1

Digital Marketing Solution: Group Project

Guideline
MKTG 3026 Strategic Digital Marketing

A. OVERVIEW
An important part of this course is an applied project with a “client” you will take
on. This will be a group-based project, and will involve thinking critically and
creatively about when and how to use digital media to support your client’s needs
and goals. For this coursework, you will develop a digital marketing strategy for a
client. You will present your plan to your classmates. It is expected that you will
demonstrate clear conceptual understanding, while also providing innovative and
actionable recommendations for the client. It is also expected that you will
articulate a clear methodology for evaluating successes of your proposed digital
marketing solution(s). These elements will then be summarized and presented in a
final presentation.

B. SCOPE
Throughout the term, you will work in groups of 5 students on developing a digital
marketing solution that helps solve a problem facing your client. Your role is to be
the marketing consultant team who works on a specific branded product, service,
or idea of a client. You must choose your group by Week 2.

Who is your “client”?

Your group can choose to work for any commercial organization (e.g., company),
non-commercial organization (e.g., non-profit), or even for your own start-up. It
would be ideal if you have a personal contact with someone who works in the
company; however, this is not a requirement.
This organization will become your “client” in this project. As their marketing
consultant, you will diagnose and address the specific marketing challenge(s) they
are facing in the digital space.
You are free to choose a Hong Kong-based or a foreign-based organization,
whose target market might be the Hong Kong or international market(s).
Regardless, you must make sure that every related material you submitted is in (or
translated to) English.
Some tips on choosing your “client”:
 2

It does not matter whether your client is a company/organization that offers

physical products, digital products, or services. But keep in mind that you might
have more material to work with if your client promotes its offerings online and
already has some digital marketing efforts.
This course largely focuses on B2C marketing strategies. As a result, it might be
easier if you work with a company/organization that faces consumers. That said,
you are allowed and welcome to choose a B2B company if you feel passionate
about it! Your job, then, will be to creatively and critically think about how to
translate and implement the strategies you learn in the B2C environment in a B2B
market.
Work satisfaction heavily depends on whether you are passionate about what you
do. So, choose a client whom you are passionate about!

What is your proposal about?

Your proposal should focus on a major problem that your client faces (which might
be decomposed into 2 to 3 smaller and related issues). You can identify a product,
service, or idea that could benefit from a digital marketing solution. (For example,
an existing product/service that struggles to gain market share; a new idea that
needs to gain greater online awareness; a service that needs to retain customers;
or even a specific crisis facing a company that needs online crisis management.)
This can also be an existing communication strategy that has not worked well. (For
example, your client’s website might fail to generate sales, or its social media
channels may fail to engage consumers, or their online advertising may fail to
reach the right group of customers).
Keep in mind that, while some challenges are directly related to digital marketing
(e.g., increasing the number of views on the company website), other problems are
not (e.g., product safety) – but, digital marketing might help the company more
effectively communicate and connect with consumers in the process of solving
other problems.

What kind of research do you need to conduct?

Your proposal should be supported by the research related to your client, its
customers, its competitors, and the market/category’s development. You can rely
on secondary data that are publicly available (e.g., the client’s website, social
media, search engine outcome, online communities, etc.). You are also strongly
encouraged to collect primary data, through, for example, surveys or interviews
from the customers, employees, and/or competitors of your client.
The insights derived from your research should then help you formulate solutions
for your client. It is important that your proposed strategy can be realistically and
readily implemented by your client. Thus, keep in mind the size of your client and
the scope of your solutions. For example, if you work with a large, multi-national
company, then you should specify in your proposal whether a proposed campaign
is designed for selling a specific product or for promoting the overall brand image;
whether a strategy should be applied locally or internationally.
 3

C. DELIVERABLES (one submission per group):

1. A Project Presentation
Your client is really busy and is working with a number of competing consultants for
this project. How can you make your proposal stand out? Luckily, you have 25
minutes to pitch your idea to them in a formal presentation! Can you highlight the
key points of your proposal and the logic behind it in half an hour?!
What to include in the presentation (see more details in the next section):
 What exact problem are you helping them solve?
 How do you address the problem using digital marketing strategies (e.g.,
explain your action plans on digital channels and tactics)?
 How are you going to measure the effectiveness of your proposed solution?
Length: 25 minutes presentation plus Q&A time (hard cut!).
Slides submission:
 You need to submit an initial version of the slides on the night before the
first presentation day, regardless of whether you are presenting on the first
or the second presentation day.
 However, you are allowed to make changes to your slides after getting
feedback from your presentations. A final submission of slides is expected
on 6th Dec.
Tips on pitching your idea:
Pitching ideas and insights is an important skill that has been written much about.
Mastering this skill can open doors for you. Read Anderson’s 2013 Harvard
Business Review article “How to give a Killer Presentation” (on Moodle) to get
some idea. Feel free to utilize other online tools for further guidance on how to
prepare and give a good pitch.
 4

