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IMC Plan - Homecoming Weekend

Gabrielle Data
Ali Rodriguez
Sarah Roti
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Table of Contents

Situation Analysis......pg. 3-4

Objectives......pg. 5

Audience.........pg. 6-7

Strategies/Tactics.....pg. 8-10

Calendar.......pg. 11

Budget.......pg. 12

Measurement.....pg. 13

More Details......pg. 14

Creative Brief......pg. 15-16

Newspaper Advertisement.......pg. 17

Poster.....pg. 18

Infographic....pg. 19

Social Media...pg. 20

Cups....pg. 21

Snapchat GeoTag...pg. 22

Other Logospg. 23

Appendixpg. 24-
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Situation Analysis

Our group sent out a survey open to all John Carroll students on Wednesday, April 13th.

The survey was open until Thursday, April 21st and we collected 22 responses. These results

allowed us to find out what the John Carroll students liked and disliked about previous

homecoming tailgates, as they are our primary audience we are trying to reach. One of the first

outstanding results we found was that 72% of students they do not like the size of the tailgate

here on campus. From the survey we were able to to figure out that JCU students are interested

in attending the tailgate but do not because they think it is too small, isnt enough school spirit

and not enough food and drink provided. Students who took the survey were given an

opportunity at the end of the survey to leave their own comments on what they think would make

the tailgate better. Most students commented how having more school spirit and higher energy

would make the tailgate more enjoyable. Along with having more school spirit, through our

survey we also found out that students were not informed about the BYOB policy. Making

students more aware of the BYOB policy during the tailgate would entice and motivate students,

especially students of legal drinking age, to want to attend. The survey also informed us that 68%

of students do not like having the tailgate on the tennis courts. From this it can be assumed that

students and parents were not aware of the tailgate space available in the belvoir parking lot.

Overall it can be concluded from our survey results that JCU students are poorly informed about

the tailgates, and want a more fun, school spirited event.

We have also done some secondary research on similar and different schools than John

Carroll University. Baldwin Wallace is a college that is very similar to John Carroll, especially

in terms of athletics. For their past homecoming tailgates they have the attendees pay more for
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their ticket to the game because it includes the price of their homecoming tailgate picnic. We

believe that we have an advantage if we keep the price of the ticket lower and do not charge for

entrance to the tailgate. We also looked at some of the specifics of the University of Mount

Unions homecoming tailgates. We found that they charge $10 for their homecoming t shirts.

We believe that this weekend is not really about making a profit. We would like to make cheap,

customized t shirts that we can give away for free. Having to spend a lot of money during the

family/homecoming weekend sets a stressful vibe, and that is not what we want.

We also looked at larger schools such as Ohio State, Ohio University and Kent State. We

did some research on them because we are striving to have our tailgate be similar to theirs. One

overwhelming finding when researching these schools is the amount of school spirit that the

student body possess. That is why we would like to focus on creating this spirit in our students,

because we believe that this energy will help create an enjoyable and memorable weekend for

everyone involved.
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Objectives

Tailgate Objective 1: Better inform our audiences about tailgate possibilities.

As previously stated, our survey results showed that not all of the students were aware of

the tailgate possibilities, such as the BYOB policy. Through our marketing we want to

make it very clear what activities will be available at the tailgate, such as food trucks,

music, free cups, t shirts, and more. Knowledge of these activities will create buzz and

anticipation among the students, family, and alumni.

Tailgate Objective 2: Increase student attendance at the homecoming tailgate.

From the survey it was learned that students would like to see more school spirit and a

higher energy. Many students have visited bigger schools tailgates and would like to at

least see JCU be more energetic and excited. By having a more energized and pumped up

setting, that will encourage students to attend.

Tailgate Objective 3: Increase school spirit within the student body.

To increase school spirit we would start off by promoting the tailgate in advance so that

students are aware of it, as well as students know what to expect at the tailgate. Through

the giveaways, food, music, and attendance we believe that each students school spirit

can be increased during this tailgate.

