Introduction
With the advancement in technology around the globe in this new age, new courses are introduced in various institutions in the world to meet the ever-rising demands. Skills are increasingly sought in virtually all aspects of learning. With innovations taking shape, new courses are bound to be introduced. Another incident witnessed is the increasing number of students and the desire to learn more, this has stretched the already full colleges, and new ones are established to bridge the gap(Good, 2010, par. 1-6).
These new colleges have to offer competitive courses to survive, this requires planning and research on the best courses to introduce, levels, cost, and relevancy to the contemporary global industry. This paper will attempt to design and introduce a degree course in Raffles College, the period of learning, why it appeals to the students, its contents, and cost.
Raffles College of Higher Education is a multinational college with branches all over the globe, among which are Singapore and Sydney Australia. It has had major ventures with the restructuring of the three: Raffles Design, business, and Merchandise institutes into it.
There are various changes and introduction of new and improvement of the available courses to meet the high demand. Before introducing a new course in whichever level of higher learning, care should be taken in studying the trends and expected impact of the course. Marketing should be added as a tool to inform the potential students of the significance of the new course in their lives, and in society. Most students look to courses that will deliver a job, creativity, and knowledge. This has to be the prime objective in designing the course and its content (All Business inc., 2010, pp. 1).
New degree course
The new course I would propose for Raffles College for higher Learning is a Degree in Design majoring in Sound Design. Raffles being a design and market-oriented College with outpouring numbers of students in design and creativity, a Degree in Design majoring in sound design would be a perfect match for the equally creative mind of the students. This would especially best fit the school of Design; that is Raffles institute of design. Since the institute is dedicated to Graphic design, which includes, Visual communication as well as other creative design disciplines, namely: Jewellery, Digital media that is directly related to the new course proposed. Their philosophy aligns with their push to train students to the contemporary industrial practices and this is very important in developing the new course (Raffles Design Institute, 2005, par. 1-2).
Sound design is considered among the most vibrant of courses and very creative. It is very interesting to study and build a lifetime career. Most people around the globe love music and its impact on them cannon pass unnoticed. The most celebrated of celebrities have ties to music as is seen around the world. An example is the music icon Michael Jackson whose death caused major ripples on the mind of almost everyone on the globe. Nevertheless, as is also known, the sound is a very important aspect of music and movies, they have a weighty impact on people’s daily lives, and thus can be said to be part of our lives. The sound itself is a very wide topic with several technicalities that need to be understood. It offers a creative challenge to its study and is thus very desirable as a new course at Raffles (Science and Engineering, 2009, pp. 1).
Justification for the course
Media and design have developed to be very important areas in information generation. Television technology, video games, animation, computer virtual games, and sophisticated websites are some of the characteristics of the information era. Sound is an important accompaniment of television programs, animations, adverts, websites, or computer games (Institute of Physics, 2010, par 7). For these design products to be appealing to the targeted market, they must be accompanied by quality sound. Sound design can be viewed as an act of creating the non-compositional component of television programs, gaming production, or film animation.
It consists of creating sound for actions, objects, or events. Sound design can be viewed as and means of ensuring sound effects in spoken words that surround television programs, sound cinema, or other interactive environments.
Television programs, firms, advert, and other media programs require a lot of planning and care to produce required sound effects. Sound production requires careful planning with specific tasks requiring specific skills. There has been increased competition quality on media and music products. To keep up with the competitions designer requires special skills in sound production. Although there is high demand for quality sound production, there has been a scarcity of learning institutions where such skills can be learned. Most individuals desiring to take a career in sound production mainly learn through on-job training.
The course aims at bridging the gap and providing individual that aspires to make a career in sound production with necessary skills. The course is designed to address the needs of different areas of sound and audiovisual industries. The course will target students who wish to take a career in sound production. Career opportunities consist of sound design for multi-media, television, virtual games or films; dubbing mixer; post-production sound such as Foley artist, dialogue editor, and automatic replacement. Successful graduates can also take care in composition, consultancy in sound design, or take freelance employment on the same. The course will also target individuals who already work in sound production but who would want to gain a professional qualification.
Content Duration and cost
Sound design involves the design and creation of elements of filming, soundscapes, television, and even those elements in events that are beyond our knowledge and only unique to each designer. It also involves the act of storytelling like in oral or cinema. As much as people listen to music and enjoy it, this does not clearly show how much skills are used in designing diverse audiovisual industries. The course will be designed in two programs: full-time and part-time program.
The full-time program will take three years. It will be conducted exclusively within the institution. Part-time program, on the other hand, will take four years and will integrate e-learning with visits to the institution. The aim of the two programs is to cater for need of various students that would wish to take the course. Part-time program will cater for the need of working students. The program will be flexible and convenient and will enable more students to register.
This course should take 3 years to equip the student for conceptual thinking and build up in the relevant skills as the student prepares to move on to do Masters of Arts in Sound Design. It has been proved that students joining the University from high schools need at least 3 years of study to fully exercise this level of skills, which is another reason for the period (Science and Engineering, 2009, pp. 1). An extra one year will be necessary for part-time students to allow them enough time to cover the contents of the course.
