BHO5503 – MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
PROMOTIONS PLAN GUIDELINES AND MARKING RUBRIC (30%)
This assessment involves the preparation of a promotions plan for a company, product or service.
1. This is an individual project and the promotions plan should be developed throughout the Trimester.
2. There are various templates and models of promotions plans available in sources such as textbooks, industry white papers, Internet resources and journal articles. They generally cover the same core concepts and topics in various ways.
3. It is advised that the following sections are included in your promotions plan. You are encouraged to make use of guidelines and strategies from textbooks, best practices and external resources. The expected details for each of the sections will vary based on the nature of the business, the competitive environment, the product, the service, the availability of information and your analytical capability. Please review the mark weightings (in the evaluation criteria) assigned to each of the sections and construct your report accordingly.
Promotions Plan Guide
Executive Summary
Contextual Analysis
Communications Objectives
Marketing Communications Strategies
Marketing Communications Mix
Resources
Scheduling and Implementation
Evaluation and Control
Conclusion
Appendices
4. The word limit for the report will be strictly enforced. Please make effective use of tables (Tables) and illustrative material (Figures) to portray some of the detailed information. It is a good idea to use Appendices for any additional information, sample advertisements, exhibits and any material that does not necessarily need to be seen in the main body of the report. This also allows you to add extra material and not exceed the word limit. Refer to the marking criteria for the relative weight for the major sections of the promotions plan.
5. The promotions plan should include a minimum of 8 (eight) references from textbooks and peer-reviewed academic journals and an additional minimum of 7 (seven) relevant references from newspapers, business magazines, industry white papers, company reports, credible and reliable websites or other information sources such as personal interviews. Thus, your plan should have at least 15 references. Please avoid unknown and unreliable websites as well as commentary and opinion from unknown and non-expert commentators.
6. This is a postgraduate unit. Therefore, demonstration of highly developed analytical skills in expression, presentation and writing is expected. A poorly constructed report with lack of clarity in meaning, referencing, weak arguments, grammar and formatting issues will lower the overall quality of the report. Please take the time to obtain further guidance from Dr Karen Sievewright and others in the VU Learning Hub as this will assist to make an otherwise good report great, or a great report even better!
7. Submission Details
- Word limit: 2,500 words. o (Excluding reference list, figures, tables and appendices).
o When a word limit is provided, it is normally acceptable to have a range of 10% either way (so, 2,250 words or up to 2,750 words is the wider allowable range for this assessment item).
- The Promotions Plan submission deadline is: Tuesday 1 October, 2019 at 12.00 pm.
- The full report soft copy (electronic version) is to be uploaded on the VU Collaborate Assessment Dropbox, while the hard copy (paper version) is to be submitted to Dr Leanne White in the final seminar (Week 12).
- Leanne also has a mail box (locker) on Level 10 if you are not in class on the final day. If you need to post it, please ask Leanne for the best mailing address.
- Please ensure that your work is presented with 1.5 line spacing, printed on one side of the page only and that all pages are numbered. Please use 12 point text size (Arial or Times New Roman font usually work best). You should also pay particular attention to ensure that all citations are included in the list headed ‘References’ at the end of the document. Please refer to the VU Library’s Harvard Guide to ensure that your citations and references are formatted correctly.

BHO5503 - Marketing Communications
Marking Criteria for Promotions Plan (30%)
Company / Product / Service:
Name:
Evaluation Criteria
Executive Summary, Context, Objectives & Strategies 5
Communications Mix and Resources 5
Scheduling and Implementation 5
Evaluation and Control; Conclusion 5
References and Citations 5
Arguments, Clarity, Grammar and Word Count 5
Total (30)
Further comments:
Dr Leanne White
Marking Grades Grade Range Marking Grades Grade Range
Excellent 80 – 100% (HD) Passing 50 – 59% (P)
Good standard 70 – 79% (D) Substantial work required 0 – 49% (N)
Satisfactory 60 – 69% (C)