Journalism 345: Introduction to Strategic Communication

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Journalism 345Introduction to Strategic
Communication
Professor Dhavan Shah TA Bryan Ming Wang
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Introduction to Strategic Communication

• Strategic concepts
• Theory meets practice
• Covering
• Strategic communication processes
• Integrated marketing communications
• Communication ethics and regulation
• Advertising and PR campaign elements
• Political and health communication efforts

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Course objectives

• Emphasizing breadth over depth
• Survey of central concepts
• Foundation for higher level courses
• Research and account planning (J449)
• Campaign development and management (J449)
• Message development in advertising and PR (J445)
• Media planning and media relations (J447)
• Research methodology (J658, J614)

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Readings

• Text Moriarty, Mitchell and Wells
• 8th Edition
• Campaign Project Manual
• Available at
• http//www.journalism.wisc.edu/dshah/teaching.htm
  
• Click on class link for materials
• Critical for the class project
• Read the Syllabus and the Manual

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Exams

• Midterm and final
• Objective questions
• Each exam is worth 80 points
• Not cumulative
• Each covers one half of the class
• Cover lectures and readings
• Lectures can be downloaded before class
• http//www.journalism.wisc.edu/dshah/teaching.htm

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Group project Applied learning

• Class divided into 5 person teams
• Each team has one of two clients

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Agency Positions for Group Project

• Research Director/Account Planner
• Account Director/Brand Manager
• Creative Director/Copywriter
• Media/Interactive Director
• PR Promotions Director
• Workbook has detailed descriptions of
  responsibilities and requirements

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Topic of Group Project

• Five reasons for topic
• 1. Social and ethical issues involved
• 2. Clients on opposite sides of the market
• 3. Challenged brands
• 4. Complex challenges for strat comm
• 5. New prominence and PR dynamics
• Note You may NOT contact the client or their
  representatives!

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Group Project Activities

• Campaign Plan (total of 120 points)
• Rough draft of situation analysis (10 points)
• Rough draft of campaign strategy (10 points)
• Group grade (40 points)
• Individual grade (60 points)
• Pitch Meeting (30 points)
• Peer Evaluation (30 points)

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About the Group Project Activities

• 1. Campaign plan
• 5 Sections, 40-50 pages
• Each person has primary responsibility for one
  section of the plan
• Describes in detail the nature of the campaign
  proposed for the client
• 2. Pitch meeting
• Oral summary of the campaign
• Focus on strategy and creative executions

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Group Project Activities

• 3. Peer Evaluations
• Students will evaluate all other students in
  their group project agency
• Evaluations by other member of their group worth
  30 points toward final grade
• Campaign Planning Meetings

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Outside Class Meetings

• Two meetings outside class hours
• 1. Press conference
• Press Kit Assignment (10 points)
• press release, statement, fact sheet, FAQ,
  photos/graphics, etc.
• Press conference and QA (10 points)
• 2. Pitch meeting (30 points)

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Grading Summary

• Exams
• Exam 1 80 points
• Exam 2 80 points
• Class Meetings
• Press Conference 10 points
• Press Kit 10 points
• Group Project Campaign Plan
• Rough drafts 10 points each (20 total)
• Group grade 40 points
• Individual grade 60 points
• Group Project Pitch meeting 30 points
• Group Project Peer Evaluation 30 points
• Total points 360

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Grade Distribution

• 93 to 100 A
• 89 to 93 AB
• 83 to 89 B
• 79 to 83 BC
• 71 to 79 C
• 61 to 71 D
• Below 61 F
• Adjustments to grade breakdowns

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Extra credit

• Pitch meeting audience
• J-345 students (not working for that client)
• Vote to award 5 bonus points to winning group
• Professors and TA
• Vote to award 10 bonus points to winning group
• Additional extra credit opportunities may be
  announced during the semester

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Questions?
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Challenges of Strategic Communication
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Expanding Options
50s and 60s
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Today
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The Era of Choice

