Syllabus
Master of Science in Applied Nutrition
APN 720 – Nutrition Branding Using Social Media – Fall 2022
Credits - 3
Description
Branding strategies and Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) plans will be examined. Branding choice and graphic design, appropriate tools for branding and social media engagement and strategies to maximize the impact of social media on branding efforts will be explored. Topics include IMC analysis, mapping and auditing the competitive landscape approaches to increasing efficacy of social media engagement.
Materials
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
Program Outcomes
- Evaluate strategies for the ability to increase return on investment (ROI) in multimedia campaigns for health and wellness
- Analyze and communicate the impact of social analytics and social media campaigns on nutrition-related business to a variety of audiences
- Employ principles of ethics in social media as they apply to nutrition and wellness
- Create Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) plans with a focus on nutritional branding
- Develop business assets for a competitive nutrition and wellness market
Course Outcomes
- Utilize various social media channels for branding and marketing
- Develop brand strategies for social media marketing
- Develop appropriate strategies to achieve marketing objectives
- Research audience behavior and needs to define target segments.
- Examine the competitive landscape of social media activities for a brand
- Create social media marketing campaigns with targeted objectives and measurable outcomes
- Utilize appropriate metrics to monitor and measure effectiveness of implemented strategies
- Develop a marketing budget and examine return on investment
- Develop effective marketing strategies and tactics using social media outlets in a comprehensive Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan
- Create and present a project using audio/visual techniques
Assignments
8 Checkpoint Assessments: A series of short papers and activities intended to build skills necessary to succeed in the key assessments.
Key Assessment Part 1, IMC Plan: An Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan for a health and wellness based company
Key Assessment Part 2, IMC Plan Presentation: A presentation of your IMC Plan in an audio-visual format
Discussion Board:
You will be required to participate in discussions. Initial posts are due on Sundays, and responses are due by Tuesday. If the initial post and response are not submitted within the discussion week you will be given a zero. Posts submitted after the discussion week will not be graded.
Your success in the course relies on robust discussion, critical thinking, and peer response. Weekly posts responding to prompts posed are meant to facilitate a deeper understanding of the broader themes of the course as well as enrich the readings, handouts, and lectures. Your initial response should be no less than 400 words. Peer-responses should be no less than 200 words and must be thoughtful, contain compliment as well as constructive criticism, and maintain a professional tone.
Specific statements about nutrition and health outcomes should be supported appropriately with citations of peer-reviewed research.
Furthermore, in regard to all assignments, please observe the following:
- All assignments must be completed using AMA formatting where appropriate.
- Written assignments should be double-spaced, using a 12-point Times Roman or another professional font
- All times refer to Eastern Time (ET).
- All questions about assignments and all questions, in general, should be sent through email.
Writing Statement
As professionals in the field, you will consistently be expected to clearly and concisely articulate advanced concepts for diverse audiences at a variety of educational levels.
Graduate students are expected to produce their best quality work, including screening their work prior to submission for clarity, grammatical, spelling, formatting and mechanical issues.
While there is often a portion of each assignment’s rubric dedicated specifically to grammar, spelling, mechanics, and formatting, it is critical to understand that failure to submit work that has been adequately proofed may result in a reduction of points in other areas of the rubric. These may include, but are not limited to metrics rating professionalism or content knowledge and synthesis; work submitted in graduate courses should provide evidence of strategic reading, writing, and academic speaking skills essential for success in the discipline.
Grading Policy
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Grade Breakdown
| Syllabus Contract | 1 |
| Discussion Board (7 @ 3 Points Each) | 21 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #1: Executive Summary/Overview | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #2: Competitive/Market Analysis | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #3: Target Market | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #4: Goals | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #5: Selected Social Media Platforms | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #6: Timeline and Monitoring Plan | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #7: Budget | 8 |
| Checkpoint Assessment #8: Return on Investment | 8 |
| Key Assessment, Part 1: Final IMC Plan | 9 |
| Key Assessment, Part 2: IMC Plan Presentation | 5 |
| TOTAL | 100 POINTS |
Grade Scale
| Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
| A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
| A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
| B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
| B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
| B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
| C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
| C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
| C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
| D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
| F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
Schedule
Weekly Dates
Week 1: Aug 24 – Aug 30
Week 2: Aug 31 – Sep 6
Week 3: Sep 7 – Sep 13
Week 4: Sep 14 – Sep 20
Week 5: Sep 21 – Sep 27
Week 6: Sep 28 – Oct 4
Week 7: Oct 5 – Oct 11
Week 8: Oct 12 – Oct 16
| Major Assignment Due Dates | |
| Assignment | Due Date |
| Syllabus Contract | ASAP |
| Discussions | Every Sunday and Tuesday |
| Checkpoint 1: Exec Summary | Jan 12 |
| Checkpoint 2: Market Analysis | Jan 19 |
| Checkpoint 3: Target Market | Jan 19 |
| Checkpoint 4: Goals | Jan 26 |
| Checkpoint 5: Social Media | Jan 26 |
| Checkpoint 6: Timeline | Feb 2 |
| Checkpoint 7: Budget | Feb 9 |
| Checkpoint 8: ROI | Feb 9 |
| Key Assessment 1: Final Product | Feb 16 |
| Key Assessment 2: Presentation | Feb 16 |
Week One: Introduction
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Discuss the importance, history, and myths of social media
- Define a social media plan and explain the steps involved in creating a social media strategy
- Review the components of the Integrated Marketing Communications Plan and Presentation
- Develop an executive summary for a fictional brand or company
- Write a mission/vision statement for an Executive Summary for a fictional brand or company
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2
- Kumar, S, Bhaskar, PK. Social media branding and brand image development-Concepts and cases. International Journal of Research in Management & Social Science. 2014; 68 -72
See course for additional readings.
