Developing marketing communications for a school project : case: Hilux-project
Haapaniemi, Lotta (2013)
Haapaniemi, Lotta
Oulun seudun ammattikorkeakoulu
2013
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2013053011762
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2013053011762
Tiivistelmä
Higher education institutes in Finland are competing for applicants. As Finnish schools cannot use pricing as a competitive advantage, attention has to be paid to effective marketing communications. The commissioner for the thesis is the School of Engineering of Oulu University of Applied Sciences and their case Hilux-project.
The objective of the thesis is to develop marketing communications for the project in order to create awareness on the practical project environment, and attract new students to the school. The thesis assists the author in understanding the fundamentals of marketing communications, and in developing communications material.
The thesis was conducted as a qualitative research with the help of a case study. Primary data was used in the form of informal interviews and brainstorming meetings. Secondary data, literature and electrical articles, were used in the theoretical analysis of marketing communications. Two books were primarily used for the theoretical analysis, Fill's 'Marketing Communications – engagement, strategies and practice, 4th Edition' (2005) and Kotler and Keller's 'Marketing Management 13th edition' (2009).
The communications material resulted in a website for the project. The author of the thesis created the contents of the website based on an existing website which needed development and data collected from the commissioner. The final website, in terms of layout and programming, was then realized by Communications Services of OUAS, VIP. The website is in Finnish and English to serve multicultural target audiences.
The website must be maintained in order to retain it up-to-date even though the Hilux-project is almost finished. The commissioner should also take further actions to continue the marketing communications as other projects arise. Since the project environment can be regarded to as the competitive advantage of the School of Engineering, it should be utilized and even highlighted in the marketing of the school as well. This acknowledgement facilitates the reaching of the objective of attaining new students to the school.
The objective of the thesis is to develop marketing communications for the project in order to create awareness on the practical project environment, and attract new students to the school. The thesis assists the author in understanding the fundamentals of marketing communications, and in developing communications material.
The thesis was conducted as a qualitative research with the help of a case study. Primary data was used in the form of informal interviews and brainstorming meetings. Secondary data, literature and electrical articles, were used in the theoretical analysis of marketing communications. Two books were primarily used for the theoretical analysis, Fill's 'Marketing Communications – engagement, strategies and practice, 4th Edition' (2005) and Kotler and Keller's 'Marketing Management 13th edition' (2009).
The communications material resulted in a website for the project. The author of the thesis created the contents of the website based on an existing website which needed development and data collected from the commissioner. The final website, in terms of layout and programming, was then realized by Communications Services of OUAS, VIP. The website is in Finnish and English to serve multicultural target audiences.
The website must be maintained in order to retain it up-to-date even though the Hilux-project is almost finished. The commissioner should also take further actions to continue the marketing communications as other projects arise. Since the project environment can be regarded to as the competitive advantage of the School of Engineering, it should be utilized and even highlighted in the marketing of the school as well. This acknowledgement facilitates the reaching of the objective of attaining new students to the school.