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A Campaign Strategy and Media Plan For:

Debbie Lumpkins and the High Point Area Arts Council

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Table of Content
Meraki Executive Summary Intorduction of Meraki SWOT Analysis

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Research Findings 10-18 Goals and Ojectives Target Audiences Messages Strategies and Tactics Timeline and Budget Monitoring and Evaluation Appendix: Progress Reports

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Meraki Executive Summary

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Meraki Executive Summary
Meraki derives from the Greek meaning to do something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into your work. As a company and brand we stand up to this meaning. We go above and beyond for our clients putting our soul, creativity and love into every task as hand. Everyday at work our team is prepared with the drive and ambition to make the best of our clients and their brands striving to reach the highest number of views with every campaign for results that yield both high quantity and high quality results. The High Point Area Arts Center, a local non-profit organization, approached

us early this fall with the opportunity to help them re-invent their image and brand to drive larger participation in their events segment. After extensive research on the area and brand, analysis, and careful brainstorm Meraki was able to create a fully functional campaign that we believe exceeds their expectations. Our goal of the campaign was to increase brand awareness to a point where the public understands the High Point Area Arts Councils purpose and have knowledge of the different community events offered to that the High Point Area Arts Council will have positive well established image for its key audiences.

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Introduction to Meraki

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Danielle Westerhoff is a senior at High Point University with a B.A. in Strategic Communication and a minor in Graphic Design. Past companies she has worked for include The S3 Agency and Woodbine. Contact: wested10@ highpoint.edu

Meredith MacIver is a senior at High Point University with a B.A. in Strategic Communication. Past companies she has worked for include the Cleveland Clinic Corporate Communications Department and the Cleveland Cavaliers Marketing Department. Contact: macivm10@highpoint.edu

Taylor Renwick is a senior at High Point University with a B.A. in Strategic Communication with a minor in Graphic Design. Past companies she has worked for include the New Britain Rockcats Baseball Team, Clear Channel Communications, and Pink and Black Magazine. Contact: renwit10@highpoint.edu

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Emily Corlett is a senior at High Point University with a B.A. in Strategic Communication. Past companies she has worked for include the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Brand Planning. Contact: corlee10@highpoint.edu

Shane Handler is a senior at High Point University with a B.A. in Strategic Communication. Past companies he has worked for include The Jacks Firm and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Contact: handls10@highpoint.edu

Thank you!

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SWOT Analysis

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Strengths:
Lots of money from the people that rent out the venue, good source of income New location is great because it is historical (train station) Value the community involvement Longevity of employees (Debbie has worked with the Arts Council for 12 years Knowledgeable) Very strong creative cluster Lots of history as an Arts Council Versatile floor plan multi-functional 21,000 square foot area Great support from older generations 3rd Thursdays are well established

SWOT
Weaknesses:
Short staffed Non-profit (limited budget) Building codes/fire codes inhibit the ability have large events Weak/limited support from younger generations Dont have ages of people listed in the database Dont have a sense of consistency/pattern when it comes to dinner theater Unidentified target market

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Opportunities:
Longest running art festival in Guildford County Train Car is remaining from the previous railroad station Oldest Arts Council in NC United Arts Council that programs in addition to raising money New website launches October 2, 2013 Events are planned out well in advance Railroad car turns 100 years old in February 2015 Twitter can be used to reach younger generations

Threats:
Social media competition between other councils Other arts councils (Winston-Salem and Greensboro) are in close proximity Winston-Salem and Greensboro offer things that High Point does not because of better programs and better reputations and people are more aware of the events going on at competitor venues Smallest of the 9 United Arts Councils in the state No gift shop Limited storage space Limited research Not flexible when it comes to sudden events People arent aware of the opportunities and programs provided/available

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Research Findings

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Research Questions
Question 1: What is the target market and how can we attract a younger market?
It is important to figure out what the target market is because that will be the basis of our entire campaign. We want to know what peoples attitudes are towards the High Point Area Arts Council and focus our campaign on people that view it in a negative light or have low participation. Our goal is attract as many people to the HPAAC as possible. Investors, donors, and current participants are already drawn to the organization so it is important to target people that arent participants. Based off secondary research, majority of the people with low participation are college students and folks in younger generations. This draws us to the question, how can we attract a younger market? This is important because the younger generations are the future of the HPAACs clientele. Essentially this question will help us narrow down who we need to attract and appeal to as well as how we can accomplish that.

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Question 2: How effective are the three current entertainment events?

There are three current entertainment events: Third Thursdays, Social Dancing, and Dinner Theater, that occur regularly. We want to know if these events are well established, effective, have high participation, and have a unified branding. Is it important to know what the HPAAC is already doing so that we can base our campaign off of that? For example, if an established program is effective, we want to know why so that we can have a more effective campaign. Our goal is to eliminate things that are not working well for the HPAAC and find better ways to do things so that the level of participation increases. We also want to know what is working well for the HPAAC so that we dont change something that is effective. Overall, its important to discover what the HPAAC is doing well and not well in terms of programs and advertising for programs so that we can evaluate their effectiveness. This information will help us develop a successful campaign.

Question 3: What future events do people want to see?

This question originates from the previous research questions. Once we determine and segment the target market, we want to develop events, programs, and entertainment that will appeal to them. Our goals are to grow participation at all HPAAC events,

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increase brand awareness, and continue to meet the needs of people in the High Point Area. There is no better way to meet their needs than by giving the people what they want. If the HPAAC puts on programs that the people want then more people will attend. In our campaign we want to include possible events for the future because it will make for a stronger campaign.

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Secondary Research

Prior to starting our primary research we gathered secondary research via the client, Google, and Facebook. We spoke with the client in our first meeting about the history of the High Point Area Arts Council and Centennial station. In addition to hearing about the historic details of the venue, the client provided information about how well the current events seem to be doing and what goals she has for the campaign. Aside from speaking with the client about basic information we also used Google to search for the basic demographic information about the High Point Area so that we would have an idea of whom we might be surveying when we conduct our primary research. The information provided online from the City of High Point, North Carolina government website is from 2010 because the government conducts a census and posts the demographics of High Point every ten years. We learned that the population of High Point, NC in 2010 was 104,371 people and the median age was 35.8 years. The charts below show more demographics for High Point,NC:

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Research continues on next page! Thank you!

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The above charts refer to the demographics of High Point, North Carolina. This

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information was provided via the U.S. Census Bureau and sheds light on who lives in the area. It is important to know what kind of people live in the area so that we are aware of who might be attending entertainment events hosted by the High Point Area Arts Council. By understanding the possibly clients and the target market, we will be able to better serve the needs and wants of the people.

Research Method
After developing well thought out research questions and conducting basic secondary research we created a survey and distributed it orally to 50 people. In other words, we read each person the questions and marked off their responses. In order to select our sample we chose to utilize random sampling. One day we sat in Slane at High Point University and asked every fifth person that walked past our table to please take a survey for us. Students were more than willing to help answer questions. The next day we sat at a local Starbucks in High Point. While sitting at a table by the door, we asked every fifth person that walked in to please take the survey for us. Some people were hesitant at first but overall we were able to collect some useful data. Lastly, we brought the survey to the United Methodist Church on Sunday. After the 11am service we asked every fifth person exiting the building to please take a survey for us. The churchgoers were more than willing to take the survey and some showed great interest in the High Point Area Arts Council. Our method of surveying was random and consistent. We sat at three different locations and asked every fifth person the same thing, would you be willing to please take a survey for us regarding the arts? It will only take a moment. Once we hit 50 surveys we stopped looking for respondents.

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The Survey

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Goals and Objectives

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Goals and Objectives
Campaign Goal Overall, we want to focus on increasing brand awareness to a point where the public understands the HPAACs purpose and has knowledge of the different community events offered so that eventually the HPAAC will have a more positive, well established image. A well-known image leads to future donors, higher event attendance, and more community supporters.

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Our campaign goals for the High Point Area Arts Council include the following:
1. Attract a younger target market while maintaining the current middle-age target market. 2. Improve the current three entertainment events to be more successful. 3. Develop new entertainment events that will draw more interest. It is critical that the High Point community and the surrounding Piedmont Triad

Campaign Objectives region are knowledgeable about the HPAAC and all the events it has to offer. More awareness of HPAAC in the community will lead to better event success and more donors to support the growth of this organization.

We have two output objectives:

1. Send two news releases per month to the local TV news stations of the Piedmont Triad. 2. Send at least two event coverage articles a month to major newspapers of the Piedmont Triad including the High Point Enterprise, News-Record, Yes! Weekly, and Winston-Salem Journal.

