Advertising Campaign for the West Michigan Tourist Association

Cheers to 100 years in the Best of the West

JAMS Advertising Agency CAP 210, 2016 Winter Semester, 04/12/16

Jean Forton, Sarah Harken, Molly McGeeney, Allie Napierala

Contents

Situation Analysis……………………………………….….3 Competition Overview……………………………….…..4 Target Audience...………………………………………5-6 Communications Objective………………………….….7 Creative Strategy.……………………………………..8-14 Budget……………………………………………….….…15 Evaluation………………………………………..………..16 Conclusion…………………………………………………17

Executive Summary

In existence for almost 100 years, the West Michigan Tourist Association, or WMTA, is one of the oldest tourists associations in the nation.

Though WMAT is a well established company, research and analysis proved that there is much room for growth. The following campaign plan was created with a main objective to spread brand awareness and gain members. Families, college students, and baby boomers are the target audiences. It is hoped that after implementing this campaign, more of these specific markets will utilize WMTA to plan their West Michigan vacations. Once the follower base grows, more businesses will become aware of the association and have the desire to join. Through the utilization of the well thought out tactics one will find in this book, the objectives will be achieved.

Agency Philosophy: Here at JAMS Advertising Agency, we are fully committed to creative and effective advertising by analyzing and following the trends of the desired target markets.

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Situational Analysis The West Michigan Tourist Association exists to market West Michigan and its member destinations to millions of travelers. In 2017, this association is turning 100 years old.

This organization would like to do something memorable to celebrate this anniversary, while making an impact on the community. WMTA wants this celebration to expand

STRENGTHS • Appealing website • 7k Twitter followers, 13k Facebook fans • Already have a solid client base • Established company - 100 years • Can afford to send travel guides for free • $25,000 budget

OPPORTUNITIES • Much room for social media growth • The citizens who don’t currently know about WMTA • National economic growth means more discretionary income for citizens to spend on traveling • Small business growth within West Michigan

awareness of their company in attempt to gain more followers and members.

A campaign plan surrounding the 100th anniversary will draw attention to WMTA, increasing awareness of the association throughout Michigan and the surrounding states. Implementing the following plan will attract new tourists and members.

WEAKNESSES • Twitter & Instagram handles – hard to find • Weak connections with individuals & on social media • Target market not well defined • Type “WMTA” on Google, results show for WMATA. Click “search for WMTA” and “Wisconsin Music Teachers Association” is the first page to appear.

THREATS • Pure Michigan • Travel sites • The winter attracts way less tourists than in the summer • The environment

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Top Competitors

Experience Grand Rapids

Travelocity

Experience GR is one of many city-specific tourism associations located along the west coast of Michigan. These small associations operate in small geographic locations, therefore their welldefined target markets are simple to reach.

Trip planning sites such as Travelocity, Yelp, and Trip Advisor serve as online tourist associations, but for an extremely broad range.

Pure Michigan

Google Search

This company has a very large, wideranged fan base.

They promote all of Michigan, including the west side. They have customers, fans, and members that WMTA could be serving.

When people plan vacations, it is almost an instinct to begin with a Google search.

This is typically how tourists find hotels, restaurants, and activities for vacation.

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Target Audience Demographic Segments

(1) TOURISTS

(2) BUSINESSES

Families: specifically, the head of the households will be targeted because they are generally the ones who plan the family vacations.

College Students: young people looking for an inexpensive yet fun getaway. This age tends to appreciate nice beaches when they do not have them near and also enjoy snowboarding/ skiing but they may not have hills like West Michigan that allows them to do so.

Baby boomers: this generation has the most disposable income. Therefore, they may have seasonal condos located in West Michigan and need to keep busy. This age group also tends to travel quite often, so targeting them will be beneficial.

Restaurants

Hotels

Shops

Parks

Activity-offering businesses

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Target Audience Geographic Segments

(1) TOURISTS

(2) BUSINESSES

Statewide tourists: residents of the east side of Michigan heading to the west side for a little vacation. This happens often because the east side does not have many appealing beaches, a lot of nature, nor do they have snow hills like the west side does.

Specific DMAs: o Detroit, MI o Alpena, MI o Flint-Saginaw-Bay-City, MI o Chicago, IL o Champaign & Springfield-Decatur, IL o Peoria-Bloomington, IL o Columbus, OH o Toledo, OH o South-Bend-Elkhart, IN o Fort Wayne, IN o Indianapolis, IN

National tourists: these will include residents of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. People from these three states tend to vacation in Michigan to experience the things it has to offer, such as big lakes and beaches, that their states do not. It is easy for them to visit the west side of MI, as they are all located within driving distance.

All businesses along the west coast of 6 Michigan will be targeted.

Communication Objective The main objective of this campaign is to spread brand awareness. It was noticed by analyzing social media and the market that there are not as many consumers who know of the West Michigan Tourists Association’s existence as there should be. Considering that this is one of the tourist associations that has been around the longest, it is believed that WMTA should have a larger follower base than it does. There should also be a continuous increase in memberships. While spreading brand awareness, this campaign will also aim to generate positive feelings toward WMTA throughout current and potential consumers and members. If the public thinks highly of an association, they are more likely to utilize it.

