Marketing plan

Marketing plan

Quality

Quality

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Publicity Plan Outline and Timeline

I Brand Identity Assessment/Problem and Needs January - March, 2004

a Staff

b Community advisory board

c African American focus group

d Hispanic focus group

e Marketing, demographics and media audit

f Meetings with other agencies

i City PR and community liaison

ii Park District (new field house) (publicity in newsletter) (result)

iii Boys and Girls Club

iv Rotary

v Township (buses for concerts, publicity in newsletter)

vi Park Place Senior Center

vii Main Street

viii YMCA

ix Schools

II Brand Aspiration (Planning) January - March, 2004

a Budget Analysis / use Contrarian Thinking

b Goals

i Get more media coverage

ii All city mailings

iii Get more photos in papers

iv Email newsletter

v Update website

vi Drop newsletter/mail postcards

vii Change programming model

viii New identity

ix Increase staff in PR department

III Brand Strategy/Implementation April - December, 2004

a Quality Campaign (brand promise)

b School flyers (outreach/publicity)

c Print materials to coordinate with identity such as brochures on library services

d Articles in newspapers/radio/tv

e Paid advertising

f More photographs in paper

g City wide mailings

i Township

ii Park District

iii Postcard mailing on power of library cards

h Expanded staff

i Interns

ii Graphic Artist

IV Operations

a Programming

b Landscaping

c Slat wall

d Change in bookmobile schedule

V Training

a Dress for Success

b Customer Service Training

c Merchandising

d All staff day training (second one)

VI Fundraising and Sponsorships

a Local businesses and agencies for promotions

i WDA for Winter Concerts

ii City for Summer Concerts

b Interns

VII Budget

a Increase publicity budget

b Create budget for Quality campaign merchandise

VIII Brand Effectiveness/Evaluation December, 2004

a School flyers

b E-newsletters

c All city mailings

d Follow up to focus groups/survey

e Exit surveys

f Program successes

g Statistics

h Correct information in papers

i Letters and public comments

j More photos and articles

k Website/Intranet

l School outreach

“A brand is a product from a known source (organization) The name of the organization can also serve as a brand The brand value reflects how a product’s name, or company name, is perceived by the marketplace, whether that is a target audience for a product or the marketplace in general (clearly these can have differ-ent meanings and therefore differdiffer-ent values) It is important to understand the meaning and the value of the brand (for each target audience) in order to develop an effective marketing mix, for each target audience.” Learnthat.com

External Quality Campaign

Putting “quality” in the lives of our patrons is inherent to library service Even when we make minimum effort, the qual-ity of the patron’s life still improves by what they check out/attend as we are not writing the books, playing the music etc By providing excellent customer service, information about services and programs, a clean and friendly facility and easy access to information, we enhance the quality experience

Goal: In 2004 the Waukegan Public Library will implement a public awareness campaign with the goal of updating the library’s image and identity within the community

Objectives: In addition to a public awareness plan, the current strategic plan needs to be reviewed to align its objec-tives with the goals of this publicity effort To that end, many of the projects listed in the plan would support the

“Quality of Life” campaign We need to concentrate only on those that move us towards the goal of greater public awareness during 2004

• Invite the community advisory/strategic planning board back to the library to review new streamlined plan

• Create new logo to go with tagline Implement new logo on all materials This logo should tie to the library’s identity

to its website creating a more uniform approach to “branding” the organization The logo will support the chosen tagline that clearly identifies to the patron the mission of the organization “to put quality in their life.” This campaign will be introduced to the public during National Library Week 2004

• Update the library’s website to reflect its purpose as a public relations tool

• Purchase shirts, hats etc and other merchandise with the library’s new logo

Quality Service/Internal Campaign

Quality is first and foremost about meeting the needs and expectations of customers It is important to understand that quality is about more than a product simply “working properly” Think about your needs and expectations as a customer when you buy a product or service These may include performance, appearance, availability, delivery, reli-ability, maintainreli-ability, cost effectiveness and price