2. A Soft Copy of the Slides

Your digital marketing proposal (Slide deck) should cover the following components:
Background
1. Provide a background analysis of your client, the market, and the
competitors. Use of secondary research is expected. You can draw on
theoretical frameworks that you learned in this and other modules, such as
the AECCC framework, SWOT analysis, 5Cs, etc.
2. Identify the objective of your project. What problem do you aim to solve for
your client? What goal do you aim to achieve for your client?
Research:
3. Explain the type of market research you choose to conduct. Note that, your
campaign objective(s) should guide your market research methods. (For
example, if the objective is to find the most effective social media channel to
reach your target customers, then research on customers’ social media
habit is required. If the objective is to decide which type of content are more
engaging to different segments of customers, then focus-group interviews
and/or A/B testing may be appropriate.)
4. Provide information about the collection, analyses, and interpretation of data
– tell your client what the research means to their business.
5. Explain how the research outcome leads to your proposed solution.
Customer insights garnered in your research should provide the basis for
the strategies you choose.
Solution(s)
6. Based on your research, what implementable solutions can you offer your
client? Your solution must be related to digital marketing (e.g., a suggestion
to reduce the retail price of a product in supermarkets is NOT a digital
marketing solution). So make sure you are addressing how digital marketing
strategies can help your client. Below are some examples.
o Search engine management (SEM) strategy that include suggestions for
Key words selection and AdWords plan.
o A detailed social media plan, including suggestions for post frequency,
channels/platforms, contents.
o A creative design of social media content, be it an organic post or an
advertisement.
o A mobile marketing strategy that includes plans on mobile sites,
mobile apps, mobile advertising, multi-screen, or SMS.
 5

o A one-off social event that might combine online and off-line interaction.
7. Please also explain how you (and your client) can measure and evaluate the
effectiveness of your proposed solutions.
Remember, the more specific your proposal (e.g., detailed to the exact AdWord,
advert creative) and the more feasible its implementation (e.g., consider the budget
and labour involved), the more likely your client will adopt your campaign and pay
you a high commission (i.e., a high mark).
Length: 20-50 slide pages, with +/- 10% flexibility. Appendix (e.g., interview
guide/survey, detailed analyses, tables, graphs, etc.) not included in slide page limit.

Deadline: Your initial submission of slides is due 11.59 pm on the

night before the first presentation day. Your final submission of
slides is due Friday, Dec 6th, at 12: 59pm.

D. ASSESSMENT

Evaluation Rubrics: see syllabus Appendix 3

Peer Evaluation: The group mark will be subject to peer evaluation, which can
lead to changes in the final marks an individual group member receives. This is not
the place to take revenge, but to recognize each other’s contributions. Here is what
the marks mean:
 5 shall be awarded for good to very good substantial contribution and
collaboration style. [This is the default mark for your classmates, unless their
performance noticeably deviates from this standard.]
 4 is awarded when either performance or collaboration style were not
great, but the other was good or very good.
 3 shall be given if the person has not contributed and not collaborated well.
 2 and 1 should not be awarded at all because you should address such
server issues with your lecturer the latest in week 6, so that we can act
upon it and allow the group member an opportunity to catch up. But if such
an attempt has been made and there is no change or improvement, please
discuss your peer assessment with the lecturer before awarding such a low
mark.
 6

E. HOW TO DEAL WITH COLLABORATION ISSUES?

As in any workplace, you will collaborate with people with different styles,
backgrounds, and expertise. Sometimes, conflicts and tensions arise. But you are
expected to deal with them professionally and resolve conflicts among yourselves
to the best of your ability.

Some tips:
- Understand that people have different work styles and personalities, and
communicate with all your groupmates frequently to ensure that everyone
understands and feels comfortable about their responsibilities.
- Speak early, frankly, and politely to the group member(s) that you think is (are)
not contributing enough.
-
 7

- Do not corner the person, give them space to explain and the opportunity to
adjust their behaviour.
- If trouble arises that you cannot resolve through discussing it in the group,
contact your course director between week 4 and week 6. The course director
will invite you all to meet and serve as a moderator for your group discussion.
- Between week 7 and week 10, most groups will be tensed as the
stress increases. Learn how to deal with that professionally.
- If you find yourself in a group with a member who demonstratively does not
contribute at all, please let the course director know by week 6. Contact the
course director if you feel that the situation is getting out of hand and your
mental or physical health is suffering.

F. FINAL REMARK
The objective of this project is to provide you an opportunity to apply what we learn
in the classroom to a real-world business problem. It will also give you a taste of
what being a professional digital marketing consultant is like. I hope you enjoy this
project and have a fulfilling learning experience. Have fun!