Integrated Marketing Communications Plan
For the project to be completed in this class, you will choose a product and create an integrated
marketing communications plan for this product. You may choose any good or service that
already exists, or you may choose to develop your own product, such as a business you would
like to operate. For instance, if you hope to one day own an event planning company, you may
decide to do your project on the event company you hope to open. I would suggest avoiding
large companies such as Coca-Cola, as this would be a very complex undertaking for your
project. You should prepare this plan as if you were presenting it to the Vice President of
Marketing within your organization for budgetary funding, or to a bank for financial assistance
in the case of your own business.
Your IMC plan should be a minimum of 5 full pages excluding the Works Cited page and any
photos or charts used (typed, double-spaced, 12 pt font, 1 margins) and should include your
strategy for each of the following items:
Product overview: Describe/explain the product. What does it do, why would a customer
buy it, what customer needs or wants does it meet, etc?
Goals and objectives: What are the goals and objectives of this IMC plan? What do you
hope to achieve through this plan?
Unique selling proposition: What is the one thing about this product that differentiates
it from the competition; why would a customer choose this over a competitors product?
Competition: Who are the major competitors in the marketplace? Provide a brief
summary of each competitor you list.
Timeline for the marketing program: When do you intend to launch the IMC program
and each of its components? How long will the IMC program continue?
Buyer profile and target markets: What does your typical buyer look like?
o Demographic segmentation
o Psychographic segmentation
o Behavioral segmentation
o Geographic segmentation
o Benefits segmentation
Marketing program: Which of the IMC tools will you use to effectively and efficiently
market your product?
o Advertising (and through which types of media?)
o Direct mail
o Internet/interactive
o Promotions
o Store/onsite events
o Public relations
o Collateral materials
o Personal selling
Marketing concepts: If you were working with an advertising agency or internal creative
team, what would you provide to them as guidance and input to write the copy and
design the materials to be used in the plan? Tone, types of artwork/photography to use,
overall message, etc.
Budget*
Each of these items should be detailed within your report, clearly explaining the way in which
you would effectively handle each need to successfully market your product. If you choose not
to participate in one of the marketing programs listed, that is acceptable as long as your overall
strategy for the IMC plan will ensure an effective strategy for the product. I would suggest
using this outline as a guide to write your plan. The IMC plan should be written in paragraph
format, not bullet points. I would suggest using each item in the outline as a section header,
then explaining the appropriate information for that section underneath the header.
*For the budget portion of the plan, I do not expect you to submit a full budget for the project.
However, choose the most appropriate budgeting method we reviewed in chapter 8 for this
project and explain the process you would follow to budget your project over the next year.
You must cite sources for all information not originally created by you. For instance, if you
choose to write your plan on an existing product, make sure to cite the sources for any
background or company information you use. For any competitive information, include the
source, as well as any statistics you use for target profile, etc. For a product or idea of your own
creation, much of the information will come from you so you do not have to cite this. But you
must cite anything you have not generated. Points (15%) will be deducted if you
fail to cite your sources. Over the years, I have reviewed many websites for the most
concise, accurate, and easy-to-understand information on citing works, because there are many
methods. This website is the one I found that meets all of those criteria:
http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/mla_examples.cfm.
As a reminder, when citing work, you should include a Works Cited page at the end of the
minimum five-page document, as well as in-text citations for any non-original information as
you use it within the document. You should use in-text citations for information you do not
provide so the reader knows its source. For example, if you were including a paragraph about
an areas demographic information in your document, at the end of the paragraph you would
include an in-text citation, and on the Works Cited page you would include the full information
for this source. If you use graphs or charts to show the demographic statistics in the above
example, you would need to cite those too. If you interview someone for information to be used
in your document, you need to cite that source. You will find examples for these items on the
website above. You do not have to cite original work you create since it is your own work.
However, anything you do not create, including text, data, or images, should be cited.
This project counts for 30% of your overall grade in this class. It will be graded on content,
detail, and thoroughness, as well as correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and length. Save
your assignment as a Word document (.doc or .docx format); do not submit .gdoc, .odt or
.pages formatted files. Submit your project via Blackboard. You may submit your project before
the due date if you prefer so that you are able to concentrate on other coursework.
