MEDIA PLAN 2014 Kelsey DaHarb-Sarah Freeman-Annie Carlson-Megan Jansson-Nicholas Morris-Alec Killion
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TABLE OF CONTENTS I.
Executive Summary
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II.
Situation Analysis
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III.
Challenges & Strategies
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IV.
Media Objectives
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V.
Audience
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VI.
Media Mix
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VII.
Schedule & Budget Allocation
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VIII.
Evaluation
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IX.
Appendix
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the University of Colorado at Boulder we realize that size can be an unattractive and overwhelming aspect to prospective students, as well as a deterrent for current students trying to find their place. We are setting out to change that; aiming to magnify and encompass a greater sense of community around the university and town of Boulder. This will not only enhance the culture of our school but also make it more inviting to prospective students. For this purpose, prospective students and current students will be the two target groups we design to connect with and generate a collective camaraderie among. When looking into the preferred media platforms and habits of these groups along side the barriers associated with reaching each target, we feel that mobile integration and social media are most influential. With the current campaign we would like to enhance the notion of community through our social media sites. The existing strategy is to focus on the powerful “Be Boulder” language that helps explain how CU-Boulder will help one to realize their potential. We wish to manipulate that discourse, turning it into a discussion about ‘Be Boulder’ as a community with potential and connectivity through social media, a CU-Boulder App, and paid advertising. With this intention we will transform our overwhelming size into a close-knit community of striving students and faculty.
BACKGROUND CU-Boulder opened in 1877 and has since been established nationwide as a top research university. With more than 35,000 students, including graduate students, 5 Nobel laureates, and over 50 members of prestigious academic academies, CU has achieved one of the 34 U.S. public institutions spots in the distinguished Association of American Universities (AAU). Recently the university has focused on setting their sights towards reaching the people of Colorado and engaging with the world through excellence in our teaching, research, creative work, and service.
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SITUATION ANALYSIS
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CHALLENGES & STRATEGIES CHALLENGE: “Be Boulder” could be used by students in a negative manner STRATEGIES: - Create a separate app platform where students can create their own “Be Boulder” to tailor events and activities to suit who they are individually - Avoid other platforms where negative implications come up - Embrace the negative one’s and use them to our advantage CHALLENGE: People might not understand what “Be Boulder” means STRATEGIES: - Use it to compare against other schools - Banners around campus - Clearly define the derivatives of “Being Boulder” on Facebook and Twitter everyday - Clearly associate “Be Boulder” with CU Boulder CHALLENGE: App doesn’t become popular STRATEGIES: - Advertise the “CU Now” app heavily with social media and print ads - Load the app up with applicable features - Advertise it in orientations & welcome week to reach Freshman CHALLENGE: CSU has a larger advertising budget STRATEGIES: - Use smart, effective advertisements that target the audience - Focus heavily on the app itself - Target their audiences before them
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MEDIA OBJECTIVES Although there is a very large student population at CU Boulder, our media plan aims to make the size of the school exciting rather than intimidating. We know that millennials nearing high school graduation are incredibly active on social media. By diffusing “Be Boulder” on social media platforms the community here at CU Boulder will be brought to prospective students. It is important to have these social media platforms run by students themselves in order to provide a fresh new perspective on CU Boulder and what’s really happening on campus. ADVERTISING & MEDIA OBJECTIVES ● Utilize the large size of CU as a pro rather than a con There are lots of options here ● Brand clubs, groups, etc. as sub-cultures of the larger community that is CU Boulder Tell the story of any student finding their place ● Show students that there is definitely a place for them at CU because we have a diverse web of sub-cultures that make up a single community Create an app or social media platform that encompasses all of the above
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AUDIENCE
CURRENT BUFFS This group of college students, aged 18-34, are striving to get a well rounded college experience. Balancing work and play can be difficult, but it’s one thing current buffs do best. These students are tech savvy and have a strong social media presence. In fact 85% of those aged 18 to 24 own a smartphone. Based on mintel reports, “young consumers visit social media websites on a daily basis, and showcase greater receptiveness to brand interaction” (mintel). Consumers in this demographic are the same group of consumers who visit the largest range of networks including, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, and Twitter. Social media provides an outlet to store their irreplaceable college memories. They long to gain as much knowledge as they can in the short 4 years they are on campus while building ever-lasting experiences and friendships in the community. They know balancing academics and social lives can be difficult, and they strive to find that happy medium.
