Honors Theses

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Integrated Marketing Communication

First Advisor

Scott Fiene

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Integrated Marketing Communications courses focus on examining marketing campaigns and learning to create pieces of campaigns. Students are taught that new product campaigns must garner brand awareness, and in order to do so effectively, must be weighted heavily in insightful research. This thesis seeks to culminate the knowledge gathered from the curricula by designing both a new product and an integrated campaign from which to launch the product. The new product is a life document organizer, to be used in preparation for a tragedy, such as death or natural disaster. The product's purpose is to easily deliver peace of mind to those with friends and family dependent upon them. The name of the brand and its product is Family Vault. This thesis compiles primary research in the form of an anonymous Qualtrics survey and personal interviews to gain key insights into the target audience, the desired product format and design, and the most effective marketing techniques for a new product. Research also included an overview of the current market competition through secondary online sources. Finally, six books commonly read by advertisers and marketers and recommended by professors were studied to learn about the successful creation of an integrated campaign. These included: Brand Aid by Brad Van Auken, Cracking the Code: Leveraging Consumer Psychology to Drive Profitability edited by Steven Posavac, Aaker on Branding by David Aaker, Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing by Roger Dooley and Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill. From the research, it was discovered that there are currently few life document organizers in the marketplace. While there are effective organizers, people often feel too overwhelmed by the project to organize their own documents. It was found that a focus on the ease of organizing your life with Family Vault and the peace that results through increased family communication is the best way to persuade people to purchase and recommend the product. This insight led to the campaign Peace of Mind, which is targeted toward men and women who realize the need for planning and organization pertaining to life documents. This market is identifiable through their actions and associations with financial planning advisors.

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