MARKETING MANAGER OF THE YEAR
To whom it may concern: I am pleased to recommend Lisi Arnstrom for the award for best Marketing Manager in this years CNBAM contest. Lisi and I have worked together at the Minnesota Daily for over a year, during which time she has demonstrated outstanding qualities in management, including strong interpersonal skills, a leading personality, and superior experience in marketing, promotion, and communication, making her a top candidate for this award. Most of my work with Lisi has revolved around the brand ambassador internship at the Minnesota Daily. Lisi, along with two coworkers, first created this internship in the spring of 2013. I was selected to be one of 15 brand ambassadors representing the Daily for the spring semester, during which time Lisi served as my group leader and mentor. Over the course of this internship I first saw Lisi’s fun personality, strong work ethic, and commitment to the Minnesota Daily. She kept in constant communication with all of the brand ambassadors in the internship, demonstrated strong social media marketing techniques, and led successful promotional events. Her leadership and commitment to this internship, and the Minnesota Daily as an organization, transcended into my work, motivating me to strive for the same level of quality and dedication. In the summer of 2013 I was hired as the Brand Ambassador Coordinator for the Minnesota Daily. During my tenure in this position Lisi served as my manager in her role as the Marketing Director of the Daily. Together, her and I assembled a new team of 15 Brand Ambassadors that would represent the Daily during the fall semester. We worked to improve the internship experience as a whole and increase our brand awareness across the campus community. The improvements Lisi made to the Brand Ambassador internship not only helped make it a more worthwhile experience for the interns, but also helped expand the Daily’s presence on campus through an expansive event marketing campaign and strong social media presence. In addition to the marketing experience Lisi brought to our department, she served as a quality manager that helped motivate my coworkers and me. The attitude that she brought to the office everyday made it a more fun and relaxed environment, which lead to a committed and effective marketing department that would help each other when needed, make required sacrifices for the betterment of the organization, and make our time in the office an enjoyable learning opportunity. Lisi’s enthusiastic and dedicated personality transcends into everything she does and makes working with her an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Her experience in marketing, public relations, and sales makes her an excellent candidate for this award, and her strong leadership and interpersonal skills makes me feel lucky to have worked with her for the time that I have. She has taught me not only tangible lessons in marketing and promotion, but also invaluable experience in work ethic and management that I will take with me into all my future endeavors. This award would serve as a symbol of the commitment she has made to the Minnesota Daily, and it is for this reason I believe she is the most worthwhile candidate. Sincerely, Colin O’Reilly 2221 University Avenue Southeast | Suite 450 | Minneapolis, MN 55414 Office: (612) 627-4080 | Fax: (612) 435-5865 www.mndaily.com
Dear Judges, To whom it may concern: I am delighted to recommend Lisi Arnstrom the 2014 Marketing Manager theyears I am pleased to recommend Lisi Arnstrom for theasaward for CNBAM best Marketing Manager in of this year. I have had theLisi pleasure workworked with Lisi very closely the last year, her during to be anwhich CNBAM contest. and Itohave together at theover Minnesota Dailyand forhave overfound a year, irreplaceable asset to the Minnesota Daily. Prior to assuming her role as Marketing Director, Lisi showed time she has demonstrated outstanding qualities in management, including strong interpersonal skills, a an incredible commitment to the Daily by takinginonmarketing, the responsibility of training and managing fifteen leading personality, and superior experience promotion, and communication, making her Brand Ambassadors. The Brand Ambassador initiative was created by the previous Marketing Director a top candidate for this award. who felt overwhelmed and abandoned the role. Seeing the Brand Ambassadors as a way to increase Most of myofwork with LisiDaily has revolved the brand ambassador internship at the Minnesota awareness the Minnesota on campusaround and within the surrounding community, Lisi Daily. Lisi, along withtotwo first created thison internship in of thethat spring of 2013. was her selected enthusiastically offered takecoworkers, on the responsibility. Based the success initiative alongI with to be onepromotional, of 15 brandpublic ambassadors the Daily for the spring semester, which time previous relations,representing sales and managerial experience, Lisi was offeredduring the Marketing Lisi served as my group leader and mentor. Over the course of this internship I first saw Lisi’s fun Director position.
