Marketing

  Deb Howell – I commented on Group 2, 3 and 4’s Marketing Paper. 

Abdulmajeed Alomayri - I commented on Group 2 and 3's Marketing Paper.

Wafa Alrasheed - I commented on Group 2's Marketing Paper.

Ashley Pilmore - I commented on Group 2, 3, and 4's Marketing Paper.

Group 1: Marketing Paper

Deb Howell - Group Leader, Community and University Outreach, Assist Writer with Content

Abdulmajeed Alomayri - Community and University Outreach, Assist Writer with Content

Wafa Alrasheed - Community and University Outreach, Assist Writer with Content

Ashley Pilmore - Recorder, Community and University Outreach, Writer

Introduction

            The overall purpose of the marketing project was to inform the Muncie community about The Big Read initiative and the many events that will be taking place throughout the community in support of this particular initiative, including our very own group workshop that will focus on the topic of electronic book burning.  According to Kurtz and Boone (2015), “Marketing is essential, and it is necessary to get the marketing strategy right” (p. 10).  Prior to the actual project, we were asked to consider and utilize the various concepts and marketing strategies that had been presented to us.  Other considerations included the driving forces behind this immersive learning project (The Big Read, the NEA grant, and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury), our target audience (young adult to adult), location (First Baptist Church), workshop topic of choice (electronic book burning), and TEAMWork’s willingness to open this particular session to participants not associated with the organization (TEAMWork focuses on empowering and educating individuals living in poverty).  The aforementioned considerations, in turn, informed our marketing choices and strategies.

            Our goals for this project were broken down into individual and group goals.  These goals were determined by the project leader, Deb Howell, based on the project rubric and her own expectations for the project as a whole.  The proposed goals were then discussed and agreed upon as a group.  Group goals consisted of effective communication among group members, equal participation of all group members, reach out to 300 individuals, compile a better paper, and maintain a marketing budget of $0.00 spent.  Individual goals consisted of finding and reading at least one piece of literature, choosing and utilizing at least one marketing strategy, providing at least one piece of documentation confirming marketing activities, and reaching out to at least 25 individuals in order to meet the minimum requirement of reaching out to 100 individuals. 

    Marketing Strategies

            According to the Arizona Office of Tourism (n.d.), “A marketing plan is a key component in obtaining funding to pursue new initiatives” (para. 2).  Our overall goal was to obtain more support for The Big Read initiative and our group workshop. When piecing together our marketing plan-of-action, our group began the discussion with a brainstorming session lead by the project leader, Deb.  Group members were instructed to first consider the driving forces behind our immersive learning project, our community partners, and our upcoming workshop.  Group members were then encouraged to share potential marketing strategies that could be utilized as well as the locations in which these marketing activities could take place.  Many of the suggestions focused on reaching out to individuals via social media, word-of-mouth, and visuals, such as flyers and brochures, placed around the Ball State campus and Muncie community.  Based on these suggestions, each group member was tasked with specific marketing activities and locations.  Individual assignments can be found below:

Group Member	Marketing Activities	Marketing Locations
Deb Howell	•    Utilize The Big Read brochure and group workshop flyer •    Reach out to The Star Press •    Reach out to Newslink	•  TEAMWork for Quality Living •  Muncie Community (via the media)
Abdulmajeed Alomayri	•    Utilize The Big Read brochure and group workshop flyer •    Reach out to the Ball State University Saudi Students Club	•  Libraries within the Muncie Community •  Muncie Central High School •  The Department of Public Relations (BSU)
Wafa Alrasheed	•    Utilize The Big Read brochure and group workshop flyer •    Reach out through Twitter and Instagram	•    The Department of Biology (BSU) •    The Department of English-Language (BSU) •    Muncie Community (via social media)
Ashley Pilmore	•    Utilize The Big Read brochure and group workshop flyer •    Reach out to Teachers College professors and ask them to share Big Read activities with their students •    Reach out through Facebook and Eventbrite	•    The Teachers College (BSU) •    Muncie Community (via social media)

Once these assignments were in place, the group was instructed to conduct further research on the subject of effective marketing strategies.  Our group agreed to utilize and test out different marketing strategies as opposed to choosing an overall group strategy. 

