Produce copy for digital media communication

Transcript of Unit 25 produce copy for interactive media

In advertising, web marketing and similar fields, copy refers to the output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services. In publishing more generally, the term copy refers to the text in books, magazines, and newspapers.

“Copywriting is written content conveyed through online media and print materials.Copy content is primarily used for the purpose of advertising or marketing. This type of written material is often used to persuade a person or group as well as raise brand awareness.”

Originally the domain of advertising copywriters (not copy writers, you’ll note), the term copywriting applies to writing material for marketing – advertising, direct mail, PR, brochures, and scripts for radio, TV and sales people.

 Now we add website pages and blogs, podcast scripts, the words on infographics and so on.

Unit 25 Produce copy for interactive media products

 Understand the target medium/platform for communicating with text

2 Be able to produce text-based material for an interactive media product 

3 Be able to check the accuracy of text-based material for an interactive media product 

4 Understand legal and ethical considerations relevant to producing copy for interactive media products

 2.1 Identify a style that is suitable for the target audience and purpose of the communication
The style for a target audience will chance dependent on who the market is, for example if you were aiming at a younger audience, you would use more simplistic language and not engage within more mature topics such as politics.

2.2 Maintain a consistent style both within texts and between related texts
Within a website, you cannot change the tone of the site on different pages, if you are a professional news website such as the BBC the first link you have on the site will not lead to a celebrity gossip site.

2.3 Ensure that grammar, punctuation and spelling are accurate and appropriate
You won't get anyone taking you seriously if you make clear grammatical and punctual errors.

 2.4 Structure the text-based content for readability and accessibility
For people that have sight or hearing problems, you could add a "narrator" like software to the product or an option to enlarge the text or high contrast options.

2.5 Identify search engine optimisation techniques as appropriate
Using "h1" tags to ensure that people can find your site on Google.

2.6 Format copy, following relevant writing conventions, style guides and policies
Ensuring that the product follows the same guidelines, to ensure that it doesn't confuse users to thinking they are on a different web page, keeping the product on the same format ensures that you can have your own image and people recognise you for it.

2.7 Produce appropriate captions or descriptions to accompany content
This allows the product to be appealing for users that want to quick browse the product without reading to deep "quick reading".

 3.1 Proofread copy to check for any errors
This is to ensure that the product contains a sense of professionalism, no one will take you seriously if there are errors.

3.2 Check the accuracy of any facts and figures quoted, seeking advice as required
This is to ensure that you are a reliable source, you want your product to be used and taken seriously, you want to beat the competition!

 4.1 Review the content against any legal and ethical considerations
A website or a product could be shut down if the necessary legal and ethical considerations are not put into place. Such as if you use another companies logo, video or anything else without their permission they can request you take it off or in extreme cases get the product shut down, an example of this is the recently closed site Mega Upload and their subsidiary Mega Video, this website was closed down for distributing other companies products without their permission.

4.2 Make any necessary changes to comply with relevant legislation
If you are hosting another companies product and they do not want it on your website, you are expected to take it down or else legal action could be put in place.


1 Understand the target medium/platform for communicating with text

1.1 Identify relevant constraints, possibilities and opportunities offered by the selected target medium/platform.

This part of the unit is to ensure that you realise how different market require different requirements, such as if you are aiming a product at a younger market you will need to include bright colours for example or if you are aiming at an older market you will need to make the product more visually appealing for their needs, more complex language is also needed for an older market.

1.2 Identify key constraints or considerations arising from the use of an online content management system
Content management systems are essentially just platforms that you can use to update a website, for example if I had no skill of HTML and CSS I would use a content management system to update my wesbite. Constrictions of this could be the system could limit what I can put in to the website and could restrics Search Engine Optimisation.

2.8 Provide clear, consistent and accessible hyperlinks
This ensures that it is easy for one to navigate throughout a page or the product

2.9 Produce and embed metadata 

Metadata is data of data, such as if you wrote down information from a survey, the meta data would be the date and time this information was gathered. A task that we could do to learn these points? A task that we could do to help learn these techniques are essentially using word and exploring the different ways we can write, this will help us with the spelling part of the unit, but also allow us to practice writing for different audiences.

We could also look at other sites to see how they present information in such a way and stick to necessary guidlines. A good example of how a page sticks to the same format is Facebook, it is customisable but it is still clear that it is the same website on every page you go on, because of the same colouring and so on, their phone App also keeps within these guidelines.
Websites such as The BBC keep within the same writing style, you wouldn't find one page writing such as this
"This is your news for today" and then another page on the same site saying "Dis 1s Ur N3w$ 4 2d4y". If you wanted to reach out to a younger audience then perhaps you would talk like that?
A Real life business situation where these skills/knowledge might be useful

In a real life business situation, you could find yourself writing for a website, I will take The Website CNET for example, they are a website that update their market with news on new technology. If you were writing for them yoyu would write in a formal way, because the market will be more mature and formal, you would gain reliable facts and figures and because they are a company that are involed in tech, facts and figures are easy to come across.

If you posted false information such as the release of an Apple product that is not real and has no reliable source and you just wrote this because you needed content. Then Apple could take action on you and the website because you are posting information that is not true.

Sticking within the same format and style of the other pages is also key, if you designing a page and the main colour of the other pages is red, then designing the page to be coloured blue would not look appealing in comparison to the other pages on the site and may influence the user to think they are on a different site.

explain considerations for a selection of media channels

How to Determine the Appropriate Communication Channel

To determine the appropriate communication channel, identify the people you want to communicate with, research how they obtain information, consider the complexity of the message you want to communicate, calculate the cost of communicating and decide whether you want the communication to be interactive.

