Introduction

The course is built around an integrated marketing communications planning model and recognizes the importance of coordinating all of the promotional mix elements to develop an effective communications program. Although media advertising is often the most visible part of a firm’s promotional program, attention must also be given to direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations, interactive media, and personal selling. This text integrates theory with planning, management, and strategy. To effectively plan, implement, and evaluate IMC programs, one must understand the overall marketing process, consumer behavior, and communications theory. We draw from the extensive research in advertising, consumer behavior, communications, marketing, sales promotion, and other fields to give students a basis for understanding the marketing communications process, how it influences consumer decision making, and how to develop promotional strategies. The course is an ideal first step for those looking to enter this exciting and lucrative field.

Course Duration

The course delivery is normally 30 weeks and 60 hours face-to-face foreign lecturers.

A more intensive programme can be provided on request.

Certificate Course Modules with descriptions and Learning Outcomes

Session 1: Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications
This session provides an overview of advertising and promotion and its role in modern marketing.
The concept of IMC and the factors that have led to its growth are discussed. Each of the promotional mix elements is defined, and an IMC planning model shows the various steps in the promotional planning process.
This model provides a framework for developing the integrated marketing communications program and is
followed throughout the text.

1. To examine the promotional function and the growing importance of advertising and other
promotional elements in the marketing programs of domestic and foreign companies.
2. To introduce the concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) and consider how it has evolved.
3. To examine reasons for the increasing importance of the IMC perspective in planning and executing advertising and promotional programs.
4. To introduce the various elements of the promotional mix and consider their roles in an IMC program.
5. To examine how various marketing and promotional elements must be coordinated to communicate
effectively.
6. To introduce a model of the IMC planning process and examine the steps in developing a marketing communications program.

Session 2: The Role of IMC in the Marketing Process
The role of advertising and promotion in the overall marketing program, will be discussed with attention to the various elements of the marketing mix and how they interact with advertising and promotional strategy. We have also included coverage of market segmentation and positioning in this chapter so that students can understand how these concepts fit into the overall marketing programs as well as their role in the development of an advertising and promotional program.

1. To understand the marketing process and the role of advertising and promotion in an organization’s integrated marketing program.
2. To know the various decision areas under each element of the marketing mix and how they influence and interact with advertising and promotional strategy.
3. To understand the concept of target marketing in an integrated marketing communications program.
4. To recognize the role of market segmentation and its use in an integrated marketing communications program.
5. To understand the use of positioning and repositioning strategies.

Session 3: Organizing for Advertising and Promotion: The Role of Ad Agencies and Other Marketing Communication Organizations
This session describes how firms organize for advertising and promotion and examines the role of ad agencies and other firms that provide marketing and promotional services. We discuss how ad agencies are selected, evaluated, and compensated as well as the changes occurring in the agency business. Attention is also given to other types of marketing communication organizations such as direct marketing, sales promotion, and interactive agencies as well as public relations firms. We also consider whether responsibility for integrating the various communication functions lies with the client or the agency.

1. To understand how companies organize for advertising and other aspects of integrated marketing communications.
2. To examine methods for selecting, compensating, and evaluating advertising agencies.
3. To explain the role and functions of specialized marketing communications organizations.
4. To examine various perspectives on the use of integrated services and responsibilities of advertisers versus agencies.

Session 4: Perspectives on Consumer Behavior
This session covers the stages of the consumer decision-making process and both the internal psychological factors and the external factors that influence consumer behavior. The focus of this session is on how advertisers can use an understanding of buyer behavior to develop effective advertising and other forms of promotion.
1. To understand the role consumer behavior plays in the development and implementation of advertising and promotional programs.
2. To understand the consumer decision-making process and how it varies for different types of purchases.
3. To understand various internal psychological processes, their influence on consumer decision making, and implications for advertising and promotion.
4. To recognize the various approaches to studying the consumer learning process and their implications
for advertising and promotion.
5. To recognize external factors such as culture, social class, group influences, and situational determinants and how they affect consumer behavior.
6. To understand alternative approaches to studying consumer behavior.

Session 5: The Communication Process
We will examine the various communication theories and models of how consumers respond to advertising messages and other forms of marketing communications.
1. To understand the basic elements of the communication process and the role of communications in marketing.
2. To examine various models of the communication process.
3. To analyze the response processes of receivers of marketing communications, including alternative response hierarchies and their implications for promotional planning and strategy.
4. To examine the nature of consumers’ cognitive processing of marketing communications.