It is recommended that this campaign is implemented in 2017, beginning on April 17 and ending on June 25 for a total of 10 weeks.

Reason being, these months are when people begin planning summer vacations. Even though West Michigan is a tourist destination in all seasons, summer is the most popular. Therefore, the most exposure will be gained in the months leading up to summer.

Increase the number of likes on Facebook by 8%, which is about 1,000 additional likes, by the end of July, 2017.

Increase the number of followers on Twitter by 12%, which is about an additional 900 followers, by the end of July, 2017.

Increase the number of followers on Instagram by 40%, which is about 360 additional followers, by the end of July, 2017.

Expand awareness of WMTA by 40% within the state of Michigan and the bordering states by the end of August, 2017.

Increase the number of memberships by 15%

by August, 2017.

Increase positive feelings toward WMTA in general by 85% by the end of August, 2017.

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Creative Strategy Brand Story Since 1917, the employees of this association have been working hard to provide a plethora of vacation options in Michigan that meet the needs of different tourists. No matter what the consumers’ needs are, WMTA has free tools to help any individual plan a worthy trip. In addition, they help promote their members’ businesses. They do this by using these companies to create the vacations for consumers. Therefore, WMTA can promise to help tourists plan satisfactory vacations, no matter the consumers’ preferences or the time of year they are traveling.

THE One Thing It is desired that by the end of this campaign, the consumer believes that the West Michigan Tourist Association can and will provide information to help them have an enjoyable, relaxed, and entertaining vacation in West Michigan.

Big Idea The theme throughout this campaign is to prove that it is worth consumers’ time to utilize the resources WMTA provides, when planning a vacation to Michigan. It is going to be proved to them through each tactic that using WMTA to plan a vacation will ensure satisfaction. As the word spreads throughout consumers, businesses will follow their lead and consider WMTA as a profitable partner.

Personality A fun personality will be portrayed within communications of this campaign. It is known that tourists are looking to have a good time on their vacations. Therefore, advertisements need to prove to consumers that WMTA knows what fun is. If the consumer is under the impression that a tourist association is dull and boring, he/she will not desire to use them for trip information. Bright colors, pictures of appealing places, and exclamation points are elements that will be utilized in ads in order to give them a “fun” look.

In order to do this, an upbeat tone will be used. The word “upbeat” means cheerful and optimistic. When consumers catch onto this tone in the marketing and advertisements, they will have the desire to look into WMTA.

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Creative Strategy

“Cheers to 100 Years in the Best of the West”

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Creative Strategy Channels:

(1) TRAVEL GUIDE Three new sections will be added to the travel guide to honor the 100th anniversary, and also to attract the readers to WMTA.

“Cheers to 100 Years in the Best of the West.”

(1) “100 Things We Love about WMTA” It is proven that the best form of advertising is through word of mouth. People of all ages say that they believe recommendations from others over any advertisement. This is why it will be beneficial to compile lists of testimonials from both previous customers and members telling what it is they love(d) about WMTA. To gather testimonials, this will be made into a competition.

If a previous consumer or a member provides experience feedback, he/she will be entered into a drawing. The winner of the consumer drawing will win a $100 Visa gift card, and the member winner will receive $100 off of their membership. This competition will be promoted via several email blasts, social media posts on WMTA accounts, and there will be a link on the website.

(2) “Where will WMTA take you? See 100+ Options.”

To prove that vacations can be tailored to meet anybody’s wants or needs, a list of 100 potential vacations that one could take through WMTA will be compiled. The vacations will be created using the current member’s offerings. There will be 25 different vacations for each season.

Not only will these be new sections in the Travel Guide, but they will be tabs on the website as well.

In addition, a cover from an old travel guide should be featured as the cover for 2017. This will catch the eye of the readers and give it a creative touch.

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Creative Strategy (2) ONLINE ADVERTISEMENTS Online Display Ads

Facebook Ads

Google has become a major part of society today.

Whenever somebody has a question, concern, or curiosity, they “Google it.� Placing ads on here will be beneficial, as many will view them. A cost per thousand (CPM) approach will be utilized. Reason being, the goal of these specific ads are to spread brand awareness. Whether the viewers click on the ad or not, they are still acknowledging the fact that WMTA exists

Billions of users are active on Facebook. The majority of the target market for WMTA have accounts. Advertising on this platform is ideal because a firm can be almost guaranteed to reach their audience. One can enter in specifics about the type of people he/she wishes to reach.

www.wmta.org

Cheers to 100 Years in the Best of the West.

Where will WMTA take you?

West Michigan Tourist Association

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Creative Strategy (3) BILLBOARDS Billboards are effective because people are always traveling. Whether it is to go to work, school, to visit family, etc. people are constantly driving around in their cars. While driving or riding in the car, the majority of them notice the giant billboards on the side of the road since there is not much else to look at. If a company makes them stand out they will attract even more attention.

Three billboards will be placed on three separate busy highways for maximum exposure: 1. I-75 near the east side of Michigan 2. I-71 near Columbus, OH 3. I-90 near Chicago, IL

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Cheers to 100 Years in the Best of the West.

