Norfolk State University Marketing Director Discussion

Five articles profiling the components of the marketing communications mix: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.

Specifically, you are to place yourself in the role of Marketing Director for a soon-to-be-established hospice house 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 Grace Hospice House and it will offer the usual and customary array of offerings provided by residential hospice houses. (If you aren’t familiar with residential hospice houses, conduct Internet research or visit a local one to gain a proper understanding.) Noting the competitive nature of the market, the Owner of the hospice house 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 hospice house 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 product offering (i.e., residential hospice services), the city in which the services will be offered, 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 given hospice house.

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. 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.

The end result of your efforts should yield a basic marketing communications plan.

The Submission Requirement

Your submission in its entirety (i.e., all inclusive) must be at least 1200 words.

Your paper must be well referenced, with at least three (3) of the references being from scholarly academic journals.

In presenting your work supply the following headings, exactly as they appear below, placing each in bold text:

• Introduction (In this section, supply a brief introduction, helping the reader grasp the intent of the forthcoming work.)
• Background
  • City Profile (In this section, supply a brief overview of the city of focus, noting its name, population, demographic characteristics, and any other helpful background information.)
  • Service Profile (In this section, supply an overview of the area of medicine addressed by the organization: residential hospice services. Provide a definition, note major areas of focus, and convey other helpful details, demonstrating your grasp of this particular area of medicine.)
  • Competitive Landscape (In this section, address hospice competition in the city, noting direct and indirect competitors by name. Also describe services that could be used as substitutes, identifying them by name.)
• Marketing Communications Mix Recommendations
  • Advertising (In this section, state whether you do or do not recommend advertising, being sure to supply justifications for your decision. If you recommend advertising, you must describe the media proposed for use, indicate the media companies by name that will be used, and describe related implementation details. In considering alternatives, you might find the following link to be helpful: Advertising Media Selection. Of course, you also must make sure that what you are recommending actually counts as an advertisement! Better read those articles!)
  • Personal Selling (In this section, state whether you do or do not recommend personal selling, being sure to supply justifications for your decision. If you recommend personal selling, you must describe in detail how you plan to deploy this particular component.)
  • Sales Promotion (In this section, state whether you do or do not recommend sales promotion, being sure to supply justifications for your decision. If you recommend sales promotion, you must describe the methods proposed for use, along with associated implementation details.)
  • Public Relations (In this section, state whether you do or do not recommend public relations, being sure to supply justifications for your decision. If you recommend public relations, you must describe the methods proposed for use, along with associated implementation details.)
  • Direct Marketing (In this section, state whether you do or do not recommend direct marketing, being sure to supply justifications for your decision. If you recommend direct marketing, you must describe the methods proposed for use, along with associated implementation details.)
• Conclusions (In this section, summarize the report, being sure to express your expectations regarding how the selected marketing communications components will impact attention and awareness, driving patronage, accordingly.)
• References (In this section, supply a list of references conforming with the instructions listed elsewhere in this communication.)