Assignment Task
Adopting the role of a digital marketing consultant, you are required to submit to the owners of a case-study organization, recommendations of what elements of digital marketing would be most suitable to meet that organizations online objectives.
Presented in the form of a consultant report, the recommendations should identify and critically analyse the fundamental issues related to digital marketing and show clear evidence of synthesis and evaluation of the subject in the recommendations given to the organization.
Assignment guidance
The underlying principle of this assignment is that the recommendations made in the report should be specific to the case-study organization, and not a generic description of the elements of digital marketing that are available to any organization.
In the appendix there is a case study which gives you details of a fictitious though credible organization. There is sufficient information within the case study for you to complete the task. However, you will have to conduct an extensive situational analysis considering such things as but not limited to; how this kind of organization operates, the nature of the market in which it exists, the impact of competitors and how they operate and market themselves, customer expectations / behaviour and relevant aspects of the environment that might impact on that organization’s marketing and in particular its digital marketing.
Note that although this situational analysis has to be conducted in order to develop the report, the analysis MUST NOT make up part of the submitted report that is; the report has no ‘situational analysis’ section/chapter.
The report must not change any of the stated circumstances or advise any changes to the stated business and/or marketing strategy, for example; names of the organization. As a digital marketer you must consider the online marketing for the existing business / product/ service as presented.
The report is addressed to the owner[s] of the organization and you are to write it as if you are a consultant engaged to research and present the information. The report will be written in a management/consultant report format that will be easily understood by the addressees. That is: it is not an academic paper and must use appropriate language and terminology.
Similarly, there is no need to tell the addressees anything about themselves and/or their business they already know!
The recommendations must be based on the model of key objective[s]. Your proposed objectives must be identified and justified in the introduction of your report.
You do not need to include any costs in the report [the price of a website, for example] however, as any marketing should give a return on investment, the approximate cost of your recommendations must be appropriate to the case-study organization and its resources [financial, physical and human]. Note that the appropriateness will be just one thing that will become apparent during an effective situational analysis.
As is the case for management and consultant reports, the philosophy for this report is to include only content that is relevant but cover all relevant issues.
It will be your knowledge and understanding of the various elements of digital marketing that will put you in a position to follow that ethos by making a series of judgement calls on whether each of those elements is right for the case-study organization.
Note that throughout the delivery of the module the reading, exercises, and in-class discussion with the accompanying formative feedback will help you develop the knowledge and understanding of the subject as well as the philosophy of the modules assessment. The modules delivery will also include a dedicated assignment tutorial.
As the nature of this assignment is designed to be as close as possible to a real-life exercise that you might encounter in a work situation, the report itself will not include any academic references. However, you must include a bibliography of all the literature you have used in studying the module and developing recommendations for the case-study organisation.
Assignment presentation specification
The word limit for the report is up to 4000 words. Note that this is a guide only and the University policy on exceeding the word limit will not apply.
The word count excluding the appendices should be included on the cover page of the report.
The precise nature of the presentation of a consultant report will be addressed within the delivery of the module.
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: The case study: Celtic Collections
Jennifer Graylon is the Sole Proprietor of a business called Celtic Collections who sells different types of Celtic / Caledonian / Gaelic themed jewellery products from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Jennifer does not manufacture the items she sells personally but carefully curates products from craftspeople and manufacturers of suitable items. Jennifer only sells to retail customers and not to other businesses on a wholesale basis.
The company has been trading for 20 years and currently has a shop in the town of Stirling in Scotland. The company does not have any other property or warehousing other than the shop in Stirling although the shop has a large storeroom and staff facilities behind the shopfront and is well placed for delivery / courier services. The company currently has 3 staff members who work part time in the shop however none of these have experience or knowledge of digital marketing.
Jennifer was featured in a well-known Bridal magazine (online version) and since has been receiving telephone calls to the shop from around the world asking if orders can be placed over the phone for delivery. She has been packing orders (Max 5 per week including International orders) and taking them to the post office for the occasional telephone order customer. Jennifer already has an arrangement with a local engraving company for any personalized engraved items to order with an additional 7-day lead time on top of shipping times.
The company sells Gold, Silver and Leather jewellery items in the most popular Celtic styles, such as Claddagh, Celtic Cross, Trinity Knot and Tree of Life, among others. They sell Necklaces, Bracelets, Earrings, Rings (including for Weddings) and Celtic Bridal Circlets. They also sell metal tankards, goblets, quaich and drinking flasks / hip flasks.
People who visit the shop, including tourists to Scotland from all over the world, love the products for sale in the shop. The company currently does not have an official online presence although details of her products have been shared on online forums with pictures and details of the shop in Sterling (particularly bridal forums and expats of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales from around the world).
Jennifer would like to consider the possibility of selling her products online including potentially internationally but does not know where to start, or with which countries / territories. She has standard business knowledge of computers but no formal business or marketing qualifications and has tasked you as a consultant to help with the best way to use the internet in the growth of her business.
