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Cases

Ohjelma
Bike Lease Finland

Bike Lease Finland

Leasing and maintenance of employee bicycles, digital services.

Ohjelma
Excelence Solutions

Excelence Solutions

Consulting and data analytics, expert services and consulting.

Ohjelma
Finnish Timber Oy

Finnish Timber Oy

Ecological log buildings and construction site processes, project business.

Ohjelma
Green Scape

Green Scape

Customized green wall services for B2B clients, service business.

Ohjelma
Marine Craft

Marine Craft

Customized motorboats, project delivery, manufacturing industry.

Ohjelma
Scandinavian Design

Scandinavian Design

Leasing and maintenance of company bicycles, digital services.

Task

Rough Budget Allocation



In this task, the student allocates a fictional marketing budget of, for example, 10,000 euros to different channels and actions for a case company. They will select the most important channels, define the financial investments for them, and justify why resources should be allocated this way. Finally, the student will examine how the budget supports the company's awareness, consideration, and sales objectives and will prepare a brief recommendation for management. The task develops practical understanding of marketing budget planning and prioritization.

Learning objectives

After completing the task, the student:
1. Can structure the marketing budget into key channels and actions.
2. Understands how budget decisions are linked to marketing objectives and target groups.
3. Can justify why a certain channel or action receives a specific share of the available resources.
4. Becomes accustomed to thinking of marketing as an investment whose returns and risks must be evaluated in advance.

Step by step

  1. Rough budget breakdown

    Objective:
    The objective of this assignment is for the student to allocate a limited marketing budget across different channels and actions based on the case company’s situation. The aim is to understand how objectives, target groups and channels influence where money should be spent.

    Material:

    • The selected case company’s case description from the learning material.

    • Previously prepared or course-related marketing objectives and target groups (if available).

    • The assignment is based on the case description and moderate, logical assumptions about cost levels without browsing real price lists.

    Assignment process (instructions for the student):

    1. Describe the starting point of the case company’s marketing
      Write 5–7 sentences about the current situation of the case company’s marketing:

      • what the 1–2 most important marketing objectives are for the next year (e.g. awareness, new customer acquisition, sales growth)

      • who the main target groups are

      • which channels the company already uses or could realistically use.

    2. Introduce an imaginary budget
      Assume that the case company has a 10,000 € annual marketing budget (you may adjust the sum slightly to fit the case, but keep it in the same range).
      Write briefly what is included in the budget and what is not (e.g. whether staff’s own working hours are included, or only external costs).

    3. Select 3–6 key channels and actions
      Select 3–6 main channels and actions for the case company to allocate the budget to, for example:

      • digital advertising (search ads, social media ads)

      • content marketing (blogs, videos, guides)

      • email marketing/newsletters

      • events and trade fairs

      • in-store or point-of-sale displays

      • partnership or influencer collaborations.
        Write 2–3 sentences for each explaining why it is important for the case company.

    4. Allocate the budget across the channels
      Make a rough financial division of the 10,000 € across your selected channels (e.g. “social media advertising 3,000 €, events 2,500 €, newsletter 1,000 € …”).
      Write a short justification for each allocation:

      • which objective this investment primarily supports (awareness, consideration, sales)

      • why this share of the budget is reasonable in your opinion (e.g. reach, cost-effectiveness, the case company’s strengths).

    5. Assess the budget as a whole from the objective’s perspective
      Reflect for about ½ page:

      • whether the budget allocations support awareness, consideration or direct sales more strongly

      • whether any objective is receiving too little attention

      • what would happen if one channel did not perform as expected (where you would reduce and where you would increase).

    6. Prepare a short recommendation for management
      Finally write a 5–7 sentence summary and recommendation that you could present to the case company’s management:

      • how the 10,000 € has been divided

      • what the main justification and expected benefit are

      • what should be monitored particularly closely (e.g. specific metrics or experiments).

    Submission and evaluation:
    Submit a text of approximately 1–2 pages that shows:

    • the starting point of the case company’s marketing

    • the selected channels and actions

    • the monetary division of the budget and justifications

    • a short analysis of how the allocation supports marketing objectives

    • a concise recommendation for management.

    Evaluation will focus on how well you:

    • link the budget allocation to the case company’s objectives and target groups

    • select channels appropriate to the situation

    • base financial allocations on logical arguments

    • write clearly and in a well-structured way.

    Recommended working time: about 45–60 minutes, individually or in pairs.

Tasks by audience and theme

University of applied sciences

Polytechnics and higher education studies.

68 tasks