As a new company Complete Compost is largely unknown among people interested in composting and compost fertilizer
As a new company Complete Compost is largely unknown among people interested in composting and compost fertilizer
Situation Background
You are an Account Coordinator at a PR agency which has recently obtained a new client based in Colorado: Complete Compost collects compostable items (food scraps and more) from people’s homes and turns the compostable items into garden fertilizer. Up to 50% of what Colorado residents throw in the trash is compostable and Complete Compost is dedicated to turning this “waste” into fertilizer that helps grow more food. Customers can choose to receive fertilizer or donate it to community gardens, school gardens, and area nonprofits.
The Challenge:
As a new company, Complete Compost is largely unknown among people interested in composting and compost fertilizer. Therefore, one of the company’s goals is to generate awareness of its brand name and services, and get people interested in the product and service with a series of promotional events. The events would give people interested in composting and compost fertilizer a chance to interact with the company and get to know its products. Examples of promotional events are: in store activities, free samples, partnering with other organizations for a special event, music festivals, community events, street fairs.
The client needs to understand its target market more in depth in order to plan their promotional events. Therefore, you need to propose a research recommendation that can provide insights on your client’s target market and its preferences for events.
Research Goals:
With this in mind, your first task is to describe your primary target market and design a research study that generates information in response to two main questions:
What are the main characteristics of your primary target market?
What are the characteristics of your products that are most appealing for your target market?
What are the best ways to create awareness about your product? For example, what type of promotional events would be more appealing for your target markets
IMPORTANT: Your job is to gather information on the opinions and ideas of people interested in composting themselves. You may have your own assumptions and opinions about what your target customers think. BUT the role of research is to find out if your assumptions are actually true or if people interested in composting pay attention to and are motivated by completely different things than what you might expect.
The Research Memo
The memo has two sections: the first section is about your target market and the second section is about your research recommendation.
Section I: Target Market
Describe the target market you chose to study:
Select one specific key target market that you want to study. Be as detailed as possible in your description. Do not simply say that your target market is “people interested in composting.” For example, what may be the gender, age, education, income, and psychographics of the people in this group? What else should we know or find out about them and how is that relevant to your client’s goals? Conduct some secondary research to help define your selected public.
Explain your rationale for selecting this target market:
Why did you choose to focus on this group? How can this group help or hurt the success of Complete Compost? Again, draw on secondary sources to support your rationale.
Note on Secondary Sources:
Secondary sources may include published information about the composting industry and its consumers in the form of industry reports, news articles, statistics, etc. In the DU library system, I recommend using the general search bar for “articles” and the following databases: Mintel, Lexis-Nexis Academic, and Roper Public Opinion Archives.
Article search link: http://library.du.edu/Links to an external site.Links to an external site., choose “Articles+”
Databases link: http://libguides.du.edu/az.php?a=sLinks to an external site.Links to an external site.
Note on Citations:
Cite your sources both in the text in parentheses (wherever a specific piece of information is mentioned), and also list them at the end of your memo in a bibliography. Use a consistent citation format. Your bibliography does not count toward the memo page-limit. If you have any additional questions on how to cite your sources, please talk to the professor or meet with an adviser at the DU Writing Center (https://www.du.edu/writing/writingcenter/workshops.html). An APA style reference sheet is uploaded on Canvas, but feel free to use other references style like MLA.
Section 2. Present Your Research Recommendations
Method Choice: recommend one primary research technique (survey, interviews, focus groups) that can be used to study the public you selected and mention how many people you’re planning to include in your sample.
Procedures: How will respondents be recruited to participate in your study? Where will the study take place? How long will it take to complete it?
Questions: What are some specific questions you will ask in the study? Write and include at least 5 different sample questions that you will ask as part of your study. Explain what types of questions these are (e.g., open-ended or closed-ended). Remember your goal is to get insights on events that can raise awareness about Complete Compost and on how to promote those events.
Explain the advantages and the disadvantages of the research technique you chose as compared to the other ones you could have picked from the list. Consider the ease and practicality of using this technique, the type of data it will generate, and the kind of insights you will get from it.
Memo Format and Style:
The memo should be 4-5 pages, double spaced, 12 Times New Roman, normal margins
A professional memo begins with a header stating the recipient, author, date, and subject of the memo. For example:
TO: Jane Smith, Communication Manager at Complete Compost
FROM: Your Name, Account Coordinator
DATE:
RE: Formative Research Proposal
Write your memo as if addressing your client and state your recommendations in a clear, direct style. Use active voice and write complete
sentences. Do not use “hype” words in the language of your memo – keep in mind that this is a business document, not a promotional text. You don’t need to tell your client how awesome this new product is.
Organize your memo in sections as indicated in the assignment. Use appropriate headings, numbers, and bullet points to help the reader follow your recommendations. For example, use headings such as: Selected Public, Sampling Method, Procedures, etc
Good writing is critical in strategic communication. Make sure to proofread for grammar, spelling, and syntax.
Sample Memo FormatPreview the document
Grading Rubric
This assignment is 15% of your final grade in this class.
This research memo will be graded according to the following criteria:
40%: Description of target market is specific and supported by secondary sources and you provide a convincing explanation of why you chose this target market.
30%: Description of Choice of Method and Procedure is clear and questions are well written and related to your research goals.
20%: Advantages and disadvantages of your research technique are discussed thoughtfully.
10%: Writing is clear, concise, and free from typos and grammar errors
