A Marketing and Public Relations Proposal

The Toledo Symphony School of Music

Presented by: Hannah Tempel, Alex Traczyk, Bryant Miesle, Carlye Pollack, Eboni Jones, and Mariah Burkhart

Goal

To advertise the Toledo Symphony School of Music to parents and children who may be interested in instrumental musical lessons.

Objectives

1. To reach the parental figure or parent demographic (30-45 years of age) through the Toledo Blade/City Paper, expanding the amount of families interested in sending their children to The Toledo Symphony School of Music

2. To promote Toledo Symphony’s Open Houses by creating flyers and handing them out to children in private elementary schools around Toledo, to pass them on to their parents.

3. To increase awareness of The Toledo Symphony School of Music through social media (Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook) to attract current or possible audience followers.

4. To specifically reach out to the adult and adolescent demographic by placing cardboard kiosks that promote The Toledo Symphony School of Music at local YMCA’s.

Plan

1. Toledo City Newspaper Our Overall Goal: Objective: To reach the 35+years demographic through the Toledo Blade/City Paper, expanding the amount of families interested in sending their adolescents to The Toledo Symphony School of Music Strategy: Use the viewers of the Toledo Blade to reach out to people who have the ability to consider placing their adolescent into to The Toledo School of Music. Or also to the viewers of The Toledo Blade who have the capability of suggesting to a legal guardian that they have a relationship with to enroll their youth into the Toledo School of Music.

Tactic: Make a call to the advertising or marketing department of the Toledo Blade to talk about the costs and requirements for placing an ad within the paper & preferably on the first or last page. The Toledo Blade charges nothing for press releases however, the Toledo School of Music already has a contract signed with the Toledo Blade. So all that is needed is to talk about a contract renewal, if said discussion has not taken place yet.

2. Flyers for Open House Our Overall Goal: To increase awareness of The Toledo Symphony, by reaching out to the target demographic of adolescents within private elementary schools through promotional flyers. Objective: To promote Toledo Symphony’s Open Houses by creating flyers and handing them out to children who attend private elementary schools in Toledo, so they give them to their parents.  Strategy: In order to advertise The Toledo Symphony School of Music more to students who could potentially utilize the services offered, there will need to be promotional materials created. These will come in the form of flyers that highlight the Toledo Symphony’s open houses. Potential dates for these open houses can be held in late August and early April at the Toledo Symphony. Once the flyers are dispersed to elementary students in Toledo private schools, children will have firsthand exposure to the advertisement. If the flyer has the students excited, they are more likely to show a parent or grandparent the advertisement for the open house.

Tactic: Create a flyer that is aesthetically pleasing for a child to look at while also providing basic information about the open house including location, times, and general contact information. Once the flyers are created and printed, it is important to contact local private elementary schools to see if teachers can pass them out to students.

A list of potential schools, addresses, phone numbers, and a person to contact are listed above. The flyers, once dispersed amongst students, will catch the students’ attention and spark interest in the Toledo Symphony. If students’ interests are piqued, they will bring the flyers home to their parents and have a discussion about the Toledo Symphony’s open house.

3. Social Media Campaign Our Overall Goal: Objective: To increase awareness of The Toledo Symphony School of Music through social media (Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs) to attract current or possible audience followers. Strategy: Send out tweets and Facebook posts in a timely manner to spread information through social media. Tweets and Facebook posts should be strategically sent out, regarding up-to-date information on The Toledo Symphony School of Music. Also, posting pictures and other highlights of The Toledo Symphony of Music on blogs, updating followers with achievements, events and other important details that the school wants to promote. The information should be geared towards parents/family members, and should be concise information regarding the School of Music.

Tactic:

Send out three weeks prior:

Send out two weeks prior, and one week prior:

Sent out one day prior:

Send out three weeks prior:

Send out two weeks prior, and one week prior:

Send out one day prior:

4. Kiosk

Our Overall Goal: To advertise the Toledo Symphony School of Music to parents, guardians, or adolescents through their local YMCA using cardboard kiosks. Objective:To specifically reach out to the adult and adolescent demographic by placing cardboard kiosks promoting The Toledo Symphony School of Music in local YMCA’s. Strategy: Cardboard kiosks in the local YMCA’s will capture the attention of the adult and adolescent demographic. By having flyers available in the kiosks, adults and adolescents will be aware of the Toledo Symphony School of Music and what instrumental classes they have to offer.

Tactic: Order the cardboard kiosks through http://www.cardboarddisplays.com. To order 10 kiosks with a black display and header, they will each cost $28.94. After receiving permission from the YMCA’s, place the kiosk by the entrance or front desk. The kiosks will be filled up with flyers containing information about the Toledo Symphony School of Music, the instrumental lessons that are featured and contact information.

5. Budget

Contact

Team Members:

Hannah Tempel

Cell: (419) 506-2099

Email: htempel@bgsu.edu

Bryant Miesle

Cell: (419) 506-1285

Email: bmiesle@bgsu.edu

Carlye Pollack

Cell: (440) 679-2234

Email: cpollac@bgsu.edu

Eboni

Cell: (313) 529-6798

Email: ejjones@bgsu.edu

Alex Traczyk

Cell: (440) 823-1806

Email: atraczy@bgsu.edu

Mariah Burkhart

Cell: (419) 787-5182

Email: mburkha@bgsu.edu

Advisors:

Lucas Stall

Cell: (765) 977-3712

Email: lastall@bgsu.edu