PROSPECTIVE BUFFS This group of teenagers ages 16-18 are fresh out of high school, excited to see what college has in store for them. The media habits of this age group are heavily dependent on their mobile phones with 77% of teenagers having a profile on any social network and the 7
dominant forces being Facebook and Twitter. As said in Mintel, “Not only does social media serve as a communication and entertainment platform, 84% of teenagers are inclined to “like” or become a fan of a brand or product.” These prospects are looking for a fun college experience, while still aspiring to be somewhere with a ‘work hard’ reputation as well. They keep their parents in mind to ensure them that they are getting a well earned degree, and thus they gravitate towards advertisements and media that appeal to their want for a fun college experience entwined with a reputable academic education. These prospective students stand out from their friends, wanting their college to be interesting and enticing. We would like to target the prospective students with videos on social media. Research shows that 61% of teens said that they had seen or heard a video commercial on sites like YouTube in the past week, and 41% recalled the video they saw (Mintel). The media plan for ‘Be Boulder’ aims to bring a refreshing perspective about Buff life on social media that will ultiamtely drive prospective students to become full fledged Buffs.
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MEDIA MIX Overall we believe ‘Be Boulder’ should directly focus on social media across all platforms including mobile app development, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Its also important to use the remainder of the money on print advertising and freebies of school “swag”. If CU Boulder wants to stay relevant with current students and prospective students it's critical that CU Boulder not only gains a large social media presence but maintains it as well. Studies show that one or two spots over the course of a few months is most effective. Diffusion of all media strategies will continue over a prolonged period of time to guarantee maximum success. From the research we have gathered, social media is the most economical and powerful medium to reach our target audiences. SOCIAL MEDIA We know that millennials are among the more active generations on social media. By diffusing “#BEBUFF” on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook we are putting our campaign directly in front of our target. The hashtag allows current and prospective students to keep track of campus life and find something that fits them. Prospective students can join groups of current and other prospective students as a place to share stories, answer questions, and get involved with the community of CU Boulder. - Interactive - Live feeds - Push notifications INSTAGRAM: Instagram has become a huge social media platform over the last 3 years. Instagram has over 100 million monthly users, and 40 million photos are uploaded a day, with 1,000 comments per second. Millennials (18-24) play a huge role by, making up 34% of Instagram users. Right now, there isn’t a designated hashtag for photos/videos associated with CU Boulder. This means that there isnt a clear channel to discover new content and activities surrounding Buff life. To create more awareness surrounding the ‘Be Boulder’ campaign including our app, and student video “Life As a Buff”, it's important to engage students and to create a large presence of Instagram by using the hashtag #BEBUFF. Having an official hashtag for CU allows prospective students to get a glimpse of life as a Buff as well as creating a steady stream of content for current students to participate in, furthering the community of CU Boulder. 9
TWITTER: Twitter will continue pushing the hashtag #BEBUFF, with several promoted tweets. Over 500 million tweets are sent per day, and 26% of those 18-29 use Twitter. This is the millennials we are targeting, and it is increasing everyday as Twitter is becoming more well known and respected. Twitter stands for what is happening right now, which correlates with our app perfectly. We will be taking current events, clubs, and activities happening on campus and pushing them through this platform. Every tweet with #BEBUFF is another opportunity to enhance Buff community. FACEBOOK: Facebook is going to be the centerfold social media platform that will connect all of our content. It is the most popular social media platform amongst teenagers 18-29, and it will most likely be the first place prospective and current students will search for our media. It will connect our app, social media platforms, and our video on YouTube. It will push messages about the current status of the school, and answer questions that students have about the university. Looking at CU Boulder's current facebook site, it is outdated and targeted towards alumni. Our goal is to revamp the Facebook page to be more focused towards current students and prospective students by providing content that is trendy and inspired by student interests. It will be beneficial to have current students running and updating the social media platforms, so that a fresh outlook can be achieved by providing insights since they are a huge target audience (they can relate to other students and the younger generation applying to CU). Facebook is where our strategy, prospective, and current students all come together in one integrated and interactive platform. This site is the first place most people will learn about ‘Be Boulder’ leading them to other outlets incorporated with our strategy. CU NOW: The bulk of our budget is to be spent on the development of a student-run app that keeps everyone in the loop. The app, called CU Now, will have live updates of everything happening on campus at the moment. It will be divided into two sections: the live portion and the interaction portion. From the research that we have gathered in regards to app usage vs. brower’s, students typically download apps for social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat etc. In regards to checking their grades or googling a specific topic they prefer using a browser opposed to an app, this 10
is because academic apps typically are not user friendly and have a poor design. Our goal is to incorporate both of these functions into an app making it a clean and concise platform where students can stay connected socially and academically. Let’s start with the live portion. It is here people will see live club meeting schedules, upcoming Boulder concerts (synced with Program Council, the Boulder Theater, and the Fox Theater), activities on campus, a live feed of the Buff Bus, happy hour times, and most importantly D2L. Everything you need to stay in the loop is all in one place. This way, current students can save time choosing experiences that best match their own personal interests. Every community at CU will have the chance to be discovered, because it’s easy for students to find. This portion will appeal to anyone on campus looking for something interesting to do, at any time of the day. Prospect students may take an interest in this portion as well, in order to see what they could fit into in the future. In the interaction portion of this app, people can post statuses, photos, and video showing what they are doing and what’s cool around campus in an independent feed. Students attending various events can “like”/promote certain statuses based on their level of satisfaction with said event. The more kudos an event receives, the higher rating it gets, pushing it to the top of the newsfeed as a “popular item of interest”. This way, the student body will have a voice that can be heard purely amongst other students at CU. Each class year will have a group that can be further posted into, for more related discussion.
