Explain costs and benefits for each marketing communication channel intervention by using Plowman’s cost-benefit analysis tool from this unit’s studies,
Vila Health: Marketing Action Plan and Financial Analysis
Overview
You may recall attending team meetings where colleagues said, “I feel this would be good for our patients,” or “I believe that this plan will help to position our department as a leader,” or “if we could only get this budget item approved, I am sure we would be successful.” This week you will be challenged to move beyond speculation, and to develop some basic financial skills to demonstrate the potential impact of a marketing idea in a measurable manner so that the senior leadership team can make a more informed decision. Quantitative and qualitative elements are included, and you as an intern will now be prepared with tools that assist in more objective decision making. One of these tools, the cost-benefit analysis, has a wide variety of applications beyond simply estimating the impact of marketing plan action steps or interventions.
St. Anthony Medical Center’s Labor and Delivery service line is challenged with growing the business using a market pull strategy. To achieve this overarching goal, you will propose a marketing action plan with accompanying proposed costs and benefits. Additionally, your plan will need to include costs and benefits for each proposed intervention.
In this assignment, you will use cost-benefit analysis and make a final recommendation as to whether or not the plan should be implemented. You will also propose a rationale for your recommendation. Use a cost-benefit analysis spreadsheet, either the one provided by the finance director or another of your choosing, to analyze the financial impact to the organization. Note: Distinguished performance includes analysis of three alternatives over a three-year time period. These alternatives include remaining status quo with spending ($10,000 per year), reducing the budget by 10 percent, or increasing the budget by 10 percent. Hint: Use of various social media can decrease costs and increase market reach.
Instructions
- Formulate the new St. Anthony Medical Center Labor and Delivery revised service offering including features, advantages, and benefits to consumers.
- Segment the market of targeted labor and delivery consumers, using a table that matches features and benefits to each consumer segment (for example, age, culture, and so forth; expectant single teens, culturally diverse groups in the community, mid-career married working women, same sex partners seeking in vitro fertilization, and so forth).
- Create a plan of action comprised of marketing communication channels to reach each customer segment (for example, Web sites, social media, radio, TV, signage, health fairs, events, collaborative partnerships, targeted mailings, free educational offerings, and so forth).
- Explain costs and benefits for each marketing communication channel intervention by using Plowman’s cost-benefit analysis tool from this unit’s studies, linked in Resources. Hint: Remember to identify costs and benefits; Recall that the total cost of the action plan cannot exceed $10,000 per year.
- Make a recommendation as to whether or not the organization should proceed with the proposed interventions, and provide rationale.
Submit your analysis and recommendations by Sunday of this week. Be sure to use current APA style and formatting throughout.
Resources
- Vila Health: Marketing Action Plan and Financial Analysis Scoring Guide.
- APA Style and Format.
- Capella Writing Center.
- Writing Feedback Tool.
- Writing a Cost Benefit Analysis.
- Vila Health: Marketing Action Plan and Financial Analysis | Transcript.