Outcome Objectives
Based on our research, comprehension seems to be the main issue of why the HPAAC more knowledge and understanding of the HPAAC in the community will lead to a better outcome. isnt as successful with its entertainment events as itd like to be. Above awareness, spreading

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Our awareness objectives include:

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1. Increase college student awareness of the HPAAC events by 25 percent within three months. 2. Increase general public awareness of the HPAAC by 50 percent within three months. 3. Increase overall community awareness of the HPAAC, in the Piefmont Triad region, by 25 percent in three months through daily posts on social media, as well as appropriate marketing for upcoming events and programs. Our comprehension objectives include: 1. Have college students gain understanding of the three current entertainment events by 50 percent in three months. 2. Provide event specific content to the general public through emails, flyers, and social media in order to increase their knowledge of consistent entertainment events by 50 percent in three months. Our attitude objectives include: 1. Stimulate positive attitudes about the HPAAC through current participants utilizing social media to comment positively about events they have attended; encourage at least one participant a week to post on social media positively about a HPAAC event they have attended. 2. Foster positive attitudes about the HPAAC specifically among college students. Our behavior objectives include: 1. Increase Facebook likes by 100 likes in three months. 2. Increase Twitter followers by 50 new followers in three months. 3. Gain one new donor each month for six months. 4. Increase Third Thursday attendance by 50 percent in two months. 5. Stimulate 50 percent higher entertainment event attendance among college age students by January 1, 2015.

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Business Result Objectives:
Our business result objectives will help the HPAAC with funding for future events. 1. Enhance the HPAACs profit by 25 percent in three months. 2. Significantly reduce the risk of low event attendance. 3. Have a new standard minimum for number of attendees.

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Target Audiences

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Target Audiences

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Target Audience 1: General Population (according to the U.S. Census) Women and men between the ages of 35-55 Active community members of High Point, N.C. and the surrounding towns (Triad Area) Individuals with high school diplomas or some college education Primarily white individuals (53.6%) followed by African Americans (33%) Typically have families and children Traditional behaviors and interests Target Audience 2: Younger Generations Women and men between the ages of 18-29 Active community members of High Point, N.C. and surrounding towns (Triad area) Constantly connected to social media and have several accounts on different platforms College students in the area (permanently and seasonally) Enjoy fun, trendy and contemporary events involving the arts Modern behaviors and interests Target Audience 3: Moms New and old mothers of all ages Children that are in the school systems of the High Point and Triad Areas Active mothers that would like to enrich their childrens minds and souls

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Messages

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Messages
Creative Platform Description and Rationale Message Strategies and Rationale:
Radio PSA Script: 1. Local - radio attracts people that want to keep up with local news, on-air personalities, and events. Businesses that target local audiences take up the majority of on-air time slots 2. Coverage - businesses can match advertising campaigns with their geographical markets. Radio uses frequencies that reach local customers as well as individuals in any given region. 3. Special Interests - Different radio stations target various audiences with their programming schedules. The type of music they play and the advertisements they run are all carefully selected to match their listener demographic. Since radio stations have different target audiences, businesses can select very specific stations that will attract their target audience. 4. Cost - Radio is a low-cost medium, especially when compared to television advertising. Rates are even cheaper in High Point, NC because it is not a metropolitan area. Also, radio advertisements do not have to be create by a professional. A business can create the advertisement itself which helps cut production costs. 5. Trust - Radio advertisements reach an audience that trusts the medium for information (news, weather, sports, pop culture, etc.) People listen to the radio throughout day -- getting ready in the morning, driving to work, eating, showering, working, etc.

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E-Newsletter 1. The High Point Area Arts Council already publishes an e-Newsletter that is sent out through an email list generated by donors and members. Instead of reinventing the wheel with a new form of digital/print advertising Meraki believes that redesigning the e-Newsletter platform would help execute a stronger message to the publics. With a brighter color scheme, higher consistency with other advertising platforms and a more coherent pattern of ideas the e-Newsletter will be more powerful than ever before. Social Media Profile/Pages: Facebook and Twitter 1. Social Media is a powerful free service designed to spread ideas quickly between large audiences. With new forms of technology like HootSuite a company can easily post between multiple platforms in one space, at one time and even schedule posts for future automatic updates. Meraki believes that both Facebook and Twitter should be utilized in the campaign to attract the largest of both target audiences. With two very different 2. There are some great analytics available for Facebook pages and Twitter pages. Both platforms allow a business to see how successful a page/account is as well as how effective an individual post/tweet is and only the administrator of the page has access to the analytics. a.Twitter is easily the second most popular social network in the region, and the world, after Facebook. Companies, individuals, and governments use Twitter to promote their brands and initiatives and to build an online following. 3. It is free to have a social media account and analytics are provided by the platform for free as well. Social Media isnt costly in terms of time in addition to money. There are scheduling platforms/sites such as Hootsuite that allow you to plan out Tweets and Facebook posts minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years in advance.

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Selling Premise and Rationale

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In the messages we will be focusing on the idea of coherent branding within platforms via logo design, color scheme, slogan, etc. In the past the High Point Area Arts Council utilized multiple useful message platforms (i.e. e-Newsletter, Newspaper, Flyers, Facebook, Twitter) however the platforms were all formated very differently which causes much cognitive dissonance for people. We want to utilize integrated marketing communication so that the campaign and company has a cohesive image and solid brand. i. USP (unique selling proposition): New/Fun - Where modern meets tradition to create a fun and entertaining atmosphere. The angle that we are trying to sell the High Point Area Arts Council is highlighting the fact that its new. It is in a relatively new location, new website, new events, and new life. The goal is promote the HPAAC as a place where all generations can enjoy their time and help bridge the generational gap. Instead of having the HPAAC become totally new and target only young people or staying completely the same/traditional and targeting only older people, the USP is the combination of two, modern meets tradition. Older people represent tradition and the history behind the HPAAC and the legacy of the arts. Younger people represent modernism and the wave of the future. By selling the HPAAC as an organization that prides itself on tradition and highlights innovation and modernism, people of all ages will find a specific appeal about the NEW HPAAC. It is headed in the direction of meeting the majoritys needs. According to our survey research, a lot of people thought that the HPAAC was outdated so we want to give it a feeling of new life that is fun and entertaining. We will be selling it as something else that people can do any night of the week when they are looking for entertainment. The objective is to sell the HPAAC as a fun place with caring people and that the arts are important. People have the ability to impact the arts and help it grow. The idea behind this is that people can leave their legacy and value in the form of art whether that be a painting, dance, performance, or something else.

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Campaign Theme and Rationale Campaign Logo:

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We created a general logo for the HPAAC entertainment portion of the organization and website. Since entertainment is fun we decided to make the logo portray feelings of fun and excitement, while being adaptive to both target audiences. The general logo is black and white but we made a spring, fall, and winter variations of the logo. We thought it would be fun to change the colors in the logo and add a little graphic to associate the HPAAC entertainment section with the season. This would also be a helpful change in case the HPAAC wanted to host specific events in certain seasons. By associating the seasonal logo with season specific events it will help resonate with the consumer better.

Campaign Tagline:

We developed 10 different taglines for the campaign and then presented them to two different focus groups. After receiving feedback, suggestions, and comments we found that there were 5 taglines that were more successful. 1. Art, because its your history. 2. Where contemporary meets tradition. 3. Build a better community through a strong foundation of the arts. 4. Building a stronger community one art event at a time. 5. Art, because everything else is boring. 6. Art, because math is complicated. 7. Live your life color. 8. Creativity is a terrible thing to waste. 9. Art, its not just a pastime. 10. Art, the secret to a colorful life.

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The five most successful taglines were:
- Art, its not just a pastime. - Art, because its your history. - Art, because everything else is boring. - Live your life in color - Building a stronger community one arts event at a time.

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People in the focus groups said that these were their favorites because they were fun and interesting. They felt as though the sent the message of one cannot live a happy and successful life without the arts. The arts are the basis of a rich past, present, and future life and essential for a strong community. Our focus groups also liked these the best because they make the arts seem fun and more than just a traditional pastime or boring hobby for older people.

A few comments from our focus group:

Haha so true! Everything else is boring. I would much rather do something artistic than a math problem or a reading assignment. The one where it says everything else is boring is a good tagline because it lets me know what art is fun and interesting. I love the idea of living your life in color because it tells me that without some fun (color) then my life is boring and not as rich as it could be. Oh! So clever the one about art being your history! You can literally leave a legacy through artwork but you can also create a bright future. It makes me feel like by not participating in art that I am not making history on some level. I like the ones that are shorter because they are more eye catching and easier to remember.

Selected Tagline:
Building a stronger community one arts event at a time.