personality, strong work ethic, and commitment to the Minnesota Daily. She kept in constant As the Marketing Director over ambassadors the past year, Lisi hasinternship, implemented valuable changes within themedia communication with all of the brand in the demonstrated strong social department;techniques, making it a and moreled collaborative, focused, working Theand Marketing marketing successful yet promotional events.environment. Her leadership commitment to this internship, the Minnesota an organization, transcended into my work, motivating me to Departmentand previously consistedDaily of theas Marketing Director and three Marketing Communications strive for the same level of quality and dedication. Coordinators, all of which had the same vague position description. Lisi found that the lack of specificity within the positions created unnecessary confusion about individual responsibilities and prevented
In the summer of 2013a Ihigher was hired asofthe Brand Ambassador Coordinator for the Daily. students from attaining degree experience within one area of focus. Once theMinnesota restructuring of During my tenure in this position Lisi served as my manager in her role as the Marketing Director the Marketing Department was complete, Lisi realized that these specific roles not only made the day-to- of the her and I assembled a new Brand Ambassadors thateasier would represent dayDaily. work ofTogether, the department more efficient, but also team hiringof for15the positions became much when the Dailyhad during theunderstanding fall semester. worked toduties improve the internship experience students a clear of We the position’s and what the expectations wouldas be.a whole and increase our brand awareness across the campus community. The improvements Lisi made to the Brand Ambassador internship initiative not only has helped it a more experience the interns, The Brand Ambassador mademake a noticeable andworthwhile favorable impact on the for Minnesota but also helped expand the Daily’s presence on campus through an expansive event marketing Daily as an institution and as a brand. It has allowed us to dramatically increase our guerrilla marketing campaign andthe strong social which mediahas presence. addition attoour theevents, marketing experience Lisi brought to our efforts within community boostedIn attendance attracted sponsorships from department, she served as a quality manager that helped motivate my coworkers and me. The attitude local businesses and has provided us with the opportunity to engage on a face-to-face level with our that she brought to the office everyday made it a more fun and relaxed environment, which lead to a audience. committed and effective marketing department that would help each other when needed, make required sacrifices forbegan the betterment oftime, the organization, and make our time in the office anatenjoyable learning Lisi investing her money and energy into the Marketing Department the Minnesota opportunity. Daily long before it was her responsibility. That commitment paired with her incredible talent, creativity and enthusiasm has made an enormous impact on the organization over the past year. The relationships
Lisi’s and dedicated transcends into everything does and makes she hasenthusiastic built with the University of personality Minnesota and the surrounding communityshe have provided a solidworking with her an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Her experience in marketing, public relations, and foundation for the future marketing efforts led by the Minnesota Daily. Lisi is not making minor, sales makes her an excellent candidatepermanent, for this award, andsolutions her strong leadership interpersonal temporary adjustments; she is delivering strategic to maintain the and Minnesota Daily’s skills makes me feel lucky to have worked with her for the time that I have. She has taught me not only tradition of excellence, while remaining relevant to the constantly changing demographic of the tangible lessons in marketing and promotion, but also invaluable experience in work ethic and University of Minnesota community. I strongly believe Lisi Arnstrom deserves to be the 2014 CNBAM management that I will take with me into all my future endeavors. This award would serve as a symbol Marketing Manager of the year. She has truly made a difference. of the commitment she has made to the Minnesota Daily, and it is for this reason I believe she is the most worthwhile candidate. Sincerely, Sincerely, Colin O’Reilly
Morgan Goronkin President & Co-Publisher Minnesota Daily
2221 University Avenue Southeast | Suite 450 | Minneapolis, MN 55414 Office: (612) 627-4080 | Fax: (612) 435-5865 www.mndaily.com
