MT359 Unit 8 Media and Budget Plan Example

Course	MT359 Integrated Marketing Communications
Unit	Unit 8
Paper type	Media and budget plan
Length	About 950 words, 6 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 8

Eight Jobs, Eight Prices: An MT359 Unit 8 Media and Budget Plan for a San Antonio Tamale Brand

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

MT359: Integrated Marketing Communications

Unit 8 Media and Budget Plan

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The tamale company, rates and audience figures are composite; the reach curve's ceilings and constants are stated assumptions, and the sources cited are real.

What this part is doingPromising to explain the gap rather than close it tells the reader the plan defends its total.

Jobs Before Vehicles, Vehicles Before Dollars

Belch and Belch (2021) describe the objective-and-task method: define what communication must accomplish, decide what it will take, cost it, and only then compare the total with what the company is used to spending. This plan follows that order. Each job below names what it must achieve and the unit it comes from, then its vehicle and a cost built from units such as impressions, rating points or stores.

The Eight Jobs

Job one is pack recognition, from the Unit 4 analysis: shoppers must know the yellow bag on sight. Vehicle: the Crooked Fold spot on connected TV, 2.4 million impressions among adults aged 25 to 54 at a $32 cost per thousand. Cost: $76,800.

Job two is frequency with a recognition cue, also from Unit 4. Vehicle: Elva's radio read, rewritten to say look for the yellow bag twice, 720 gross rating points at $105 a point. Cost: $75,600.

Job three is recognition at the moment of choice. Vehicle: freezer-door clings in 340 stores for two flights at $21 per store per flight, installation included. Cost: $14,280.

Job four is pulling purchases into Lent without lowering the shelf price, from Unit 7. Vehicle: the Lent coupon, receipt reward and spreading sessions. Cost: $19,801.

Job five is credibility for the spread-by-hand story, from Unit 5. Vehicle: publicity, including the press kit, photographs, b-roll and the spreaders page. Cost: $16,500.

Job six is winning and keeping freezer space. Vehicle: sell sheets, sample cases for independent grocers and two regional grocery trade shows. Cost: $23,400.

Job seven is direct contact with parish tamale-sale organizers and loyal buyers. Vehicle: 3,000 postcards at $0.98 each and an email platform at $888 for the season. Cost: $3,828.

Job eight is measurement, from Unit 9. Vehicle: two survey waves of 400 interviews each at $13 an interview. Cost: $10,400.

Total: $240,609.

Every row names its job before its vehicle, so a reader can cut a row and know exactly what the campaign would lose.

What this part is doingPairing each cost with its job makes the budget a list of decisions rather than a list of purchases.

Radio Kept, With a Condition

Unit 4 found radio weak on pack recognition, since nothing in a radio spot can be seen. The plan keeps 720 points of it for two reasons: radio delivers frequency cheaply during morning and evening drives, and the rewritten script names the yellow bag twice, partly bridging the gap. It is kept on condition, and it is the first line to cut if money tightens.

Two Flights on the Church Calendar

The Christmas flight runs from November 29 to December 24, 2026, the weeks when San Antonio families buy and make tamales for Christmas Eve. The Lent flight runs from February 10 to March 27, 2027, when the coupon and the meatless reward are live. Summer stays dark, since tamale purchases fall in the heat and the budget is better spent where demand already rises.

Reach From Gross Rating Points

The target universe is an estimated 1,040,000 adults aged 25 to 54 in the San Antonio market. The connected TV impressions equal about 230.8 gross rating points in total, split 45 percent to Christmas and 55 percent to Lent. Radio's 720 points are split 320 and 400.

Reach is estimated with a stated curve: reach equals a ceiling multiplied by one minus e raised to the negative ratio of rating points to a constant. Radio's ceiling is set at 78 percent with a constant of 260; connected TV's ceiling is 60 percent with a constant of 150. The two vehicles are combined as independent audiences, so combined reach is one minus the product of the shares each misses. Naik and Raman (2003) found that media can strengthen each other's effects, a benefit reach figures do not count. Against that, radio listeners and streaming viewers in one market may overlap more than independence assumes, which would lower combined reach, so the figures below are estimates rather than promises.

The Christmas flight's 423.8 points reach an estimated 68.6 percent of the universe, at an average frequency of 6.2. The Lent flight's 526.9 points reach an estimated 74.5 percent, at an average frequency of 7.1. Krugman (1972) argued that a small number of exposures may be enough to register a message, and the plan treats an average above six as ample for a recognition objective; the frequency is high because radio is cheap per point, not because six exposures are required.

Three Percent of Sales as a Check

Nogalitos's old rule allotted three percent of net sales to communication. At $6.3 million in net sales, that allows $189,000. The plan's total is $240,609, about 3.8 percent, a gap of $51,609. The plan does not trim to close it. Instead it shows what the smaller figure would leave unfunded: measurement first, then selling support and then half the radio. A campaign that cannot measure its results cannot show that any of the money worked, so the plan argues for the full total and names radio as the place to cut if the owners decline.

