INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Musco Lighting is a privately-owned company founded in 1976. In North America, the company has ________________________________ when it comes to sports lighting. Their specialty areas include sports and manufacturing/transportation lighting. Musco also pioneered multiple energy-efficient solutions. Their metal halide and LED technologies help control spill and glare throughout various business-tobusiness industries. Additionally, Musco products light thousands of venues globally, from Hilton Coliseum to the __________. Headquartered in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Musco also has offices in Muscatine and Urbandale. They manufacture in 125 countries. For a half century, the company has partnered with Little League. Musco also has a strategic alliance with the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Their mini pitch initiative impacts local youth in underserved communities.
“My favorite thing about my job is the people that I meet, the people that I work with and all the facilities we get to see.”
“I love that at Musco you don't have a set career path. You have the flexibility to go after opportunities as they are available. And those opportunities are what you make of them.”
“At Musco, we value culture above all. It’s a very team-first-oriented company. We truly believe Musco is a lot different than any other company.”
Musco’s products are state-of-the-art. Their culture is top notch. Existing team members are loyal. Their small-town principles are the cornerstones of a humble foundation for success. However, there appears to be a disconnect when it comes to brand awareness and recruitment efforts. Musco attracts most of their prospects from referrals and word-of-mouth. Minimal advertising takes place. This approach has led to recruitment difficulties outside of Oskaloosa. This statement is based upon limited primary research. When asked if they were familiar with Musco, 75 percent of survey participants at Iowa State University answered “no.” According to secondary research, Principal Financial, Kent Ag Research Co. and Pella Windows & Doors recruit more Gen-Z individuals, whether it be for internships or entry-level positions. Recently, Musco created an emerging technology Research and Development (R&D) team in Urbandale. This division focuses on gentle auxiliary products designed to attract a specific demographic. Looking beyond the lighting industry, the R&D team seeks to hire more Gen-Z workers. They anticipate growing their team from 50 individuals to more than 115. They’re looking for experts in tech support, engineering, sales, marketing, data sciences and even more emerging fields.
Moving forward, Musco’s wants to increase brand awareness and become one of Iowa’s top employers. They are targeting Des Moines and Ames. A variety of marketing tools will be used to improve their existing effort. Our Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan incorporates a multifaceted approach to support Musco now and in the future. Our recommendations focus on public relations, sponsorships, traditional/digital advertising and other research-backed efforts. We invite you to peruse the rest of this plan for increasing Musco’s brand awareness in Iowa.
Musco aspires to increase brand awareness while investing in local communities across Iowa.
By December 31, 2024, Musco will increase strategic alliances by 20 percent to attract Gen-Zers as employees and grow brand awareness by 10 percent in Iowa.
Within five years, Musco will expand its employment branding effort outside of Iowa and strengthen brand awareness by 25 percent.
External Iowa State Students Des Moines Metro & Ames Citizens Prospective Employees Engineers I.T. Professionals Sports Fans
Internal Musco Executives Musco Board of Directors Musco Team Members Employees outside of the Oskaloosa Campus Musco Alumni Retirees
1. Foster strategic alliances throughout Ames and Des Moines metro areas. 2. Consider sponsorships as a way for increasing outreach to Gen-Zers. 3. Use public relations/social media outreach to reach desired audiences. 4. Boost awareness of Musco as a top employer through campus-wide events. 5. Leverage traditional/digital advertising to reinforce Musco as a leading employer.
For each strategy, there has to be a way to complete it. Below are the tactics for completion for each of the five strategies, as well as their descriptions, timelines and area of Musco that would cover them. Some of these tactics are easy changes; others are much more grand. However, we believe they are all realistic and relevant to Musco's business and target audiences.
Strategy 1: Foster strategic alliances throughout Ames and Des Moines Metro areas. Tactic
Timeline
Owner
Fall 2025/Spring 2026
Community Development
Partner with Iowa State University's College of Engineering to launch a student design competition.
Launch a fixture/lighting design competition open for the Iowa State student body. Provide a cash prize for the top three work with Musco to bring their design to life. This movable lighting installation could be set up at the Iowa State Fair, downtown Des Moines, on campus and wherever else Musco desires.