Marketing Plan As we began to redevelop our Marketing department in 2012, we focused on continuing our momentum and success into 2013. Our Marketing Communications department wanted to accomplish the basic goals of all newspapers: • Increase print readership • Increase online interaction and viewership • Create greater awareness about our organization • Boost our business’s image through positive public relations on and near campus In order to accomplish these four overarching goals, we decided to take a step further. First, we analyzed the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of our organization. We quickly realized that even with our many accomplishments and traditions as the largest student-run newspaper in the nation, we could still use a lot of progress towards truly achieving each of these goals. Therefore, we embarked on the following four missions: Developing the Brand Ambassador Internship Program. With a limited budget, we had previously struggled staffing all of our marketing events and largely promoting all of our marketing campaigns. In January 2013, myself, along with two coworkers worked vigorously to develop a program to hire student brand ambassadors to help increase our presence on campus. We hired 15 eager and enthusiastic students who were willing to work as unpaid interns. Brand ambassador responsibilities where simple and effective: to promote the Daily all over the University of Minnesota campus. Ambassadors were utilized to promote the Minnesota Daily articles, events, and happenings on their personal social media outlets, which helped increase our online interaction and viewership. Along with social media posts, brand ambassadors were required to assist with event promotion, such as putting up posters around campus, and event execution including the physical labor of set up and clean up large events. Coffee & the Paper, Deadline Dash 5K, and Grapevine Awards Fair were highly popular and successful due to having brand ambassador assistance and promotion around campus. Brand ambassadors also handed out the paper to students and faculty, which helped increase our print readership. Along with increasing the Minnesota Daily brand presence on campus, the brand ambassador program acted as a stepping stool for hiring paid positions. Being a student run newspaper, we struggled with a high turnover rate within our organization. Our brand ambassador program familiarized potential hires with the Minnesota Daily organization, culture and operations. Within our Sales department and our Marketing department, we were able to hire 7 highly qualified and prepared brand ambassadors as Account Executives and Marketing Coordinators.
Marketing Plan Cont’d. Increase interaction with readership. Through our spring readership survey, we found that the University of Minnesota community saw itself as distanced from the work of The Minnesota Daily. As a result of this, we created more means of interaction with students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors. Historically, we have done the Housing Fair, Grapevine Awards Fair, and other annual events to interact with readers. However, we wanted to do much more this year so we did various giveaways, social media photo contests, and other interactive events such as Golf Carts Rides to Class, the Game Issue Event, and the Golden Ticket Campaign. Develop a strong relationship with incoming students, particularly freshmen. Naturally, incoming students have the longest customer lifespan (aside from some faculty and staff). They are likely to attend the University of Minnesota for 3-5 years, and may attend graduate school here afterwards. Therefore, we took on a number of marketing initiatives to specifically target incoming freshmen such as Welcome Week Jeopardy, Gophers after Dark Tie Dye. One event in particular that we did to gain traction with new students was the Superblock BBQ, which was on the first Thursday of classes, and was located in the middle of the freshmen residence hall cluster. The brand ambassador program also helped increase the Daily presence within freshmen dorms and clubs. Many brand ambassadors lived in dorms and were able to hand out free Daily swag to their friends and peers. Remind older students, as well as faculty and staff, of our presence on campus. In appealing to incoming students, we also didn’t want to lose the interest of older readers. Therefore, we made sure to post on Facebook information relevant to all readers regardless of age, as well as get a variety of media trade items to appeal to older students and campus employees. One event that we did in particular was the 1st Annual Drink & Dine Bar Crawl, which was highly successful and sold out quickly. Overall, I believe that we took a holistic approach to increase our community’s awareness of the services that we offer to them all, and have boosted our business’s image through the positive public relations that occurred as a result of our new events and marketing initiatives, and the continuation of old ones.
