CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional

Marketing

Integrated Communications (2101)

December 2018

Assignment

The assignment comprises THREE compulsory tasks

Task 1 is worth 25 marks

Task 2 is worth 35 marks

Task 3 is worth 40 marks

Total marks available – 100

Candidate guidance:

• Answer all tasks

• The available marks are shown alongside each part of the task
• Read all tasks carefully before attempting them
• Assignments can only be accepted for marking with a valid assessment booking

© The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2018

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

Scenario: Reaching new customers

Organisations usually focus their marketing efforts on segments of the market which they
know will offer a valuable return on investment. However, not all market segments will
remain profitable, possibly due to increased competition, market saturation or new
emerging technology influencing customer wants and needs.

One way to address this and remain successful in an evolving marketplace is to target a
new market segment with existing products and services.

Organisations can use integrated communications to target new segments in the

marketplace by, using different channels or changing existing marketing messages to
highlight features and benefits and widen their appeal.

You work as a Marketing Executive within the marketing function of an organisation of

your choice and have been tasked with investigating how you can utilise integrated
communications to reach a new segment of the market with your existing products or
services.

Guidance notes:

The assignment is made up of THREE tasks that will form one report. The report should
flow as a single document, subheadings to illustrate the start of each sub-task, subtask
and change of topic within subtasks should be encouraged.

While it is usual practice in report writing to include an introduction and summary, these
should be kept to minimum, as the main focus should be on the content outlined in the
assignment brief.

FIVE marks will be awarded for the organisation summary, using the headings supplied
as guidance. The summary should be written in report format, rather than bullet point
format.

In all tasks candidates should make reference to their organisation summary. This is to
provide context for their answers, while avoiding repetition.

In all tasks candidates must use relevant theories, tools and models, to demonstrate clear
understanding of key concepts.

It is good practice to acknowledge all sources/methodologies/applications using the

Harvard referencing system.

Good Practice Guidelines for Assignment Production

The maximum word count is intended to assist candidates in producing a professional

document of an appropriate length that can be used in the workplace. The
submission should be written in a professional tone (unless otherwise instructed) and
should only contain relevant material that directly contributes towards answering the task.

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

TASK 1 – REPORT

Assessment criteria covered in Task 1:

AC1.1, AC1.2, AC1.3, AC2.1

Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

Prior to engaging with new market segments, it is vital that all employees are kept informed,
enabling consistent messaging to stakeholders. In the first part of your report you are
required to consider internal communications relating to targeting a new market segment.

Required:

(a) Provide a background to your chosen organisation, using the

organisation summary guidelines. (5 marks)

(b) Justify a new market segment for your chosen organisation to target. (8 marks)

(c) Recommend THREE methods of developing awareness of this new

segment within the organisation (12 marks)

(Total – 25 marks)

(Organisation summary maximum page count – one side of A4 paper)

(Tasks 1 (b) to 1 (c) maximum word count – 1,000 words)

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

TASK 1 – REPORT

Maximum page count:

Task 1 (a) – one side of A4 paper

Maximum word count:

Tasks 1 (b) to 1 (c) – 1,000 words

ORGANISATION SUMMARY GUIDELINES

Contents will contribute to the FIVE marks available in Part (a) of Task 1.

The following headings must be included:

• Organisation name

• Type of organisation, for example, profit or not-for-profit, local,

national, global, and type of legal entity

• Size of organisation in terms of turnover and/or number of employees

• Range of products and services provided

• Customer base, for example, B2B/B2C

Guidance
notes:
• Main competitors

Other information relevant to the assignment may be included, within the

maximum page count, to assist the Examiner in understanding the
organisation.

Throughout all tasks the report should be concise and presented

professionally for the intended audience. Executive summaries, terms of
reference and conclusions are not required.

Task 1 (b): The candidate should justify the choice of the new market
segment. This should include an explanation of the segment's characteristics
as well as the reason for selecting. Considerations here could include
changes in customer needs and expectations, consumer behaviour,
competitor activities and other factors that could justify why the organisation
could consider targeting this segment.

Task 1 (c): This sub-task focuses on the internal communications methods

available to the organisation which could be used to communicate the choice
of segment, justified in Task 1 (b), to employees. Internal communications
include all methods of communication that take place within an organisation.

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

Task 1 continued

Candidates should recommend the THREE most appropriate internal

communication methods, which should meet the needs of the chosen
organisation described in Task 1 (a), for example, face to face meetings will
be more suited to smaller, single site organisations, as opposed to global
companies. The candidate could also consider the recommendations by
considering the role of internal communications in, for example, informing,
persuading and educating, and the organisation’s capabilities for managing
and delivering those communications.

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

TASK 2 – REPORT

Assessment criteria covered in Task 2:

AC3.1, AC3.3, AC3.4, AC4.2, AC4.3

Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

External communications are key to targeting new market segments. In the second part of
your report you are required to consider how an external campaign can be developed to
target a new segment.