“LIFE AS A BUFF”: A large portion of our budget will be used in the development of creating videos that represent the different lifestyles of Buff students on campus and off. Pre-existing “Be Boulder” videos are scripted and follow cliche stories. Current videos for the campaign only capture the extraordinary yet expected possibilities at CU such as the 11
one with the astronauts in space; this is always the example that drives “inspiration”. While these are incredibly interesting things, the videos showcase rare accomplishments rather than everyday life and are likely to be forgotten about by prospective students. We plan to follow a wide range of students varying in demographics, majors and activities. The videos will showcase student life from the minute they first hit snooze to the minute they reset their alarm for the next day. Current Buffs are naturally active, so we want to let that lead the creative way. The theme for videos will be determined as filming happens in order to capture the most authentic CU experience. The compilation of many different student’s “ordinary days” reveals the unique and interesting lifestyle that comes with being a Buff. This way students can get a real feel for what really goes on at CU Boulder.
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SCHEDULE & BUDGET ALLOCATION PROSPECTIVE BUFFS: In order to make our media strategy unavoidable to prospective students our media plan includes advertising and marketing efforts over the course of the whole year. However, certain parts of the year will see less of “Be Boulder” while other parts will be flooded with “Be Boulder” awareness efforts. Pulses in media coverage will arrive about two weeks before the early action deadline (nov. 15) and the regular decision deadline (jan.15) in order to keep CU Boulder fresh in prospective student’s minds. The tables below shows how the schedule for executing the media plan on certain platforms, over certain months of the year. CURRENT BUFF: Much like the plan for prospective students, we want to keep “Be Boulder” alive year round while putting special focus on the start and end of each semester and/or school year. Because current students spend so much time on campus it’s imperative to keep “Be Boulder” around at all times of the year. Salience through social media will thrive throughout the year as a relatively inexpensive way to keep the “Be Boulder” conversation alive. The app, print, and freebies will also be maintained throughout the year and are especially important for current students. The app is utilized and maintained by students who are also the same ones to receive the freebies and see the print ads the most. Although the chart only shows the majority of the year, we will still be enacting our plan throughout the summer months too, while still keeping within our budget. We feel that we can execute an equally effective media plan employing our owned advertising platforms and videos without having to spend much more money. Since we are under budget, we have $104,600 extra in case situations arise over the summer where we need to spend more money.
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BUDGET SCHEDULING
→ TOTAL = $595,400 Advertising
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
Mobile
$200,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$5,000
$4,200
$5,000
$4,200
$4,200
$4,200
$5,000
$5,000
$4,200
$5,000
$4,200
$4,200
$4,200
$5,000
$5,000
$4,200
$5,000
$4,200
$4,200
$4,200
$5,000
$50,000
$10,000
$15,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$15,000
Video Production
$100,000
$10,000
$15,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$15,000
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EVALUATION TWITTER Measure the amount of new followers since the media plan was implemented, as well as measuring retweets, replies, and favorites. Incorporate use of Hootsuite Streams to manage frequency of posts, hashtag usage, and ‘Be Boulder’ searches. FACEBOOK Measure the amount of new followers since the media plan was implemented, as well as measuring likes, shares, and comments. Incorporate use of Hootsuite Streams to manage frequency of posts and conversations/searches surrounding ‘Be Boulder’ & CU Boulder. INSTAGRAM Measure the amount of new followers since the media plan was implemented, as well as measuring hashtag usage, reposts, and an attempt to be featured on the popular page. CU NOW Track number of downloads and check-in regularly for functionality. Have a comment section for improvements that we look over weekly. Overall, making sure people are satisfied with the use of the app and its purpose. LIFE AS A BUFF VIDEOS Measure the amount of likes and views of the videos along with how well the videos are incorporated into CU Boulder’s social media sites. From the sites measure the amount of likes, shares, comments, or replies of the videos.
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APPENDIX Instagram: http://effectivestudentmarketing.com/press/why-your-school-needs-an-instagra m-marketing-strategy/ Twitter: https://about.twitter.com/company http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/06/04/who-is-using-twitter/ Mintel: http://0-academic.mintel.com.libraries.colorado.edu/display/645453/?highlight http://0-academic.mintel.com.libraries.colorado.edu/display/680523/
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