Question

Kate Korden is running for mayor of your city. It is three months until the election and she is trailing in the polls. You have been a hired to manage a project to deploy media and print communications to counter misleading ads by Kate’s opponent. Your sponsor is Bob, the campaign Communications Director. He charters you to deliver three television ads, two print ads, two online videos, and increased social media activity

Figure 1:

Position	Name	Responsibilities
Campaign Director	Jennifer	Campaign Budget and Staff Management
Communications Director	Bob	Communications Strategy and Execution
Speech Writer	Sarah	Writes Speeches and Press Releases
Social Media Content Creator	Nancy	Monitor Social Media and Deploys Content
Technology Manager	Brian	Manages IT and Technology Infrastructure
Volunteers	Multiple	Assign to tasks as needed

Bob identifies some people for your core team. People and money are always in short supply, but the schedule and deliverables are fixed so you can ask for volunteers and budget for outside resources if necessary. Bob asks how quickly you can get the first messages out since Kate’s opponent is increasing the attack ads. What is your first step?

A.) Create an activity list and identify the people skills and non-personnel resources required to do the work.

B.) Get quick results by focusing on social media, since the required resources (Nancy and a volunteer) are available to start working immediately on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter activity.

I believe the answer is A, but I wanted a second opinion.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Option Evaluation:

Option A - Involves traditional long term planning, definitely will not result in final outcome in a short while in this time sensitive scenario.

Option B - Puts first word out right away without major costs incurred in this time sensitive matter. It's important to get the first word out to counter Kate's opponent's attack as per Bob. Increased social media activity can be started without traditional planning. For activities like Television ads, print ads, videos traditional planning process can be used later on. With just 3 months in hand Kate cannot afford any delays in getting the word out. Option B is correct.