Course Title: Strategy Planning

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Strategy Planning

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
GRAP2320	City Campus	Undergraduate	335H Applied Communication	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006, Sem 2 2008, Sem 1 2009
GRAP2320	City Campus	Undergraduate	345H Media and Communication	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2012, Sem 1 2013, Sem 1 2014

Course Coordinator: David Fouvy

Course Coordinator Phone: 9925 2581

Course Coordinator Email: david.fouvy@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: building 9, level 5, room 18

Course Coordinator Availability: by appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Nil

Course Description

This course introduces the theory and practice of strategic planning in advertising. It focuses on marketing and branding fundamentals and provides insight into the process of identifying what to say in a communications campaign to achieve the most effective results. It specifically addresses the relationship between consumer behavior and strategy development .You will learn the steps involved in developing a brand strategy and writing a communications/creative brief. You will also develop the skills to transform market and audience research and qualitative and quantitative research into strategic proposals, and the knowledge to evaluate success of the strategy.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

The following program capabilities will be assessed in this course:
* Conduct and analyse consumer research to provide insights and inform creative and media strategy
* Demonstrate professional skills required for effective advertising client and account management
* Develop targeted and effective communication strategy, creative campaigns and media plans
 

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
* Discuss the role, function and responsibility of the strategy planner in the creation of advertising messages. 
* Interpret consumer behaviour in developing effective advertising messages that connect with consumers and meet marketing objectives.
* Explain how strategic consumer insights distilled from research influence the advertising development process and can maximize the communication effect.
* Write focused, insightful creative briefs that lead to effective and more dynamic creative solutions.
* Apply the key principles of marketing and branding to strategy development.
* Critique and evaluate creative solutions in terms of their suitability to the original brief, advertising message, environment and target audience.

Overview of Learning Activities

Learning activities may involve lectures, tutorial discussions, workshops, videos, entry into competitions, guest speakers and case study analysis.

The course will cover the steps involved in developing a brand strategy and writing a communications brief. The focus is on developing brand strategies from the identification of market opportunities, defining a target audience and developing consumer insights. In addition, you wish create and evaluate a brand promise using supporting evidence. Various tools, models and research sources will be used to do this.
Peer review is a key learning activity. Evaluating the work of others helps sharpen critical, analytical and communication skills which is essential for professional practice.

Weekly reading of recommended texts and journal articles is essential for a full understanding of the subject matter. You may be asked to present your tutorial work to the class as a way of building confidence and presentation skills. You are required to frequently review the material posted on Blackboard.
 

Overview of Learning Resources

Lecture notes, references to recommended chapters from texts, links to journal articles and other resources will be available on the RMIT online Learning Hub. You will also be required to use other sources of information such a library resources and on-line databases.


 

Overview of Assessment

1. Individual Assignment 40%
2. Group Assignment 1 – The client brief 25%
3. Group Assignment 2 – the communication brief 35%