            One of the strategies that was researched and utilized was “target marketing” which is a strategy focused on getting to know your customer and/or audience.  According to the strategy, the marketing plan is “tailored to fit some specific target customers” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2009, para. 2).  Also, even though the plan is geared towards targeting a specific audience, it does not necessarily mean that individuals outside the specified criteria are to be excluded.  When utilizing the target marketing strategy, it is important to be well-versed in its  components: gender, ethnicity, education, financial resources, and hobbies, location, and special interests.  More importantly, one must define the components in relation to the target customers and/or audience. (p. 34)

            When attempting to utilize this particular strategy, we looked to The Big Read initiative for answers as to who our target audience should be.  According to the initiative, their primary focus is “developing community-wide reading programs which encourage reading and participation by diverse audiences” (About, 2015, para. 2).  In accordance with this initiative, all components were left undefined.  Our group did, however, place an age restriction on our target audience (young adult to adult) based on the material presented in Fahrenheit 451 and the chosen topic of our workshop.  This made TEAMWork the ideal community partner in our marketing endeavors because even though their target audience is individuals living in poverty, they were willing to open up our workshop session to other individuals within the Muncie community.   

            Another strategy that was researched and utilized was “integrated marketing”.  According to the DMA (2015) integrated marketing focuses on:

Creating a unified and seamless experience for consumers to interact with the brand/enterprise; it attempts to meld all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and social media, through their respective mix of tactics, methods, channels, media, and activities, so that all work together as a unified force. (para. 1)

Figure 1: Integrated Marketing.  Retrieved from http://asenmarketing.com/integrated-marketing-drives-results/. Copyright 2015 by Asen Marketing & Advertising. 

The utilization of this particular strategy can be found in the individual marketing assignments listed in the table above.  Like the strategy states, we utilized various forms of marketing communication such as traditional advertising (flyers and brochures), social media (Twitter and Facebook), public communications (newspapers) and digital (group blog and The Muncie Big Read website).  According to Joann Brown, Executive Director of Marketing and Communication at Indiana University (2004):

Each interaction with an adult student or potential student presents an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between that student and our organization.  Each employee is an ambassador for our organization, and each printed or electronic communication shapes the student’s experience.  Marketers need to develop a comprehensive understanding of all “customer contact points” with an eye to maximizing the potential for positive interaction.  Customer contact may occur through a printed bulletin, on the Web site, in conversation with an adviser or call center agent, or in a notice of fees past due.  We can construe marketing broadly to include attention to all these points of contact—and to involve almost every staff member.  When an organization commits to a true customer focus, it commits to integrated marketing. (p. 2). 

            Our group research also consisted of reaching out to individuals who have a background in marketing communications.  One of our contacts was Lisa Renze-Rhodes, Senior Media Relations Manager at Ball State University.  Renze-Rhodes advised our group to utilize all mediums of social media to spread the word about The Big Read initiative and our group workshop, because social media is one of the quickest and most effective forms of communication.  She also suggested reaching out to the English Department at Muncie Central High School and encouraging them to advertise this event in their classes.  Our other contact Chloe Sturdivant, is an undergraduate student in the Marketing and Communications Department.  She provided our group with a document that she created titled “Communicating Effectively”.  This document contained the various principles of rhetoric that would help our group create an effective marketing plan that would persuade individuals to support The Big Read as well as attend our group workshop.  These principles included subject (what is the topic?), occasion (what is the reason for your message?), audience (how will the demographics of your audience affect the way your message is presented?), purpose (why are you sending this message?), setting (how will the physical location affect the quality of delivery of your message?),  and tone (what types of feelings do you want to evoke from your audience and how will you achieve this?) (Sturdivant, 2015, p. 1-2).  Sturdivant’s document also touched on the principles of logos (appeal of your message and speaker credibility), pathos (emotional appeal of your message), and ethos (how ethical is your argument?) (p. 2-3)