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Media Campaign Messages Descriptions and Rationale Radio PSA
Radio Script #1 (General Awareness)

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Radio Script #2 (Private Events)

Radio Script #3 (Specialized Events *3rd Thursday*)

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Radio PSA Rationale: In our research, Meraki found that the older target audience used radio as a medium for finding out new information about the community of High Point. With this knowledge we were able to tailor the radio scripts specifically to that segmented group. The scripts include three different variations: general awareness, private events, and specialized events (Ex. Third Thursday). During our research we found that the audiences are not even aware of HPAAC which is why we felt so strongly about creating a general awareness script. We then created the other two scripts to be more specific toward the audience in what activities and events the HPAAC offers. The HPAAC offers a wealth of events that audiences would love to attend had they received knowledge about their dates and times. By specifically tailoring radio PSAs to the target audience with specific event dates, contact information and general knowledge the audience is given awareness which was previously not available. E-Newsletter Rationale: The current e-Newsletter is very basic in format and design. With a new website on the way HPAAC must make sure that all aspects of their digital advertising is up to date to create a clean cut and uniform message to their publics. The community is moving into a paperless society and both audiences (young and old) have agreed that spreading information via email/ digital platforms is the best way to connect with them. The e-Newsletter will be mostly be directed at the older target audience. Merakis primary research of surveys clearly stated that the older segmentation would like to receive information via email. Considering their age this segmentation consists of primarily digital immigrants. Digital immigrants is a term used to describe people who were not born in the digital age but who later adopted many aspects of new technology (aka. email). The audience thus knows how to use technology but are most likely not technology gurus. With this idea in mind Meraki felt that the e-Newsletter should be easy to use and clean in format but also aesthetically pleasing in design to keep users subscribed and motivated to forward the message to friends.

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E-Newsletter

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Hootsuite Platform (way to manage social media):

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Social Media Profiles/Pages and their Content Twitter and Facebook can both be managed via Hootsuite. This platform allows you to schedule posts minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years in advance. It also makes it convenient for reading your news feed and responding to users that engage with you via Facebook and Twitter.

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Twitter Platform: Profile Picture:

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Facebook Platform:

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Facebook Cover Photo:

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Content Rationale: 1. Create a caption - The HPAAC can post a photo or a series of photos and ask people to come up with best caption(s). There doesnt necessarily need to be a prize for the person that comes up with the best caption(s); it is just something fun and engaging to help increase user activity on the HPAACs Facebook and Twitter pages. a) This works best if the image is a funny one or a really pretty one. 2. Interactive activities on Facebook and/or Twitter are important because it encourages people to like the HPAAC Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. People will visit the pages if they are getting something out of it. a) #ThrowbackThursday - Every Thursday the HPAAC can post a photo from something in the past. For example images of the train, Centennial Station before the fire, events, or art shows to become a part of one of the most popular trends. #ThrowbackThursday is a successful hashtag that appears all over social media on Thursdays. By engaging in this hashtag the chances of people seeing the HPAACs post increases. b) Fun fact Fridays - every Friday the HPAAC can post a fun fact about art history, art programs, techniques, etc. on their Facebook and/or Twitter pages. This allows users to find value in the content posted on social media and will encourage future website visits. c) Likes and Shares competition: Every month the HPAAC could have a competition where people that like the page can like or share a specific post for a chance to win something. The prize can be something small like an item from the future giftshop or something bigger like free admission to an event or a 15% discount on events they may be looking to plan at Centennial Station. i. There could also be a competition involving liking the HPAACs Facebook page; whoever the 10,000 person is to like the page wins a prize. iii. Images: Facebook and Twitter will be content heavy and image-based. Almost every post on both platforms will have a photo attached to it so that it captures viewers attention. Studies show that people are more likely to view pages and posts if there is visually appealing material. 1. Facebook has the option to create photo albums. This is a very useful tool especially for promotion purposes. We will upload pictures of Centennial Station into an album so that people can see what venue looks like. The next album will show pictures of special events like weddings, receptions, private parties, and sorority formals.We

also want to include images of Third Thurs-

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days, Dinner Theater, and Social Dance so everyone can see what what the event is. A picture is worth a thousand words and by including photos of people enjoying the events, community members that dont typically go to HPAAC events will be more intrigued and want to take part of the excitement. The last album would consist of previous and future event flyers so that people can visually gather information on the event and refer back to it at a later date in case they cannot rememberer when the event is being held. a. ALBUMS: centennial station, special events, Third Thursdays, Social Dance, Dinner Theater, and event flyers. iv. Event Calendar: An event calendar that is accessible via social media is very successful in terms of attracting younger people. College students are constantly connected to their phones and need to find ways to be organized in a chaotic society. 1. Facebook has the capability to include calendars. It would be to the HPAACs benefit to upload an event calendar to the Facebook page so that community members can access the information at any point in time rather than waiting to see the event listed in the newspaper. 3. Images: Facebook and Twitter will be content heavy and image-based. Almost every post on both platforms will have a photo attached to it so that it captures viewers attention. Studies show that people are more likely to view pages and posts if there is visually appealing material. a) Facebook has the option to create photo albums. This is a very useful tool especially for promotion purposes. We will upload pictures of Centennial Station into an album so that people can see what venue looks like. The next album will show pictures of special events like weddings, receptions, private parties, and sorority formals.We also want to include images of Third Thursdays, Dinner Theater, and Social Dance so everyone can see what what the event is. A picture is worth a thousand words and by including photos of people enjoying the events, community members that dont typically go to HPAAC events will be more intrigued and want to take part of the excitement. The last album would consist of previous and future event flyers so that people can visually gather information on the event and refer back to it at a later date in case they cannot rememberer when the event is being held. i. ALBUMS: centennial station, special events, Third Thursdays, Social Dance, Dinner Theater, and event flyers.

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4. Event Calendar: An event calendar that is accessible via social media is very successful in terms of attracting younger people. College students are constantly connected to their phones and need to find ways to be organized in a chaotic society. a) Facebook has the capability to include calendars. It would be to the HPAACs benefit to upload an event calendar to the Facebook page so that community members can access the information at any point in time rather than waiting to see the event listed in the newspaper. b) In addition to a calendar on Facebook, we want to create events on Facebook and invite our friends to check out the events in addition to like the HPAAC page. The benefit of creating events on Facebook is that the event can be made public. This means that anyone can see the event and decide to attend in addition to the people that are invited to the event. Another benefit of Facebook events is that people can hit attending, not attending, or maybe attending. This information is useful to the HPAAC because they can then predict how many people to expect at an event. i. It will be time consuming to input all the events into individual events on Facebook but it is is worth it. It is worth it because the events automatically send out reminders to people attending the week and day before the event as well as the day of the event itself. Between the reminders and public access to the event, more people from the target market, younger generations, will be provided with HPAAC entertainment event information. Ultimately, this means that attendance will be higher due to a further reach.

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Key Issues and Implications for Campaign Development

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1. Our overall key issue was strategizing to target two separate target audiences for the High Point Area Arts Council. The two target segments were focusing on are community members between the ages of 35 and 55, in addition to a younger generation between the ages of 18-29. With these two age groups, we decided to use various media channels to reach out to each target market. For instance, we will place ads for the older generation on the local radio stations since this is where they turn to for local news and events. Furthermore, well target this older audience through e-newsletters which we found out through our surveys is their preferred method of gathering information. However, the younger generation prefers social media when finding out about events so well target them through Facebook and Twitter updates from the HPAAC. Following Facebook, Twitter is the most popular social network in the region and world. We will be placing an event calendar on these social media accounts for the younger generation as a result of survey reactions. These implications of how to reach each target market will solve our issue of balancing the two target audiences effectively. 2. We also came across the issue of the HPAAC using a variety of platforms and formatting each in a different way. This caused confusion and inconsistency for the audiences so instead we will focus on creating coherent branding so that the audiences can relate the events to each other and connect them back with the HPAAC. Through this, the campaign and company will have a unified image for their brand. Our logo will be consistent throughout all the social media platforms utilized and it will be clear that theyre all associated with one another. The different events will each have their personalized logo, which will all appear in the logo for the HPAAC. This will significantly improve the user-friendliness for audiences using social media and make it easier to locate and access the HPAAC through different social media outlets. 2. We chose the design of this logo because we wanted to keep it similar to the current logo but with a more updated feel. The font choice is similar to the original. The 3 mini pictures at the bottom help to show all the different things the High Point Area Arts Council is a part of. We believe that this will help people know right away what the HPAAC is. The seasonal logo options help to bring a slight variation to the original logo and can be added to events that are held during that particular season. We kept the seasonal logos similar to the original logo to provide consistency.

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Strategies and Tactics

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Contact: Debbie Lumpkins High Point Area Arts Council 121 S. Centennial St. High Point, NC 27262 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Year, New Building, New Inspiration

High Point, NC The High Point Area Arts Council announced that it will be hosting a New Years Eve event to help kick off the New Year and the organizations new campaign launch. The event will be held at Centennial Station on December 31st, 2013. Tickets will be available for purchase. Get to know more about the HPAAC and enjoy a safe but fun New Years Eve celebration. The HPAAC expects this new campaign to improve event attendance, class enrollments and improve funding overall. The new campaign will include a new logo design and tagline, new website as well as new social media platforms. In addition, the HPAAC plans to host new events and new classes for children and adults. Events will be advertised through e-newsletters, social media, newspapers and flyers. The High Point Area Arts Council was founded in 1962 and until recently did not have a designated office or location. In 2012, the HPAAC purchased Centennial Station which is now the home of the HPAAC. The Arts Council currently offers free programs, as well as free concerts and art activities. The arts council also offers many educational opportunities for children such as Children and Youth Chorales, Youth Jazz Orchestra and the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop. For more information please contact Debbie Lumpkins, Executive Director, High Point Area Arts Council, at the above number. -more-

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The High Point Area Arts Council is a united arts council that raises funds which are allocated to affiliated arts organizations: Carousel Theatre, HP Ballet, HP Community Theatre, HP Community Concerts, and Piedmont Artists. The Arts Council is an arts programming agency that offers free concerts and arts activities to the general population of High Point through Arts Splash (summer concert) and Day in the Park (fall festival). The Arts Council also offers arts educational opportunities, such as the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop, Children's & Youth Chorales, Youth Jazz Orchestra, and Celebration Band that are not offered by an affiliate. The Arts Council is a regranting agency that channels grassroots funds from the N.C. Arts Council and grants from local governments and other foundations/organizations to community arts projects, arts education grants, and regional artists grants.

