Case Study: Optimization PROMOTING AN UNDERGRAD DEGREE COMPLETION - DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY Montvale State University is looking to launch an undergraduate degree completion program in business. Based on research, there is a significant population of adults who completed some undergrad studies and dropped out of school or completed an Associate's Degree and never pursued their Bachelor's degree. For both populations, Montvale State University is promoting a fully online option for working adults who are interested in completing their degree while balancing life obligations. In order to promote the new program, Montvale State University has retained the services of the marketing firm, GBR, to recommend a plan for promoting the program launch. GBR recommends focusing the campaigns on digital platforms including - Satellite Radio, Social Media, and Music Streaming Services. The advertising budget for this campaign is $375,000. Based on their industry research, GBR provided the following information about the effectiveness of each ad (measured using the media weight), an estimate of the number of potential new students reached per ad, and the price for each ad. PLATFORM Satellite Radio Social Media Music Streaming Media Weight per Ad 94.2 56.3 3.9 Potential Students per Ad 7000 3200 600 Price per Ad $9,500 $4,000 $1,000 The media weight is a score given to measure of the value of the ad to potential new students. It is based on qualities such as appeal, recall, etc. The more expensive platforms typically have higher media weights. Given the laws of diminishing returns, GBR believes that predictions concerning media weight and number of potential students reached per ad can only be applied to the first few ads in each platform. For Satellite Radio, GBR believes that the media weight of 94.2 and 7000 potential new students per ad were applicable to the first 18 satellite radio ads. After 18 ads, these values are reduced to a media weight of 52.4 and approximately 3800 potential new students reached. For Social Media ads, GBR believes that the media weight of 56.3 and 3200 potential new students per ad were applicable to the first 33 social media ads. After 33 ads, these values are reduced to a media weight of 36.1 and approximately 2000 potential new students reached. For Music Streaming Services ads, GBR believes that the media weight of 3.9 and 600 potential new students per ad were applicable to the first 40 music streaming ads. After 40 ads, these values are reduced to a media weight of 1.8 and approximately 250 potential new students reached. Based on the recommendation of GRB, Montvale State University has decided to focus on maximizing the media weight across all platforms in deciding how to best allocate the marketing budget. However, Montvale State University is insisting that the marketing campaign must reach at least 250,000 potential new students. To ensure that all of the digital platforms are considered in the campaign, Montvale State University has proposed the following additional requirements: . Use at least twice as many Social Media advertisements as Satellite Radio advertisements Use no more than 20 Satellite Radio advertisements. The Satellite Radio budget should be at least $160,000 The Social Media advertising budget should not exceed $200,000 The budget allocated to the Streaming Music Services must be at least $30,000 . . Provide a recommendation as to how the $375,000 advertising budget should be allocated among the choices. Develop a linear programming model that can be used to determine the advertising budget allocation for Montvale State University. (HINT: define two variables for each media platform (eg. R2 = number of Satellite Radio advertisements with rating of 94.2 and 7000 new potential students and R2 = number of Satellite Radio advertisements with rating of 52.4 and 3800 new potential students, and so on). Enter the problem into Excel and use Solver to solve for the optimal solution. In addition to the Excel file, also prepare an executive summary managerial report. The Executive Summary should be approximately 1 to 2 pages (plus Excel file) and include the following sections: 1. (10 points) Case Synopsis (include a brief summary of the case and the business issue(s)being studied) 2. (20 points) Methodology (including a discussion of what information was provided and how you used this information to analyze the problem) organize the available data and type out your full mathematical programming model including defining your decision variables. 3. (50 points) Findings and Conclusions (include summary of analysis results) (29 Points) Based on your analysis, what is the complete) optimal marketing decision? On a table, summarize the recommended number of Satellite Radio, Social Media, and Music Streaming Service ads and the budget allocation for each platform. Show the total media weight and indicate the total number new potential students reached. Make sure that your solution is feasible (eg. no partial ads). Also, address the following questions: a. (7 points) How would the total media weight change if $20,000 MORE were available in the advertising budget? b. (7 points) Given that Montvale State University is a state institution, GBR believes that they can secure social media ads for just $3,000 each. (Assume total budget available is the original $375,000.) How does this effect the allocation of advertisement methods and the total media weight? (7 points) Rather than focus on media weight, GBR wants to minimize expenses (budget) yet guaranteed exposure to at least 250,000 new potential students. What would the recommendation be if the objective was to minimize expenses? Develop a marketing campaign under this objective. What is the total expenditure and what is the media weight? (Assume satellite radio ads still cost $10K each.) c. 4. (20 points) Recommendations. What other factors need to be considered in making the recommendations? Do you agree with the decisions from your quantitative analysis? Why or why not? Using the recommendations you made in the findings and conclusions section and your own management perspective (other issues to consider), what is your recommendation to convince potential students who need to complete their Bachelor's degree to consider Montvale State University's undergrad degree completion program? You should also do some outside research and/or base your opinion on your knowledge and/or experience with marketing (be sure to site any outside sources used)