 The choice of channel is not simple; for a complex communication program, you may need to work with professionals such as public relations or marketing communication consultants.

1. Identify your target audience. Find out the job titles of the people who make or influence decisions about purchasing the type of products you supply. Review the media information packs of magazines and newspapers that claim to reach your target audience. Draw up a shortlist of publications you could use for advertising or editorial coverage. Ask the sales team if they meet the key decision makers face-to-face. If they do, you can use the sales force to communicate information. Consider how you could use your website to communicate with the audience. Companies use the Internet to gather preliminary information when they are considering a purchase.

2. Analyze the message you want to communicate. Use channels such as advertisements, email or short messages on social media such as Twitter to communicate a simple message, such as a price change or new product announcement. Select a channel that allows you to treat a topic in more depth if you want to explain the benefits of a new product or a strategic change in your company. Consider feature articles in magazines read by your target audience, detailed technical papers available from your website or speaking opportunities at industry conferences attended by your target audience.

3. Calculate the cost of communicating through the channels you have identified. Obtain advertising rates from media publishers, ask designers and printers for quotes on producing printed documents such as technical papers and calculate the cost of direct sales calls on key decision-makers.

4. Choose interactive channels if you want to obtain feedback or monitor opinions of your company and your products. Set up a forum or product review page on your website to encourage visitors to share their views. Monitor social media for material that relates to your company. Respond to comments to build dialogue and protect your reputation.

5. Work with communications professionals to develop and implement your communication strategy. Appoint a public relations consultant to handle relations with the media – ensuring that press releases appear in the right publications and gaining editorial coverage in influential media. Select a marketing firm or advertising agency to make recommendations on communication channels and strategy.


Writing a brief 

A clear brief will help any designer or copywriter to deliver work that meets all your expectations. Copywriter and marketing communications consultant Mike Hadley explains the importance of setting objectives and shares his own briefing form.

During my many years of working with clients, advertising agenciesand design companies, I have been surprised how often there is no proper brief to detail requirements and expectations.

This can leave both parties disappointed: clients may be frustrated that they do not get what they want (or expect) and the designer or writer may feel that their client is being difficult or indecisive.

As a copywriter and design manager, I have created my own briefing form that I have developed over the years. This covers most of the aspects I would normally expect to consider, to ensure that I deliver work that will be effective in the job it has to do. While I don't always complete it in full, at the very least it serves as a useful prompt to ensure all the main things are covered.

It has been prepared mainly with copywriting needs in mind, although its scope is also useful for many design projects. I would be pleased to hear from you if you have any comments or suggestions to improve it.

Briefing form

Client:

Subject:

Date:

Briefed by (name and job title/responsibility):

Project description:

Requirement:

What do you believe you require? For example, a corporate brochure, website, sales literature, sales aid, letter, form, PR, exhibition, TV, radio or print advertisement. (Sometimes, based on the information you provide, it may be that a different or additional approach is recommended.)

Purpose:

Why is this wanted? What do you want to achieve in the short-term, in the long-term? For example, to generate immediate enquiries or to explain something. How will you evaluate its effectiveness?

Target Audience:

Who do you most want to reach? Qualify and quantify. Describe relevant aspects, both in professional terms - nature of business, position held, etc, and in personal terms - age, sex, etc. Use socio-economic classifications if appropriate (ABC1 etc).

Positioning:

The present and, if relevant, the required positioning in the marketplace, both actual and perceived. SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

Benefits:

What is the single most important benefit that will appeal to your target audience? Why is this important to your customer? What are the secondary benefits?

Proposition:

What is the key statement that summarises the main benefit of your product or service?

Rationale:

Why should the audience believe what you claim?

Response:

What sort of response are you seeking? To increase general awareness? To change attitudes? To buy? Is there an immediate action required: to email, telephone or to respond in some other way?

Executional guidelines:

The use will inform the design/copy approach. For example, will information change frequently? Is there a need to provide different information for different audiences? Give details of any other elements to be included - for example, 24-page booklet rather than loose-leaf binder, colour essential. State quantities required. Include any expectations/assumptions you may have.

Tone of voice:

What sort of language should be used: casual, formal, authoritative, friendly, humorous, serious, etc? It may be helpful to provide examples of existing material, as well as style guidelines, if they exist.

Distribution:

How will this be received? By hand, in person, by email, posted, left behind after meeting?

Other activity:

Are there, or will there be, related activities, such as advertising, exhibitions, posters or brochures? Will any subsequent activity be taking place, such as follow up mailings, telephone calls or personal visits?

Background:

Assume the agency/designer/writer has no knowledge of your activities. It is all too easy for work to fail because of incorrect assumptions. Supply the essential information they need.

Context:

How does this relate to your wider business strategy? What is the competition? Are you aware of any similar activity? Is there anything else you have done, or are planning to do, that is relevant? Where appropriate, supply examples. How do your target audience feel about your product or service in relation to alternatives available to them?

Content:

Supply the information you wish to be communicated. In some cases you may have draft text, in others you may only have the germ of an idea - so describe what you want to say. Indicate key phrases/terms relevant to the business. For websites, provide any information already held on keywords for search engines. Try to prioritise.

Attachments:

List and supply all relevant information.

Next action:

Detail who is to do what and by when. For example, client to agree brief by a certain date.