Budget

               For this portion of the project, our group was given a total of $50.00 for marketing expenses.  After a lengthy group discussion, we decided to solely utilize free resources such as the pre-made Big Read brochures, social media, and word of mouth to market The Big Read initiative and our group workshop.  Our rationale for doing so was to maintain a much larger budget for our group workshop.  A larger workshop budget allows us to provide our attendees with better handouts, a variety of giveaways, and ultimately allows us to provide our TEAMWork families with a nice dessert and beverage selection in the event that donations cannot be obtained.  Our group finalized this decision by agreeing that the $50.00 could still be utilized if the individual requesting the funds could provide a reasonable rationale for using the funds for marketing purposes instead of the group workshop.  If the majority of the group agreed, then the funds would be dispersed to that individual for its intended purpose.  In the end, the funds were never utilized and in turn, were deposited into the workshop budget leaving $100.00 available for workshop expenses.                                                     

     Marketing Activities and Results

            The table below summarizes our group marketing activities as well as the results of those activities.  For some of our activities, it was very difficult to pinpoint the exact number of individuals that had been reached.  Despite our inability to provide concrete results of our marketing efforts, it is our professional opinion that we have at least met the outreach requirement of 100 individuals. 

Marketing Activity	Target Audience	Marketing Location(s)	Results
Brochures and Flyers	•  Muncie Community (young adult-adult) •  Ball State University students, faculty, professionals, and staff	•  Teachers College (BSU) •  Office of Information Security Services (BSU) •  Information Technology Services (BSU)	•  Difficult to pinpoint the number of individuals reached with this activity
Face-to-Face Communication	•  Muncie Community (young adult-adult) •  Ball State University students, faculty, professionals, and staff	•  Teachers College (BSU) •  TEAMWork for Quality Living •  Senior Gathering, Northside Assembly of God	•  Teachers College - 10+ individuals reached •  TEAMWork for Quality Living - 75+ individuals reached •  Northside Assembly of God - 40+ individuals reached
Social Media	•  Muncie Community (young adult-adult) •  Ball State University students, faculty, professionals, and staff •  Friends and Family	•  Twitter •  Instagram •  Facebook - Personal (Ashley and Deb), Office of Information Security Services, and Ball State University Saudi Students Club •  Eventbrite	•  Twitter - 30 individuals reached •  Instagram - Difficult to pinpoint the number of individuals reached with this activity •  Facebook - Difficult to pinpoint the number of individuals reached with this activity •  Eventbrite - not utilized because clearance was not given by TEAMWork to publicize our workshop on a public event website; also there was limited space at our workshop location
Public Communications	•  Muncie Community (young adult-adult) •  Ball State University students, faculty, professionals, and staff	•  The Star Press (Group Workshop Event posted) •  Newslink	•  The Star Press - Difficult to pinpoint the number of individuals reached with this activity •  Newslink - failed to reply to inquiries; will continue to pursue



Photos

Please visit our Photos and Video page for marketing photos.
References

About The Big Read. (2015). The Big Read. Retrieved from http://www.neabigread.org/

            about.php

Brown, J. (2004). Marketing and Retention Strategies for Adult Degree Programs. New

Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 103, 2. Retrieved from https://blackboard.bsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4457633-dt-content-rid-19469121_1/courses/2015FAL_EDAC632S1_CLAS_10493_M/18%20%20%20%20Practical%20paper%20%20Marketing%20and%20retention%20strategies%20for%20adult%20degree%20programs.pdf

How to Write a Marketing Plan. (n.d.). Arizona Office of Tourism. Retrieved from

https://tourism.az.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files How_to_Create_A_Marketing_Plan.pdf.