Required:

(a) Explain how the concepts and benefits of branding may help target the
new market segment. (15 marks)

(b) Describe how the chosen organisation can use communication

campaigns and messages to build credibility within the new market
segment. (10 marks)

(c) Discuss the benefits and challenges of working with an external

agency to develop a campaign designed to target the new market
segment. (10 marks)

(Total – 35 marks)

(Tasks 2 (a) to 2 (c) maximum word count – 1,750 words)

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

TASK 2 – REPORT

Maximum word count: 1,750 words

Task 2 (a): Candidates should focus on and explain the concept and benefits
of branding with reference to their chosen organisation. This may include
brand concepts related to the organisation’s existing brand, such as the
organisation’s brand vision, brand image or brand personality, alongside
potential branding benefits, such as brand awareness and competitive
differentiation.

Candidates should then highlight how these existing brand elements can
then help to target the new market segment.

Task 2 (b): Communication campaigns are a way of ensuring the new market
segment is successfully engaged with and the type of message within the
campaign is key to this success.

Guidance Candidates could choose to describe how credibility can be enhanced by

notes: such things as a sound customer value proposition, utilising an appropriate
model of communication and planning and executing the campaign
effectively. Candidates should also discuss the impact of different types of
messages, such as emotional messaging versus informational appeals.

Task 2 (c): Candidates should consider relationships with external agencies,

which could be, for example, a marketing or creative agency. In this context
the focus is comparing and contrasting the benefits and challenges of
working with an external agency.

As an example, a benefit of working with an external agency may be that

they have a lot of creative talent, which can be used to bring a campaign to
life, whereas a challenge may be monitoring the creative process, ensuring
the intended message is not lost.

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

TASK 3 – PLAN

Assessment criteria covered in Task 3:

AC5.1, AC5.2, AC5.3, AC6.1, AC6.2, AC6.3 AC6.4

Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

In this final section of your report you are required to focus on how your chosen
organisation can develop communications with the new market segment, including the
development of an integrated marketing communications plan and how this would be
measured.

Required:

(a) Recommend an integrated marketing communications plan to target

the new market segment, informing a minimum of ONE internal and
ONE external stakeholder, the plan must include:

• clear SMART communication objectives

• a range of proposed communication methods, media and tools
• an implementation schedule (30 marks)

(b) Evaluate appropriate methods which could be used to measure the

effectiveness of the integrated marketing communications plan
identified in Task 3 (a). (10 marks)

(Total – 40 marks)

(Tasks 3 (a) to 3 (b) maximum word count – 2,000 words)

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

TASK 3 – PLAN

Maximum word count: 2,000 words

Task 3 (a): Candidates should recommend an integrated marketing

communications plan, using an appropriate marketing communications
framework, which includes all the relevant elements. An example of an
appropriate framework would be Fill’s Marketing Communication Planning
Framework (MCPF).

The focus of the integrated marketing communications plan is to

communicate with the new market segment.

The integrated marketing communications plan should target a minimum of

ONE internal and ONE external stakeholder, which should include the
organisation’s employees as well as the new market segment, which was
identified in Task 1 (b). Candidates may also choose, if appropriate, to
include stakeholders such as suppliers, distributers or the media. This is to
ensure that all relevant stakeholders are informed about the new market
segment.

Candidates should include clear SMART communication objectives at the

start of the plan.

Communication methods can include advertising, sales promotion, PR,

Guidance
personal selling and direct marketing and the individual tools within each
notes:
category. Communication media can include online, offline, digital and social
media options.

Throughout the plan all recommended actions should be justified and reflect
the chosen organisation’s size, resources and budgets and while there is no
requirement to set a detailed budget, realistic options should be chosen. As
an example, a small organisation with a limited turnover is unlikely to
produce a national television campaign.

Throughout the plan all recommended actions should also meet the needs of
the identified market segment. As an example, if the new segment is
geographically close to the organisation, print advertising in a local
newspaper may be appropriate.

An implementation schedule should be included within the plan. A GANTT

chart could be used or a table showing a timeline of proposed activity. The
schedule should meet the needs of the proposed integrated marketing
communication plan, as an example, it is likely informative internal
communications, would be undertaken before externally targeting the new
market segment.

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 Integrated Communications (2101) – December 2018

Task 3 continued

There is no requirement to discuss measurement of the plan in this part of

the task.

Task 3 (b): It will be impossible to know if the plan proposed in Task 3 (a)
will be successful without planning methods to measure its effectiveness.

Candidates should evaluate appropriate methods, media and tools identified

in Task 3 (a) and evaluate the best way in which these could be measured.

As an example, if direct marketing has been chosen in Task 3 (a) the amount
of sales generated by this may be an effective measurement. Whereas, if
social media marketing has been chosen in Task 3 (a) the number of new
subscribers to a social media channel may be an effective measurement.

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