Estimate/budget:

Before beginning work a budget should be provided and/or an estimate agreed. An

y estimate given is based on present assumptions of the nature of the item at this stage. These costs may be subject to revision once concepts have been developed, or if the brief changes substantially. Agree Terms and Conditions of working.

Timing:

Agree now on the first action required, and by when. Agree a schedule to show stages and dates for each stage: agree brief, initial concepts, detailed design, draft text, artwork, final revisions, to printer, delivery.

Marketing Planning

Marketing Planning

A marketing plan is a document developed by company leaders and marketing professionals. This tool offers a guide for the marketing department to implement steps necessary to align with stated marketing objectives and strategies. Typically, companies develop a marketing plan every few years but review it periodically for adjustments or chances based on company strategy.
  

Objectives

A major purpose of the marketing plan is to set the company on a specific course in marketing. Goals of marketing generally align with broader company objectives. A new company looking to grow, for instance, often has a marketing plan that emphasizes strategies to increase customer base. A low penetration pricing strategy is a common technique in this case. Gaining marketing share, increasing customer awareness and building favorable attitudes are other common objectives. The objectives element of a marketing plan helps companies ensure all marketing investments have a target.

Budget

Marketing professionals often have to sell company leaders on the importance of allocating significant resources to the marketing budget. In a thorough marketing plan, you lay out the necessary budget and resources needed to complete the objectives stated. The plan allows you to showcase what you intend to accomplish with the budget, making it possible for executives to generally assess potential return on the investment of marketing dollars.

Accountability

Several facets of a marketing plan relate to accountability. The plan is a general commitment from company leaders and the marketing staff to take the company in a certain direction. Once strategies are outlined and tasks are developed, each task is assigned to a person or team for implementation. This specific list of assigned marketing roles allows the company to better track milestones and communicate with employees on progress in implementation.

Strategic Planning

The marketing plan is a critical document that coincides with the bigger picture company strategic plan. Having a marketing plan helps company leaders develop and monitor expectations for other functional areas. If sales growth is a marketing plan goal, for instance, company leaders may have to ramp up sales staff in stores to help generate more sales. If increased customer service is a strategy to improve retention and loyalty, the company may allocate funds to train and develop stronger customer service and support team members.

Definition

A marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines a business advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame. A marketing plan also includes a description of the current marketing position of a business, a discussion of the target market and a description of the marketing mix that a business will use to achieve their marketing goals.

A marketing plan has a formal structure, but can be used as a formal or informal document which makes it very flexible. It contains some historical data, future predictions, and methods or strategies to achieve the marketing objectives. Marketing plans start with the identification of customer needs through a market research and how the business can satisfy these needs while generating an acceptable level of return.

 This includes processes such as market situation analysis, action programs, budgets, sales forecasts, strategies and projected financial statements. A marketing plan can also be described as a technique that helps a business to decide on the best use of its resources to achieve corporate objectives. It can also contain a full analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a company, its organization and its products.
The marketing plan shows the step or actions that will be utilized in order to achieve the plan goals. For example, a marketing plan may include a strategy to increase the business's market share by fifteen percent. The marketing plan would then outline the objectives that need to be achieved in order to reach the fifteen percent increase in the business market share.

The marketing plan can be used to describe the methods of applying a company's marketing resources to fulfill marketing objectives.Marketing planning segments the markets, identifies the market position, forecast the market size, and plans a viable market share within each market segment. Marketing planning can also be used to prepare a detailed case for introducing a new product, revamping current marketing strategies for an existing product or put together a company marketing plan to be included in the company corporate or business plan.

Outline

A marketing plan should not be based on where a company needs to be at some point in the future. These are some of the most important things that companies need when developing a marketing plan:

• Market research: Gathering and classifying data about the market the organization is currently in. Examining the market dynamics, patterns, customers, and the current sales volume for the industry as a whole.
• Competition: The marketing plan should identify the organization's competition. The plan should describe how the organization will stick out from its competition and what it will do to become a market leader.
• Market plan strategies: Developing the marketing and promotion strategies that the organization will use. Such strategies may include advertising, direct marketing, training programs, trade shows, website, etc.
• Marketing plan budget: Strategies identified in the marketing plan should be within the budget. Top managers need to revise what they hope to accomplish with the marketing plan, review their current financial situation, and then allocate funding for the marketing plan.
• Marketing goals: The marketing plan should include attainable marketing goals. For example, one goal might be to increase the current client base by 100 over a three-month period.
• Monitoring of the marketing plan results: The marketing plan should include the process of analyzing the current position of the organization. The organization needs to identify the strategies that are working and those that are not working.

By researching markets, competition, and determining the organization's unique positioning, the organization is in a much better position to promote and sell its product or service. By establishing goals for the marketing plan, the organization can better understand whether the efforts are generating results through ongoing review and evaluation.

Purpose

One of the main purposes of developing a marketing plan is to set the company on a specific path in marketing. The marketing goals normally aligns itself to the broader company objectives. For example, a new company looking to grow their business will generally have a marketing plan that emphasizes strategies to increase their customer base.

Acquiring marketing share, increasing customer awareness, and building a favorable business image are some of the objectives that can be related to marketing planning. The marketing plan also helps layout the necessary budget and resources needed to achieve the goals stated in the marketing plan. The marketing plan shows what the company is intended to accomplish within the budget and also to make it possible for company executives to assess potential return on the investment of marketing dollars. Different aspects of the marketing plan relate to accountability. 