Goal: Quality training must be provided to staff in order for them to produce a quality product The library will develop and present customer service and other training programs to support the quality theme

Objectives: Training programs on Focus Group results, Dress for Success, Merchandising and Customer Service

Quality Programming

Focus group results show that we are not reaching our target audiences with publications or programs It is time to tie the programs directly to the marketing instead of vice versa

Analysis of local agency promotions show that the most effective promotions in the City of Waukegan (for the lowest cost) are bilingual school flyers directly tied to specific events Previously the library was producing quarterly newslet-ters that were not showing a return on the investment i.e low program attendance

Goal: Increase program attendance

Objective: Develop a calendar of programs that emphasizes improving the quality of our patrons lives while high-lighting events such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, National Library Week, El dia de los ninos, Summer Reading, Library Card Sign Up month, Hispanic Heritage Month and others All professional staff should be submitting articles for media, links for the web, bibliographies and displays all tied to the theme of the month

New criteria for programming: If the goal of the public awareness program is to increase market awareness then per-haps we should not offer any additional programming for the rest of the year unless:

a) It is tied to the Quality of Life Campaign or

b) There is a partnership with another agency that can produce the clientele or

c) It is tied to a national/local effort such as Hispanic Heritage Month, National Library Week, Library Card Sign Up Month

Focus group results also show that our Hispanic audience is in need of service information rather than programs at this time We need to establish the library as a place of trust in the community We need to build awareness of quality services, get them hooked and then provide quality programming We also learned that the need to educate this com-munity about services is ongoing as the immigration to the comcom-munity is constant This goes for children’s and adults

Quality Publications

Budget analysis shows that a one color/one page monthly school flyer can be produced for virtually the same cost as the current two color four page children’s newsletter

Goal: Develop more successful, bilingual promotional tools that promote services as well as programs

Objectives: Develop a monthly bilingual flyer to be handed out at schools, daycare centers and preschools Develop

a theme of programming or services for each month to be promoted in the flyer Ideas to include: El dia de los ninos, Summer Reading Club, Smartest Card campaign, Hispanic Heritage Month and Computing at the Library Drop cur-rent children’s newsletter

• Create uniform publications that reflect the library’s new identity i.e service brochures

• Update library cards to reflect new campaign called “Q” cards

• Develop handout on library rules called “Q Tips”

Publications audit reveals that only 3,500 or 10% of all households in Waukegan receive regular mailings with infor-mation about the library in the form of an 8 page newsletter and even then they must know about it to ask for it It

is also not bilingual even though the 2004 Census reveals that over 45% of the community is Hispanic and 40% of residents speak Spanish at home

Because the library’s budget is extremely limited at this time we must use contrarian thinking What does that mean?

A publications audit of public libraries in the North Surburban Library System show that 100% of the libraries surveyed produce and mail a newsletter We cannot afford to mail a newsletter to each home and business in Waukegan (over 35,000) and contrary to popular belief our newsletter was not producing results i.e it was not bringing people to the library We must take chances and try to use the same budget to produce new promotions and get increased results Budget analysis shows that a four color, bilingual, oversized, glossy postcard can be printed for the same cost as the printing and mailing the 3,500 newsletters (two color) If a sponsor can be found to offset the mailing costs ($2,000) we can reach 100% of the households in Waukegan versus 10%

Goal: To develop methods to promote services to all households and businesses in Waukegan.

Objectives: To develop a quality bilingual postcard to be mailed to each household in Waukegan promoting aware-ness of the library’s services instead of programs (use school flyers for programs) on a quarterly basis

• Find a sponsor to help offset mailing costs

• Increase the subscriptions to the library’s “enewsletter” to replace the print newsletter

While conducting our agency audit we also found that most other governmental agencies in Waukegan already had a publication that was mailed to every household By meeting individually with each agency we found that most agen-cies would be willing to promote the library in some manner in their publications allowing us another way to reach 100% of the households at no extra cost to the library at all!