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Contact: Debbie Lumpkins High Point Area Arts Council 121 S. Centennial St. High Point, NC 27262 Opening Speech: Presented by Debbie Hello all, my name is Debbie Lumpkins and I would like to welcome you all to the newly revamped High Point Area Arts Council, here at our brand new South Centennial location. Our facility offers a large entertainment space and the HPAAC is eager and ready to host community events of all types, both public and private. Going along with our revamped venue, our new website and social media platforms will be launching simultaneously to effortlessly connect you with all the amazing things we have happening here at the HPAAC.

Our new campaign here at the HPAAC improves and strengthens our already successful

events, as well as adds lots more entertainment/arts programs for different types of people in our community as well as events that are guaranteed to help bridge the generational gap and keep us united. We are extremely excited about our new look and expanding efforts towards our goals and mission, and look forward to seeing you here at the HPAAC for the kick-off of the new campaign and the new year. So go ahead and make us part of your New Years celebration and join us here at the HPAAC for the party of the year, see you there. #####

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Contact: Debbie Lumpkins High Point Area Arts Council 121 S. Centennial St. High Point, NC 27262

Fact Sheet High Point Area Arts Council United arts council that raises funds which are allocated to affiliated organizations Affiliates: Carousel Theatre, High Point Ballet, High Point Community Concert Association, High Point Community Theatre, and Piedmont Artists Arts programming agency that offers free concerts and arts activities Focuses on building a better community Strong foundation Promotes arts education Mission: Our mission is to work continually to enhance the lives of all citizens of our community ensuring the availability of a broad range of cultural and artistic activities and encouraging full community participation in them.

Goals and Objectives Attract a new younger target market while still pleasing the current, older target market Make the current three events more effective by increasing attendance Develop new events that would be enticing to individuals Stimulate positive attitudes about the High Point Area Arts Council Gain better overall awareness for High Point Area Arts Council Rationale: We want brand awareness to increase to a point where people understand the HPAACs purpose and have knowledge of the different events so that eventually the HPAAC will have a more positive, well established image. A better well-known image leads to future donors, higher event attendance, and more fun. -more-

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Target Audiences General Population Rationale: Since we want to increase general awareness about the HPAAC it is necessary that we cater to the general population. Younger Generation (college-age) Rationale: Younger generations are the future of society and it is imperative to have them support the HPAAC to ensure future business. Parents Rationale: They are the ones that sign their children up for arts education programs and dictate what events the family will attend and such. Parents are the ones in control so it is important to appeal to them.

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Length Starts January 1, 2014 Rationale: It is the day after New Year and people are energized and excited with new resolutions. This is the perfect time to start a campaign that is looking to bring new life to the HPAAC. Typically after the holidays people are in good spirits and are looking to try new things; it would be great for the HPAAC to hop on the bandwagon of New Year themed advertisements for events to get people excited. Ends January 1, 2015 Rationale: The end date is exactly one year after the launch of the campaign. We wanted the date to be after the holidays so that the HPAAC could host events and use promotional material related to the time of the year: Winter season, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years Eve, etc. 1 year long Rationale: The campaign is going to be a year long so that it accurately meets the clients needs. In order to draw in more visitors, participants, and donors, the HPAAC needs to get its brand into the eyes of the target markets. A year will provide ample opportunity to reach more people. This will also give it enough time for the brand to resonate with people and enter the consumers minds. A year will also allow us to stay fresh by touching on every season (we want to utilize our seasonal logos) and every holiday so that the HPAAC makes a big impression on the community. Geography High Point, NC Rationale: High Point, N.C., is where the HPAAC is located. It is a community organization therefore it is vital to target the entire city. Every member of the High Point area is able to attend the event and they are the primary target audience. -more-

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Surrounding areas of High Point, NC Triad Rationale: High Point citizens are not the only people that are allowed to attend HPAAC events. Members of the surrounding towns are also key targets. Being that Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Charlotte have their own arts councils many members of those communities understand what type of activities and events that can be offered. However the schedule and events differ from council to council therefore it is important to target those members as well incase they are interested in something that their community does not offer. Tactics Immediate and Ongoing Media Lists Newsletter Social Media revamp and utilize Radio PSA New Years Eve Kick Off Party Staged Event Surprise to media QR Code Social Media promotional activities Events Third Thursdays Social Dance Dinner Theater Comedy Night #####

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Contact: Debbie Lumpkins High Point Area Arts Council 121 S. Centennial St. High Point, NC 27262

Question and Answer Sheet Q: What is the High Point Area Arts Council (HPAAC)? A: The High Point Area Arts Council is a united arts council that raises funds which are allocated to affiliated arts organizations: Carousel Theatre, HP Ballet, HP Community Theatre, HP Community Concerts, and Piedmont Artists. The Arts Council is an arts programming agency that offers free concerts and arts activities to the general population of High Point through Arts Splash (summer concert) and Day in the Park (fall festival). The Arts Council also offers arts educational opportunities, such as the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop, Children's & Youth Chorales, Youth Jazz Orchestra, and Celebration Band that are not offered by an affiliate. The Arts Council is a regranting agency that channels grassroots funds from the N.C. Arts Council and grants from local governments and other foundations/organizations to community arts projects, arts education grants, and regional artists grants.

Q: What are the goals of the HPAACs new campaign? A: Overall, we want to focus on increasing brand awareness to a point where the public understands the HPAACs purpose and has knowledge of the different community events offered so that eventually the HPAAC will have a more positive, well established image. A well-known image leads to future donors, higher event attendance, and more community supporters. Our campaign goals for the High Point Area Arts Council include the following: 1. Attract a younger target market while maintaining the current middle-age target market. 2. Improve the current three entertainment events to be more successful. 3. Develop new entertainment events that will draw more interest.

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Q: Who are the target audiences for the HPAACs new campaign? A: There are three target audiences that the HPAAC will be focusing on for this new campaign: (1) The general population, (2) Parents with a specific focus on mothers, and (3) younger generations. The HPAAC believes that the older generations and parents are the most likely to attend event while the youth is the building blocks to a strong future.

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Q: How long will the new campaign run for? When will it begin and end? A: The campaign will last for one year starting on January 1st, 2014 and ending on January 1st, 2015. The HPAAC will benefit from starting at the beginning of the year because it is a time of new beginning and growth. The campaign will run for one year to test out all of the new tactics and see how they affect the HPAAC both negatively and positively. Once the campaign has finished next year then the HPAAC will have time to evaluate the program and see what has worked and didnt work for the future.

Q: What message strategies will be utilised in the campaign? A: Being a nonprofit organization the HPAAC does not have a lot of extra money laying around so we have decided to use platforms that are the most effective for the cheapest prices. The HPAAC will be airing a PSA before any large event as well as send out e-Newsletters and advertisements in the High Point Enterprise. With the growing social media trends the HPAAC will also be revamping their social media platforms: Yelp, Twitter and Facebook. Weekly updates and pictures will be posted on a regular basis so make sure to like and follow the HPAAC platforms.

Q: What is the unique selling premises for the campaign? A:In the messages we will be focusing on the idea of coherent branding within platforms via logo design, color scheme, slogan, etc. In the past the High Point Area Arts Council utilized multiple useful message platforms (i.e. e-Newsletter, Newspaper, Flyers, Facebook, Twitter) however the platforms were all formated very differently which causes much cognitive dissonance for people. We want to utilize integrated marketing communication so that the campaign and company has a cohesive image and solid brand.

Q: What is unique about this campaign from other campaigns in the past? A: The angle that we are trying to sell the High Point Area Arts Council is highlighting the fact that its new. It is in a relatively new location, new website, new events, and new life. The goal is promote the HPAAC as a place where all generations can enjoy their time and help bridge the generational gap. Instead of having the HPAAC become totally new and target only young people or staying completely the same/traditional and targeting only older people, the USP is the combination of two, modern meets tradition.

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Q: Is there anything new campaign components that we should be looking out for? A: Yes, the new campaign will not only bring new events and media platforms but we also will be presenting a new logo and tagline. Images will be seen throughout the campaign that follow a seasonal look so make sure to keep an eye out for them. The HPAAC will also be handing out free promotional items during events for kids and adults to take home and share their experiences with friends and family members.

