Marketing Communications in Health Services
Your M1 Practitioner Application wil
Marketing Communications in Health Services
Your M1 Practitioner Application will require devoted inquiry, assimilation, reflection, and refinement in order to achieve the highest possible score. Specifically, you are to take the scenario listed below, address it in full, and submit your work in accordance with the instructions contained herein. Importantly, this is an independent assignment to be completed by you and you alone. Sharing work with fellow students, supplying advice to your student peers, gaining assistance from outside parties, and similar actions will constitute violations of the academic code of conduct and will carry significant penalties in accordance with University policy.
The Challenge
Your M1 readings included five articles profiling the components of the marketing communications mix: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing. Healthcare marketers must be very familiar with each category in order to make prudent selections when devising communicative plans for their given establishments. To aid in developing your ability to make good marketing communications choices, this Practitioner Application centers on the selection of components from the marketing communications mix.
Specifically, you are to place yourself in the role of Marketing Director for a soon-to-be-established pediatric dental clinic 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 Dentistry for Kids Clinic and it will offer the usual and customary array of services provided by pediatric dental practices. (If you aren’t familiar with this modality of care, conduct associated Internet research or visit a local establishment to gain a proper understanding.) Noting the competitive nature of the market, the establishment’s owner 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 establishment 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 service (i.e., pediatric dental services), the city in which the clinic will operate, 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 clinic.
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. Note that general portrayals will be penalized harshly; specificity is required. 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.
Note: Advocating the use of an advertising agency or similar marketing communications firm IS NOT permitted. Delegating choices by saying something like “I will use XYZ Marketing Company for advertising” or similar is prohibited and will result in major points deductions. If the owner wanted to delegate this task to an ad agency or other firm, he most likely wouldn’t have hired you! You must research options and make specific decisions based on your own findings.
The end result of your efforts should yield a basic marketing communications plan. In the real world, of course, much more is required, but as student learners, the parameters of the assignment are, by necessity, scaled back. As for the associated budget, simply assume that the organization possesses resources sufficient for funding a comprehensive marketing communications campaign.
The Submission Requirement
Your submission in its entirety (i.e., all inclusive) must be AT LEAST 1200 words. It is to be typed (or pasted) directly into the Moodle posting window, after which you will submit your work. After submission, students are advised to verify that the assignment was submitted successfully by revisiting the submission link in advance of the assignment deadline. (Warning: After the assignment deadline, do not return to the M1 Practitioner Application to check the status of your submission, as doing so can change the submission date, forcing issuance of penalties for lateness.) Note that attachments of any kind are prohibited and will carry no points value. Given the length of the submission, it is advised that students prepare it in a word processing program, and when finalized, copy and paste the text into the Moodle posting window. Moodle can be very finicky and often will distort formatting, so care must be taken in preparing your submission. It is understood that Moodle formatting is limited; simply make your submission look as nice as possible.
Submissions must incorporate a minimum of ten (10) references, with at least three (3) being from scholarly academic journals. (If you cannot ascertain whether a journal does or does not qualify as scholarly academic, contact the Noel Library and request assistance.) References may be prepared using the style guide of your choice (e.g., APA, MLA); just be sure to consistently use the selected style. As Moodle formatting is limited, style guide requirements apply only to the preparation and presentation of references. In-text citations, of course, must be included. Treat this as a formal report, rather than an informal web post. Note that references consisting merely of web links are unacceptable and will result in a 30-point deduction. Consult an acceptable style manual and assemble your references properly!
In presenting your work, identify the title, your name and student ID number, and submission date at the top of your submission and 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 services provided by pediatric dental clinics. Provide a definition, note major areas of focus/services typically offered, and convey other helpful details, demonstrating your grasp of this particular component of the healthcare industry.)
Competitive Landscape (In this section, address pediatric dentistry competition in the city, noting direct and indirect competitors by name. Indicate also which ones appear to be market leaders.)
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 (e.g., Shreveport TImes, Shreveport; Bossier Press Tribune, Bossier City; KTBS Channel 3 Shreveport; KTAL-FM 98 Rocks Shreveport; Lamar Advertising: Billboard at Youree Drive & 70th Street, Shreveport), 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.)