The marketing plan is a general responsibility from company leaders and the marketing staff to take the company in a specific direction. After the strategies are laid out and the tasks are developed, each task is assigned to a person or a team for implementation.

The assigned roles allows companies to keep track of their milestones and communicate with the teams during the implementation process. Having a marketing plan helps company leaders to develop and keep an eye on the expectations for their functional areas. For example, if a company's marketing plan goal is to increase sales growth then the company leaders may have to increase their sales staff in stores to help generate more sales.
The marketing plan offers a unique opportunity for a productive discussion between employees and leaders of an organization. It provides good communication within the company. The marketing plan also allows the marketing team to examine their past decisions and understand their results in order to better prepare for the future. It also lets the marketing team to observe and study the environment that they are operating in.

Marketing planning aims and objectives

Though it's not clear, Behind the corporate objectives, which in themselves offer the main context for the marketing plan, will lie the "corporate mission," in turn provides the context for these corporate objectives. In a sales-oriented organization, the marketing planning function designs incentive pay plans to not only motivate and reward frontline staff fairly but also to align marketing activities with corporate mission. The marketing plan basically aims to make the business provide the solution with the awareness with the expected customers.

This "corporate mission" can be thought of as a definition of what the organization is, or what it does: "Our business is ...". This definition should not be too narrow, or it will constrict the development of the organization; a too rigorous concentration on the view that "We are in the business of making meat-scales," as IBM was during the early 1900s, might have limited its subsequent development into other areas. On the other hand, it should not be too wide or it will become meaningless; "We want to make a profit" is not too helpful in developing specific plans.

Abell suggested that the definition should cover three dimensions:
"customer groups" to be served,
"customer needs" to be served, and
"technologies" to be used.
Thus, the definition of IBM's "corporate mission" in the 1940s might well have been: "We are in the business of handling accounting information [customer need] for the larger US organizations [customer group] by means of punched cards [technology]."

Perhaps the most important factor in successful marketing is the "corporate vision." Surprisingly, it is largely neglected by marketing textbooks, although not by the popular exponents of corporate strategy  — indeed, it was perhaps the main theme of the book by Peters and Waterman, in the form of their "Superordinate Goals." "In Search of Excellence" said: "Nothing drives progress like the imagination. The idea precedes the deed."
If the organization in general, and its chief executive in particular, has a strong vision of where its future lies, then there is a good chance that the organization will achieve a strong position in its markets (and attain that future).
This will be not least because its strategies will be consistent and will be supported by its staff at all levels. In this context, all of IBM's marketing activities were underpinned by its philosophy of "customer service," a vision originally promoted by the charismatic Watson dynasty. The emphasis at this stage is on obtaining a complete and accurate picture.

A "traditional" — albeit product-based — format for a "brand reference book" (or, indeed, a "marketing facts book") was suggested by Godley more than three decades ago:

1. Financial data—Facts for this section will come from management accounting, costing and finance sections.
2. Product data—From production, research and development.
3. Sales and distribution data — Sales, packaging, distribution sections.
4. Advertising, sales promotion, merchandising data — Information from these departments.
5. Market data and miscellany — From market research, who would in most cases act as a source for this information. His sources of data, however, assume the resources of a very large organization. In most organizations they would be obtained from a much smaller set of people (and not a few of them would be generated by the marketing manager alone).

 It is apparent that a marketing audit can be a complex process, but the aim is simple: "it is only to identify those existing (external and internal) factors which will have a significant impact on the future plans of the company." It is clear that the basic material to be input to the marketing audit should be comprehensive.
Accordingly, the best approach is to accumulate this material continuously, as and when it becomes available; since this avoids the otherwise heavy workload involved in collecting it as part of the regular, typically annual, planning process itself — when time is usually at a premium.
Even so, the first task of this annual process should be to check that the material held in the current facts book or facts files actually is comprehensive and accurate, and can form a sound basis for the marketing audit itself.
The structure of the facts book will be designed to match the specific needs of the organization, but one simple format — suggested by Malcolm McDonald — may be applicable in many cases. This splits the material into three groups:

1. Review of the marketing environment. A study of the organization's markets, customers, competitors and the overall economic, political, cultural and technical environment; covering developing trends, as well as the current situation.
2. Review of the detailed marketing activity. A study of the company's marketing mix; in terms of the 7 Ps - (see below)
3. Review of the marketing system. A study of the marketing organization, marketing research systems and the current marketing objectives and strategies. The last of these is too frequently ignored. The marketing system itself needs to be regularly questioned, because the validity of the whole marketing plan is reliant upon the accuracy of the input from this system, and `garbage in, garbage out' applies with a vengeance.

   * Portfolio planning. In addition, the coordinated planning of the individual products and services can contribute towards the balanced portfolio.

   * 80:20 rule. To achieve the maximum impact, the marketing plan must be clear, concise and simple. It needs to concentrate on the 20 percent of products or services, and on the 20 percent of customers, that will account for 80 percent of the volume and 80 percent of the profit.

   * 7 Ps: Product, Place, Price and Promotion, Physical Environment, People, Process. The 7 Ps can sometimes divert attention from the customer, but the framework they offer can be very useful in building the action plans.

It is only at this stage (of deciding the marketing objectives) that the active part of the marketing planning process begins. This next stage in marketing planning is indeed the key to the whole marketing process.