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Q: Will there be new events to look out for in the upcoming year? A: Yes, keep an eye out for our New Years: New Arts event that will be taking place on the eve of New Years to bring in the new year and our new campaign. We will also be hosting a secret event that should be going viral soon. Details will be announced after the campaign is underway.

Q: Are there any new discounts? A: In the campaign we will be utilizing three different types of discount options: (1) a QR code available on newsletters, mailers and newspaper ads, (2) social media followers discounts, (3) social media contests. As you can see from our discount structure social media will be playing a large role in this campaign. By liking and following the HPAAC platforms people will be able to gain knowledge and promotional offers that are fun and will save them money.

Q: Who can I contact for more information? A:For more information please contact Debbie Lumpkins, Executive Director, High Point Area Arts Council, at the above number. #####

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Contact: Debbie Lumpkins High Point Area Arts Council 121 S. Centennial St. High Point, NC 27262

Bio Sheet The High Point Area Arts Council will have an exciting and new campaign launch at the

start of the New Year. With plans to increase public awareness of this nonprofit organization and recruit more community members to regularly participate in the variety of upcoming events, the overall funding of the Arts Council will improve as well. Founded in 1962, the High Point Area Arts Council is the oldest Arts Council in North Carolina. This organization serves and supports the community through their own events in addition to their affiliates: Carousel Theater, High Point Ballet, High Point Community Concert Association, and High Point Community Theater. Within the past 50 years, the HPAAC has increased to a council of 21 members, 15 standing committees, and a staff of 4 contracted employees. Today this organization offers a variety of free events to all ages of the community as well as educational programs for children. - more -

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Just last year, the HPAAC purchased Centennial Station as their first permanent Arts Council in 2012. This year also marked the Golden Year, or 50th anniversary, for the HPAAC. Currently, the process has already begun for working to evolve into an Arts Center by 2020. The recently purchased Centennial Station originally served as a full functioning train station, and the HPAAC strives to embrace and maintain what is still available to preserve. However, after the 1960s there is much less to incorporate after part of the train station was burned down as a result of the Martin Luther King race riots. Centennial Station visibly displays their unique history on the lawn near a portion of the original train tracks for the community to appreciate. In 2009 the Hayden-Harman Foundation restored the century old Pullman railroad car that remains a historical landmark in High Point, North Carolina. This railroad car is now registered at the Smithsonian. #####

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Media Plans
Media Planning Objectives and Rationales
Reach/Frequency:

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Parents - Reach 35% / Frequency 3 times a week

Rationale: Parents are one of our main target markets so we want to reach more parents than the general population. 35% is a little more than one-third of the parents in the High Point Area and it is a realistic goal. High Point Area has many low income areas which promotes a society where the parents are not as engaged in their childrens lives. Having 35% means that a good amount of parents will receive the HPAAC messages. The frequency is 3 times a week because we want social media postings to happen at least 3 times a week. The campaign will also have monthly e-Newsletters, radio announcements and newspaper articles. However on a weekly basis there must be at least 3 forms of media reaching out to our publics.

General Population - Reach 25% / Frequency 3 times a week

Rationale: Many people in the High Point Area are not currently attending HPAAC events. To build awareness in a one year campaign it would be aggressive to expect more than a quarter of the population to be reached on a weekly basis. 25% of the generation is a fair/equal goal for the general population. The frequency is 3 times a week because we want social media postings to happen at least 3 times a week. The campaign will also have monthly e-Newsletters, radio announcements and newspaper articles. However on a weekly basis there must be at least 3 forms of media reaching out to our publics.

Younger Generation - Reach 35% / Frequency 3 times a week

Rationale: Like the parents we believe that 35% reach is the best goal for this public. 35% means that more than a quarter of the younger population will be seeing the HPAAC social media posts and newsletters. It is a strong goal but I believe that the HPAAC will be ably to reach it with our campaign. The frequency is 3 times a week because we want social media postings to happen at least 3 times a week. The campaign will also have monthly e-Newsletters, radio announcements and newspaper articles. However on a weekly basis there must be at least 3 forms of media reaching out to our publics.

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Timing:

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Start date: January 1, 2014 Rationale: It is the day after New Year and people are energized and excited with new resolutions. This is the perfect time to start a campaign that is looking to bring new life to the HPAAC. Typically after the holidays people are in good spirits and are looking to try new things; it would be great for the HPAAC to hop on the bandwagon of New Year themed advertisements for events to get people excited. End date: January 1, 2015 Rationale: The end date is exactly one year after the launch of the campaign. We wanted the date to be after the holidays so that the HPAAC could host events and use promotional material related to the time of the year: Winter season, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years Eve, etc. Duration: 1 calendar year Rationale: The campaign is going to be a year long so that it accurately meets the clients needs. In order to draw in more visitors, participants, and donors, the HPAAC needs to get its brand into the eyes of the target markets. A year will provide ample opportunity to reach more people. This will also give it enough time for the brand to resonate with people and enter the consumers minds. A year will also allow us to stay fresh by touching on every season (we want to utilize our seasonal logos) and every holiday so that the HPAAC makes a big impression on the community.

Geography: High Point, NC Rationale: High Point, N.C., is where the HPAAC is located. It is a community organization therefore it is vital to target the entire city. Every member of the High Point area is able to attend the event and they are the primary target audience. Surrounding High Point areas/communities Rationale: High Point citizens are not the only people that are allowed to attend HPAAC events. Members of the surrounding towns are also key targets. Being that Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Charlotte have their own arts councils many members of those communities understand what type of activities and events that can be offered. However the schedule and events differ from council to council therefore it is important to target those members as well incase they are interested in something that their community does not offer.

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Media Selection Strategies -- Media Mix -- and Rationales
Website

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Owned Media: There is much control, including potential low costs, involved with owned media which is why we want to tap into those mediums.

With technology consuming our society, websites are one of the best ways to reach audiences. Nearly everyone has the ability to log onto the internet. By having a refreshing and new website viewers will be intrigued to click through the different buttons and explore the website. The website will offer a wealth of information for viewers that may not know anything about the HPAAC. With a large amount of control on what information is being posted the HPAAC will be able to regulate all information that gets shared with viewers and create a comprehensive outline of the different opportunities and events that the HPAAC offers. After the initial cost to make the website this would be a free medium except for the time that it would take to make updates.

In Merakis last client meeting we introduced the new e-Newsletter design. We believe that with a new design it will rejuvenate the e-Newsletter which already has a strong following. Members of the email list look for this newsletter and the HPAAC should update their audiences on upcoming events and news concerning the organization. Except for time this would be a free medium.

E-Newsletter (Indirect Mail)

The HPAAC is a great medium to connect with the target audience. Since the HPAAC already has a free newspaper spot with a contracted writer in the High Point Enterprise (the targeted geographic area) which is a great outlet to keep running. Audiences already know that this exists and having a paper copy of events, reviews and information is a great way to increase impressions. Newspapers are often shared throughout families and with friends which mean that multiple different people can be looking at one newspaper. The more impressions that the HPAAC gets the more that people will be aware of the HPAAC and more apt to attend events. The HPAAC already mails out event flyers. Meraki would like to continue this medium. By mailing out fliers to the existing mailing list there will not be that much leg work in this medium. In the mailers the HPAAC has control over everything that is said which is important to the HPAAC. As an organization HPAAC needs to have full control over everything that is being said.

Newspaper Insert (Direct Mail

Event Flyers

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Promotional Items

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Promotional items are a great way to spread information in a trustworthy word-of-mouth approach that yields a high number of results. Being that the HPAAC does not have a huge profit Meraki felt that small giveaways at events would be a great way to add to the Media Mix. For events where children can attend feel that it would be a great idea to hand out balloons to children with the HPAAC logo. Balloons are a cheap product that put a smile on everyones face. Children love balloons and the big flashy balloon like billboard will be a cheap and easy promotional item for the HPAAC.

Earned Media: We want to use it because it has broad reach, has little or no cost, and is a persuasive medium.

People are more likely to pay attention to earned media because they know it was selected by someone else, like a journalist, rather than the company itself (not necessarily self-promotion).

Press Releases are essential because it provides necessary exposure. This makes all kinds of information about the HPAAC available to the public and doesnt cost all that much to do so especially when doing them in-house. People also find press releases credible and valid simply because it doesnt go straight from the HPAAC to the public.

Press Releases

By utilizing radio advertisements in the local and surrounding areas of High Point, the HPAAC will be able to promote their upcoming events to thousands of potentially interested people in the nearby areas. This would give the HPAAC the needed exposure to host larger, more successful events and boost overall awareness.

Radio PSA

A fact sheet can be useful for the HPAAC because it is a free medium that can easily distribute information about specific events to the public. Doing this spreads awareness to our target audiences and would help the HPAAC increase their attendance rates and share information about upcoiming events.

