Scenario 5

Scenario 5

Electric Vehicle Launch Marketing Campaign

You are the Project Manager for a global marketing campaign supporting the launch of a new electric vehicle, the VoltX, produced by Voltis Automotive. The organization is entering the electric vehicle market for the first time and views this launch as a major strategic shift toward sustainable transportation.

The campaign aims to build national brand awareness, drive preorders, and position Voltis as a serious competitor among established electric vehicle manufacturers.

The initiative includes national television and digital advertising, social media influencer partnerships, launch events in major cities, dealer training and promotional materials, online preorder campaigns, and sustainability messaging aligned with corporate environmental commitments.

The campaign timeline is six months, and the public reveal of the vehicle will occur during a major international auto show, which serves as the fixed launch date.

The project requires coordination across marketing, product engineering, corporate communications, sales, legal, and external advertising agencies.

Stakeholders and Constraints

  • Marketing leadership responsible for brand positioning
  • Product engineering teams providing technical specifications
  • Sales teams focused on preorder conversions
  • Legal and compliance teams reviewing advertising claims
  • External advertising agencies producing campaign materials
  • Regional dealership networks responsible for local promotion
  • Fixed reveal date tied to a major international auto show
  • Limited marketing budget approved by senior leadership
  • Regulatory restrictions on vehicle performance claims
  • Final engineering specifications still being validated

The executive sponsor has emphasized that the campaign must generate strong preorder momentum within the first three months following launch.

Situation

During campaign execution:

  • The advertising agency proposes a celebrity endorsement campaign that could significantly increase campaign reach but requires additional budget and expedited contract negotiations.
  • The engineering team reports that final battery range testing is still underway, meaning some vehicle performance specifications may change before the reveal.
  • The sales department pushes for more aggressive preorder messaging and promotional incentives that have not yet been approved by legal and compliance teams.
  • The dealership network indicates that training materials for sales staff have not yet been finalized, raising concerns about their readiness to support preorder demand immediately after the launch event.

The project manager must balance schedule pressure, scope control, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder alignment while ensuring the campaign remains credible ahead of the fixed launch event.

You are under pressure to maintain the fixed launch schedule, control marketing scope and budget, ensure regulatory compliance for all claims, and align multiple departments before a highly visible public reveal.

Scenario-Based Questions

Question 1: Scope and Change Control

The advertising agency proposes adding a celebrity endorsement campaign that requires additional budget and contract negotiation. What should the project manager do first?

  1. Approve the endorsement campaign to maximize visibility
  2. Submit a change request and evaluate cost, schedule, and scope impacts
  3. Ask the agency to absorb the additional costs within the current contract
  4. Escalate the proposal directly to the executive sponsor

Question 2: Stakeholder Engagement

Sales leadership requests aggressive preorder messaging that has not yet been reviewed by legal and compliance teams. What should the project manager do?

  1. Allow sales to move forward to maximize preorder momentum
  2. Reject the request because legal approval is missing
  3. Facilitate collaboration between sales and legal to review messaging
  4. Pause all marketing activities until messaging is finalized

Question 3: Risk Management

Engineering reports that final battery range testing is still underway and some specifications may change before launch. What should the project manager prioritize?

  1. Publishing marketing materials immediately to protect the schedule
  2. Updating the risk register and preparing response strategies
  3. Ignoring the issue until specifications are finalized
  4. Removing technical details from marketing materials

Question 4: Training and Readiness

Dealership partners indicate that sales training materials may not be ready before the launch event. What should the project manager do?

  1. Focus only on marketing activities
  2. Assess training readiness and integrate delivery into the project plan
  3. Delay the vehicle launch until training is complete
  4. Provide minimal product information to dealers

Question 5: Stakeholder Alignment

Different stakeholders prioritize brand positioning, preorder conversion, compliance, and technical accuracy. How should the project manager respond?

  1. Follow the executive sponsor’s priorities exclusively
  2. Facilitate discussions to align on objectives and constraints
  3. Prioritize the sales department’s requests
  4. Continue executing the original campaign plan

Question 6: Vendor Management

The advertising agency proposes several creative campaign ideas beyond the original contract scope. What is the best next step?

  1. Approve the ideas to maintain vendor enthusiasm
  2. Review the contract and clarify scope with the vendor
  3. Replace the agency with another vendor
  4. Ask procurement to renegotiate later

Question 7: Schedule Pressure

The auto show launch date is fixed and the campaign schedule is tight. What should the project manager do?

  1. Compress activities without consulting stakeholders
  2. Remove campaign elements without approval
  3. Review schedule assumptions and collaborate on tradeoffs
  4. Accept reduced campaign quality

Question 8: Change Adoption

Some dealership partners have not engaged with campaign preparation activities. What should the project manager do?

  1. Proceed without dealership involvement
  2. Mandate participation through executive escalation
  3. Engage dealerships to understand concerns and reinforce campaign value
  4. Delay launch activities until all dealerships engage

Question 9: Performance Measurement

The executive sponsor expects strong preorder performance within the first three months after launch. What should the project manager ensure during planning?

  1. Success metrics and performance baselines are clearly defined
  2. Additional advertising features are added
  3. The project closes immediately after launch
  4. Marketing leadership controls all decisions

Question 10: Leadership Judgment

Scope pressure, uncertain specifications, stakeholder conflicts, and schedule constraints are emerging simultaneously. What demonstrates the most effective project manager behavior?

  1. Escalating all decisions to senior leadership
  2. Strictly enforcing the original project plan
  3. Balancing constraints while maintaining transparency with stakeholders
  4. Focusing only on marketing execution
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