Spring 2024
Partnership Programs
Work with ISU Student Union Board to create annual oncampus celebration.
Spotlight Iowa State student performers while informing the student body about Musco. Musco will host a festival under the stars and provide portable lighting fixtures to kick off the school year. Deck the stage out in Musco signage and set up an information table.
Fall 2024
Partnership Programs
Partner with Iowa State’s new Cy-Town for sponsorship, lighting, and economic development.
Description Supply lighting, LED boards and other products for Cy town, a large-scale project generating buzz statewide. Musco's involvement would allow them reach a wider audience in the Iowa State network.
Strategy 2: Consider sponsorships as a way for increasing outreach to Gen Zers. Tactic
Description
Timeline
Owner
Sponsor on-campus philanthropic/ nonprofit groups.
Seek opportunities for Musco to sponsor select groups on campus. Becoming a high-dollar sponsor brings multiple perks like: banner signage, t-shirt placement and social media recognition. A few campus organizations include Dance Marathon, Blood Drive, Pay it Forward and Students For St. Jude.
TBD
Community Development
Be the presenting sponsor at 80/35's Main Stage and other aspects of the event.
Attend and donate to several different sponsorship opportunites at the musical festival. The amount varies from naming rights for different free and paid stages to a backstage, VIP and community sponsor.
Summer 2024
Community Development
Attend and sponsor popular fundraisers for nonprofit organizations located in Des Moines and Ames area. Become top sponsor for events such as: Third Annual "We Give A RAM Kentucky Derby Party" on May 6, 2023 at Copper Creek Golf and Event Center. The proceeds go to Swerve Outreach, an organization that provides at-risk students with healthy meals, learning, youth sports, etc.
Summer 2023
Community Development
Sponsor and attend nonprofit events not associated with colleges or universities.
Strategy 3: Use public relations/social media outreach to reach desired audiences. Tactic
Description
Timeline
Owner
Leverage social media advertising.
Post key words and identify SEO opportunities. Focusing on boosting posts across targeted social media platforms. Create fun graphics. Tailor social media content to specific platforms.
Fall 2023/Spring 2024
Partnership Programs
Send news releases and partner with local media outlets.
Create and distribute customized news releases for each of Musco's communities i.e. Little League, Mini-Pitch, Miracle League.
Fall 2023/Spring 2024
Community Development
Launch a social media campaign to spotlight employees.
Consistently use the following hashtags: #WEmakeithappen or #Theymakeithappen. Highlight success stories, exciting projects and employment testimonies via video and photography.
Fall 2023
Partnership Programs
Strategy 4: Boost awareness of Musco as a top employer through campuswide events Tactic
Description
Timeline
Owner
Establish a Musco brand ambassador program across Iowa State's campus.
Build a community of brand influencers (specifically engineer based), where videos interviews other forms of publicitiy are posted. Also, student ambassadors would host campus events, distribute Musco mugs, hold pop-up shops with info and speak to campus clubs/classes.
Fall 2023/Spring 2024
Marketing
Implement interactive and creative career fair signage.
Incorporate Musco lighting products into career fair booth structure. For instance, include images of the Statue of Liberty, Olympics stadium, Field of Dreams and other popular projects. Students can provide resumes to Musco recruiters and qualify to win an all-expense-paid spring break trips.
Fall 2023/Spring 2024
Marketing
Establish "tables" on campus and within engineering buildings.
Have Musco campus ambassadors coordinate "tabling" specifically focused on employment opportunities beyond career fairs.
Fall 2023/Spring 2024
Human Resources
Strategy 5: Leverage traditional advertising to reinforce Musco as a leading employer Tactic
Description
Timeline
Owner
Create LED billboards.
Secure billboards along I-35, I-80 and I-235 to advertise Musco as a top employer. Use Musco LED lights to frame content and/or images.
Summer 2023
Marketing
Wrap semis/vans with Musco signage.
Contract with various trucking companies in central Iowa. Place Musco logo with the tagline "we make it happen" on targeted vehicles.
Fall 2023
Marketing
Use Memorial Union advertising platforms for Musco events/job opportunities.