Fact Sheet

Event listings are available online and do get featured in local magazines like The High Point Enterprise, however the events must be displayed more in the public eye by exploring other options as well. The event listings at the HPAAC official website need to be more prominent on the new site.

Event Listings (Online and Paper)

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ages active interactions, and allows us to personalize and reinforce messages.

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Social Media: We want to use social media because it has broad reach and frequency, little or no cost, encour Facebook is a networking site that allows companies to promote themselves. It is free to create a Facebook account and free to set up a page. From the page manager view, it is possible to see analytics about posts, comments, likes, trends, and the page in general. This platform encourages a high level of active interaction. By not using Facebook, the HPAAC would be behind its competition or brother/sister councils. Most art councils have Facebook pages and if the HPAAC discontinued using Facebook, it would be at a disadvantage. Facebook is a prime way to target younger generations and promote the brand at no cost. Twitter is a platform that only allows 140 characters, some of which can be a link to a longer text or article. They are meant to be engaging and thought provoking. Twitter is completely free and basic analytics are available on the site. We will be able to measure how many people are engaging in our conversations via favorites, retweets, and follower requests. Twitter is a great way to connect with customers, promote a positive brand image, receive customer feedback, observe the competition, and increase brand loyalty; not to mention Twitter has a tend to go viral which is great for increasing publicity.

Facebook

Twitter

Hootsuite is a social media management site that allows us to communicate in a timely manner. It is free to sign up for a Hootsuite account and with that account we can link the HPAAC Twitter and Facebook pages. Hootsuite is beneficial because it allows us to schedule posts in advance and to actively engage in conversation with the community. Hootsuite allows us to monitor multiple streams in one place, manage customer service (which is extremely important for the HPAAC since it is a community-based organization), cross platforms, and get free reports by email (number of clicks per day, geographical information on the people clicking through, top referrers, most popular links) Yelp is a popular mobile application that allows users to find great local businesses. Yelp searches can be narrowed down by distance, price, and subject; thus allowing for specific markets. The HPAAC already has a presence on Yelp but has no reviews. To boost the popularity of the HPAAC as an entertainment venue, we want the HPAACs Yelp page to have positive reviews written about it. It is free to make an account and free to write reviews. People are more likely to listen to peer reviews than advertisements because it creates a level of trust. We want to write those peer reviews and gain more attention to the HPAAC.

Hootsuite

Yelp

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Media Tactics, Supplemental Material and Rationales
Immediate and Ongoing Media List

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PR/Promotional Plans New Years Eve Kick Off Party

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Nearly everyone loves to celebrate New Years Eve. However there is not always a safe and great place to do so. To bring in the new campaign for the new year we felt that it would be great to combine them both with a big celebration. People could buy tickets or tables for the events and all ring in the New Year with a celebration at the HPAAC building. It will also show people what the HPAAC can offer. For the event HPAAC will need to bring out all of their bells and whistles by decorating the room with brilliant decorations that attendees will love to take pictures in front of and show off to all of their friends and family members that could not attend. Bringing more word of mouth about the HPAAC and their events. We could also offer free tickets to press and send out post event press releases with flashy pictures that can be posted everywhere!

Staged event - Centennial Station Burning Reenactment

This campaign staged event is something out of the ordinary so that it sparks conversation and draws attention to the HPAAC. Inspired by the Troy Library Book Burning campaign, our reverse psychology campaign will invoke emotions in the target markets. We are going to stage a hoax called the Centennial Station Burning Reenactment. Essentially we are going to promote a fake event. At the fake event we will burn down Centennial Station to symbolize and celebrate its history of how it was partially burned down during the MLK riots. To promote this fake event we will create a twitter and facebook account for a fake organization called the anti-arts group. The anti-arts group will be Merakis alias. The content posted on social media will be burning down Centennial Station and will invite people to come and help poor gasoline on the building and assist in lighting matches. This hoax is going to be promoted as a fun event that disregards the need for the arts. By creating a negative organization promoting a fake, scary, event people will respond strongly about it. The goal is to generate buzz about the HPAAC and Centennial Station. Objectively, people will be responding with messages that promote the arts and criticize the anti-art group for wanting to burn down Centennial Station and getting rid of the arts. This type of reverse psychology will make people have a greater appreciation for the arts and want to support the HPAAC. It will create meaningful press and draw attention of people that may not have heard of the HPAAC. An hour before the burning was supposed to take place, Meraki Advertising would come out and say it was a hoax. Yes, Meraki would receive some negative feedback for tricking the general public but at the end of the day we would be successful. By staging this hoax we would gain attention for the HPAAC, deepen peoples affection/affiliation with the arts, and drive people to the HPAACs social media sites; thus increasing the number of people that will go to events a greater appreciation for the arts and want to support the HPAAC. It will create meaningful press and draw attention of people that may not have heard of the HPAAC. An hour before the burning was supposed to take place, Meraki Advertising would come out and say it was a hoax. Yes, Meraki would recieve some negative

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Discussions of Promotional Activities and Rationales (contests, incentives, discounts, etc) QR code

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feedback for tricking the general public but at the end of the day we would be successful. By staging this hoax we would gain attention for the HPAAC, deepen peoples affection/affiliation with the arts, and drive people to the HPAACs social media sites; thus increasing the number of people that will go to events.

i The QR codes will be on earned media items. This will help the council survey who is receiving the earned media and how effective the various earned media sources. This way the HPAAC will have a better focus on which earned mediums are most effective. QR codes are also an instinctive and provoke curiosity. Most people know what to do if they see a QR code, they use an app on their mobile device to scan the code and are then redirected to a website. The codes can promote incentives in addition to curiosity. The QR code we want to create would redirect the person scanning it to a coupon for something rewarding; for example, it could be for a coupon stating that if the person buys one ticket to a Third Thursday event that he or she will receive one free. Or, instead of an incentive, the QR code could drive people to the HPAAC Facebook page or website. If people like or follow the HPAAC social media platforms then they will be instantly sent a 10% discount on one event of their choice good for two months. This will promote more people to follow social media pages and tell their friends to follow the social platforms as well. Interactive activities on Facebook and/or Twitter are important because it encourages people to like the HPAAC Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. People will visit the pages if they are getting something out of it. To keep the social media followers engaged the HPAAC will offer either monthly or seasonal social media contests. Some example contests ideas: 1. The 100th follower will receive two free tickets to this months 3rd Thursday 2. Like and Share Competitions-Every month the HPAAC could have a competition where people that like the page can like or share a specific post for a chance to win something. The prize can be something small like an item from the future giftshop or something bigger like free admission to an event or a 15% discount on events they may be looking to plan at Centennial Station. 3. Create a Caption-The HPAAC can post a photo or a series of photos and ask people to come up with best caption(s). There doesnt necessarily need to be a prize for the person that comes up with the best caption(s); it is just something fun and engaging to help increase user activity on the HPAACs Facebook and Twitter pages. This works best if the image is a funny one or a really pretty one which will also make others want to share and like the posts.

Social Media Discount

Social Media Contests

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Timeline and Budget

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Media Scheduling (media calendar etc.) A month before every event, we would like to send a press release to all local newspapers and radio stations. The event should also be advertised on Facebook and Twitter through an event calendar. Reminder posts should be made periodically during the upcoming weeks before the event and updates to excite readersthis can easily be planned on Hootsuite. Community participants should be encouraged to upload their favorite pictures from the recent events they attended, and to post on their Twitter and Facebook accounts about the event while theyre participating. Special hashtags can be made for events to keep followers in the loop. This will help recruit other locals and increase the excitement for future events. The week of the event multiple posts should be made every other day on the social media platforms, informing people that the event is coming. For the Piedmont Triad Living magazine the press release should be sent at least three months in advance due to the fact that the magazine runs quarterly. The HPAAC should take advantage of this by submitting a press release for multiple events for the season. During the week leading up to an event, a radio PSA should be utilized to attract listeners on the local radio stations. This is one of the easiest ways to reach multiple target audiences, plus it is free, so it wont impact the budget. Media Budgeting In order to keep our budget as low as possible we would like to utilize earned media through press releases. We plan to promote events for the HPAAC through newspapers, radio, as well as magazines. Social media will be used to help promote events through Twitter and Facebook, which will also help to keep our budget to a minimum since both social media platforms are free. A magazine we plan to use frequently to promote events and the HPAAC is the Triad Living magazine. This magazine strictly pertains to the Piedmont Triad area and has over 75,000 readers per issue. The magazine is published quarterly. 75% of the readers are married with at least two children, which will help to reach multiple target audiences. We also plan to utilize local newspapers such as the High Point Enterprise and the Winston-Salem Chronicle to promote upcoming events. We plan to post the events on to the entertainment calendar for the High Point Enterprise. In order to reach the young adult population we believe its important to also advertise adult events, such as a wine tasting, in the High Point University Campus Chronicle as well as the UNCG campus newspaper, The Carolinian. This will help to reach our young adult target audience. Posting upcoming events onto local radio station event calendars online, such as WBFJ and WQFS, is a free and easy way to promote events for the HPAAC while reaching the local community. We believe advertising through local magazines, newspaper and radio stations are great ways to inform the public of upcoming events as well as the HPAAC as a whole.