Integrated Marketing Definitions. (2015). The DMA. Retrieved from http://thedma.org/

            integrated-marketing-community/integrated-marketing-definitions/

Kurtz, D. & Boone, L (2015). Contemporary Marketing (16th ed.). Independence, KY: Cengage Learning

Perreault, W., Cannon, J., & McCarthy, E. (2009). Marketing Strategy Planning. In Basic

            marketing: A marketing strategy planning approach, 18(1), p. 34. Boston,

            Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

What is integrated marketing?. (2015). Asen Marketing & Advertising. Retrieved from http://

            asenmarketing.com/integrated-marketing-drives-results/

Sturdivant, C. (2015). Communicating Effectively.

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During our last meeting on October 2^nd, 2015 the following items were assigned and agreed upon by all members.  As the Project Leader for Marketing I feel these goals are very realistic.  If anyone has an issue or is having a difficult time please make contact with another group member for help.  Use the Group 1 Discussion Board in Blackboard for communication.  E-mailing to group members is ok if you choose to do so, but only as an addition to posting to Blackboard, Not instead of posting to Blackboard.

Deadlines:

• By Wednesday, October 7^th 11:59pm myself, Abdul and Wafa need to have our portion of the information e-mailed to Ashley.
• By Saturday, October 10^th, 2015, 11:59 pm Ashley will post the Marketing paper to our blog.   
• All of us must review the content and make any suggestions to Ashley by October 11^th, 2015, 4pm. 
• Ashley will complete the Marketing paper by October 11th, 2015, by 11:50pm.

Mandatory Assignments for ALL Group Members: 

• List at least one strategy used to market The Big Read and our workshop
• List at least one piece of literature that you referenced (excludes our course text and course articles)
• Provide at least one piece of documentation of your marketing experience (this can be a photograph, an e-mail image, video, etc.)
• We originally stated we should reach out to at least 25 people.  I personally think it is possible to reach out to 75 people, but if you are unable to reach that number it is understandable.  Please try for a minimum of 50. 

Individual Assignments (mandatory unless excused by Deb):

• Ashley - Facebook, Eventbrite, Teachers College, Reach out through Facebook and find Muncie libraries, Ball State library, Teamwork for Quality of Life (any organizations you find on their page reach out to those as well). We need to get them to like us as well as us liking them. Lisa Renze-Rhodes said it is the best way to spread the word.
• Abdulmajeed - Public Relations Department, BSU Saudi Students Club, Take our Big Read flyers to the Muncie Public Libraries here in town. Since they are supporters of the Big Read they should allow us to post our workshop flyer.  They let you leave some for customers to take.  Please check.  Lisa also suggested we reach out to Muncie Central High School, probably the English department.  See if we can share our workshop with their classes.  Hopefully we can share a flyer with everyone in English since they are partners to the Big Read. We should point out that we are teaming with TEAMwork for Quality of Living.  There are probably several students whose family is in poverty.  TEAMwork helps empower those in poverty and of course we would love to see high school students come and be part of the literacy program.
• Deb - Lead Marketing Project, TEAMWork, The Star Press, contact Lisa Renz-Rhodes, Newslink
• Wafa - Twitter, Instagram, English-Language Department, Biology Department; per Lisa Renze-Rhodes she suggested social media ideas to reach out.  Since you are doing the social media I am assigning the tasks to you. Reach out through all forms of social media, other than Facebook, and find Muncie libraries (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest,etc.), Ball State library, Teamwork for Quality of Life (any organizations you find on their page reach out to those as well).  We need to get them to like us as well as us liking them. Lisa said using social media is the best way to spread the word about our event since we are creating a newsworthy event.

Group Goals:

• Reach 300 people (This is not a requirement, but it would be awesome to meet this goal.)
• Receive a better grade on our Marketing Paper than our Organization Paper
• By using the information, tips and ideas Dr. Chang has shared with us we should personally try to do a better job than we did on the last paper. It is often difficult on the first paper to do a 100%. We can do a better job with this paper and correct the Organization paper. 
•   Attempt to use our $100.00 on the workshop

Marketing Budget:

At this time, our group has chosen to use all $100.00 on the workshop unless another marketing expense arises