Year 3

Module: Advertising Strategy
Coursework 1 - Kit Kat
This assignment looked into the evolution of advertising since the birth of Kit Kat. It looked at how the ordinary consumer has evolved, focusing on theories such as DAGMAR, AIDA, HEATH and USP. Along with the research, we looked at how Kit Kat has advertised their product from the very first TV ad, to the most recent one. We found that a reoccurring feature was using humour in their advertising. From a telephone interview with the account director of Kit Kat at JWT, I found that the reason humour is used quite often in their advertising was due to the fact they believe it would appeal to a mass market. They believe Kit Kat is for everyone in all ages. This was by far the most theory based coursework but also taught a lot in terms of how brands evolve and whether or not they stick to their brand values and heritage.

Enterprise Champions & Apprentice Challenge



Due to my involvement in the Apprentice Challenge two years running, I was recruited as an 'Enterprise Challenge'. This meant I would be helping to organise and run events during Enterprise Week at the university.
On top of helping out with the week's events, I also took part in the Apprentice Challenge for the final time. With three years experience behind me, I was a lot more confident. This year, we had to come up with a business idea where industry experts would judge each idea in order to get through to the final round. Melodie Hussaini, formerly on BBCs Apprentice in 2010 came along as one of the judges. On top of judging, she helped improve presentation skills by carrying out exercises for speech and voice projection. She also helped improve our confidence.


Participants with Industry Experts and Melodie Hussaini

Winners for the Enterprise Challenge were presented that evening in a gala event. Finally, after three years for participation, my team won first place. This was an accomplishment and without the three years of expertise in the area, it would have never been achieved. This had helped a great deal in confidence and marketing products to people. Throughout the competition we were required to pitch our ideas to the industry experts, along with a final pitch presentation.


Winners and Winning Team

Year 2

Module: Media Planning & Buying
Coursework 1- DOVE
This first coursework required a group to:
-Choose a brand
-Find the business problem
-Find a Solution in terms of Advertising
The final pitch was to be shown to the London based agency, 'Arena'.
For this piece of work, we looked at Dove. Their advertising has been highly effective in the past however they seem to stick to the same market. From our research we found that they could have a possible new market. As they were owned by Unilever, we found that Unilever alone did not have a product targeted at this market. From this, we came up with new product ideas and an Ad campaign in order to attract this new market for Dove. This was planned with Dove's original brand values and beliefs. This taught me a great deal on how to research in-depth into a brand and its target market. What a brand might think they attract, may be different to the actual audience they are attracting. It is highly important for a brand to know who exactly is buying their product and whether or not there are more opportunities out there for them. This was the first real time I had used the database 'TGI'.It was used a great deal to find the target market and their lifestyle. Following the research, our pitch was presented to 'Arena' Agency. Happily, we won the pitch. This helped boost my presentation skills and how to put a presentation together. This allowed us to gain confidence in market research and devising a marketing campaign.



Coursework 3: Marlow FM
Marlow FM was a new a soon to be released radio station in a town nearby (Marlow). Our task was to look into the local area, see who their target market is, see if they listen to radio and see what they want from a local radio station.

A lot of experience was gained with this project as we went out on the streets of Marlow to interview the locals. It showed me how to gain information first hand, find the business problem and then solve it. One of our biggest tasks was finding a way to engage the consumer with the radio station. All our findings were presented to the client in which was overwhelmed by all the insight they gained.

Module: Communication
A brief from the 'Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue' Service was given to us in order to minimise the amount of arson attacks around Buckinghamshire and its surrounding areas. This project allowed us to work alongside the 'Creative Advertisers'. Therefore we were required to produce a separate brief for them to come up with the actual advertisement. A lot of primary research was carried out for this project along with market research into the target market (teenagers). After market research, a brief was given to the Creatives including the mediums of advertising we would use to attract the audience. After multiple meetings and disagreements we came to a final conclusion and the advertisements were made. This related strongly to the HEATH theory as we look into the sophisticated consumer today. We really had to look at the average teenager in todays day and age and get into their minds. We had to find out what they would be attracted to and what would really scare them and hit the spot. The whole idea of the ads were to shock them, thus refraining them to cause arson attacks.


Above are two examples of what our finished posters would have looked like.

Coursework 3: Brand Book
I was very pleased with my final grade and product with this assignment. Here, we were required to look into almost every aspect of a company. Mine was 'Currys'.The idea for a brand book is to allow anyone to pick it up and after reading, know everything about that company. A lot of primary and secondary research was carried out for this task. I even went into the shop along with it's competitor's shop and compared the two together. One of the things I looked for in my investigation was whether or not they kept promises they made in terms of value of service. Topic areas researched included:
-Introduction
-Electrical Retailing UK
-Recession-Impact
-Energy Saving
-Consumer Trends
-Outside the Market
-SWOT
-PESTEL
-History
-Ashridge Mission Model
-Past Advertising
-Shoppers
-TGI Gatherings
-In-Store Primary Research

Marmite Pitch



In teams we were required to target Marmite's business problem and tackle them with the use of a new and effective marketing campaign. This was a challenge as a lot of in depth research was needed in order to precisely come up with the right medium of advertising. After our campaign was put together, we then pitched it to Unilever & Marmite and their current ad agency, 'Mindshare'. This helped boost our confidence in pitch presenting and marketing campaigns.




