Introduction

The effective use of advertising and promotion is a fundamental requirement for any business seeking to succeed in the modern business world. As they progress through the unit, learners will build up their understanding of advertising and promotion, which they can use to plan an integrated promotional strategy for a business or product.

The unit introduces learners to the wide scope of marketing communications and how the communications process operates. It includes a study of current trends and the impact that ICT has had on marketing communications. Learners will explore the marketing communications industry and how it operates. They will also develop some knowledge of how the industry is regulated to protect consumers.

Advertising and the use of below-the-line techniques are core components in the development of an integrated communications strategy. This unit covers both in detail. Learners will be introduced to the theory, as well as the practice, that is fundamental to understanding advertising and below-the-line techniques and how they can be used to their greatest effect. On completion of this unit learners will be able to plan an integrated promotional strategy for a business or product. This will include budget formulation, creative and media selection, and how to measure the effectiveness of their plan.

Specification of Assessment

• Present your work in one business report style which should include table of contents, reference list, foot or end notes and appendices if any
• Include the reference code of this assignment on your assignment submission front page
• Each page must be numbered at the bottom right hand side.
• Ensure the following information is in the footer on every page:
  • Your name
  • The production date of your submission
  • The code number of your assignment brief
  • The page number
• Spell-check the document and make sure there are no grammatical errors.
• Complete all the tasks.
• Produce clear specific reasoning and arguments in support of your answers.
• Submit your work in a single work processed document of not more than 5000 words for all Learning Outcomes. This word limit is only for guidelines, and is not applied to grading.
• You must include a bibliography at the end to show where your information was sourced.
• Your sources must be identified using the Harvard referencing system. The words used in your bibliography will not be included in your word count.

Learners are encouraged to be familiar with the assessment criteria and contextualised grade descriptors before completing these tasks.

1.1 explain the communication process that applies to advertising and promotion

1.2 explain the organisation of the advertising and promotions industry

1.3 assess how promotion is regulated

1.4 examine current trends in advertising and promotion, including the impact of ICT

LO 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 (Group Task Presentation Activity)

This learning outcome is to help learners discover and develop their creative skill which is vital in todays advertising and promotion industry. In this group task, you will choose a globally known multinational corporation organisation and act as an advertising and promotion agency for your client by providing guidelines, and working on an advertising and campaign project to help your client achieve both marketing communication and financial objectives taking into account all that you have learnt LO2.1, 2.2, 2,3 and 2.4 respectively.

In this group task, learners are required to allocate different roles and responsibilities needed in an advertising and promotion agency on the following

2.1 explain the role of advertising in an integrated promotional strategy for a business or product

2.2 explain branding and how it is used to strengthen a business or product

2.3 review the creative aspects of advertising

2.4 examine ways of working with advertising agencies

3.1 explain primary techniques of below-the-line promotion and how they are used in an integrated promotional strategy for a business or product

3.2 evaluate other techniques used in below-the-line promotion

4.1 follow an appropriate process for the formulation of a budget for an integrated promotional strategy

4.2 carry out the development of a promotional plan for a business or product

4.3 plan the integration of promotional techniques into the promotional strategy for a business or product

4.4 use appropriate techniques for measuring campaign effectiveness.