What the Flowchart Shows

The flowchart lays the eight jobs across the months from November 2026 through April 2027. Clings, connected TV and radio run in both flights; publicity peaks at the start of the Christmas flight; the coupon and reward run only in Lent; and the survey waves fall in early November and early April, before and after the campaign.

What this part is doingEnding on the flowchart shows how the jobs fit together in time, which the cost table alone cannot.

References

Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. (2021). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective (12th ed.). McGraw Hill.

Krugman, H. E. (1972). Why three exposures may be enough. Journal of Advertising Research, 12(6), 11-14.

Naik, P. A., & Raman, K. (2003). Understanding the impact of synergy in multimedia communications. Journal of Marketing Research, 40(4), 375-388. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.40.4.375.19385

What the MT359 Unit 8 assignment asks for

Unit 8 asks for a media plan and budget that a manager could approve. Instructors expect the objective-and-task method or an explicit comparison with it: jobs defined first, then vehicles, then costs built from units a reader can check, such as impressions and CPM, rating points and cost per point, or stores and fees. Each job should trace to an earlier unit's finding. Gross rating points, reach and frequency should be estimated with the method and assumptions stated. Flight timing needs a reason tied to buying behavior. A cross-check against a percentage-of-sales figure is common, and any gap should be explained. A flowchart or calendar showing when each job runs usually accompanies the plan.

How the MT 359 Unit 8 example is put together

The sample opens on the objective-and-task order, citing Belch and Belch. Each of the eight jobs is written as a paragraph naming its purpose, source unit, vehicle, quantity and cost, under a highlighted line about cutting a row and knowing what is lost. Radio is kept on a condition and named first to cut. Flight dates are tied to tamale season and Lent. The reach section gives the universe, splits rating points by flight, states the curve and its constants, and notes what the independence assumption misses, with Naik and Raman. Krugman frames the frequency figures. A percentage-of-sales check shows what $189,000 would leave unfunded. The flowchart description closes the plan.

Where the points sit in the MT359 Unit 8 rubric

Media plans are often assessed on the logic linking jobs to vehicles, the transparency of costs, the soundness of reach and frequency estimates and the handling of budget limits. Costs a grader can recompute earn more than round figures. Rubrics reward reach estimates with stated universes and assumptions, along with honest notes about what the assumptions miss. Timing tied to when the audience buys shows strategic thinking. Naming the first item to cut demonstrates judgment about priorities. Explaining a gap with the company's usual budget rule, instead of quietly trimming to fit, reads as confidence in the plan. Totals must reconcile across tables, and sources appear in APA 7.

Common MT359 Unit 8 mistakes, and how to avoid them

Budgets in this unit often start from a total and divide it among media, which is the percentage-of-sales method in disguise. Others list vehicles with costs but never say what job each does. Reach and frequency figures frequently appear with no universe, curve or source, so they cannot be checked. Flights are scheduled evenly across the year even for seasonal products. Some plans trim measurement first because it seems optional. A useful test: delete any one row from your table and try to say what the campaign would lose. If you cannot answer for a row, either its job is unclear or it should not be in the plan.

Get an MT359 Unit 8 example written to your instructions

What budget ceiling, markets and objectives did your Unit 8 prompt specify, and does the rubric name a budgeting method? Send those, plus any media rates the course supplied. A custom plan follows in 24-48h, free the first time: jobs priced from quantities, gross rating points and reach worked by script, and every total reconciled. 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 8 questions, answered

What if the task-built total exceeds what the company wants to spend?

Show the gap rather than hiding it. List which jobs the smaller figure would leave unfunded, rank them by importance to the objectives, and propose what to cut or phase in later. Graders generally prefer a plan that states the trade-off openly over one quietly shrunk to fit a number chosen in advance. Where the prompt fixes a ceiling, work inside it and say what was lost.

How are gross rating points calculated?

Multiply reach, as a percentage of the target population, by average frequency, or divide total target impressions by the target universe and multiply by 100. A radio buy of 80 points a week for five weeks delivers 400 points. State the universe you used and where it came from, since points mean nothing without the population behind them.

Why would a plan keep radio if it cannot show the package?

Because radio still delivers frequency cheaply during drive time, and a script naming the package's color and shape can partly bridge the gap between hearing and seeing. This plan makes radio conditional, funded only with that script, and names it as the first cut if costs rise. Where a prompt asks for channel choices, stating a condition like this shows judgment.

Where can I find a free MT359 Unit 8 sample paper?

The full MT359 Unit 8 media and budget plan is on this page, pricing eight jobs for a tamale brand and modeling reach from rating points.

Why does the MT359 Unit 8 sample keep radio if it cannot show the package?

Radio delivers frequency cheaply, and the rewritten script names the yellow bag twice, but it is kept only on that condition and is the first line cut if money tightens.