Appendix I. II. III. IV.
Resume Marketing Manager Job Description Brand Ambassador Program Marketing Initiatives
Resume
lisi arnstrom
S o c i a l m e d i a b u t t e r f l y , w r i t e r, b e l i e v e r, b r a n d e n t h u s i a s t , d e s i g n e r, & o p t i m i s t
(763) 498-2478 | 1027 17th Ave SE | Minneapolis, MN 55414 | arnst002@umn.edu | @listromm EDUCATION University of Minnesota
BA Strategic Communications: Public Relations, Minor in Design Graduation: May 2014
EXPERIENCE Marketing Director May 2013 to Present
The Minnesota Daily Minneapolis, MN Implement marketing strategies to increase brand awareness, lower return rates, and increase revenue. • Interview, train, and oversee five Marketing Communications Coordinators and 15 Brand Ambassadors • Plan and support the PR initiatives of 15 Marketing Brand Ambassadors on a weekly basis • Assisted in the creation of an internship program that expanded the reach of the marketing department and allowed for greater engagement with incoming students • Develop a holistic marketing plan which segmented and targeted undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and staff • Utilize a $30K budget and the diverse skills and experience of staff from 19 departments for promotional events • Manage the execution of more than 12 events and projects such as a readership market analysis and the Job Fair • Establish mutually beneficial relationships with 15 organizations both on and off campus
Brand Ambassador Oct. 2012 to Present
Periscope
Minneapolis, MN Work with a team of energetic ambassadors to promote brand awareness that drives loyalty.
• Aid Periscope project managers to execute on-site experiential and promotional events • Actively promote customer experience and engagement activities for clients including Target, Bud Light, Great Clips, and Treasure Island Resort and Casino • Assisted with user engagement at Give With Target community relations event in Benson, Minnesota
Marketing Intern June 2013 to Aug. 2013
Lauer Enterprises, Inc.
Edina, MN
Collaborated on planning and developing marketing strategies and projects. • Executed summer long research project of local and national competitors • Performed extensive web-analysis market research for website development • Drafted copy for product descriptions on company website • Assisted with photography for marketing strategies and website photos
Social Media Intern June 2012 to June 2013
The ALS Association – MN/ND/SD Chapter Minneapolis, MN Promoted The ALS Association through social media and effective communication strategy. • Created and updated social media calendar using Microsoft Excel to maintain brand voice • Presented recommendations on leveraging social media applications to reach supporters • Developed and implemented content for events, volunteers and promotions for social media sites
Classified Sales Manager Jan. 2013 to May 2013
The Minnesota Daily
Minneapolis, MN
Accomplish department objectives by managing staff; planning and evaluating goals. • Led sales team to reach 108% of the spring semester advertising sales goal • Collaborated with Housing and Residential Life to plan and execute annual Housing Fair event • Consistently hired, trained, motivated, and oversaw the day-to-day operations of 12 classified, retail, and university account executives, as well as five customer service representatives • Achieved monthly revenue goals and accomplished departmental projects, while ensuring client satisfaction
Account Executive May 2012 to Dec. 2012
The Minnesota Daily
Minneapolis, MN Built relationships with organizations to advance marketing goals through use of advertising.
