Midtown Houston TEAM 6 Account Services: RubĂ Soto, Meredith Baird Marketing Strategy: Brenda Lee Cuevas, Vanessa Arasin Copy Writer: Carolyn Whitney Art Director: Ian Iversen Graphics: Ian Iversen, Corinne Richter, Allison Nicole Traugott Media Planner: Amanda Koontz, Gisele Bohorquez New Media Strategy: Kaitlin Loyd, Amanda Koontz
Zephyr Salvo
Executive Summary Midtown Houston was founded to provide an urban living center in Houston, Texas. The Midtown Redevelopment Authority/Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2 and Midtown Management District share the common vision of shaping Midtown into a thriving community. Midtown Houston is ready for more. More residents, more business and an urban living center that attracts investors creating interaction between residents and businesses. Our plan is to increase the awareness of the living, working and playing environment to reach a wider range of visitors through images of art, community and cultural activities in traditional and nontraditional forms of advertising. Greater awareness will lead to increased web and mobile traffic, thus leading to more event and venue submissions. We will transform the community portal to position Midtown as the ideal investment location for businesses and cultural venues making the area a residential hotspot and a visitor getaway. Live, work and play in Midtown, day or night.
Challenges Our challenge… ● increase awareness from spill over crowds attending conventions, major sporting events, and other activities. ● address the social image from a nightlife district to an ideal urban living community, day or night. ● add to the reinvestment attitude that attracts business owners and culture-driven people.
Midtown – Brand Destination Today’s Belief: ● ● ● ● ●
Concerts Shopping Partying Bars Traffic
Tomorrow’s Reality: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Culture Art Parks Restaurants Entertainment Walkability Community
Midtown Houston Analysis Created in 1999 Mixed-use urban area Recent revitalization Recognized as a Cultural Arts & Entertainment District by the State of Texas ● Close proximity to Downtown Houston ● Great area for anyone ● ● ● ●
SWOT Analysis Strengths ●
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Cultural Activities ○ Theatres ○ Museums ○ Art Entertainment ○ Nightlife ○ Live Music ○ Restaurants Central Location Accomodations Walkability Diversity Transportation
Weaknesses ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Low Awareness of Cultural Activities External Awareness of Area Narrow Reach of Visitors Area Expenses are Costly Too much information Banner Image Not Relevant No Cross Promotion
SWOT Analysis cont. Opportunities ● ● ●
Develop Consistent Social Media Campaign Collaboration with Non-Profit Organizations Targeting Advertising Through Traditional/Nontraditional Media ○ Website/Mobile ○ Social Media ○ Print ○ Outdoor ○ Event Centers ○ Transit
Threats ●
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Competition ○ Galleria ○ Uptown ○ Downtown Technical Issues Unfocused Messaging Pricing War
Consumer Analysis The Millennial ● ● ● ● ●
63% of millennial parents ages 25 to 34 are married. 40% of millennials ages 25 to 34 are already parents. 9,000 millennial women a day are giving birth -- many for the first time. In the next 10 to 15 years, 80% of millennials will be parents. Half of all millennial parents in the 25-to-34 age group are Hispanic, African-American, Asian, or another non-Caucasian race.
Source: “Pew Research Center. 2014. Population Research Survey.”
Why target the Millennial? â—? From the data provided by the client and secondary research about the area, we have concluded that millennial couples, families and individuals will be our primary market for our campaign. â—? The Millennial is the ideal individual to Live, Work and Play in Midtown, day and night.
Millennial Primary Research 17 Participants
â—? Our team conducted primary research using Survey Monkey â—? Participants obtained through sharing on personal Facebook, Twitter and the Houston Young Professional Facebook Page.
Demographics:
Current view of Midtown:
70% Females
52% Positive
30% Males
20% Neutral 28% Negative
62% 18-24 38% 25-34
Awareness of Cultural Activities: 47% Unaware
24% $0-24,000 36% $25,000-49,000 18% $75,000-99,000 11% $100,000-124,999 11% $200,000 -
53% Aware
Breaking Down the Millennial Boss Babe ○ ○
Assertive, professionally focused females Professional influence, high purchase power, low dating interest
Millennial Moms ○ Healthy, active and socially conscious young mothers ○ Active on social media channels, high purchase power (71% working moms), socially pressured to have it all. Focused on healthy eating lifestyles, philanthropic causes
Brogrammers ○ ○
Fist-bumping, hard-partying male tech and professionals Career-focused, masculine nerdery, love of beer and sporting-events
Culinary Explorers ○
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Adventurous foodies, busy lives focus on local exploration rather than world traveling Drawn to exotic cuisines and experiences, desire authenticity, affluent
Source: “Griner, David. 12 Types of Millenials. Ad Week, 2014”
Competitor Analysis Competitors
Summary
strengths and weaknesses
objective
outcome
Midtown
interactive community that brings along entertainment and activities
S:walking distance W:Environment
increasing cultural awareness
“I'm sure they do offer cultural activities. However, I am unaware of any such activities”
Uptown
Lifestyle center that includes shops and cafes
S: living environment W: isn’t walking distance
Creating a bigger sense of place incorporating art
“I don’t live here, but visit often. It has nice common areas close to the freeway”
Galleria
upscale shopping along for locals and tourists
S: awareness for tourists W:lack of stores organization
An increase on store development
“The Houston Galleria is among the nation’s most productive shopping destinations”
Source:surveymonkey.com, http://www.labelscar.com/texas/houston-galleria yelp.com, http://m.yelp.com/biz/providence-uptown-houston-2
Big Idea Midtown Houston is the premier Houston location for all your urban life needs. Why it works- The idea of being a well rounded location that works across the consumer and business needs. Build the brand- Focusing on the live, work, play strengths of Midtown can be flexible with any event or season that could attract customers and business owners. Positioning- The idea positions Midtown as the perfect district for anyone that believes in a culturally diverse community.
