Key skills workplace assignment

Planning your marketing strategy

For this assignment youll be looking at ways of improving the way your company presents advertisements. Youll do this by finding out what customers think of your advertising and marketing, then use this information to redesign and recost your companys advertising spread in the local press.

Stages
1 look at your companys marketing strategy

May be relevant to
C2.1a C2.3 WO2.1 ICT2.1 N2.1, 2.2 ICT2.2, 2.3, N2.3 ICT2.2, 2.3, WO2.1, 2.2 WO2.3

2 design a questionnaire 3 discuss it with colleagues 4 carry out your survey 5 interpret the results 6 present your findings and make recommendations 7 produce a design for your new marketing idea 8 rate your own performance

Tips
If dealing with advertising is not part of your normal work, ask the person who does it to show you what happens. Work with that person for a couple of weeks until you are confident that you can do it yourself. Before you start the assignment, talk to your manager or supervisor and confirm that he or she is happy for the advertisements to be changed. Plan each stage carefully. Keep copies of all your notes, drafts and other resources, including evidence of working out your findings. Where there are meetings, your trainer should observe at least one if possible. Your report may contain sensitive information, so treat it in confidence. If possible, obtain an evaluation of your performance from your boss or colleagues. If in doubt at any time, ask your trainer for guidance.

Suitable for: learners in estate agency

What you need to do

Stage 1 Look at your companys marketing strategy

List all the methods your company uses to advertise its services and all the ways potential customers might get to hear about you, for example: previous recommendations advertising in the local paper display boards.

Use the company database to identify these methods, if possible. Now and make notes on other ways of advertising and marketing your services.

Stage 2

Design a questionnaire

Using your list and notes, draft some questions for new and existing customers, to find out what they think about your existing advertising and marketing, and about any new ideas you may have. Consider questions about: overall layout and presentation individual advertisements in terms of both images and text other aspects of your publicity.

Stage 3

Discuss it with colleagues

Talk to your colleagues about the best way to gather the information you need, and how they can help you. For example: will you ask all the questions, or will you all build the questions into your normal discussions with customers? (This may mean adding a question to existing forms.) will you ask the customer to fill in the questionnaire? how long should the questionnaire be?

These points need to be agreed so that it becomes easy to collect evidence and covers as many customers as possible.

Stage 4

Carry out your survey

Use the questionnaire as agreed, to obtain information from customers over a certain period of time (say two weeks), separating them into categories if appropriate.

Stage 5

Interpret the results

Using the information you have gathered, calculate the following: What percentage of customers responds to each of the methods on your list? Which is the most cost-effective method? Which is the most popular method with customers? What ratio of customers suggests improvements? What are customers favourite suggestions for improvements?

Stage 6

Present your findings and make recommendations

Choose a suitable way to present your findings graphically, using pie charts, graphs, bar charts or pictograms. Use your findings to compile a short report using a word processor. Include your recommendations for improving your local marketing, taking the most popular marketing idea and showing what it would cost your company over the course of, say, a year. Compare this with what your company normally spends on advertising.

Stage 7

Produce a design for your new marketing idea

Have a talk with your manager about your findings, and agree any changes or use of new ideas. Make notes of your discussion and what you decided. Using your chosen idea, produce a design for a forthcoming publication (such as an advertising spread in your local paper, a script for a radio advert, or a web page). Add your suggested design and layout to your report, along with accurate costs. In your recommendations, explain the cost-effectiveness of your new ideas, including the ways in which they will increase business.

Stage 8

Rate your own performance

Get feedback from the other people involved, and evaluate your own learning as a result of carrying out this assignment. Did you do anything particularly well? What did you enjoy the most? What did you find challenging?

Was there anything you could improve on or do differently next time?

Based on an assignment by the Property Services NTO

Planning your marketing strategy trainer notes

You could use this assignment for your learner either to practise number skills or to provide evidence. A single assignment like this is unlikely to generate all the evidence needed for application of number at level 2. The learner will need access to a computer graphics and/or page make-up programme to gain any IT skills from this assignment.

Briefing and supporting the learner

Involve the learner in choosing an appropriate assignment. Consider the business benefit. Consult with the learners employer if necessary. Think about the learners existing skills and knowledge will they need help before they start? Decide whether to use the assignment to help the learner develop and practise their key skills or to gather portfolio evidence. Decide whether to use all or part of the assignment. How long will it take the learner to complete the assignment? How and when will you review progress? Explain the assignment to the learner so that they know whats involved and whats expected. Identify health and safety implications and make sure the learner is aware of these.

Adapting the assignment

This assignment would be relevant to other learners working in offices, and could be adapted for use in other contexts.

Extending the assignment

Links to improving own learning and performance at level 2 could be made if the learner sets targets with their manager or trainer at the beginning of the activity. You would need to extend the assignment to include an area of learning that the learner could study or practise.