• Managed 13 customer account relationships to increase department revenue • Generated more than $59,000 in sales revenue over an 8 month period • Developed and updated advertising contracts with current and new clientele
ACTIVITIES Vice President May 2013 to Present
AWARDS MN PRSA Feb. 2013
PRSSA-Willard Thompson Chapter
Minneapolis, MN
Collaborate with the president to oversee Executive Board productivity, chapter events, and member involvement. • Manage and update website content and copy using WordPress • Communicate with Executive Board members to distribute and delegate tasks • Plan and execute annual chapter networking event with local professionals
Minnesota PRSA Student Classics Awards 2013 Winner: New Media and Technology The ALS Association, Social Media Campaign
Marketing Manager Job Description Position Title: Marketing Communication Director Hours: 25 Reports To: President & Co-Publisher Responsibilities
• • • • • • • • • •
Create and track all media trade contracts Monitor and create a department budget Attend weekly business manager meetings and conduct weekly department meetings Approve payroll bi-weekly Share marketing and communication responsibilities with coordinators and interns Write annual marketing plan Update the Marketing departments position manuals annually Schedule all in-house advertising and marketing campaigns Support the sales department Additional tasks as assigned by the President and Co-Publisher
Qualifications
Knowledge/Education • Must be a University of Minnesota Student, preferably in Strategic Professional Communications, Marketing Studies, Journalism or Advertising • Knowledge of marketing, advertising, public relations and journalism • Knowledge of Adobe Indesign, Microsoft Office applications and Photoshop • Availability on some weekends and nights to be at promotional events and/or activities • Outstanding leadership, management, communication, and interpersonal skills • Outstanding problem solving and multi-tasking skills • Superior organizational skills Essential Functions • Ability to speak and hear English clearly • Ability to type • Ability to lift up to 20 pounds when working with promotional products • Ability to be exposed to safe outdoor weather conditions while attending department related events and activities • Ability to crouch, stoop, reach, or stretch when working at promotional events or activities *Disclaimer: This job description is only intended to be a summary of the skills, qualifications, and essential functions required in the day-to-day work for this position. It is not exhaustive in nature. The Minnesota Daily reserves the right to change the job description at-will and to modify an employee’s job role at any time to best benefit the organization.
Brand Ambassador Program In January 2013, myself, along with two coworkers worked vigorously to develop a program to hire student brand ambassadors to help increase our presence on campus. We hired 15 eager and enthusiastic students who were willing to work as unpaid interns. Brand ambassador responsibilities where simple and effective: to promote the Daily all over the University of Minnesota campus. Ambassadors were utilized to promote the Minnesota Daily articles, events, and happenings on their personal social media outlets, which helped increase our online interaction and viewership.
Brand Ambassador Program Cont’d.
Marketing Initiatives INCREASE READERSHIP INTERACTION We did much more this year so we did various giveaways, social media photo contests, and other interactive events such as Golf Carts Rides to Class, Deadline Dash 5K, Grapevine Awards and the Golden Ticket Campaign.
Marketing Initiatives Cont’d. STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENTS We took on a number of marketing initiatives to specifically target incoming freshmen such as Welcome Week Jeopardy, Gophers after Dark Tie Dye, the Superblock BBQ and the Job Interest Session.
Interested in working at the
Come to the Minnesota Daily Job Interest Session and Tour! Learn more about the organization, job openings, and the application process. All students are welcome. Friday December 6, 4pm 2221 University Ave SE. Suite 450
Dress is business casual. We encourage you to bring your résumé and/or business card. About the daily
▪ The Minnesota Daily is an entirely student-produced and managed newspaper serving the University of Minnesota campus and surrounding community. ▪ We are the fourth-largest newspaper in the state. ▪ We employ students in many fields including journalism, business, IT and design. ▪ Some of our alumni have gone on to work for the New York Times, the Star Tribune, Target, the Los Angeles Times, Facebook and more.
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Marketing Initiatives Cont’d. PRESENCE ON CAMPUS
MUST BE 21+
In appealing to incoming students, we also didn’t want to lose the interest of older readers. One event that we did in particular was the 1st out quickly. Annual Drink & Dine Bar Crawl, which was highly successful and sold out quickly.
THURS. OCT 10 10pm – 2am
Join us as we celebrate the release of our Drink & Dine issue by visiting some of the best bars and restaurants on campus!
PURCHASE TICKETS AT MNDAILY.COM Price includes 5 drinks, a t-shirt, and a $20 Uber car ride SPONSORED BY