Campaign Live, work, play in Midtown, day or night. Creative Execution - The campaign features images contrasting the day (right lighter side) and night (left darker side) with two different images. The contrast shows that midtown is a city which thrives at anytime. To further add support to the words live, work, and play, individual campaigns showing how you can live, work, and play in Midtown. The tone of the campaign is fun and modern.
Digital Strategy Web ● Strategize and launch campaign with high impact units to increase web: ○ Traffic ○ Page clicks ○ Page shares ● Initiate native advertisement placement through third-party services
Targeting ● Retargeting previous Midtown visitors to site ● Search targeting ○ native ad generation based on target audience previous keyword searches ○ Google SEO and PPC ● Drive Midtown website traffic to social media channels by 25%
SEO and PPC
SEO campaigns will be launched using long-tail and low competition keywords that will direct organic traffic into conversions that will be tracked with Google Analytics. SEO campaigns will be adjusted for peak seasons such as spring break, summer, and events like the SuperBowl.
Paid Per Click ads will run for living, business and entertainment needs. These will also be adjusted for seasonal peaks such as spring break, summer, and any cultural events.
HoustonMidtown.com Web Relaunch
HoustonMidtown.com Mobile Relaunch
Print -
Social Media Strategy Objective: To increase audience engagement across social media platforms and promote awareness for Midtown’s diverse events available throughout the year.
Issues Identified: ● Multiple social media channels are currently being utilized with inconsistent content and personalities ● Instagram has not be utilized since December 2013 and Youtube since June 2012 ● Copy on social media is not brief, clear and concise and following AP style
Social Media Strategy Suggested solutions: ●
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Focus primarily on social media engagement on: ○ Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Remove Pinterest and Youtube profiles completely due to unnecessary need Develop a consistent and unified voice across channels
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Integrate Midtown in-house image and organic content developed by Midtown employed Social Media Intern working with Media/Communications Director Commence sponsored social media campaigs developed by RHYPEZ scheduled through Hootsuite and Latergramme
Social Media Strategy ●
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Create fun and informative daily content on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Repost content (images) from users, using the hashtag #MidtownHOU Develop strong branding identification across all media platforms by ○ consistent use of hashtag #MidtownHOU ○ #HowDoYouMidtown hashtag initiation on sponsored post campaigns Live. Work. Play. Midtown
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Mix and recycle content mediums about Midtown’s… ○ upcoming events, renovations throughout the city, new business openings, relevant articles, videos, national holidays, etc. Interact with users to build a sense of community
“How Do You Midtown” Campaign, 2015 January 1 - December 31 Develop a social media campaign that will promote Midtown’s diverse entertainment community, using the hashtag #HowDoYouMidtown across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ● ● ● ●
Creates a virtual scrapbook of Midtown activities and events Social media users will showcase Midtown’s cultural community with the hashtag #HowDoYouMidtown on their personal posts Using the hashtag directly promoted through Midtown’s main social media platforms Engage residents and visitors in an interactive social experience
Weekly Social Media Plan Example
Media Strategy Utilize a mix of strategic media mediums to optimize audience delivery ● ● ● ● ●
Print ads Digital ads Non-profit partnerships and sponsorships Social media presence Web and mobile site
Media Budget & Calendar
Budget
PR & Promotions ● Earned media will be garnered with press releases distributed through local media channels. ● Feature story releases will be sent to national, regional, and local culture and arts magazines publications for articles to be written about cultural icons of Midtown
● Used to show the diversity of the area ● Display improvements and changes around the district ● Highlight why Midtown is the neighborhood to Live. Work. Play. Day & Night.
Event Promotional Strategy “Wine”(d) Down in the Park Event ● ● ● ● ● ●
Every third Friday of the month, a community-wide event will take place in Midtown Park Restaurants, local businesses, nonprofits, art galleries and music venues will create a unified image of Midtown engaging with the community Reinforce and summarize Live. Work. Play. Midtown. Replicates the existing Midtown Art in the Park event providing further opportunities for Midtown community engagement with visitors and current and future residents Caters to the Boss Babes, Brogrammers, Millennial Moms and Culinary Explorers identified in previous targeted millennials Promoted across social media channels
Return On Investment ● Measure impressions by tracking codes on Midtown Houston’s website using Google Analytics ● Use Google Analytics to measure traffic with PPC & SEO ● Increase Traffic 50% ● Use Facebook/Twitter Analytics to track social media engagement on sponsored campaigns ● Drive traffic between website and social media ● 20% increased use of website to submit community events ● 20% increased use of website to submit venues
Conclusion The campaign sets in motion a community movement to increase the living, working and playing environment that reaches a wide range of visitors through art, community and cultural activities. Positioning Midtown as the ideal investment location for businesses and cultural venues.
In the future the campaign can be adjusted for seasonality and used to promote specific events.