and the trends
  • An appreciation of the need to plan marketing communications in a comprehensive and integrated manner
  • Development of the analytical and creative skills necessary to prepare a marketing communications plan
  • An ability to effectively communicate each component of the marketing communications campaign in both oral and written forms

Final Exam

Due: TBD
Weighting: 40%
Groupwork/Individual:
Short extension 3: No
AI assisted?:

A final examination is included as an assessment task for this unit to provide assurance that:

  1. the product belongs to the student and
  2. the student has attained the knowledge and skills tested in the exam.

A 3-hour final examination for this unit will be held during the University Examination period.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • An understanding of the elements of contemporary marketing communications, including the decisions, the strategies, the tools and the trends
  • A capacity of identifying and analysing marketing communications problems as well as devising sound and practical solutions

Delivery and Resources

  • Number and length of classes:  3 hours’ face-to-face teaching per week for 13 weeks, consisting of lectures and student presentations
  • The timetable for classes can be found on the University web site at http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au/
  • Prescribed Textbook (The prescribed textbook can be purchased from the Macquarie University Co-op Bookshop)
    • Ang, Lawrence (2014), Principles of Integrated Marketing Communications, Cambridge University Press
  • Recommended Texts
    • Hill, Sam and Glenn Rifkin (1999), Radical Marketing, HarperPerennial
    • Bedbury, Scott and Stephen Fenichell (2002), A New Brand World: 8 Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21st Century, Penguin Group
    • Kim, Chan and Renee Mauborgne (2005), Blue Ocean Strategy, Harvard Business School Press
    •     Supplementary readings (These readings will be posted on the course website.

  • Students should also consult a wide range of journals, such as the following:

    Newspapers/Magazines                                       Academic Journals

    Business Review Weekly                                      Journal of Marketing

    Australian Financial Review                                 Harvard Business Review

    The Australian (Marketing section)                      Journal of Consumer Research

    B&T Magazine                                                          Journal of Advertising

    Advertising News                                                     Journal of Retailing

    Sydney Morning Herald (Business section)       Journal of Marketing Management

    Advertising Age                                                        European Journal of Marketing

    Adnews                                                                     Journal of Services Marketing

    Marketing                                                                  Australian Marketing Researcher

    Unit web page

    Course materials, including lecture notes, supplementary readings, project briefs  and course-related announcements, are available on iLearn at http://learn.mq.edu.au.

     

Unit Schedule

Week

Lecture

Readings

Tutorial

Part I Overview of Marketing Communications

1 (3rd Mar)

Introduction to the course

 

Introduction to Marketing Communications: its role in business, challenges and decisions

Chapter 1, Textbook

Breaking the ice

2 (10th Mar)

How to gain consumer insights?

Chapter 2, Textbook;

 

 

Supplementary readings

Grouping

 

IMC campaign brief for the group project

 

Briefing on Advertising Critique;

 

Allocation of themes for Advertising Critique;

 

 

Part II Planning Marketing Communications Campaigns

3 (17th Mar)

How to plan an IMC campaign: Positioning strategies for building brand equity

 

Chapters 3, 13, Textbook

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising for FMCG)

Part III Marketing Communications Tools and Evaluations

4 (24th Mar)

What to consider for an advertising campaign I: Media strategies in advertising

Chapters 4, 5, Textbook

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique

(advertising in business-to-business marketing)

 

5 (31st Mar)

What to consider for an advertising campaign II: Creative strategies in advertising

Chapters 6,7, Textbook

 

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique

(application of appeals of humor, fear and sex in advertising)

 

Submission of Stage One report of major group project

6 (7th Apr)

How about direct marketing, personal selling and sales promotion?

 

Chapters 10,11, Textbook

 

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique

(creativity in advertising)

 

Feedback to Stage One Report

 

Briefing on Stage Two Report

Mid-Semester Break ( 11th April---22nd April)

7 (28th Apr)

How about public relations, sponsorship and event marketing?

Chapter 9

 

Supplementary Readings

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising surrounding event sponsorship)

 

 8 (5th May)

Alternative marketing

Chapter 8, Textbook

 

Supplementary readings

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (use of celebrity)

 

Submission of Stage Two report of major group project

 

9(12th May)

Marketing Communications campaign evaluation

Chapter 12, Textbook

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising for social marketing)

 

Feedback to Stage Two Report

 

Briefing on Stage Three Presentation of major group project

 

Part IV Special Topics in Marketing Communications

10(19th May)

Opportunities and challenges of New Media

Supplementary readings

Individual presentation on Advertising Critique

(advertising with new media)

Part V Group Presentations

11(26th May)

Group Presentation on IMC Project (Stage 3)

Briefing on Stage Four Report

Part VI Course Review

12 (2nd Jun)

Course Review

Feedback to Stage 3 presentation

13(9th Jun)

Briefing on the final exam

Submission of Final Report of the group project

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

New Assessment Policy in effect from Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html. For more information visit http://students.mq.edu.au/events/2016/07/19/new_assessment_policy_in_place_from_session_2/

Assessment Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html​

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

PG - Discipline Knowledge and Skills

Our postgraduates will be able to demonstrate a significantly enhanced depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content knowledge in their chosen fields.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • An understanding of the elements of contemporary marketing communications, including the decisions, the strategies, the tools and the trends
  • An ability to effectively communicate each component of the marketing communications campaign in both oral and written forms

Assessment tasks

  • Advertising Critique
  • Final Exam

PG - Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

Our postgraduates will be capable of utilising and reflecting on prior knowledge and experience, of applying higher level critical thinking skills, and of integrating and synthesising learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments. A characteristic of this form of thinking is the generation of new, professionally oriented knowledge through personal or group-based critique of practice and theory.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • A capacity of identifying and analysing marketing communications problems as well as devising sound and practical solutions
  • Development of the analytical and creative skills necessary to prepare a marketing communications plan

Assessment tasks

  • Advertising Critique
  • Final Exam

PG - Research and Problem Solving Capability

Our postgraduates will be capable of systematic enquiry; able to use research skills to create new knowledge that can be applied to real world issues, or contribute to a field of study or practice to enhance society. They will be capable of creative questioning, problem finding and problem solving.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • A capacity of identifying and analysing marketing communications problems as well as devising sound and practical solutions
  • An appreciation of the need to plan marketing communications in a comprehensive and integrated manner

Assessment task

  • IMC Campaign Development

Research and Practice, Global Contexts and Sustainability

Research papers and journal articles will be included in the class discussion, together with business cases. Students will be exposed to a combination of theories and practices throughout the learning in the unit.