Session 6: Source, Message, and Channel Factors
This session provides a detailed discussion of source, message, and channel factors.
1. To study the major variables in the communication system and how they influence consumers’
processing of promotional messages.
2. To examine the considerations involved in selecting a source or communicator of a promotional message.
3. To examine different types of message structures and appeals that can be used to develop a promotional message.
4. To consider how the channel or medium used to deliver a promotional message influences the
communication process.

Session 7: Establishing Objectives and Budgeting for the Promotional Program
This session stresses the importance of knowing what to expect from advertising and promotion, the differences between advertising and communication objectives, characteristics of good objectives, and problems in setting objectives. We have also integrated the discussion of various methods for determining and allocating the promotional budget into this chapter. These first four sections of the text provide students with a solid background in the areas of marketing, consumer behavior, communications, planning, objective setting, and budgeting. This background lays the foundation for the next section, where we discuss the development of the integrated marketing communications program.

1. To recognize the importance and value of setting specific objectives for advertising and promotion.
2. To understand the role objectives play in the IMC planning process and the relationship of promotional objectives to marketing objectives.
3. To know the differences between sales and communications objectives and the issues regarding the use of each.
4. To recognize some problems marketers encounter in setting objectives for their IMC programs.
5. To understand the process of budgeting for IMC.
6. To understand theoretical issues involved in budget setting.
7. To know various methods of budget setting.

Session 8: Creative Strategy: Planning and Development
We will discusses the planning and development of the creative strategy and advertising campaign and examines the creative process.
1. To discuss what is meant by advertising creativity and examine the role of creative strategy in advertising.
2. To examine creative strategy development and the roles of various client and agency personnel involved in it.
3. To consider the process that guides the creation of advertising messages and the research inputs into the stages of the creative process.
4. To examine various approaches used for determining major selling ideas that form the basis of an advertising campaign.

Session 9: Creative Strategy: Implementation and Evaluation
In this session we turn our attention to ways to execute the creative strategy and some criteria for evaluating creative work.

1. To analyze various types of appeals that can be used in the development and implementation of an advertising message.
2. To analyze the various creative execution styles that advertisers can use and the advertising situations where they are most appropriate.
3. To analyze various tactical issues involved in the creation of print advertising and TV commercials.
4. To consider how clients evaluate the creative work of their agencies and discuss guidelines for the evaluation and approval process.

Session 10: Media Planning and Strategy
Course participants will be introduced to the key principles of media planning and strategy and examines how a media plan is developed.
1. To understand the key terminology used in media planning.
2. To know how a media plan is developed.
3. To know the process of developing implementing media strategies.
4. To be familiar with sources of and characteristics of media.

Session 11: Evaluation of Broadcast Media
We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the broadcast media (TV and radio) as well as issues regarding the purchase of radio and TV time and audience measurement.
1. To examine the structure of the television and radio industries and the role of each medium in
the advertising program.
2. To consider the advantages and limitations of TV and radio as advertising media.
3. To explain how advertising time is purchased for the broadcast media, how audiences are measured, and how rates are determined.
4. To consider future trends in TV and radio and how they will influence the use of these media in advertising.

Session 12: Evaluation of Print Media
This session considers the same issues for the print media (magazines and newspapers).
1. To examine the structure of the magazine and newspaper industries and the role of each medium in the advertising program.
2. To analyze the advantages and limitations of magazines and newspapers as advertising media.
3. To examine the various types of magazines and newspapers and the value of each as an advertising medium.
4. To discuss how advertising space is purchased in magazines and newspapers, how readership is measured, and how rates are determined.
5. To consider future developments in magazines and newspapers and how these trends will influence their use as advertising media.

Session 13: Support Media
During this session we will examine the role of support media such as outdoor and transit advertising and some of the many new media alternatives.
1. To recognize the various support media available to the marketer in developing an IMC program.
2. To develop an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of support media.
3. To know how audiences for support media are measured.

Session 14 Direct Marketing
We will look at the rapidly growing areas of direct marketing. This session examines database marketing and the way by which companies communicate directly with target customers through various media.
1. To recognize the area of direct marketing as a communications tool.
2. To know the strategies and tactics involved in direct marketing.
3. To demonstrate the use of direct-marketing media.
4. To determine the scope and effectiveness of direct marketing.