Module: Digital Marketing Communications
This module required a lot of digital magazines. For the first coursework we looked into 'The Role of Online Marketing to Students'. The second coursework allowed us to expand our knowledge and look into 'The Role of Online Marketing for Student Career Development'. Finally, for our final coursework we were required to produce a website based on our findings in the first two pieces of coursework. Here we decided to produce a website for students and businesses online.
This module has been highly beneficial to me as I have learnt a great deal about presenting to possible investors, gaining full insight into a market segment and then using that information to produce a product/service. Below are two links to two of our online magazines:
1.
2.

Apprentice Challenge



For the second year running, I had taken part in the Apprentice challenge in hopes for making it to the final round. With 2 years of experience in marketing behind me, I felt I had a fairly good chance. Like our first year, we decided to use the same local doughnut bakery. As an improvement to the first year, we now knew how to make our stand look better than out competitors and stand out from the crowd. We got through to the second round however lost during our pitching process to Eden's marketing team (Eden Shopping Centre in High Wycombe).

Year 1

Module: Effective Modern Marketing
This coursework involved setting up an integrated agency and describing what out service was about. As a team of four we came up with the name 'PromoComm'. The idea came from integrating promotions (advertising) and Communication. As a final, we were required to present our agency. This included vision, mission, clients etc.

Taking part in this piece of work helped to build my understanding of agencies. It allowed us to get into depth of the different job roles there are in an agency in order to make it work.In order to create one, we had to carry out our own research on existing agencies in the UK. Each group member had a specific role, from creative manager, to finance. From this research we decided to be an agency, local to the High Wycombe area and focus mainly of technology and media. Having confidence in what agencies do would then helped me to fully understand what processes need to take place when producing an advertisement.

Module: Understanding the Customer
This module over all was interesting as it looked into what happens in the consumers' mind. We looked at emotion to colour, symbols and images; along with stereotypes, cultures and nostalgia.

A piece of work carried out included a blog on 'Perceptions'. Here, my findings were presented along with personal opinions and suggestions. blog topics included:
-Targeting, Segmentation and Positioning
-Culture
-Perceptions Experiment
-Generational Marketing
-Marketing to Over 50s
-Social Class
-Charity Marketing
-Family & Purchasing
-Gift Giving
-Tweens
-Learning, Memory & Nostalgia
-Values
-Group Conformity, Opinion Leaders and Peer Pressure
-Gender Differences in Buyer Behavior
-Enterprise Week Activities
-Personality & Self Concept
-Harvard Perceived Risk Model
-Perception & The Decision Making Process

All of this research really helped me to understand the basics of advertising what what advertisers do in order to attract the right audience and create the right response. It gave strong understanding in the analysis of advertising around me. Now, I analyse everything around me; from the colour of packaging and who their target audience is to the background music of a TV ad. This has all shaped the way I think about advertising today.

Module: Marketing in Business



In this topic we were required to organise a charity even followed by a presentation. The purpose of this was to effectively market it to the target audience in order to bring people to the event. Here is where the theory 'AIDA' came into place. It was vital for us to capture our audience, gain interest, resulting in their attendance to the event. As a group, we had decided on a 'Charity Pyjama Run'. The trail started at the university, running through the town centre of High Wycombe, around a public park (the Rye) and then back to the University Reception. The reason such an event was put together was to attract students to do something fun and out of the ordinary. Every runner had sponsors who helped donate money to our chosen charity- The Variety Club.



After the event, we had to use the same theory, AIDA, in order to raise more money in our presentation stage. Here a display was made along with an interactive slideshow on the Charity and Pyjama Run. Large helium balloon displays were on either side of the stand in order to attract the audience. Cupcakes were on sale as well as raffle tickets to win a 'Cocktail Hamper'- including cocktail shakers, alcohol and Mixers'.

Enterprise Festival
This was the first year I took part in the Enterprise Festival. Here, guest speakers would visit and give us their expertise. Also, in a group I had taken part in the Apprentice Challenge. This included selling doughnuts in High Wycombe Town Centre as a first round. This required us as a team to stand out from the crowd. Whilst other teams opted for using supermarket doughnuts; we rung up a local bakery and made a deal with them. In order for them to sell us their top quality doughnuts for a low price, we would be advertising their bakery to the locals. The first round was a success, with customers coming back on the day and even after purchasing doughnuts from other teams prior to seeing our stand, had bought more doughnuts from us.



The second round included setting up a stall in the Mall, selling any product we liked. This included Christmas Hampers. Every Hamper was sold at the end of the day.
The Apprentice Challenge was probably one of the biggest learning curves. It helped build an understanding of the consumer market first hand. It had helped me see what they really look for in products and how they get attracted to them.

Introduction

This blog will look into all the different activities and events I have taken part in during my full three years in 'Buckinghamshire New University' in which relate to 'the role of advertising as a marketing communications vehicle'. It will show how the relevant modules and topics have helped to benefit my understanding of the topic area.