The "marketing objectives" state just where the company intends to be at some specific time in the future.
James Quinn succinctly defined objectives in general as: Goals (or objectives) state what is to be achieved and when results are to be accomplished, but they do not state "how" the results are to be achieved. They typically relate to what products (or services) will be where in what markets (and must be realistically based on customer behavior in those markets). They are essentially about the match between those "products" and "markets." Objectives for pricing, distribution, advertising and so on are at a lower level, and should not be confused with marketing objectives.

They are part of the marketing strategy needed to achieve marketing objectives. To be most effective, objectives should be capable of measurement and therefore "quantifiable." This measurement may be in terms of sales volume, money value, market share, percentage penetration of distribution outlets and so on. An example of such a measurable marketing objective might be "to enter the market with product Y and capture 10 percent of the market by value within one year." As it is quantified it can, within limits, be unequivocally monitored, and corrective action taken as necessary.

The marketing objectives must usually be based, above all, on the organization's financial objectives; converting these financial measurements into the related marketing measurements. He went on to explain his view of the role of "policies," with which strategy is most often confused: "Policies are rules or guidelines that express the 'limits' within which action should occur. "Simplifying somewhat, marketing strategies can be seen as the means, or "game plan," by which marketing objectives will be achieved and, in the framework that appears here, are generally concerned with the 8 P's. Examples are:

1. Price — The amount of money needed to buy products
2. Product — The actual product
3. Promotion (advertising)- Getting the product known
4. Placement — Where the product is sold
5. People — Represent the business
6. Physical environment — The ambiance, mood, or tone of the environment
7. Process — The Value-added services that differentiate the product from the competition (e.g. after-sales service, warranties)
8. Packaging — How the product will be protected

In principle, these strategies describe how the objectives will be achieved. The 7 Ps are a useful framework for deciding how a company's resources will be manipulated (strategically) to achieve its objectives. However, the 7 Ps are not the only framework, and may divert attention from other real issues. The focus of a business's strategies must be the objectives of the business— not the process of planning itself. If the 7 Ps fit the business's strategies, then the 7 Ps may be an acceptable framework for that business.

The strategy statement can take the form of a purely verbal description of the strategic options which have been chosen. Alternatively, and perhaps more positively, it might include a structured list of the major options chosen.

One aspect of strategy which is often overlooked is that of "timing." The timing of each element of the strategy is critical. Taking the right action at the wrong time can sometimes be almost as bad as taking the wrong action at the right time. Timing is, therefore, an essential part of any plan; and should normally appear as a schedule of planned activities. Having completed this crucial stage of the planning process, to re-check the feasibility of objectives and strategies in terms of the market share, sales, costs, profits and so on which these demand in practice. As in the rest of the marketing discipline, employ judgment, experience, market research or anything else which helps for conclusions to be seen from all possible angles.

At this stage, overall marketing strategies will need to be developed into detailed plans and program. Although these detailed plans may cover each of the 7 Ps (marketing mix), the focus will vary, depending upon the organization's specific strategies. A product-oriented company will focus its plans for the 7 Ps around each of its products. A market or geographically oriented company will concentrate on each market or geographical area. Each will base its plans upon the detailed needs of its customers, and on the strategies chosen to satisfy these needs. Brochures and Websites are used effectively.

Again, the most important element is, the detailed plans, which spell out exactly what programs and individual activities will carry at the period of the plan (usually over the next year). Without these activities the plan cannot be monitored. These plans must therefore be:

• Clear - They should be an unambiguous statement of 'exactly' what is to be done.
• Quantified - The predicted outcome of each activity should be, as far as possible, quantified, so that its performance can be monitored.
• Focused - The temptation to proliferate activities beyond the numbers which can be realistically controlled should be avoided. The 80:20 Rule applies in this context too.
• Realistic - They should be achievable.
• Agreed - Those who are to implement them should be committed to them, and agree that they are achievable. The resulting plans should become a working document which will guide the campaigns taking place throughout the organization over the period of the plan. If the marketing plan is to work, every exception to it (throughout the year) must be questioned; and the lessons learnt, to be incorporated in the next year's .

Content of the marketing plan

A Marketing Plan for a small business typically includes Small Business Administration Description of competitors, including the level of demand for the product or service and the strengths and weaknesses of competitors

1. Description of the product or service, including special features
2. Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan
3. Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for marketing
4. Pricing strategy
5. Market Segmentation

Medium-sized and large organizations

The main contents of a marketing plan are:

1. Executive Summary
2. Situational Analysis
3. Opportunities / Issue Analysis - SWOT Analysis
4. Objectives
5. Marketing Strategy
6. Action Program (the operational marketing plan itself for the period under review)
7. Financial Forecast
8. Controls

In detail, a complete marketing plan typically includes:

