| Course | MT359 Integrated Marketing Communications |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Creative brief |
| Length | About 680 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT359 Unit 3
Still Spread by Hand: An MT359 Unit 3 Creative Brief for a San Antonio Frozen Tamale Brand
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT359: Integrated Marketing Communications
Unit 3 Creative Brief
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The tamale company, audience research and creative team are composite; the sources cited are real.
The Four Blocks
Get: households in the San Antonio market where someone grew up on tamales made at a Christmas tamalada or bought from a parish sale, and who now buy frozen tamales.
Who: currently believe that frozen tamales are all the same, and that handmade tamales mean a long December day in a relative's kitchen that no one has time for anymore.
To: reach past the national leader's box for the yellow Nogalitos bag, at $2.00 more, on an ordinary weeknight.
By: offering the proposition Still spread by hand, proved by the uneven fold of a husk spread and folded by one of 46 spreaders.
The Insight
These buyers are not unaware that handmade tamales are better. They know it, and they have given up on having them except at Christmas. The brief treats that resignation as the opening: the campaign does not need to teach anyone that hand-spread tamales taste different, only that they can be had on a Tuesday. Steel (1998) describes the planner's job as finding the point where what a brand can offer meets something the audience already feels but has not said, and this resignation is that point.
The audience does not need to be told that handmade is better; it needs to be told that handmade is still possible on a weeknight.
The Proposition and Its Proof
Still spread by hand keeps the Unit 2 word intact. Rewording the position for the advertising, even into something catchier, is where integration first slips, because every later piece would then echo a slightly different idea. The word still does real work: it tells the audience that something they thought was gone continues.
The proof is physical. Each tamal shows an irregular fold where a spreader closed the husk by hand, and the masa is spread a little thicker at one end. Machine-formed rivals come out identical. A camera can show the difference in two seconds, so the advertising does not have to assert it. Smith and Yang (2004) argue that creative work succeeds when it is both divergent and relevant to the audience's concerns, and a close-up of a crooked fold is unusual in a category of identical product shots while answering the exact doubt the audience holds.
Tone
The tone is defined partly by what the ads will avoid. No grandmother caricatures, no mariachi soundtrack and no nostalgia filter on the footage. The spreaders are real working people, many of them retired parish volunteers, and they are shown at work, in their own voices. The ads should feel like a visit to the plant on a busy morning, not like a holiday card.
Mandatories
Every execution shows the yellow bag as it looks in the freezer case, because the product is chosen on sight. Every execution shows at least one hand-folded husk close enough to see the fold. The brand name appears with the bag, never alone. No execution mentions price, quantity or a deal, which would reintroduce the second message Unit 1 found. Belch and Belch (2021) note that packaging is a communication tool in its own right for products chosen at the shelf, and the bag mandatory follows from that.
The Swap Test
Printing the national leader's name in the proposition, as in "the leader, still spread by hand," makes the line false, which is the result the brief wants. A proposition that stayed true after the swap would go back for rewriting before any creative work began. The same test will be applied to every execution in Unit 4.
What the Brief Leaves to the Team
The brief does not sketch scripts or headlines. It sets the problem and the proof and leaves the solution to the creative team, who will present four executions for review.
References
Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. (2021). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective (12th ed.). McGraw Hill.
Smith, R. E., & Yang, X. (2004). Toward a general theory of creativity in advertising: Examining the role of divergence. Marketing Theory, 4(1-2), 31-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593104044086
Steel, J. (1998). Truth, lies, and advertising: The art of account planning. Wiley.
What the MT359 Unit 3 assignment asks for
In Unit 3 students write a creative brief that a team could work from without further explanation. Many sections use the Get, Who, To, By layout, which states the audience, what it believes now, the response wanted and the proposition with its support. Instructors expect the proposition to reuse the positioning word from Unit 2 exactly. Proof should be something that can be shown. An insight, a tension in how the audience behaves, is usually required in addition to facts about them. Tone, mandatories and any legal or packaging requirements belong in the brief. The brief should set the problem without writing headlines or scripts. Two pages is the common limit, and brevity is part of the grade.
Inside the MT359 Unit 3 example
Four blocks open the sample, each a short paragraph in the format's order. The insight section explains that buyers know handmade is better and have given up on it except at Christmas, citing Steel on what planners look for, under a highlighted line about handmade on a weeknight. The proposition section defends keeping the Unit 2 word and describes the fold as physical proof, with Smith and Yang on creative divergence. Tone rules out caricatures and nostalgia filters. Mandatories require the bag as shoppers see it, a visible fold and no price language, citing Belch and Belch on packaging. Next comes a swap test with the leader's name, and the final paragraph names what the brief leaves to the team.
MT359 Unit 3 rubric: what earns full points
Creative briefs are commonly judged on focus, insight, the quality of proof and practicality for the team receiving them. One proposition, carried over from the position without rewording, is the first thing a grader checks. An insight that names a tension earns more than a fact about the audience. Proof that a camera can show is stronger than a claim the ads must assert. Tone written as boundaries, such as no grandmother caricatures, helps a team far more than adjectives do. Mandatories should include the package for a product chosen at the shelf. Staying within two pages and leaving executions to the team shows the student understands the brief's role. Sources follow APA 7.
MT359 Unit 3 help: mistakes that cost points
Briefs often list product features with no belief they set out to change, which leaves a creative team nothing to argue. Another common slip is rewording the position into something catchier, which starts the drift the course warns about. Some briefs define the audience only by age and income. Tone sections tend to read as strings of adjectives. Mandatories frequently omit the package, even for products picked from a shelf. Many briefs also start writing headlines. Try this before you submit: cover the proposition and read only the Who block. If a stranger could not guess what belief your campaign must change, rewrite Who before touching anything else.
Get an MT359 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Start with the brand and the position your earlier unit settled on; the Unit 3 directions plus the grading criteria complete the request. Whether the section uses Get, Who, To, By or another layout, the custom brief matches it and reaches you within 24-48h at no cost as a first sample, its proof chosen so a camera could show it. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT359 Unit 3 questions, answered
What is the Get, Who, To, By format?
A compact brief structure used at many agencies: get a defined audience, who currently think or do something, to think or do something new, by offering a proposition and its support. It suits course briefs because the logic is visible in four lines. If your section supplies a different template, follow it; the same four questions usually fit inside any layout.
Should mandatories include legal or packaging requirements?
Yes, where they apply. Mandatories list what every execution must carry: the logo, the package, required disclaimers, a web address or a claim qualifier. For a product chosen at the shelf, showing the package as it looks in the store is often the most important item. Keep the list short, since every mandatory takes space away from the idea.
Where can I find a free MT359 Unit 3 sample paper?
This page has the complete MT359 Unit 3 creative brief, written in the Get, Who, To, By format for a San Antonio frozen tamale maker.
What is the insight in the MT359 Unit 3 sample brief?
Buyers already know hand-spread tamales are better but have given up on having them except at Christmas, so the campaign only needs to show they are possible on a weeknight.
How is an insight different from a fact about the audience in a creative brief?
A fact describes the audience, such as having grown up on homemade tamales. An insight names a tension the brand can resolve, such as having quietly given up on eating them midweek.