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Overall we intend to spend: New Years Party - $200 Staged Event - $0 (all promoted on social media) Radio - $0 (all PSA) Newspaper - $50 (all PSAs and a few columns) e-Newsletters - $0 (email is free) Newsletters - $50 (pay for postage and printing) -----------------------------------------------------------$300 total

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Magazine costs can be free if the content we submit to the magazine is a Public Service Announcement or an event listing to the magazines calendar. If the advertisement is not accepted as a PSA, the average magazine costs are listed below:

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Monitoring and Evaluation

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Monitoring Plans and Rationales
Pilot/ Baseline Print Survey

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The Meraki Advertising team handed out 50 surveys and calculated the outcomes. Prior to developing the campaign we used these surveys to get an idea of what the community wanted and needed. The questions aimed to gauge brand awareness, perceptions, attitudes, and audience wants from the HPAAC. Our results showed that there was a lack of awareness for the HPAAC and that there needed to be a more convenient way for Millennials to access the event information. Before planning and designing the entire campaign strategy, we conducted print surveys.

The Meraki Advertising team researched the current HPAAC trends as well as the trends in High Point as a community. By researching the community we were able to develop a target market for the campaign and figure out the best ways to reach that target market. We were also able to gain knowledge on the competition and what tactics the other community art centers were using to attract people to their events. We did basic Google searches for news about the competitors, other arts councils in North Carolina. The search provided articles about events as well as press releases for the venues and entertainment. We also searched the HPAAC and competitors on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube so we could gain a better understanding of their social media presence. Social media is prominent with the younger generations, our target audience, so it is important that we know how it is currently being used and how it should be used in future to gain the attention. Thirdly, Meraki Advertising team looked through old HPAAC flyers, articles in the High Point Enterprise, previous logos, and website to get a better understanding of who our client is and what they have been doing in the past. By researching our client, the HPAAC, through secondary research, we were able to grasp what the organization already does and what they should be doing. We were also able to pick up on the organizations trends and themes in events, logos, and printed material. The Meraki Advertising team conducted two focus groups. The first focus group we used consisted of 15 High Point University students and the goal was to get a feel for peoples attitudes about the High Point Area Arts Council. We were trying to figure out if the HPAAC had a strong brand presence with college-aged students. The objective of this focus group was to gauge the level of awareness for the HPAAC among college students, the first target market. The second focus group we conducted twice so that we could figure out what which tagline was best for the campaign. The first time, the focus group was comprised of 13 High Point University students so that our younger generation target market was reached. We presented the group with ten taglines and asked them to discuss how they made them feel and what they liked and did not like. The focus group helped us narrow down our tagline options to the one we are going to use.

Secondary Research

Focus Groups

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Point University students so that our younger generation target market was reached. We presented the group with ten taglines and asked them to discuss how they made them feel and what they liked and did not like. The focus group helped us narrow down our tagline options to the one we are going to use. We also conducted the same focus group but with nine individuals in the general population of High Point. Meraki Advertising went to Starbucks and asked random people sitting to join our focus group; several people declined but we were able to get 9 people to participate. We felt that Starbucks was the perfect environment to conduct a focus group because it had food, beverages, and a comfortable atmosphere; everything participants needed to stay happy and relaxed. We also presented them the ten taglines so that we could get a better understanding of what was successful and appealing to our second target market, the general population.

Were going to conduct print surveys every four months in order to receive feedback on events success and to determine if any aspects need improvement. These surveys will be distributed to the High Point community just as our initial surveys were done when we gathered primary research about perceptions and interest in the HPAAC. Although this monitoring survey will be similar to the past survey conducted, several of the questions will be changed in order to gain a better understanding of how the community is getting involved with the HPAAC and what participants enjoy or would like to see changed to enhance their experience. We will focus on distributing this survey to those who fit our target audiences to monitor whether our campaign plans implemented are appealing to them. Analyzing surveys will show us if there have been any outcomes and impacts of our campaign. This method will be completed quarterly by an employee of the HPAAC to gather research on the media and press releases. This can easily be done through multiple different programs. One easy and free way to track media and press releases across the web is through Google Adword Tracking. Different keys words can be tracked on a daily, weekly or monthly timeline to fit whichever tracking timeline works best for the employee completing this task. There are also paid database programs like Cision, RavenTools and multiple other programs available depending on the accountability of the campaign. Records and database research is important throughout the campaign because it helps learn where and who is seeing media on the campaign. It is also helpful to learn who the best media connects are for the campaign and who to contact in the future for media coverage. Analyzing records and databases will show us if there have been any outcomes and impacts of our campaign. It is important to track keywords that pertain to the HPAAC and our campaign so that we can measure our outputs. The more times the HPAAC is mentioned the greater the outputs. The outputs are an increase in reach and frequency of communication and the number of messages distributed.

Print Survey

Records and Database

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the greater the outputs. The outputs are an increase in reach and frequency of communication and the number of messages distributed. A HPAAC employee will complete progress reports on a quarterly basis. There will include questions and answers that reflect the campaign goals and objects, campaign strategies, reflections on events and strategies, social media analytics and other useful information that the employee sees important to monitoring the campaign and its effectiveness. The outcome of progress reports is satisfaction levels with the campaign and changes in knowledge. This is important information when monitoring the campaign so that we can ultimately impact the HPAAC and increase ROI. We would like the focus group to be made up of a student from High Point University, a parent (both male and female), as well as an attendee from each of the events held by the HPAAC. We believe that this will help to give an accurate insight and a variety of feedback from all target audiences. Receiving free event tickets for one year to selected HPAAC functions would compensate attendees. Small snacks and beverages will also be provided to focus group participants to help make the talk more conversational and relaxing. The focus group will be conducted for 45 minutes to an hour depending on how much participants talk. We believe this will give great insight into the HPAAC on how current events are going, consumer thoughts and recommended changes. If we know how effective the campaign is in terms of changing peoples intentions, knowledge, and attitudes about the HPAAC we can continue our efforts to generate a stronger impact. The goal is to impact the HPAAC by increasing donors and event attendees; this cannot be achieved if we cannot change consumers behaviors and attitudes about the HPAAC. We will evaluate our success in making these changes through focus groups.

Focus Groups

Timeline

Monitoring Timeline and Budget

Meraki Advertising will monitor our progress quarterly. Every four months a survey, similar to our original one, will be distributed and analyzed. We will conduct survey research every quarter so that we can best track our progress among the community, and to determine what is working well. In addition to the quarterly survey analyses, we will review social media analytics monthly. The monthly review of social media analytics will help us see what posts are engaging to the target audiences. It will also help guide us to what content is relevant to the followers on social media and also judge how quickly our number of followers is increasing.

Budget

In order to save money, the research and review would be completed by the Applied Research class at High Point University. Ginny McDermott is a board member and teaches the service learning Research Methods class which would be a great contact for future survey research. i. The class would print, conduct, and analyze the research. All of these activities would be free because the attend High Point University.

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the service learning Research Methods class which would be a great contact for future survey research. The class would print, conduct, and analyze the research. All of these activities would be free because the attend High Point University. Surveys can be analyzed via SPSS. High Point University has a license to the program and provides program use to students for free. We could use SPSS through HPU for free. Another free option for SPSS would be to download the free trial software. Once the surveys are collected we would download SPSS Statistics Desktop, enter the data, and analyze it. The trial software expires 14 days from the installation date (IBM). If the HPAAC then chooses to purchase the standard SPSS, it would cost $2,320 for a fixed term of 12 months or $5,270 for an unlimited term. We will be spending money on the focus groups by purchasing snacks and drinks for attendees as well as offering free tickets to those that participate in the groups. The tickets will have a value of whatever the event ticket normally costs (about $10) and the food and drinks will be budgeted at $25. $25 is enough to buy discounted snack food and water for a focus group of approximately 15 people. The purchases would be made from low cost stores like Wal-Mart, Costco, or Sams Club. Records and databases offer free options like Google Adword Tracking. We will be using the free option because programs like Cision are very expensive. It costs $350 a month to use Cision and Meraki Advertising does not want to spend that kind of money on a word tracking program when free programs like Google Adword Tracking works just as well. Evaluation Strategies and Tools Evaluation Plans and Rationales

Survey We will be administering a survey similar to the one that was distributed at the beginning of the campaign. The survey will include questions about perceptions and attitudes towards the HPAAC. It will also include questions about familiarity with new events the HPAAC is offering. We will use a likert scale to make it easy on both the survey participants, as well as when reviewing the survey results. It will help us to get a clear idea of the level of familiarity the participant has with the HPAAC. The survey will also have questions asking if the participant has seen or been to any of our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter etc.) This will help to give us a clear idea if our campaign initiatives have been beneficial and caused change in behaviors, intentions, and attitudes. The survey will be administered to 50 people, the same amount of people as the pre-campaign survey. We will compare the perception of the HPAAC data from the first survey to the perception of the HPAAC data from the second survey. This will help us determine whether or not there has been a change in attitudes towards the HPAAC. If there is a positive change in attitude, then the outcome will be a change in behavior. This is important because changes in behavior can impact the HPAAC. For example, changes in behavior could include more donations made, more attendees at events, and more members of the HPAAC.