The relevant subjects that would be contained in the course should be progressive and includes, Production; which is the reason for study, some units from physics including sounds, waves and vibrations and space; these will give the students an in-depth understanding of the course. Other subjects should be on recording of the productions, editing; this will introduce the students to conceptual thinking. Other subjects should include Designs for animations, filming and other effects like gaming.
The pricing should be merged with that of designers at Raffles College, since they will share most of the classes and are virtually setting the same stage for advancement in media technology. However, as a marketing strategy, it is advisable to start with pilot study; let the students be well informed of the advantages and impacts as well as the career opportunities.
They should be allowed to switch from their design courses for those who have shown interest by allowing transfer of credits. Survey should also be done on other institutions that offer same course to integrate their system and modify it to uniquely appeal to the target (Institute of Physics, 2010, par. 6). Advertising plans and promotions should also be used in creating awareness of the course, for examples on the College website and other affiliations like the Television, radio and classified advertisements (McNamara, n.d, par 1-7).
Marketing Mix for Sound Design course
Product
Product is the first and most important component of a marketing mix. The product must be able to serve the needs of targeted market. Target market must be able to see the value provided by a product for them to spend their money on a product. Sound Design course is designed to cater for increased need for sound production (Science and Engineering, 2009, p. 21). It is designed with target students in mind.
Increased demand for quality music, television programs, films and computer games have motivated development of the new course. Through the course, students will be able to gain necessary skills in sound design and be able to secure employment opportunities in vibrant audiovisual industry. Sound design consists of courses that are relevant to contemporary audiovisual industry. The courses will be revised progressively to include emerging ideas in the industry. Modern equipment in sound production and design are included in the course to provide students practical skill in sound production.
The course will be branded as Sound Design and Analysis. The brand name will be attractive to individuals that want take career in sound production. To compete will other colleges offering similar product, quality will be emphasized. Through the course, student will be confident to face challenges in the industry.
Distribution
The course will be designed in full-time and part-time programs. Full time programs will be conducted within various branches of the institution. Full time program will target young students from high school. Part-time program will be conducted parallel to full-time program. Evening and weekend classes will enable working students to register. Part time program will use e learning to make the program as flexible as possible.
Price
Using the correct pricing strategy helps in improving brand name of a product among the consumers. A company can use various pricing mechanisms depending on the target market. When penetrating to a new market, the price quoted on the product leads to consumers developing a certain perception towards the product. Offering a product at a low price when penetrating a new market may lead to consumers doubting the quality of the product (Kyle, 2010, par 5). For a company to set a certain price on its product, it is imperative for the company to consider the price and quality of competing products already in the market.
Raffles College should use a correct pricing strategy for the new course. The price should consider prices for other courses in the institution as well as prices at which other institutions offer the same course. To enhance perception of quality, the course should be offered at slightly higher price than prices in other competing institutions. Cost of the course will be included in pricing strategy for the new cost. Apart from cost, the prices will demonstrate quality and value of the course. To encourage students to register for the course, discounting will be used. Ten percent discount will be offered for five students to register while five percent discount will be granted to students who register within one month after the course is advertised.
Promotion
Market communication is a very important component of a marketing mix. Before Raffle College embarks on promoting the new course, it should determine the target market and clearly understand their needs. Market communication has great influence on how a product is perceived. Poor promotions methods can have damaging effect on the brand and make it difficult achieve objectives. Market communication will mainly target student who have just completed and those about to complete high school studies. It will also target individual in audiovisual industry and those interested in sound production. Television and radio broadcasting, and print media will be use to reach target market. Brochures will be produced placed in the college’s websites.
Summary
Raffles College of Higher Education is fast expanding and new courses based on advanced technology, as sound design, is desirable. The course should be Bachelor of Design majoring in Sound Design, covering most subjects relevant to the other multimedia design , but with specialization in the Design of sound elements and effects. The cost of the course should be merged with other design courses because most of the facilities are shared and to encourage course transfer. Sound design is appealing and is very relevant to the contemporary audiovisual industry technological advancements.
Conclusion
Thee course proposed is a 3 year, Bachelor of Design majoring in Sound Design to be integrated with the already provided courses in multimedia Design. The contents of the course include sounds, waves and vibrations, production, editing among others that are merged with the Multimedia Design courses. The payment per year should be according to the regular pay for three-year design courses at Raffles college of Higher Learning.
Given the already thriving media industry and the impact of sound in our daily lives, the prestigious opportunities it offers like: dubbing mixer, dialogue editor, production recorders and mixers, research and consultancy in that field. These are just but a few of the massive opportunities in this line. It is therefore appealing and considerable by the majority who aspire to be music producers.
Reference List
AllBusiness Inc. (2010). The Five Basic Methods of Market Research. Marketing and Advertising. Market Research and Analysis. Web.
Good, O. (2010). University ‘Overwhelmed’ by Interest in Games Design Degree. Web.
Institute of Physics. (2010).New Degree. Projects. Higher education and research. Web.
Kyle, B. (2010). Pricing strategies that improve profit. Web.
McNamara C. (n.d). Advertising and Promotions. Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Web.
Raffles Design Institute. (2005). Raffles Design Institute, Arts School, Design School Singapore provides Design Course in Singapore. Web.
Science and Engineering. (2009). Sound Design Courses Sounding Out Unchartered Territory. Sandringham Publishing Ltd. Web.