Draft a report for International Business, Marketing and Strategy for Business Growth

Assignment Details

Bradford City AFC (https://www.bradfordcityafc.com) have hired you to create a digital marketing and communications plan that will help drive business growth amongst 10–25-year-olds (Generation Z). 

As the lead Digital Marketing Manager, you must create a multi-channel digital marketing strategy and communications plan that will help acquire new supporters, especially those that are Generation Z. Known for being tech-savvy and digitally minded, Generation Z will need more than just positive performance on the pitch to engage. As such, you must ensure your plan is creative, compelling and well targeted. 

As with most Digital Marketing proposals, your plan must consider the companies short-term and long-term objectives. These have been highlighted by Bradford AFC below:

• Short-term Objectives
  • Capture fans at a young age to begin building lifelong loyalty
  • Increase in ticket sales (revenue) for Generation Z
  • Increase in positive PR 
  • Increase in engagement amongst the Generation Z audience
• Long-term Objectives
  • Overall club and business growth
  • Increase in lifelong supporters
  • Ability to cross-sell merchandise and other products, not just ticket sales
  • Compete with local teams such as Leeds, Huddersfield Town and even as far as Manchester with United and City (easy commuter links)

You must make sure your plan addresses Bradford City AFC’s noted objectives, is well justified and persuasive, and contains enough information for them to easily implement your plan without having to ask you additional questions. 

Your ideas/recommendations/strategy/plans will serve as the basis for Bradford City AFC to have informed discussions and adopt the most suitable approach for their marketing activities. 

Your report should cover the following:

1. An executive summary of Bradford City AFC. This should contain, at minimum, the name of the organisation, target customers (B2B, B2C etc), number of employees, main competitors, website and social media presence, and annual turnover 
2. A discussion on the impact of the digital micro and macro environment.
3. A clear digital marketing strategy developed using the SOSTAC (situation analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics, action and control) framework. This must include a thorough details on your chosen digital marketing strategy and outline implementation plans with a specific focus on the digital marketing (e-marketing) mix.
4. An evaluation of the digital communication tools and channels applicable to your selected organisation (i.e., search engine marketing, online PR, online partnerships, display advertising, opt-in email, and social media marketing). 
5. Justification for your strategic recommendations on digital tools for generating business growth amongst 10–25-year-olds.

In assessing your digital marketing report, your module leader will allocate marks for the following:

1. An executive summary of the organisation 
2. A discussion of the impact of the components of the macro-environment on the digital communications plan (Political, Social, Technological, Economic etc) 
3. A discussion of the impact of the components of the micro-environment on the digital communications plan (Consumers, suppliers, intermediaries, competitors) 
4. The successful use of the SOSTAC planning framework in creating your digital marketing strategy. This should include the situation analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics, actions, and control 
5. An evaluation of the digital communication tools and channels which will be applicable and utilised within your chosen strategy (i.e., search engine marketing, online PR, online partnerships, display advertising, opt-in email, and social media marketing)
6. Strategic recommendations on digital tools for engaging Generation Z and driving business growth 
7. A description of the potential impact of your proposed strategy on your chosen company. 
8. Use of academic literature, good academic writing, correct referencing in-text throughout the essay, good structure, and appropriate reference list 

Your report should follow the standard report structure as follows:

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Digital environment (micro- and macro- environment)
4. Application of the SOSTAC planning framework
5. Evaluation of Digital Communication tools
6. Strategic recommendations and potential outcomes
7. Conclusion
8. Reference list
9. Appendices