Assignment
- Checkpoint Assessment #1: Executive Summary/Overview
Discussion
Week Two: Understanding target markets and rules of engagement
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Utilize research about audience behavior to define target segments and develop appropriate strategies to achieve marketing objectives
- Identify target audiences and marketing personas
- Assess the competitive market and conduct a SWOT analysis
- Determine the target markets you belong to
- Evaluate the impact of social media marketing in your own life
- Describe the target audience for an IMC plan
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapter 3 & Chapter 4
See course for additional readings.
Assignment
- Checkpoint Assessment #2: Competitive/Market Analysis
- Checkpoint Assessment #3: Target Market
Discussion:
Week Three: Social media platforms
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Develop SMART goals that align with the mission and vision of your fictional brand/company
- Determine which social media platforms would be best suited for a brand
- Evaluate the social media habits of a target audience
- Determine how various social media platforms might be used to effectively market to your target audience
- Determine the best social media platforms for marketing health/wellness products
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapter 5 & Chapter 6
See course for additional readings.
Assignments
- Checkpoint Assessment # 4: Goals
- Checkpoint Assessment #5: Selected Social Media Platforms
Discussion
Week Four: Implementing and monitoring social media activity
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Examine how to evaluate an implemented IMC Plan for quantitative and qualitative outcomes
- Identify and defend how specific insights from Facebook would be useful in monitoring your implemented IMC plan
- Create a timeline for social media marketing efforts
- Develop a monitoring system to evaluate the success of your social marketing plan
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapter 13 & Chapter 14
See course for additional readings.
Assignment
- Checkpoint Assessment #6: Timeline and Monitoring Plan
Discussion
Week Five: Budgeting and ROI
Weekly Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Explain the connections of social media to the mobile environment
- Determine the ways that mobile devices can be used to enhance brand identity
- Describe how mobile devices can be used to market products and services in the health/wellness industry
- Develop a comprehensive budget for a social media marketing plan
- Calculate your projected Return on Investment (ROI) from the successful implementation of your social marketing strategies
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapter 15, “Budgeting”
- Course Text, Chapter 15, “Calculating Return on Investment”
- Course Text, Chapter 12
See course for additional readings.
Assignment
- Checkpoint Assessment #7: Budget
- Checkpoint Assessment #8: Return on Investment
Discussion
Week Six: Social media tools for branding
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Discuss the marketing benefits of blogging, podcasts, webinars, streaming video, photo sharing sites, and video marketing
- Reflect on the challenges inherent in the creation of an audio/visual marketing presentation
- Develop a comprehensive Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plan with targeted objectives and measurable outcomes
- Draw conclusions about the overall plan and vision for incorporating your IMC Plan
- Develop a professional visual presentation to showcase an IMC plan
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapters 7, 8, & 10
See course for additional readings.
Assignments:
- Key Assessment part 1: Final IMC Plan
- Key Assessment part 2: IMC Plan Presentation
Discussion
Week Seven: Effective communication and final IMC plan
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Showcase your IMC presentation on this week’s discussion board
- Demonstrate constructive peer feedback
Lectures
Readings
Required:
- Course Text, Chapter 9 & Chapter 11
- Fuller, M, Allen, T. Let’s Have a Tweetup: The Case for Using Twitter Professionally. Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine, 140(9), 2016; 956-957.
See course for additional readings.
Discussion
Week Eight: Reflection
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Reflect on what you have learned about nutrition branding using social media
Discussion
Student Resources
Online Student Support
Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.
Questions? Visit the Student Support Applied Nutrition page
UNE Libraries:
- Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
- Applied Nutrition Database
- Library Tutorial: Find an article
- Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.
UNE Student Academic Success Center
The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:
Information Technology Services (ITS)
- ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673
Accommodations
Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.
Policies
AMA Writing Style Statement
In keeping with the requirements of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course and is available at both UNE libraries under the title "AMA Manual." Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.
Online resources: AMA Style Guide
Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool
The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.
Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in AMA citation and academic writing.
You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.
Technology Requirements
Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements
Course Evaluation Policy
Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.
Attendance Policy
Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.
Late Policy
Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.
Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.
Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.
Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures
The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.
UNE Course Withdrawal
Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.
Academic Integrity
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
- Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
- Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
- Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
- Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.