7QQMM530 – DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY Coursework 2 – Individual Coursework (75% of total module grade)

Lead Instructor: Matteo Montecchi Instructor’s email: [email protected]

Submission Deadline via KEATS by 13:00 pm on Wednesday 6th of January 2021

1. BACKGROUND

The Covid-19 global pandemic is presenting a unique set of challenges to marketers and will demand to rethink short-term and long-term decisions. In the past months, we have witnessed major changes in the behaviour of consumers and many businesses are concerned about the potential long-term effects. This individual assignment will give you the opportunity to explore the impact that the Coronavirus pandemic is having on a sector or company of your choice and develop a set of digital marketing strategy recommendations to address these challenges or to capitalise on emerging market opportunities. In particular you should consider how digital marketing strategies and digital capabilities can be used to successfully pivot to business models that will allow the company (or companies in the sector) to survive and potentially thrive. Pivoting can be defined as lateral strategic move designed to reconfigure the way value is created for the customer and the company. For example, the restaurant sector has been badly affected by the pandemic. Restaurant owners could consider new digital experiences beyond simply delivering cooked food. For example, they could sell “at-home-cooking-kits” with all the necessary ingredients and combine this offer with video lessons and webinars to keep customers engaged. This article that we discussed in week 1 can be useful to help you to select an appropriate case:

• Guillén, M.F. (2020) ‘How Businesses Have Successfully Pivoted During the Pandemic’, Harvard Business Review Digital Articles., pp. 2–5.

In completing this assignment, you will find the following WARC 1 special section useful:

1 You can access WARC.com through the e-library

mailto:[email protected]
2

King’s

Business

School

2. THE PODCAST FORMAT

You will present the results of your research, analysis and interpretation of the chosen topic in a short podcast episode of minimum 10, maximum 12 minutes. You can consider this the introductory episode of your new podcasting series! You will also submit the podcast script (approx. 2500 words excluding reference list). A podcast is a digital audio show, often involving multiple episodes, which can be downloaded and listened to on a computer or on mobile devices. The following links include relevant resources on podcasts, including how to develop them: • Podcasting: What do I need to know? (BBC Academy): http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zcwxmsg • Podcasting historical timeline and milestones: https://internationalpodcastday.com/podcasting-

history/

• How to start a podcast: every single step: https://www.thepodcasthost.com/planning/how-to-start-a- podcast/#ch-1

• Planning your podcast – podcast scripts and formats: https://www.voices.com/blog/planning-your- podcast/

When planning your podcast, you should consider the following: 1. In your podcast you can focus on a sector (and consider several companies in the sector) or on a

specific company that is particularly representative of the sector. 2. Your podcast should demonstrate engagement with concepts, theories and frameworks discussed in

the digital marketing strategy module. For higher grades, your analysis and discussion must demonstrate that you have also extended your knowledge of the selected topic beyond what has been discussed in class or on the recommended readings.

3. You are expected to conduct a literature search to inform your interpretation of the selected topic. You should focus primarily on academic literature and reports from leading industry organisations.

4. You are not required to conduct primary research (i.e., collect data) to complete this assignment. 5. Finally, remember to name the podcast episode (title) and the podcast series to give some context to

the listener. 3. INDICATIVE PODCAST STRUCTURE

SECTION INDICATIVE CONTENT

Part 1 – Introduction Approx. 2 minutes

Introduce the chosen sector or company and provide an initial holistic assessment of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns on this sector/company. What key challenges (or opportunities) is the wider external context is bringing?

Part 2 – Customer Analysis Approx. 2-3 minutes