Audience

Our primary audience for this plan is all current John Carroll students. Our secondary

target audience is family, and our third is alumni. We feel that it is important to include these

three groups in our plan because the weekend is dedicated to them. Obviously students will be

on campus and participate in the activities, but we must also realize that many families will

travel to John Carroll for the festivities and so will alumni.

John Carroll Students:

Since the students are our primary audience, we would want to reach out to them in a way that

will grab their attention. Promoting in advance about the festive weekend on Facebook, Inside

JCU, Twitter, and the Carroll News would get the students attention since those platforms are

used daily by the students. Putting flyers up around the school like in the library, Cafeteria, In

Between, and in academic buildings would also grab their attention and would also grab the

attention of the faculty and staff. .

Family:

Many families will also be making the trip to John Carroll for the weekend. We see the families

as a secondary audience because a major way we will be reaching them is through their

student(s) at John Carroll. However, we will also target them directly by mailing parents our

poster in a smaller version than what will be displayed around campus. In the envelope we will

also include information about other events taking place during the weekend.
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Alumni:

Alumni being our third target audience would be targeted in a similar way in which parents and

family would be. For alumni, we would send out a flyer in the mail informing them off the

events during the week as well as the ones specifically for alumni.
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Strategies/ Tactics

Strategy 1: Focus on expanding awareness through media platforms such as Inside JCU,

Facebook, and Twitter.

Tactics:

1. Create a Facebook dedicated to homecoming weekend.

This Facebook page will include information about the tailgate and will

serve as an Event page. People will be able to say they are attending the

event and see who else is going. We will update the page with any

changes or updates. Most parents use this form of social media so we will

target them with this page.

2. Create Twitter dedicated to tailgate.

This Twitter will be used as a way to interact with students and alumni

who have twitter accounts. We can tweet out information as they day

approaches and also use it the day of the event. Attendees can also tweet

the account with any questions they have. We see this as a way for the

students and alumni to interact with us.

3. Include a link to our infographic and poster on Inside JCU.

We will also use Inside JCU as the event approaches. We will not be

relying on this solely, but it is very easy to do and may find students that

we did not previously reach. We can include our infographic here and

even our poster in an online form.

Strategy 2: Create promotions to increase attendance at the tailgate, as well school spirit.

Tactics:

1. Display posters throughout campus.

By displaying posters throughout campus we can reach students and

faculty. The posters will be hung in academic buildings, the library,

cafeteria, and throughout campus to make sure our audience sees them.

2. Create a window painting display and banner in the atrium.

The window painting display and banner in the atrium would get a lot of

views since it is displayed in a heavily traffic student area. By doing this

students will be exposed to it and be informed of the upcoming event

3. Have a t-shirt giveaway a few days before the homecoming game.

The t shirt giveaway will get students excited and pumped about the game

and the weekend in general. Everyone loves free giveaways, and by doing

this, students will be motivated to attend the tailgate.

4. Mail out poster and other information to parents.

We will physically mail parents a smaller version of our poster along with

other information about the weekend in general.

Strategy 3: Develop interactive ways to engage the student body.

Tactics:

1. Distribute customized cups at the tailgate.

Lisa mentioned that last year they tried to distribute solo cups at the

tailgate to decrease the use of bottles and cans. It was not organized very
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well, but we think it could be a great idea. We created two different

options for cups that can be distributed to tailgate attendees. It is a

win-win because it will decrease the amount of bottles and cans, and also

the students, family, and alumni will be able to take a souvenir.

2. Energize the student section during the game by having a t-shirt toss/launch.

We will have special t shirts made for homecoming weekend. During

breaks in the game we will have a t shirt toss to the fans. This is

somewhere where we could possibly team up with the Carroll Crazies.

They are dedicated to amping up the crowd so we can use them as a

resource.

3. Have a live band at the tailgate.

To increase excitement we would like to have a live band at the tailgate.

There is a band here on campus made up of JCU students known as Save

the Frogs. We believe it would be great to have them perform as they

would bring in a large crowd of fans (all mostly JCU students).