Where will WMTA take you?

Each one of these highways are located near a few of our designated market areas (DMAs). They will be placed there for a total of 8 weeks during the campaign.

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Creative Strategy (4) SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOTIONS Social media marketing is a great tool to use because billions are active on the Internet. As previously mentioned, word of mouth is the greatest form of marketing. Plus, it is free!

A contest will be hosted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

All people have to do is post a picture taken in West Michigan with the hashtags “#100ThingsILoveAboutWestMichigan” and “WMTA.” A winner will be chosen from each platform and be rewarded with a vacation for him/her plus three in West Michigan planned

by WMTA. It will be a requirement that in order to win, they have to be following WMTA on the platform they posted on for the competition. The winners and their guests will then be asked to post about the vacation that they take.

These vacations will be paid for by WMTA, but will not be too expensive, as the goal is to collaborate with current members in order to receive cheap prices. The members will most likely agree, as it will gain exposure for their individual businesses as well.

This competition will be communicated to current followers through WMTA social media platforms, an email blast, and will be posted on the WMTA website.

The goal is for the non-followers/potential consumers to notice these posts from their acquaintances which, will in turn, create a desire to follow WMTA and join in on the competition.

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Creative Strategy (5) SCHOLARSHIP A $1000 scholarship will be created in order to further spread awareness of WMTA in the states surrounding Michigan. High school seniors are constantly applying for them in order to help fund college. This will be simple to do, as all WMTA has to do is send a link and description of the scholarship to high schools in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana.

WEST MICHIGAN TOURIST

Requirements in order to apply: (1) Must be a high school senior (2) Must be a resident of a state other than Michigan (3) Must be attending college in Michigan The scholarship will ask the applicant to list 100 reasons why he/she wishes to attend his/her college of choice in Michigan. This will acknowledge the 100th anniversary, plus go along with the point of WMTA’s existence.

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Budget

$25,000 • 43.5% on billboards o Assuming it costs about $450 a week per billboard, it will cost $3,600 for one 8 week billboard. Placing three of them brings the total to $10,800.

These will be there from April 24th to June 19th.

• 8% for online display advertising o $2,000 for 200,000 views (CPM) through Google • 20% for Facebook ads o $5,000 • 3.5% for mailing lists o Assuming that each record costs about $0.034, spending $850 will provide access to 25,000 records. These records will be ones of households that are not on the current list, located in the designated market areas.

• 4% for the scholarship o $1,000 • 15% for the vacations for the social media winners o $3,750 • 6% for miscellaneous expenses o $1,500

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Evaluation 1-3 months after the campaign is implemented, it must be evaluated in order to discover what tactics worked and what did not. The following evaluate the campaign objectives, which can be found on page 7.

Evaluating Objectives 1-3 Before the campaign begins, the amount of likes on Facebook and number of followers on Twitter and Instagram will be noted. At the end of July 2017, about a month and a half after the campaign has been implemented, these numbers will be noted again. They will then be compared to the number of likes and followers from before the campaign started in order to arrive at a percentage increase or decrease.

Evaluating Objective 4 When evaluating this objective, a number of aspects will be considered: 1. Before the campaign, the number of people who utilize WMTA to plan West Michigan vacations and the amount of site traffic will be noted. At the end of the summer, those numbers will be noted again. This will allow the company to discover if they gained any consumers or potential consumers following the campaign.

2. The social media follower bases and engagement rates will be analyzed. On Facebook and Twitter, a company is able to analyze where their follower base is located. Looking into this after the campaign has run and people have had time to check out WMTA will tell this company if they have truly spread awareness.

3. The number of people who participate in the social media competitions throughout the campaign will be tracked as well. This will provide WMTA with a good estimate of how many people are becoming aware of their association.

Evaluating Objective 5 The number of memberships will be noted before the campaign begins, and then a couple months after the campaign ends. Comparing these numbers will tell WMTA if the campaign worked to gain more members.

Evaluating Objective 6 Two surveys will be sent out to analyze if positive feelings were created after the campaign was implemented and people had time to discover WMTA. These will be sent via email, and the links to the surveys will also be posted on all social media sites. The incentive to take the survey for consumers will be the chance to win an $100 Visa gift card.

Incentive for the members will be a chance to receive $100 off their membership. The survey questions will be indented to compile information about current consumers and members and their past experiences with WMTA.

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Conclusion WMTA has given us the opportunity to integrate their brand with the feeling of ease and enjoyment. Our research has given us insight as to which audiences to target and how we can effectively reach them. This allowed us to create a campaign that will target specific consumers in order to build brand awareness for WMTA. After the campaign is implemented, WMTA will be able to help even more tourists create experiences they will never forget. By promoting local companies and creating business for them throughout the campaign, more West Michigan companies will be drawn to WMTA. Eventually, memberships will begin to increase. This will be done by implementing the advertisements one will find throughout this book, each of which will resonate with the target audiences. By the end of the summer of 2017, there will be a great increase of traffic for WMTA, as more will have the desire to explore this association and utilize their services.

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