1. Title Page
2. Executive Summary
3. Current Situation - Macroenvironment
   • Economic State
   • Legal State
   • Governmental State
   • Technological State
   • Ecological State
   • Sociocultural State
   • Supply chain State
4. Current Situation - Market Analysis
   • Market definition
   • Market size
   • Market segmentation
   • Industry structure and strategic groupings
   • Porter 5 forces analysis
   • Competition and market share
   • competitors' strengths and weaknesses
   • Market trends
5. Current Situation  - Consumer Analysis ^[10]
   • Nature of the buying decision
   • Participants
   • Demographics
   • Psychographics
   • Buyer motivation and expectations
   • Loyalty segments
6. Current Situation  - Internal
   • Company Resources
     • Finances
     • People (workforce)
     • Time
     • Skills
   • Objectives
     • Mission statement and Vision statement
     • Corporate objectives
     • Financial objective
     • Marketing objectives
     • Long term objectives
     • Description of the basic business philosophy
   • Corporate Culture (Organizational Culture)
7. Summary of Situation Analysis
   • External threats
   • External opportunities
   • Internal strengths
   • Internal weaknesses
   • Critical success factors in the industry
   • Sustainable competitive advantage
8. Marketing Research
   • Information requirements
   • Research methodology
   • Research results
9. Marketing Strategy - Product
   • Unique selling proposition (USP)^[11]
   • Product mix
   • Product strengths and weaknesses
     • Perceptual mapping
   • Product life cycle management and new product development
   • Brand name, brand image, and brand equity
   • Augmented product
   • Product portfolio analysis
     • B.C.G. Analysis
     • Contribution margin analysis
     • G.E. Multi Factoral analysis
     • Quality Function Deployment
10. Marketing Strategy ^[12] - segmented marketing actions and market share objectives
    • By product
    • By customer segment
    • By geographical market
    • By distribution channel
11. Marketing Strategy - Price
    • Pricing objectives
    • Pricing method (e.g.: cost plus, demand based, or competitor indexing)
    • Pricing strategy (e.g.: skimming, or penetration)
    • Discounts and allowances
    • Price elasticity and customer sensitivity
    • Price zoning
    • break even analysis at various prices
12. Marketing Strategy - Promotion
    • Promotional goals
    • Promotional Mix
    • Advertising reach, frequency, flights, theme, and media
    • Sales force requirements, techniques, and management
    • Sales promotion
    • Publicity and public relations
    • Electronic Promotion (e.g.: web, or telephone)
    • Word of Mouth marketing
    • Viral Marketing
13. Marketing Strategy - Distribution
    • Geographical coverage
    • Distribution channels
    • Physical distribution and logistics
    • Electronic distribution
14. Implementation
    • Personnel requirements
      • Assigning responsibilities
      • Giving incentives
      • Training on selling methods
    • Financial requirements
    • Management information systems requirements
    • Month-by-month agenda
      • Gantt chart using PERT or critical path analysis systems
    • Monitoring results and benchmarks
    • Adjustment mechanism
    • Contingencies (what ifs)
15. Financial Summary
    • Assumptions
    • Pro-forma monthly income statement
    • Contribution margin analysis
    • Breakeven analysis
    • Monte Carlo method
    • ISI: Internet Strategic Intelligence
16. Scenarios
    • Prediction of future scenarios
    • Plan of action for each scenario
17. Controls
    • Performance indicator
    • Feedback Mechanisms
18. Appendix
    • Pictures and specifications of products
    • Results from completed research

Measurement of progress

The final stage of any marketing planning process is to establish targets (or standards) so that progress can be monitored. Accordingly, it is important to put both quantities and timescales into the marketing objectives (for example, to capture 20 percent by value of the market within two years) and into the corresponding strategies. Marketers must be ready to update and adapt marketing plans at any time. The marketing plan should define how progress towards objectives will be measured. Managers typically use budgets, schedules and marketing metrics for monitoring and evaluating results. With budget, they can compare planned expenditures with actual expenditures for given period. Schedules allow management to see when tasks were supposed to be completed and when they actually were. Marketing metrics tracks actual outcomes of marketing programs to see whether the company is moving forward towards its objectives (P. Kotler, K.L. Keller).
Changes in the environment mean that the forecasts often have to be changed. Along with these, the related plans may well also need to be changed. Continuous monitoring of performance, against predetermined targets, represents a most important aspect of this. However, perhaps even more important is the enforced discipline of a regular formal review. Again, as with forecasts, in many cases the best (most realistic) planning cycle will revolve around a quarterly review. Best of all, at least in terms of the quantifiable aspects of the plans, if not the wealth of backing detail, is probably a quarterly rolling review — planning one full year ahead each new quarter. Of course, this does absorb more planning resource; but it also ensures that the plans embody the latest information, and — with attention focused on them so regularly — forces both the plans and their implementation to be realistic.
Plans only have validity if they are actually used to control the progress of a company: their success lies in their implementation, not in the writing'.


http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-marketing-plan-definition-sample-quiz.html

Research and develop a marketing strategy

Research and develop a marketing strategy


Defining the market segment

The process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics. Its objective is to design a marketing mix that precisely matches the expectations of customers in the targeted segment.
Few companies are big enough to supply the needs of an entire market; most must breakdown the total demand into segments and choose those that the company is best equipped to handle.

Four basic factors that affect market segmentation are

• clear identification of the segment,
• measurability of its effective size,
• its accessibility through promotional efforts, and
• its appropriateness to the policies and resources of the company.

The four basic market segmentation-strategies are based on

behavioral,
demographic,
psychographic, and
geographical differences.


Market segmentation is done basis what is the USP of your product. Segmentation criteria are - Geography, Age group, Income level, unmet need in market. Your product targets which age group, gender, premium, mid premium, value, rural, urban, youth, old, housewife segment etc.

the difference between market segment and customer classification

Market segmentation is done basis what is the USP of your product. Segmetation criteria are - Geography, Age group, Income level, unmet need in market. Your product targets which age group, gender, premium, mid premium, value, rural, urban, youth, old, housewife segment etc. Segmentation can alos be done basis consumption ocassion - morning, evening, afternoon, during night, breaks etc. School/college/office goers.