4. Create a snapchat GeoTag for the day of the homecoming game.

Snapchat is a growing form of social media and most students engage in it

everyday. During the tailgate we will have our own GeoTag that anyone

in the JCU area with a snapchat account can access. You can find the

design below.
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Calendar

September 1st: Create a Facebook & Twitter (update as event approaches)

September 1st: Mail poster and information to parents

September 24th: Display posters throughout campus

October 3rd: Create window painting and banner in the atrium

October 3rd - October 8th: Include our infographic and poster on Inside JCU

October 5th: T shirt giveaway

During Tailgate: Distribute cups, t shirt toss, live band, snapchat GeoTag
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Budget

The following items must be considered in the budget for the 2016 homecoming

tailgate/weekend:

1. Cups - $290 (.29 cents per cup for 1,000 cups)

2. T shirts - $2,180 ($4.36 per t shirt)

3. Posters - $20 (200 flyers)

4. Wristbands - $10 (1,000 wristbands)

5. Food/Music - $300

6. Crowd Control Security - $950

7. GeoTag - $10

Additional considerations: Stamps/Envelopes/Mini poster

Estimated Total: $3,760

Measurement

We feel the best way to measure our success would be to create a follow-up survey after

the weekend is over. We can ask similar questions that we asked in our preliminary survey and

compare the results. Through this survey we will be able to gather opinions about the weekend

and the tailgate.

Our first objective: Better inform our audiences about tailgate possibilities, can be

measured by the attendance at the tailgate and also by the follow-up survey. We can ask specific

questions in the survey regarding the activities we offered and their knowledge of them.

Our second objective: Increase student attendance at the homecoming tailgate, can be

measured by the amount of t shirts and cups given away. We can also get a feel for the

attendance by the amount of food sales at the food trucks and the amount of 21 year and older

wristbands that are distributed. Although there is no way we can have an exact number of the

people in attendance, these things will give us an estimate.

Our third objective: Increase school spirit within the student body, can be measured by

the follow-up survey and specifically their comments. Also, we can measure this by looking at

the attendance and the overall energy at the tailgate and the game itself.
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More Details

To ensure the safety of the attendees and to show our dedication to protecting students
and others, we will provide a station where the attendee must show their ID to a police
officer and then will receive a wristband if they are 21 years old. This way, if JCU PD
sees someone drinking without a wristband they will be able to ask to see their ID and
adjust accordingly. We want everyone to be responsible and John Carroll will look bad if
there are underage people drinking.

We are also going to increase the signage and distinctly show the perimeter of the
tailgate. Signage will include things such as: Must be 21 years old to drink, please get a
wristband if you are 21 and Perimeter Ends Here and things of that sort. We also
think it would be beneficial to include some sort of tape surrounding the perimeter. We
would like to share photos of the perimeter on our Facebook page, Twitter, and Inside
JCU emails before the tailgate so people have an idea beforehand.

We would also like to have some sort of bracket around a game of cornhole or beer pong
if we are allowed. Those who want to participate can sign up using a link before the
tailgate and there will be a prize for the winners. (Water can be used instead of beer)
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Creative Brief:
(Our internal guide as we created this IMC plan!)

Overview:

-Promote family weekend, specifically the football tailgate, to get more students involved and
excited to support their fellow blue streaks

Target Audience:

-Primary: current students at John Carroll

Communication Objectives:

-Have a larger attendance at the homecoming tailgate and other family weekend events
-Create awareness for the weekends activities
-Increase school spirit

Product Features and Benefits:

-Cups
-Tshirt toss
-Food trucks
-BYOB (11:30-1:30 you are allowed to drink on campus)

Positioning of the Product:

-A tailgate and weekend that is energetic and filled with enthusiastic students, parents, and
alumni
-Laid-back tailgate

Key Consumer Benefits:

-BYOB (11:30-1:30 you are allowed to drink on campus)

Tone:
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-Energetic, spirited, fun, interactive, relaxed

Project Mandatories:

-JCU logo on all advertisements

Bonus:

-The three logos in order that switch depending on the event being promoted
-The center logo will always stay as the blue streak
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Newspaper Advertisement for JCU Paper

Poster for Campus Distribution

Infographic
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Social Media
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Cups
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Snapchat GeoTag
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Other Logos
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Appendix