Marketing Communications in a Multinational Retail Bank

Analysis of Communication Mix for a Core Product

Your Task Scenario
‘Marketing communications (marcom) represents the collection of all elements in a company’s marketing mix that facilitates exchange by establishing shared meaning with its customers. Promotion is just one element of the marketing mix, but it’s advertising, sales promotions, public relations, sponsoring, direct marketing, personal selling, field marketingand social media/digital marketing tools which are performing increasingly important and ever-changing roles in achieving a firm’s goals.

In the last few years, much has changed, with the appearance of programmatic ad buying based on online behaviour, subsequent ad -blocking reactions, ever-changing digital media choices (e.g., online, mobile, apps), the growth of “big data” from devices (Internet of things) and the blurring of content and advertising, just to mention a few. For marcom managers, it’s now a delicate balance navigating such changes, as well as doing the best job in successfully integrating these marcom and promotional elements to connect and solve problems for target audiences’ (Fill and Turnbull, 2016, p. 12).

Your Task
Your role is that of a Communications Consultant within a large multinational retail bank of your choice. You should select one of its core products(e.g. current account, savings account, debit/credit card, mortgage, etc.). A) Introduce your chosen bank. Briefly outline the business environment in which it operates, with a special focus on the chosen product. Critically analyse and evaluate the communication mix used for this product, including more recent social media/digital marketingand field/experiential marketing tools (if applicable). (25 marks) (LO1, 4, 5)

B) Critically analyse the overall communication strategy of the bank of your choice in terms of thematic platform and overall positioning, using ‘best practice’ case examples from other international retail banks. To what extent does the communication mix for the chosen bank product fit into this overall communication strategy? Based on these analyses, what changes would you suggest in the current communication mix for the chosen bank product? (25 marks) (LO1, 3, 4)

C) Outline and justify the new overall marketing communication strategy of the bank, using Fill’s DRIP model. Implement this new strategy by outlining the new communication mix, the message (informational/rational or emotional appeals), andthe media mix for the chosen bank product. (50 marks) (LO2, 5)

This assessment is worth 100% of the mark for this course. The work must be your own and not copied by or from another student or from books, etc. If you use quotes, ideas, or data (such as diagrams) from books, journals, or other sources, you must reference your sources using Harvard referencing style. It is important you understand how to reference properly and the guidelines on plagiarism!

The essay will be graded according to the following:
  Structure of the report: Logical, easy to follow; appropriate introduction and conclusion; main body divided into subsections as outlined in the assessment task.
  Links to a clear understanding of the literature.   Use a reasonable number of academic sources (and not sources solely from the internet).
  Evaluation, reasoning, and analysis, including the provision of logical and well-developed arguments and coherent conclusions.

Quality of written presentation, i.e. correct use of English (grammar, spelling, academic writing style).
  Correct referencing (both in text references and reference list).