Marketing Communications Series

The setting

NORTHBEAM OUTDOORS posted a light-hearted video that was widely shared and then picked up by an account that reframed it as the brand mocking people who cannot afford to travel. The comments have turned, and the staff who made it are watching as closely as the public.

Your role

You are to assume the role of a communications associate at NORTHBEAM OUTDOORS.

Your task

The marketing director (judge) wants you to recommend how NORTHBEAM responds. Identify the types of public relations activities this calls for, discuss the internal and external audiences you are speaking to, explain the role of business ethics in how the company answers, explain the communications channels you would use, and explain how the company's tone here reinforces or undermines its service orientation.

Performance indicators

• Identify types of public-relations activities.
• Discuss internal and external audiences for public-relations activities.
• Describe the use of business ethics in promotion.
• Explain communications channels used in public-relations activities.
• Reinforce service orientation through communication.

The judge will ask

1. 1.Do you delete the post? Explain your reasoning either way.
2. 2.What do you say to the employees who made it?

The setting

CADENCE AUDIO is launching one pair of headphones across radio, a printed insert, social video and in-store signage. Four different people wrote the four pieces, and no two of them describe the product the same way.

Your role

You are to assume the role of a marketing communications associate at CADENCE AUDIO.

Your task

The campaign lead (judge) wants you to explain how the campaign should be brought together. Explain why the elements of an advertisement have to be coordinated, identify the elements of the promotional mix in play, explain what each type of advertising media is suited to, explain the marketing communications development process this campaign skipped, and describe how you would implement a communications plan that keeps four channels saying one thing.

Performance indicators

• Explain the importance of coordinating elements in advertisements.
• Identify the elements of the promotional mix.
• Explain types of advertising media.
• Explain the marketing-communications development process.
• Implement a communications plan.

The judge will ask

1. 1.What is the one claim every piece must make?
2. 2.Which channel would you cut if you had to drop one?

The setting

VERDE SKINCARE paid a creator for three posts. Two carried a paid-partnership label. The third, which travelled much further than the others, did not, and the creator says adding a label now would hurt how it performs.

Your role

You are to assume the role of a marketing associate at VERDE SKINCARE.

Your task

The brand director (judge) wants you to recommend what VERDE does. Describe the regulation of promotion as it applies to paid content, explain the role of business ethics in leaving it as it stands, explain the use of influencers as a word-of-mouth strategy, explain the nature of word-of-mouth strategies and why disclosure matters to them, and identify the public relations activities you would undertake.

Performance indicators

• Describe the regulation of promotion.
• Describe the use of business ethics in promotion.
• Explain the use of celebrities/influencers as a WOM strategy.
• Explain the nature of word-of-mouth (WOM) strategies.
• Identify types of public-relations activities.

The judge will ask

1. 1.What do you require of the creator before the next campaign?
2. 2.Does it change anything that the unlabelled post performed best?

The setting

MERIDIAN BANK's customer newsletter has run in the same six-section format for three years. People open it and then do nothing with it, and every department in the bank asks for its own section.

Your role

You are to assume the role of a marketing communications associate at MERIDIAN BANK.

Your task

The head of customer marketing (judge) wants you to recommend what the newsletter becomes. Explain the nature of a communications plan for a channel like this, describe how you would implement it across a bank where every department wants space, explain the nature of direct marketing channels and what email is and is not good at, describe the data you would use to decide what to cut, and explain what promotion is supposed to achieve here.

Performance indicators

• Explain the nature of communications plans.
• Implement a communications plan.
• Explain the nature of direct marketing channels.
• Describe the need for marketing data.
• Explain the role of promotion as a marketing function.

The judge will ask

1. 1.What would you remove from the newsletter first?
2. 2.How would you say no to a department that wants a section?