Competencies
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:
Manage elements of a sustainable global brand
Propose a method to market
Design a marketing strategy
Scenario
You are the regional marketing director of a theme park in the southeastern United States that is part of global brand. The chief marketing officer of global operations has called upon you to help coordinate the marketing tasks related to rolling out an emergency response to a recent safety and injury incident at one of the parks that resulted in serious injuries to employees and customers. This theme park was closed immediately following the incident to ensure safety measures for customers and employees and to deploy the needed safety measures.
Now, as the theme park is all set to reopen, the CMO has called you to take a lead in planning the marketing strategy to support the reopening of the park. Your responsibility is to design a phased strategy for reopening all parks, with critical objectives such as maximum safety, crisis communication, customer satisfaction, and profit potential. You must coordinate marketing strategy with corporate strategy, as failed or successful planning will impact brand success and recognition.
You have determined the scope of work and have outlined the high-level plan. As a first step, you decided to perform the brand analysis and identification of critical elements to successfully market the reopening of the park. Based on the outcomes, you developed a customizable marketing strategy template that can be used by other theme parks under the same umbrella.
Next, you need to create a presentation (toolkit) to share your analysis and recommendations for the proposed marketing support of the park. But, as you are working to complete the final bit of the toolkit, your social media monitoring partner shares a report of the theme park’s social media image and performance. The report shows a significant spike in negative public feedback. The report states there is the perception of an uncaring, careless brand forcing a reopening for profit. Your presentation should also include strategies for how you will address the emerging negative perception on social media about the theme park. You will show this presentation to your CMO and other regional marketing directors of the park.
Directions
Part One: Strategic Brand Implication and Management
Record and submit a narrated PowerPoint presentation to share your analysis and recommendations for the proposed marketing support of the park. Ensure you address any feedback received in Milestone One before you submit the final presentation.
Brand Analysis and Implications —In this part of the project, you will present the brand implications of reopening the park. Your presentation should include the following critical factors:
Determine the essential factors which can impact the brand equity when reopening the park. (slides 1–3)
Describe the importance of brand equity to the organization. (slide 1)
Provide positive implications (slide 2):
Safety concerns addressed and communicated
Community and local government support for reopening
Employee support for reopening
Provide negative implications (slide 3):
Social media negative reactions
Employee negative concerns
Operational concerns for safety
Describe the strategic communication plan that should occur before and after the park reopens. Your responses should address the following (slides 4–8):
Identify three key stakeholder groups from this list:
Employees
Customers
Government agencies
Communities
Vendors
Describe each stakeholder’s interests in the organization.
Describe their communication needs.
Identify the best mode for communicating with them based off their needs.
Describe the impact that reopening the park could have on each identified stakeholder (low, medium, or high). Why?
Functional Departmental Roles and Responsibilities —In this part of the project, you will identify the functional department and describe their roles and responsibilities in making the reopening of the park a success. Your presentation should include the following critical factors (slides 9-12):
Identify three functional departments, including marketing, which play a significant role in the reopening process. (slide 9)
Consider which departments will be most engaged in the reopening process.
Describe the roles and responsibilities of these functional departments in the safe and successful process of reopening the park. (slide 10)
Develop an internal communication plan that addresses the following (slides 11–12):
How will you take feedback from the stakeholders?
What could be the legal and ethical issues in reopening of the park? To understand the specific guidelines, refer to the memo from the legal team.
What will be the frequency of meetings with stakeholders to share relevant information?
Part Two: Customizable Marketing Plan Template
Based on the information provided to you, share a completed marketing plan template for the reopening of this individual park. Ensure you address any feedback received in Milestone Two before you submit the final template.
Your template should include the following critical sections:
Determine two methods to be used for consumer research in developing the marketing plan. Provide rationales.
Determine three traditional marketing methods you will use in developing the marketing plan and provide rationales. Your response should address the following:
How will the identified methods help in the acquisition of the new customers?
How will the identified methods help in the retention of the existing customers?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the identified methods?
Determine three digital marketing methods you will use in developing the marketing plan and provide rationales. Your response should address the following:
How will the identified methods help in the acquisition of the new customers?
How will the identified methods help in the retention of the existing customers?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the identified methods?
Explain how the traditional and digital marketing methods you have selected will work together to optimize the brand. Your response should address the following:
Which method do you think could be most impactful in addressing your target audiences?
Which method do you think could be most effective in branding?
Can both digital and traditional marketing support the brand and growth of the business?
Explain the crisis management strategies to be implemented prior to reopening. Your response should address the following:
How can we focus on customer expectations to improve brand damage from the incident?
How can we support our employees’ needs in reopening the park?
What possible crises could arise relevant to the incident and reopening?
Determine one legal and one ethical issue that could arise and negatively impact the organization’s brand image upon reopening and provide proactive steps that could be taken now to prevent them.
Part Three: Measuring Your Strategic Marketing Plan’s Success
Record and submit a narrated PowerPoint presentation to share your analysis and recommendations for the proposed marketing support of the park.
Provide a marketing strategy that considers the following areas (slides 1–4):
Digital marketing strategy
Traditional marketing strategy
Communications and public relations strategy
Event marketing strategy
Monitoring Your Marketing Strategy— In this part of the project, you will explain how you will monitor the performance of your strategy. Your presentation should include the following critical factors:
Identify three SMART marketing objectives and describe how they align with safety, customer satisfaction, and profitability. (slide 5)
Identify one KPI that can be used for each of the marketing objectives. (slide 6)
Describe the methods that could be used to monitor performance of the three marketing objectives. Provide rationale. (slides 7–8)
Using plan-do-check-act (PDCA) methodology, provide a continuous improvement process for preserving brand identity and reputation. (slides 9–10)
Describe two marketing strategies to address negative public feedback on social media. (slides 11–12)
Consider the role of public relations.
Consider the role of crisis management.
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit the following:
Strategic Brand Implication and Management
Submit a narrated PowerPoint presentation with 12–13 slides. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information.
Customizable Marketing Plan Template
Submit a 4- to 6-page Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information.
Measuring Your Strategic Marketing Plan’s Success
Submit a narrated PowerPoint presentation with 12–13 slides. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information.
Note: Remember to use both onscreen text and audio narration or speaker notes in your PowerPoint presentations to convey your information effectively. If, due to technical challenges, audio narration is not possible, precise and extensive speaker notes should be used addressing all the critical elements in the presentation. For example, you can use brief bulleted lists on the slide and include detailed explanations in your audio narration or speaker notes.