Use Memorial Union screens during career fairs or other events. Post easy QR codes that link to job applications. Showcase visually appealing information about Musco.
Fall 2023
Marketing
Conduct monthly social media content analyses focusing on growth in followers and impressions on Musco's platforms. Evaluate Musco’s social media engagement with a third-party analytics app. Following the launch, record the number of times Musco is searched with Google Trends. Repeat every 3 months.
Host focus groups to measure target audience's awareness and perception of Musco as an employer following the campaign launch and one month after. Send surveys to measure target audience's awareness and perception of Musco as an employer following the campaign launch and one month after. Track number of replies to focus group and surveys. By doing this Musco will be able to tell which form works better.
Establish a relationship with engineering departments at ISU to build relationships and awareness among students. Contact Iowa State faculty about sending engineering and IT students periodic surveys detailing their career jobs. Attend career/internship fairs and offer information about Musco to students. Survey turnout for each fair to reflect on how to improve.
Conduct one employee satisfaction survey each quarter. Establish a communication chain with Musco alumni to assess deficiencies in the company. Hold focus groups with one team member from each Musco department to gauge how they believe the company is doing overall.
Traditional Media Digital Advertising
Social Media
$14 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 total for 714, 286 impressions
Facebook Video
$28 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 total for 357, 143 impressions
Twitter promoted tweet
$42 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 total for 238,095 impressions
$16 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 total for 625,000 impressions
$38 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 for 263, 158 impressions Pre-roll video (:15 or :30 second ad) National/Local Sports Websites $35.00 per 1,000 impressions $5,000 for 142, 857 Mobile (impressions purchased per website) $35.00 per 1,000 impressions $5,000 for 166,667 impressions Total: $60,000
Radio :60 WHO (AM) (Newstalk/Information) $13.00 per 1,000 impressions $5,000 for 384,615 impressions :60 KXNO (Sports Radio) $27.00 per 1,000 impressions $5,000 for 185,185 impressions :60 KDFR 91.3 FM (Satellite Radio) $6.00 per 1,000 impressions $5,000 for 833,333 impressions Total: $15,000 Display
2023 National-Local Sports Websites
$35.00 per impression $5,000 for 142,857 impressions
Total: $5,000 Out of Home Advertising
Billboards
$5.00 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 for 2,000,000 impressions
Pro Sports Team Stadiums (in-area signage) $27.00 per 1,000 impressions $10,000 for 370,370 impressions
Total: $20,000 Sponsorship & Events
$15,000 for giveaways and prizes $35,000 for sponsorships & other events Total: $50,000
All Results
Primary Research A series of surveys were sent out to current and future members of the workforce and relevant industries, including engineering students at Iowa State. Results showed pay and benefits play an important role in employee recruitment and retention. In addition, people prioritized a positive company culture when evaluating a place of work and had a significant effect on someone’s overall experience with a company. Students prioritize the potential for being hired-on after an internship, the environment, and the location. An Engineering Career Services representative provided further insight and trends for company engagement and our target audience -- engineering students at Iowa State University. Pay 22% Benefits 20%
Other 31%
Other 30%
Flexibility 9%
Pay 27%
Opportunities 10%
Benefits 16%
Environment 22%
Environment 13%
Job Recruiting Draws
Job Retention Factors Pay 25%
All Other 38%
Environment 24% Location 13%
Internship Absolutes
Secondary Research Recruitment has become an integral component of marketing—75% of people research a company prior to applying. Companies must portray a positive experience clearly associated with their business. The most successful recruitment brands are built from the inside out. Creating a brand around employees can significantly boost recruitment as shown among competitors, who surround their brand around their diverse array of employees. We also conducted a social media audit. From this, we found two things. 1. Based on analyzing the social media profiles of Musco, they should
continue regular posting but increase people/recruiting based posts.
2. Musco needs to ensure prospective candidates are aware of the fantastic culture and benefits they provide employees, while framing some social media around how high profile and well-ran they truly are.
Example Social Media and Promotional Materials
REVISED MAY 2023 |
Ⓒ MUSCO LIGHTING 2023