Session 15: Media
This session provides a detailed discussion of interactive media and marketing on the Internet and how companies are using the World Wide Web as a medium for communicating with customers. We discuss how this medium is being used for a variety of marketing activities including advertising, sales promotion and even the selling of products and services.
1. To understand the different ways the Internet is used to communicate.
2. To know the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet and interactive media.
3. To know the role of the Internet and interactive media in an IMC program.
4. To understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of communications through the Internet.

Session 16: Sales Promotion
We will examine the areas of sales promotion including both consumer-oriented promotions and programs
targeted to the trade (retailers, wholesalers and other middlemen).
1. To understand the role of sales promotion in a company’s integrated marketing communications program and to examine why it is increasingly important.
2. To examine the various objectives of sales promotion programs.
3. To examine the types of consumer- and trade oriented sales promotion tools and the factors to consider in using them.
4. To understand how sales promotion is coordinated with advertising.
5. To consider potential problems and abuse by companies in their use of sales promotion.

Session 17: Public Relations, Publicity, and Corporate Advertising
Deals with the role of publicity and public relations in IMC as well as corporate advertising.
1. To recognize the roles of public relations, publicity, and corporate advertising in the promotional mix.
2. To know the difference between public relations and publicity and demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of each.
3. To understand the reasons for corporate advertising and its advantages and disadvantages.
4. To know the methods for measuring the effects of public relations, publicity, and corporate advertising.

Session 18: Personal Selling
Basic issues regarding personal selling and its role in promotional strategy are presented
1. To understand the role of personal selling in the integrated marketing communications program.
2. To know the advantages and disadvantages of personal selling as a promotional program element.
3. To understand how personal selling is combined with other elements in an IMC program.
4. To know ways to determine the effectiveness of the personal selling effort.

Session 19: Measuring the Effectiveness of the Promotional Program
We will discuss ways to measure the effectiveness of various elements of the integrated marketing communications program, including methods for pre-testing and post-testing advertising messages and campaigns.
1. To understand reasons for measuring promotional program effectiveness.
2. To know the various measures used in assessing promotional program effectiveness.
3. To evaluate alternative methods for measuring promotional program effectiveness.
4. To understand the requirements of proper effectiveness research.

Session 20: International Advertising and Promotion
In this session we examine the global marketplace and the role of advertising and other promotional mix variables such as sales promotion, public relations, and the Internet in international marketing. The text concludes with a discussion of the regulatory, social, and economic environments in which advertising and promotion operate.

1. To examine the importance of international marketing and the role of international advertising and promotion.
2. To review the various factors in the international environment and how they influence advertising and promotion decisions.
3. To consider the pros and cons of global versus localized marketing and advertising.
4. To examine the various decision areas of international advertising.
5. To understand the role of other promotional mix elements in the international integrated marketing communications program.

Session 21: Regulation of Advertising and Promotion
This session examines industry self-regulation and regulation of advertising by governmental agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, as well as rules and regulations governing sales promotion, direct marketing, and marketing on the Internet.

1. To examine how advertising is regulated, including the role and function of various regulatory agencies.
2. To examine self-regulation of advertising and evaluate its effectiveness.
3. To consider how advertising is regulated by federal and state government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission.
4. To examine rules and regulations that affect sales promotion, direct marketing, and marketing on the Internet.

Session 22: Evaluating the Social, Ethical, and Economic Aspects of Advertising and Promotion
The roles of advertising in society is constantly changing and in this session we examine the criticisms frequently levied, so in we consider the social, ethical, and economic aspects of advertising and promotion.

1. To consider various perspectives concerning the social, ethical, and economic aspects of advertising and promotion.
2. To evaluate the social criticisms of advertising.
3. To examine the economic role of advertising and its effects on consumer choice, competition, and product costs and prices.

Typical Assessment Structure

Assignments, Group Discussion and Multiple Choice.

Admission

f English is your second language and you did not complete the last two years of secondary education in English you are required to provide evidence of English language competence before enrolling. Examples of appropriate evidence are:

IELTS
Overall score of 5.5

TOEFL
530 (paper), 197 (computer) or 71 Internet.

Letters of Reference, Testimonials, Performance Appraisals etc