Developing Strategic KPIs Assignment: The Key to Successful Marketing Metrics MSM Program | Updated Fall 2024

 For strong, successful marketing, you need to connect your goals with the outcomes of various marketing activities so that you can measure your degree of success on a regular basis. To accomplish this, you need to design measurable objectives and specific key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you to (1) stay on track with your marketing plans and (2) inform you if you are achieving your goals in the timeframe you desire.

 Assignment – Part A – Developing KPIs

 We’re excited to share we have a partnership with The Walt Disney Company and their Advertising and Partnerships division. You’ll assume the role of “consultant” as part of their team and will be creating a marketing plan for a product partner who desires to leverage the latest release of a Disney featured film that makes sense for their brand to partner with to boost sales. 

 

Between weeks 2-3 of this class, you’ll select featured film and a relevant geographic location provided to you by the professor and will be working on developing a marketing plan for a product partner that would be a great fit for that geographic area and featured film release. You have the freedom to select a product partner of your choice. When selecting a product partner think about a brand/company that would have the budget to work with The Walt Disney company and would make sense and be a good fit with the upcoming movie release and the geographic area of your choice. For ideas of product partners, please review the video with Disney Executive, Michael Perez in the Marketing Plan instructions. 

 

Upon selecting a product partner, consider several business/marketing needs, problems, and/or pain points.

 

Develop a set of interconnected goals, objectives, and KPIs that will help the company achieve success. Specifically, please deliver the following:

 

•        Write a short description (1-2 paragraphs) of the industry, the company, and some pertinent marketing needs, problems, and/or pain-points.

•        List and explain 2 or more higher-level conceptual goals (and how the achievement of these goals would help the company be successful). To mirror what we often find in the marketplace, these goals should be somewhat ambiguous.

•        List and detail 2 or more SMART objectives for each goal that help to define that goal.

•        List and detail 2 or more KPIs for each objective that you list (some KPIs may be direct measurements and others may be indirect measurements).

•        Create a visual that illustrates how the KPIs, objectives, and goals are interrelated.

•        Create a timeline (weekly for 2 months; monthly or quarterly for 12 months) showing periodic performance expectations for each objective and KPI, as well as when particular KPIs will be measured, observed, and assessed. (Consider whether and how your KPIs need to change each period to meet the final objectives.)*

 

*Make sure to use the 12-week year template to think through eight weeks of tactics.

 

Assignment – Part B – Testing KPI Integrity

 

One potential problem with “managing by KPIs” is that some KPIs can be manipulated in a way that KPI targets are achieved even though the ultimate objectives and goals are not. C o n s i d e r a l l of your KPIs, objectives, and goals and then come up with at least one scenario in which employees or outsourced staff could reach a particular KPI target in a way that does not reach the objectives and/or goals. Write a several paragraphs explaining how this could occur and what you might be able to do to prevent it.

 

Assignment – Part C – Reflection Questions

 

Answer each of the following questions in a separate paragraph and use numbers or headings to identify them.

1.     How did the exercise of connecting KPIs to objectives, objectives to goals, and goals to success influence how you think about marketing planning?

2.     How would you determine the balance between measuring a multitude of performance details versus allowing your management teams to have flexibility in reaching objectives and goals?

3.     How can this exercise help you with reaching your own personal and professional goals? (Give at least two detailed examples.)

 

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