Your M1 readings included five articles profiling the components of the marketing communications mix: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing. Healthcare marketers must be very familiar with each category in order to make prudent selections when devising communicative plans for their given establishments. To aid in developing your ability to make good marketing communications choices, this Practitioner Application centers on the selection of components from the marketing communications mix.
Specifically, you are to place yourself in the role of Marketing Director for a soon-to-be-established pediatric dental clinic based in the city of your choice. (An actual city must be selected as this assignment calls for formal market research.) The entity will be known as Dentistry for Kids Clinic and it will offer the usual and customary array of services provided by pediatric dental practices. (If you aren’t familiar with this modality of care, conduct associated Internet research or visit a local establishment to gain a proper understanding.) Noting the competitive nature of the market, the establishment’s owner has expressed desires to proficiently reach clients in order to attract their patronage and he has requested a report containing your marketing communications recommendations. (As the owner indicates that the establishment is in a competitive market, the city you select must mirror this attribute. Smaller municipalities likely will not qualify. As such, moderately-sized or larger municipalities should be selected.)
Think deeply about the particular service (i.e., pediatric dental services), the city in which the clinic will operate, and the various communicative options available for reaching clients (i.e., advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing). After careful background research and reflection, prepare a report indicating the components of the marketing communications mix you would use to market the clinic.
For each component of the marketing communications mix, you must indicate whether you do or do not recommend its use and supply detailed justifications for your associated decision. Additionally, for recommended components, you must supply details regarding how you plan to put these into practice. Note that general portrayals will be penalized harshly; specificity is required. For example, if you recommend advertising, you must indicate type(s) recommended and the name(s) of media providers selected; if you recommend personal selling, you must communicate your methods of deployment; and so on.
1200 words. Submissions must incorporate a minimum of ten (10) references, with at least three (3) being from scholarly academic journals.