• Dominant trend affecting strategic communicators
  Choice
• Three forces drive this trend
• Changes in Demographics and Lifestyles
• Technological Development
• Economic Climate

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Demographics

• Changes in Household Composition
• More Women in the Workforce
• Growth of Ethnic Populations
• Polarization into Rich and Poor

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Changing Household Composition
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Ethnic Populations

• Blacks/Hispanics/Asians as of pop.
• 1980 16
• 2000 26
• 2010 35
• Majority in some states and urban centers
• Will be majority in US by 2042 - US Census

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Income Polarization

• Wealth among a few is increasing
• Middle class shrinking and many remain poor
• Wealth concentrated among top 10

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Lifestyle Changes

• Americans Lead Busier Lives
• Our Whole Family Eats Dinner Together
• 1975 - 84
• 1991 - 78
• 2001 - 70
• 2008 - 63
• I Work Very Hard Most of the Time
• 1975 - 79
• 1991 - 87
• 2001 - 92
• 2008 - 94

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The Take Away

• Americans are
• Busier
• More Diverse
• Ethnically
• In Their Family Structure
• Richer and Poorer
• There is no mass market anymore

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Makes Your Job Harder

• Fragmentation of the audience poses challenges
• Where is your market?

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Technology

• Second Driving Force of Change
• Brings more Choice into Media World
• Control over viewing patterns
• More programming options
• Multi-media and Internet

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Now 88 of homes have cable or satellite service
with 120 channels
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Internet

• Takes fragmentation to a new level
• Becoming the dominant medium with growth of
  streaming video, social networking, and digital
  media production
• Great potential for customizing, personalizing,
  tracking, and building buzz
• Yet this demands high level of technological and
  strategic competency which few have

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Economics

• Third Driving Force of Choice
• Fueled by GNP Growth in 80s - 00s
• Lots on Investment Capital
• Rising Stock Market
• Consumers Willing to Spend
• Current Economy Changes Picture
• Contraction in innovation and confidence

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Media Mergers and Consolidation

• More Vertically Integrated Companies
• Ex. Sony-Columbia, GE-NBC
• Leading 20 Web sites and cable channels owned by
  Disney, Fox, Gannett, Hearst, Microsoft, Cox, Dow
  Jones, Washington Post and NY Times.
• More Cross Media Deals
• Publishing, Movies, Music, Net, Hardware
• Consumers bombarded with ads, product placements,
  soundtracks, video games, and special offers
  that cross promote branded goods.

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And so

• Era of Choice Creates Challenges for Traditional
  Mass Marketers
• Diminished Effectiveness
• Hard to Find Consumers
• Hard to Get Noticed
• Hard to Hold Attention
• Hard to Encourage Consumer Response

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People Avoid Messages
When you see TV ads Get annoyed Sit and watch
the ads Change the channel Turn the sound
down/mute
1985 2000 54 63 33 20
14 28 9 17
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and Retention Has Dropped

• Percent who can name TV commercial seen in the
  last four weeks
• 1985 - 64
• 1990 - 48
• 1995 - 42
• 2000 40
• 2005 - 36

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Ads Surround Consumers

• Doctors Offices
• Airport Lounges
• Classrooms
• Record Stores
• Gas Stations
• Grocery Stores
• Health Clubs

• Bathroom Walls
• Toilet Paper
• Floor Boards
• Bus Wraps
• Car Wraps
• Egg Shells
• Bald Heads

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And I Mean Everywhere
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More Action Messages

• Number of coupons distributed (billions)
• Number of direct mail pieces (billions)
• Number of catalogs mailed (billions)
• Number of 1-800 calls made (billions)

• 1980 2001
• 96.4 347.4
• 34.6 104.3
• 5.8 21.1
• 1.3 12.4

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Take Away

• All of this results in marketing overload
• Consumers are bombarded with over 3,000 marketing
  messages a day
• Lower level of consumer response

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Prognosis

• Traditional marketing strategies decrease in
  effectiveness as consumers product and media
  options increase in the coming decade and beyond
• This class is about how we respond to these
  challenges moving forward