Goal: To promote the bookmobile’s new schedule (Fall, 2004) by using other governmental agency publications

Objectives: Contact the Park District, City and Township and other agencies to request promotional assistance

Quality Budgeting

“In the for-profit world, it’s fairly standard to determine a marketing budget by allocating 10-20% of projected gross revenues to marketing and communications” according to Nancy Schwartz and Company a non-profit marketing firm

At this time the Waukegan Public Library dedicates only 1.7% of its total operating budget to marketing and promo-tions

Goal: To realign current line items in the budget to produce new publications (postcard and school flyer) and budget for more funds in next fiscal cycle

Objectives: Develop a line item in the budget for quality support materials and merchandising

• Do more with less, hire interns to assist in publications production

• Budget for a part-time graphic artist in next budget cycle

• Budget for a web consultant to maintain website under public relations budget

Quality Outreach

An internal media audit for the city of Waukegan revealed some very interesting statistics There is only one local sub-scription based, English language newspaper in Waukegan It has a subsub-scription base of 10,000 papers (out of 35,000 possible) The reader demographic—50 year old, white male We get about two inches every Saturday In the metro-politan subscription paper, Chicago Tribune we get one inch once a month on the day of an event with broad appeal

In addition there are two free weekly papers—Bargaineer and Advertiser which provide the library with about three inches of column space a week Of the Spanish language and bilingual papers there are several daily metropolitan papers Hoy (Chicago Tribune), La Raza, Exito There are also several weeklies La Luz (News Sun), La Semana, and Vision News (distribution 7,500 target market men aged 18-36 who are sports minded and bilingual) None are subscription based

When we compare these marketing profiles with the average resident in Waukegan 29 years old (male or female), with two children, and a 50% chance of speaking English “well” and the profile of the average patron of the Waukegan Public Library—a woman reading fiction, checking out AV and kids books none of our media opportunities meet these profiles!

Couple this with the misinformation printed by the News Sun in their November Darts and Laurels column stating that the library has only 10% active users, and we clearly have a media relations problem

Goal: To reduce our reliance on local media to distribute information, while at the same time make sure those media sources are printing accurate information (more contrarian thinking)

Objectives: Use more paid advertising when possible

• Try to create a higher profile in local media to ensure accurate information

• Solicit more photo opportunities and feature stories

The library also has a need to organize its publication and information distribution within the building The publicity audit reveals that brochures, flyers and bookmarks have no central distribution location

Goal: To create a centralized distribution center for library publicity within the building

Objectives: Add a slat wall to the foyer to create a visually interesting and organized distribution area

• Use the large wall behind circulation to promote upcoming events with posters

• Purchase a poster printer

The library can also create increased awareness in the community by partnering with other agencies The publicity audit of other agencies opened the door to many opportunities

Goal: To increase the library’s profile in the community by partnering with other agencies and events in the down-town area

Objectives: To provide a storyteller at the first annual Juneteenth celebration

• Host book sale during Scoop the Loop

• Pursue the opportunity to have a branch built into the Park District’s new field house

• To partner with the Park District on a Rec n’ Read program combining bookmobile stops with crafts and fun

Quality Evaluation

Will contrarian thinking allow us to better use our budget while increasing public awareness? Commonly used sta-tistics may not reflect the success of this program in its first year By measuring our ability to meet the objectives set forth in this plan we can evaluate the efforts of the public relations department By measuring the amount of media coverage we receive we will know if we are getting more feature stories and photos And by measuring the success of attracting our target markets to our programs we will know if we have reached our audience

Goal: To measure the success of Quality Campaign 2004

Objective: Evaluate new publications effectiveness on reaching target markets through program attendance

• Measure whether we’ve achieved a higher profile in local media

• Measure whether or not we met the objectives set forth in this plan

It is then that we will know if we have added more

quality to the lives of the residents of Waukegan