For example in case of hotel segment one can look at luxary, premium, mid premium, low cost hotels. Now if the business opportunity is good enough in value segment then you need to build a product for value hotel market. So in this case in the hotel industry the segment we have chosen is value hotels. Segment can be done basis the unmet needs of consumer. For example in India Nokia created a mobile phone which had a light in it, it was a gap in need satiafaction for rural people. Geographic consumer behaviour like Rural or urban or metro. The chinese mobile phone companies, are targetting indan market basis the selfie camera as there is high demand for low cost selfie camera phones in India. In rural india Micromax is a leader as Rs 6k to 8k smartphones are highly in demand in rural India.

Customer classification is done basis demographic & psychograhic parameters. Demographic talks about Age, Income, Occupation of the consumer. Psychographic talks about the behaviour, attitude, benefits for which consumer is looking. For example among the women there is a hidden need to look beautoful as it makes a woman confident. But the research says that only 2% of world’s women believe they are beautiful. Dove worked on this insight which a attitude related issue among women. Women will feel high on self estewm if they are confident about looking beautiful. Thats why Dove has positioned itself as a beauty soap. It has become a requirement for women today.

how identify the characteristics, motivations and behaviours of potential target customers 

Larger markets are most typically divided into smaller target market segments on the basis of geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioristic characteristics:

1. Geographic. Potential customers are in a local, state, regional or national marketplace segment. ...
2. Demographic. ...
3. Psychographic. ...
4. Behavioristic.

Prepare Assets for Use in Interactive Media Products

1.1 – The specification of the project is vital at the beginning so everyone is on the same page and there is no confusion on what is wanted. Depending on what the project is going to be used for and where it will be presented it will need to be created differently, for example a video for web and a video for cinema advertising would be made in very different ways.

1.2 – The assets for use need to be appropriate for the project, the assets could include 3D assets, audio, photos/images/vectors, videos, specialist plugins. Some of these assets are readily available to anyone, whereas elements such as specialist plugins may be more difficult to get access to. Any assets that is used needs to be legal, this could mean purchasing the rights to use a file such as buying stock materials online.

1.3 – The people using the assets would expect a legal, usable asset with the correct quality appropriate for the purpose, for example a jpeg file being used for a file that had transparent elements to be protected wouldn’t be correct.

2.1 – The resolution of an image is how many pixels/the shape of the pixels are to create the image you see, images with a higher resolution will be higher quality, the dimensions of the pixels would have an effect on the resolution, because the larger the size of the pixels, the lower the quality of the image. The higher the quality of the image, the larger the file size would be, if the file size were to be compressed then the above would be affected.

2.2 – Data transfer times are how long it takes to transfer the file from one source to another, the size of the file would be effect this, as if the file is larger it will take longer to transfer as there is more information.  Items that affect file size are items such as length, moving image frame rate – how many frames per second (the more frames per second the higher the quality but the more information), also frame dimensions (whether the moving image is used for widescreen purposes, or standard 4:3 ratios. This would have an impact on the file size, as the physical size of the video would affect the file size. If the file size was compressed the above mentioned would be reduced in quality.

2.3 – Audio sampling is measured in hertz and audio sampling is the number of ‘snapshots’ of sound that are taken every second. The higher the sample rate, the truer to the original sound the clip will be. Bit depth is how wide of a range the sounds are captured at. With more information the sound will be higher quality but the file size would be larger. The higher the audio sampling rate and the higher the bit depth the larger the file, the larger the file, the more time it will take to transfer the file between devices.

2.4 – The constraints that might influence the product are purely decided by the desired final output. This could be cost/budget, quality, or purpose.

If the client requires a low cost video for web then the frame rate/resolution may be lower, however if the client wanted a video for cinema advertising then the product would need to have a higher resolution. Also how available the product needs to be would affect the data-transfer rate so that is another factor to be aware of.

3.1 – Scan images using a scanner or camera, import into Photoshop, crop and clear transparent areas if need to be preserved, save as a .png file using quality sliders to depict size and quality of file for purpose the image is required. It there is no transparent areas to preserve save as a .jpeg.

3.2 – Crop using marquee tool on Photoshop, edit using adjustments such as contrast, brightness, levels/curves, filters etc. To resize use the direct manipulation tool and if the quality needs to be preserved or the image needs to be changed a bit then convert the image into a smart object as this preserves the pixels. Smart objects cannot be directly edited themselves. If transparent elements need to be preserved then save as a .png file, if not save as a .jpeg using the sliders to control quality and compression size.

3.3 – The format in which the video is saved will relate to how the video is used. Also where, for North American broadcasts the format would be .NTST whereas for European broadcasts the format .pal would be used, this is because of the differences between the broadcasts in different countries and how they are set up. The video could be filmed in the correct format in which case it would be ready for the purpose, the other alternative is to insert it into a video editing programme such as after effects or premier pro, and save out in the appropriate format.

3.4 – There are many different programmes that have editing capabilities, my preference is premier pro as I believe for the purposed I need it provides the best functions and it allows me to work solely on many different elements such as audio and video channels and the different elements in them, by using the motion controls for different criteria such as opacity and speed. Using premier pro, I am able to insert items such as captions, subtitles, lower thirds and other digital elements over the main footage and save the footage in an appropriate format.

3.5 – Similar to video, the audio can either be recorded in the correct format or using a programme such as sound booth the file can be exported in the correct format.

3.6 – Using either premier pro or sound booth using the razor tool, cut out any unnecessary gaps in the sound clip, and then using the various tools, clear up the sound quality, sharpening the sound, clearing out background sounds that were picked up by mistake etc.

