Strategic Communication WRITE UP
Budget: £20 – £250 GBP
The Task
To create a communication strategy for an organisation of your choice to use communication to help it meet its corporate objectives for over the next 1 – 5 years including a report and a rationale.
The Report (3,000 words) plus two examples of creative content
Your report must include the following:
• Introduction including a clear and concise statement defining the case study situation, justifying its relevance as a problem or opportunity facing a specific organisation and/or sector and verifying that it can be addressed by strategic communications.
• Details of primary research:
1. to assess your client’s corporate image and identity (clearly linked to its values) and resources. Your research should be guided by Melewar’s (2006) CI Taxonomy or Wood’s adaptation of Melewar & Karaosmanoglu’s (2006) dimensions ( informed by an understanding of Johnson, Scholes & Whittingham 2011 Culture Web). Methods should include semiotic / visual analysis and content analysis of its online / printed materials (and interviews only if appropriate). This should be presented as bullet points under a heading of Corporate Image and Identity Audit Findings.
2. into the macro context in which your organization exists (this research doesn’t focus on the organization itself but on the external environment and should be presented as a PEST analysis).
3. including an interpretation of the relevance of anything from the PEST in relation to your client organization and also research into the public perception, or reputation of the organization, and its specific context including competitors and supporters. Findings from this research (and key issues arising from the CI audit) should be presented as a SWOT or Forcefield analysis using footnotes to cite evidence to support any claims.
• Summary and analysis of main issues faced using issues management approaches as a framework.
• Publics/ stakeholders (mapped and prioritised using the matrix approach introduced in lectures)
• Three Key messages aimed at each stakeholder group / groupings
• Aims and Objectives (incorporating key messages where possible)
• Strategy
• Tactics. Include two examples of content you have created for your client, for example social media posts, plan for an infographic / event etc.
• A Theory of Change which demonstrates how the activities will be sequenced and a paragraph explaining the methods you will use to evaluate your objectives.
*You may have to make certain assumptions about the situation. These should be described in an introductory section to the report.
A separate rationale for your approach (1500 words)
Your rationale is a separate, academic document that should highlight the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of your plan. It should set out in more depth why you have selected the particular strategy and associated tactics. Here you should show how theory and concepts have informed your practical decisions, by explaining their principles and relevance, as well as any limitations. The rationale is not included in the word count for the communication plan and is limited to 1500 words.
You should use footnotes to reference any sources used in the plan, and use the QMU referencing system in the rationale with a full bibliography. For help with this, please refer to Cite Them Right Online, which is a comprehensive online guide to referencing: https://www.citethemrightonline.com/
All pages in both the plan and rationale must be numbered.
To create a communication strategy for an organisation of your choice to use communication to help it meet its corporate objectives for over the next 1 – 5 years including a report and a rationale.
The Report (3,000 words) plus two examples of creative content
Your report must include the following:
• Introduction including a clear and concise statement defining the case study situation, justifying its relevance as a problem or opportunity facing a specific organisation and/or sector and verifying that it can be addressed by strategic communications.
• Details of primary research:
1. to assess your client’s corporate image and identity (clearly linked to its values) and resources. Your research should be guided by Melewar’s (2006) CI Taxonomy or Wood’s adaptation of Melewar & Karaosmanoglu’s (2006) dimensions ( informed by an understanding of Johnson, Scholes & Whittingham 2011 Culture Web). Methods should include semiotic / visual analysis and content analysis of its online / printed materials (and interviews only if appropriate). This should be presented as bullet points under a heading of Corporate Image and Identity Audit Findings.
2. into the macro context in which your organization exists (this research doesn’t focus on the organization itself but on the external environment and should be presented as a PEST analysis).
3. including an interpretation of the relevance of anything from the PEST in relation to your client organization and also research into the public perception, or reputation of the organization, and its specific context including competitors and supporters. Findings from this research (and key issues arising from the CI audit) should be presented as a SWOT or Forcefield analysis using footnotes to cite evidence to support any claims.
• Summary and analysis of main issues faced using issues management approaches as a framework.
• Publics/ stakeholders (mapped and prioritised using the matrix approach introduced in lectures)
• Three Key messages aimed at each stakeholder group / groupings
• Aims and Objectives (incorporating key messages where possible)
• Strategy
• Tactics. Include two examples of content you have created for your client, for example social media posts, plan for an infographic / event etc.
• A Theory of Change which demonstrates how the activities will be sequenced and a paragraph explaining the methods you will use to evaluate your objectives.
*You may have to make certain assumptions about the situation. These should be described in an introductory section to the report.
A separate rationale for your approach (1500 words)
Your rationale is a separate, academic document that should highlight the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of your plan. It should set out in more depth why you have selected the particular strategy and associated tactics. Here you should show how theory and concepts have informed your practical decisions, by explaining their principles and relevance, as well as any limitations. The rationale is not included in the word count for the communication plan and is limited to 1500 words.
You should use footnotes to reference any sources used in the plan, and use the QMU referencing system in the rationale with a full bibliography. For help with this, please refer to Cite Them Right Online, which is a comprehensive online guide to referencing: https://www.citethemrightonline.com/
All pages in both the plan and rationale must be numbered.