Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Lecturer
Yimin Huang
Contact via 98508496
450, E4A
1pm-2pm, Monday
Yang Yang
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Credit points |
Credit points
4
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
MKTG696
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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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.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Advertising Critique | 20% | No | Week 3 and onwards |
IMC Project | 40% | No | Week 4,7,11,13 |
Final Exam | 40% | No | TBD |
Due: Week 3 and onwards
Weighting: 20%
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 assisted by Powerpoint slides. Given the time limit, no more than 5 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 (15%) and summary report (5%).
No extensions will be granted, except for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved.
Due: Week 4,7,11,13
Weighting: 40%
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. Stage 1 (10%) and Stage 3 (10%) will be based on individual work. Detailed project brief will be provided as a separate document available on iLearn.
No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved.
Due: TBD
Weighting: 40%
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. No early final examination will be granted. Supplementary final examination might be organized based on the evaluation of a proper application for special consideration submitted before the final examination.
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
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.
Lecture |
Readings |
Tutorial |
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Part I Overview of Marketing Communications |
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1 |
Introduction to the course
Introduction to Marketing Communications: its role in business, challenges and decisions |
Chapter 1, Textbook |
Breaking the ice |
2 |
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;
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Part II Planning Marketing Communications Campaigns |
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3 |
How to plan an IMC campaign: Positioning strategies for building brand equity
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Chapters 3, 13, Textbook |
Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising for FMCG) |
Part III Marketing Communications Tools and Evaluations |
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4 |
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)
Submission of Stage 1 report of major group project |
5 |
What to consider for an advertising campaign II: Creative strategies in advertising |
Chapters 6,7, Textbook
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Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (application of appeals of humor, fear and sex in advertising)
Feedback to Stage 1 Report
Briefing on Stage 2 Report |
6 |
How about direct marketing, personal selling and sales promotion? |
Chapters 10,11, Textbook
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Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (creativity in advertising) |
7 |
How about public relations, sponsorship and event marketing? |
Chapter 9, Textbook
Supplementary Readings |
Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising surrounding event sponsorship)
Submission of Stage 2 report |
Mid-Semester Break |
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8 |
Alternative marketing |
Chapter 8, Textbook |
Feedback to Stage 2 Report
Briefing on Stage 3 Report and Presentation |
9 |
Marketing Communications campaign evaluation |
Chapters 12, Textbook
Supplementary readings |
Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising for social marketing)
Submission of Stage 3 Report (individual) |
Part IV Special Topics in Marketing Communications |
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10 |
Opportunities and challenges of New Media |
Supplementary readings |
Individual presentation on Advertising Critique (advertising with new media)
Feedback to Stage 3 report |
Part V Group Presentations |
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11 |
Group Presentation on IMC Project (Stage 3) |
Briefing on Stage 4 Report |
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Part VI Course Review |
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12 |
Course Review |
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13 |
Briefing on the final exam Submission of Final Report of the group project |
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
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.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 (in effect until Dec 4th, 2017): http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html
Special Consideration Policy (in effect from Dec 4th, 2017): https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
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.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
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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:
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:
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:
This unit will refer to journal articles and industry reports to provide students with updated knowledge of theories and practices. Recent journal articles will be listed as supplementary readings available on iLearn. Students are also suggested to consult a wide range of journals to facilitate their studies in this unit, including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Consumer Research and Harvard Business Review. Students will be required to draw on research in relevant areas in marketing communications in their group projects. Students will be exposed to cases of international marketing communications to learn to be sensitive to a changing global environment and complexity of consumers in different markets.