3.7 – When compressing digital assets, there are many factors to be wary of. The main one is the purpose. If a file needs to be widely available then the most important feature I would say would be a quick data-transfer rate. The main thing to focus on is the desired outcome, and to be realistic. With compression of a file there will always be a reduction in quality. What determines the level of quality is the final outcome and finding a balance with the client about whether to sacrifice some of the quality or the data-transfer rate.

student evidence log 2

Unit 28 Evidence Log

Unit 28. Prepare Assets for Use in Interactive Media Products

1. Understand contextual information relating to the preparation of a range of assets in different media formats

1.1
When making a media product is important to recognise the final delivery distribution method, as this will impact on many things. Firstly the final format has to be acknowledged, this could be for online use, DVD distribution, placed in to another external media product or distributed by other means. Each method will need a specific encoded format. If it is to be used on an online platform, the limitations of this platform need to be recognised. For example, file size, if it is to be streaming online, than it won't be a good idea to have it full HD as many internet connections may struggle to stream this. This is the same with video sharing websites such as Youtube or Vimeo, each would need a specific encode. If it is to be screened at an exhibition or event - the video needs to be encoded to work on the screen there as does the audio with the speaker set up. Also one must remember that the file format has to work with what the client uses/wants, if editing on a mac it is important to remember to encode for use on PC's too. If final delivery is to be on a single DVD then you have to ensure that the file size will allow this. There are so many ways of distribution, each requiring a very own encode, that it is important to recognise the distribution prior to commencing project.

1.2
A video could incorporate, pictures, graphics, animations and other video clips. It is important to identify the file type and sizes required to be used within the product. If there are graphics to be used then what pixel dimensions do you require, what file type (jpeg, tiff, png etc) - this will save time in production if this is laid out and obtained prior to beginning project. Also if you are bringing in secondary video from outside parties then it is important that it is of useful format to you, if your video is being made in HD and distributed at HD then any video you bring in should be of same standard. Audio is also important to remember. Audio quality is key to a production so you have to require the right format for that too (mp3/aiff/wav etc) and bit rate.

1.3
It is important that you establish the requirements that others need in a production. If you are creating just a small part of the product to be supplied to the production teams bigger project then you will need to understand their needs. Pixel dimensions, audio quality, format of asset etc.

2. Understand issues relating to the preparation and manipulation of assets

2.1
With images in media production, it is important to the get the technical specs right for the intended use/delivery. For use in other media products its good practice to keep the picture as high quality as possible instead of compressing it to jpeg, although this would keep file sizes to a minimum it also increases its limitations. Colour modes differ to between use in video and use in print - for video use it is always best to use RGB colour modes whereas print may often use the CMYK model. Print will also require a higher dpi resolution than that of web and most video.

2.2
Frame rates and pixel dimensions have a big effect on file sizes. Most videos in this country are produced at 25 frames per second (fps) however in places like the USA video is mostly done at 30fps. The more frames per second, the bigger the file size. This increases obviously when you have HD too. A 5 minute HD film at 25 fps will be much bigger in file size than a 5 minute SD 25fps film. PAL is the UK standard whereas NTSC is the American. When compressing a file, one can also choose how many frames to analyse as a sample, the bigger the sample - the bigger the file size will be but the better the quality. Pixel dimensions work exactly the same as pictures - the higher the resolution - the bigger the file size. Files with big file sizes do not make for efficient transfer, so it is good practice to compress a video to a smaller file size for transfer. However you will be limited by how much you can compress by what the format the client wants for delivery.

2.3
Like video, audio also has variable file details that effect quality and size of the files and these too can be altered and compressed. The higher the bit rate of an audio sample - the bigger the file size. The higher the sampling rate, the bigger the file size but the better the quality. For high quality audio a track may be of .aiff file type, but for transferring or sampling a track one may compress it to mp3 which is much smaller in file size. With video, the same applies to audio with transferring of files, the bigger the files the longer it will take to transfer, however the files are no where near as big.

2.4
File sizes and formats can lead to significant constraints with what you can do with them. For example if a picture is of low resolution, this limits how far you can manipulate the size as it will become pixellated if expanded to a higher resolution. Also a if a picture is a jpeg then this will hold you back as it will have a background colour, whereas if the image was a tiff or png with transparent background you have more options in the edit. The same applies to audio if you compressed audio to a single channel you remove the stereo qualities of it and the benefits that brings to your audio. If an animation is of SD and is to be placed in to a HD movie it will appear small and if expanded will then become pixellated and lose quality.

3. Be able to prepare assets using industry-standard software

3.1
Scanning images in to the computer can be useful. Although one has to make sure that they are saved as appropriate file types jpeg/pct/tiff/png/pdf etc. This can all be altered using photoshop too.

3.2
Cropping, editing and saving a file as a Jpeg for internet use :

Pictures can also be saved in different formats for print (PDF) or for use in animations (PNG/TIFF)

3.3
Importing digital video in to software and exporting film as a mov for DVD encoding:

3.4
Arranging clips on a timeline and using text/transitions and colour correction to edit them:

3.5
To import audio it is the same as importing video, but it is best to place in a separate audio folder so it is easy to navigate. This could be interview, atmosphere sound, foley sound etc.These can be saved as wav/aiff/mp3/wma.

3.6
Adjusting audio :

This can then be exported as part of the mov or as an independent audio file.

3.7
Saving file sizes is about balancing the file size and the quality you want to retain. The more a digital asset is compressed the smaller the file it will be but the less quality it will be too, this is true of audio, film, animation, picture or graphics. These file sizes are measured in MB (megabits).