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perception of the HPAAC data from the second survey. This will help us determine whether or not there has been a change in attitudes towards the HPAAC. If there is a positive change in attitude, then the outcome will be a change in behavior. This is important because changes in behavior can impact the HPAAC. For example, changes in behavior could include more donations made, more attendees at events, and more members of the HPAAC.

Content analysis is a tedious yet important research process. Throughout the campaign Meraki Advertising will be collecting local newspapers and listening to social media on Hootsuite so that we can track how many times the High Point Area Arts Council is mentioned on the Internet. At the end of the campaign, we will be using content analysis to measure the effectiveness of the campaign. Essentially we will be going through the local newspapers to see how many times the High Point Area Arts Council was mentioned. This will give us an idea of how much the HPAAC was promoted and put into the publics eye. To measure the online reach, we will be looking at Hootsuite to see how many times the HPAAC was mentioned on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, RSS Feeds, and other social media platforms so that we get a spectrum of where the HPAAC could have been mentioned online during the campaign. We chose to use Facebook as an evaluation of our campaign by taking the number of likes before the campaign and evaluating the number of likes after the campaign. We believe this is a good indicator of how many new people have visited the HPAAC Facebook page. We will also look at the number of people that have posted on the Facebook wall or re-posted an event that was posted by the HPAAC. Ultimately, Facebook can help us gauge the campaign outcome; we will be able to see changes in the communitys behavior and changes in their knowledge of the HPAAC. Changes in the communitys behavior and knowledge can lead to the impact of potential new donors and event attendees. Through the Twitter account of the HPAAC we will be able to monitor how many current followers the HPAAC is maintaining and who they are, whether it be other local businesses or members of the community. Furthermore, we will be able to evaluate how the community is responding to the new campaign and recently implemented tactics by noting the number of retweets about events held by the HPAAC. Furthermore, this will allow us to receive direct feedback and comments about the success of events and the organization, in addition to what aspects could still use improvement. Yelp is a social media platform and an android application. We will be able to measure the success of the campaign by how many reviews the High Point Area Arts Council receives and how positive the ratings are. Currently, the HPAAC Yelp page has zero reviews and a zero rating. If the number of reviews or the rating increases we will know that our campaign had an impact because more people will be engaging with the HPAAC. Also, the more reviews and ratings the HPAAC receives, the more likely it is that people will see the HPAAC on Yelp and look to it as a possible entertainment venue.

Facebook

Twitter

Yelp

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zero rating. If the number of reviews or the rating increases we will know that our campaign had an impact because more people will be engaging with the HPAAC. Also, the more reviews and ratings the HPAAC receives, the more likely it is that people will see the HPAAC on Yelp and look to it as a possible entertainment venue.

We are going to evaluate the success of the campaign immediately after it ends on January 1, 2015. It will take us approximately one week to perform a thorough content analysis, social media analysis, and survey analysis.

Budget:There will be little money spent on the evaluation because most of our processes do not cost anything to
get the information we want. Content Analysis Content Analysis will have a cost but it should be a low cost. We will have to pay for subscriptions to newspapers so that we can have access to them and ultimately be able to track how many times the HPAAC is mentioned in them. 1) High Point Enterprise - FREE because the High Point Library is a subscriber and provides free community access to the paper. The High Point Library is open to the public and does not cost anything to become a member or to simply walk in and use the resources. 2) Campus Chronicle (HPU newspaper) - FREE because we are students at High Point University and get the school newspaper at no cost. 3) Winston-Salem Chronicle - FREE because the newspaper has an e-edition available on their website, wschronicle.com, for free. 4) Greensboro News & Record - There is an input of $50 for 1-year e-Edition Subscription. We would only need a year subscription because our campaign only lasts for a year. The newspaper will be delivered via email 7 days a week for a whole year (News-Record, 2013). It would be important to put in the money because it would help us see how effective our campaign has been in getting the HPAAC into the media. zero rating. If the number of reviews or the rating increases we will know that our campaign had an impact because more people will be engaging with the HPAAC. Facebook It does not cost anything to look at Facebook analytics. Anyone that is an administrator on the Facebook page can review the provided statistics. The administrator shows the user how many likes the page has received during a certain time period, how many likes and shares a specific post generates, as well as the demographics of the users that like the page. This information is important in determining the outcomes of the campaign. Analytics are important tools for seeing the potential impact the campaign has had on the community and in achieving its goals.

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Twitter Just like Facebook, Twitter does not cost anything to view the analytics. Anyone who has access to the account (administrator) on the Twitter page can review the statistics. The administrator can see analytics for a tweet by clicking on it and seeing how many retweets or favorites a tweet has. This will help to determine how many people have seen the post and how frequently people are interacting with it. Twitter posts can also be analyzed through Hootsuite. Hootsuite has a standard option that is free and allows users to see two analytics for two different accounts for free. The free analytics can show demographics of people engaging with the HPAAC on Twitter, how popular tweets are, and what times of the day the HPAAC is getting the most traffic. The standard Hootsuite option is perfect for the HPAAC because the organization only has two social media accounts, Twitter and Facebook. If the organization eventually wants to add more social media platforms and see the analytics for them, Hootsuite will charge a fee of $8.99 a month for the pro version; There is a 30 day free trial so the HPAAC can decide if it is worth it to upgrade in the future (Hootsuite, 2013). Also, by using Twitter Archive and the Twitter Archive Analyzer (http://twitter.leermakers.net/) we can get word clouds, tag clouds, retweet counts, and many more analytics (Guzman, 2013). This provides us outcome information so that we can see what impact our campaign has had on the community. Yelp There is no cost to write a review on Yelp. It would be worthwhile to take the time to post reviews and give ratings for the High Point Area Arts Council because it will entice people to visit the venue. The more ratings and reviews an organization has the more likely it is that people will see the companys page; thus, increasing the reach. Survey Surveys can be analyzed via SPSS. High Point University has a license to the program and provides program use to students for free. We could use SPSS through HPU for free. Another free option for SPSS would be to download the free trial software. Once the surveys are collected we would download SPSS Statistics Desktop, enter the data, and analyze it. The trial software expires 14 days from the installation date (IBM). If the HPAAC then chooses to purchase the standard SPSS, it would cost $2,320 for a fixed term of 12 months or $5,270 for an unlimited term.

Our key tactics for monitoring and evaluation our campaign include gathering primary and secondary research about our campaign. Through these surveys and focus groups we can closely monitor and evaluate the feedback were receive relating to the new campaign strategies. These strategies are significant to our campaign because they will help the HPAAC know if any additional changes still need to be made. b. By monitoring or progress quarterly (for a one year campaign) we will be able to get quality feedback about exactly what is working and what is not on a much more specific level. i. By understanding which events are the most/least popular we can get a better idea about how to manage events going further. ii. This will also help us change aspects of events that arent working to become more successful.

Key Issues and Implications for Campaign Design

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By monitoring or progress quarterly (for a one year campaign) we will be able to get quality feedback about exactly what is working and what is not on a much more specific level. By understanding which events are the most/least popular we can get a better idea about how to manage events going further. This will also help us change aspects of events that arent working to become more successful. Doing a content analysis is an extremely important aspect of the campaign because the local newspapers and online publications are what reaches the public so it is important to see what gets picked up by reporters and what doesnt seem to be getting coverage. This will be extremely helpful because this will give a much better understanding as to what the public finds interesting and worthwhile. By utilizing social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and yelp, it keeps the costs extremely minimal if any, however has the capability of reaching many people in our target market. This would be used more specifically for our younger generations simply because thats who uses social media the most. In fact many people in our younger demographic cited social media platforms as their main source for local social events which is while

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High Point Area Arts Council Post Campaign Focus Groups
Compensation: Attendees will receive free tickets to all HPAAC events for the year. Small snacks and beverages should be provided to help make the participants feel relaxed and comfortable. Total time is 45 minutes with 15 minutes left for open discussion.

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The ideal focus groups will include a student from High Point University, a parent (one male, one female) as well as one attendee from each of the events held by the HPAAC.

Focus Group Sample Questions

1.) How enjoyable was the event you attended? 2.) Did the event allow you the opportunity to meet new people in your community? 3.) Would you attend that specific event again? 4.) What are some things you wished would have been at the event? 5.) Do you feel the event was promoted well? 6.) How likely are you to refer the HPAAC to a friend or relative? 7.) How likely are you to donate to the HPAAC? 8.) Are you aware of the HPAAC social media pages such as Twitter and Facebook and do you believe that these are easy ways to reach you? Make sure to allow the participants to elaborate, take effective notes and never cut off a participant that is speaking. Provide unbiased feedback that will help to encourage the discussion further.

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