Marketing plan
Quality Quality2 0 0 4 Publicity Plan Outline and TimelineI. Brand Identity Assessment/Problem and Needs January - March, 2004a. Staffb. Community advisory boardc. African American focus groupd. Hispanic focus groupe. Marketing, demographics and media auditf. Meetings with other agenciesi. City PR and community liaisonii. Park District (new field house) (publicity in newsletter) (result)iii. Boys and Girls Clubiv. Rotaryv. Township (buses for concerts, publicity in newsletter)vi. Park Place Senior Centervii. Main Streetviii. YMCAix. SchoolsII. Brand Aspiration (Planning) January - March, 2004a. Budget Analysis / use Contrarian Thinkingb. Goalsi. Get more media coverageii. All city mailingsiii. Get more photos in papersiv. Email newsletterv. Update websitevi. Drop newsletter/mail postcardsvii. Change programming modelviii. New identityix. Increase staff in PR departmentIII. Brand Strategy/Implementation April - December, 2004a. Quality Campaign (brand promise)b. School flyers (outreach/publicity)c. Print materials to coordinate with identity such as brochures on library servicesd. Articles in newspapers/radio/tve. Paid advertisingf. More photographs in paperg. City wide mailingsi. Townshipii. Park Districtiii. Postcard mailing on power of library cardsh. Expanded staffi. Internsii. Graphic Artist IV. Operationsa. Programmingb. Landscapingc. Slat walld. Change in bookmobile scheduleV. Traininga. Dress for Success b. Customer Service Trainingc. Merchandisingd. All staff day training (second one)VI. Fundraising and Sponsorshipsa. Local businesses and agencies for promotionsi. WDA for Winter Concertsii. City for Summer Concertsb. InternsVII. Budgeta. Increase publicity budget b. Create budget for Quality campaign merchandiseVIII. Brand Effectiveness/Evaluation December, 2004a. School flyersb. E-newslettersc. All city mailingsd. Follow up to focus groups/surveye. Exit surveysf. Program successes g. Statisticsh. Correct information in papersi. Letters and public commentsj. More photos and articlesk. Website/Intranetl. 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 different 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.comExternal Quality CampaignPutting “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 CampaignQuality 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, maintainability, 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 ServiceQuality ProgrammingFocus 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 orb) There is a partnership with another agency that can produce the clientele orc) 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 community is constant. This goes for children’s and adults. Quality PublicationsBudget 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 OutreachAn 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 subscription 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 EvaluationWill 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. . 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. 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