Do The ImPawsible

2015 Gala Media Plan

Media Plan Contacts:

Lexi MoorePublic Relations Professional614 W 21st St. Cedar Falls, IA 50613(319)-821-0353

Morgan SmithPublic Relations Professional722 W 22nd St.Cedar Falls, IA 50613(319)-558-7750

Taylor RennichPublic Relations Professional2801 Ohio Street, Rider Hall 318Cedar Falls, IA 50613(641)-780-7614

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Table of Contents:

Executive Summary……………………………………………… 4

Company History…………………………………………………. 5

Media Objectives………………………………………………….. 6

Target Audience………………………………………………....... 7

Media Selection……………………………………………………. 8

The Plan……………………………………………………………... 11

Budget………………………………………….………………….…. 12

Evaluation…………………………………………………………... 13

Alternative Recommendations…………………..……...…. 14

Closing statement…………………………………………..….... 14

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Executive Summary

After extensive research and discussion our group has created a media plan

that will assist the Cedar Bend Humane Society in promoting their annual gala

fundraiser. The plan will outline strategies that will effectively promote the

organization and its event. The following information will provide the Cedar

Bend Humane Society with the appropriate tools to successfully reach their

target audience for the event.

The theme for the Annual Gala Fundraiser this year is “Do The ImPAWsible,”

and will consist of a silent auction, a dinner and a live auction. All of the

proceeds will benefit the animals of the shelter by going towards their medical

expenses. The target audience for the event are those who have a love of

animals or share compassion for animals and those organizations that aid

them.

The media selection was chosen in order to efficiently reach the target

audience and promote the “Do the ImPAWsible” event. It is our goal to

promote the fundraiser to a 30 mile radius including, but not limited to,

nearby communities such as Waverly, Reinbeck, Waterloo, Independence and

Hudson. The primary media selection that will be used is radio, local TV,

newspaper and fliers.

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Company History

“The Cedar Bend Humane Society commits itself to providing humane care for

all animals under its protection, educating the community about responsible

pet ownership, and advancing the

cause of kindness to all animals.

Our location, 1166 West Airline

Highway, Waterloo, opened in

1968. A new adoption center was

built in 2009 with community

support

and donations. We are a non-

profit organization that exists

because of the support and

friendship of people who donate

money, time, and other gifts.”

“Every dollar and donation received benefits the animals by helping with

medical needs, spay and neuter costs, and providing care and shelter for the

homeless, neglected, and unwanted animals of the Cedar Valley. The Cedar

Bend Humane Society staff and animals are forever grateful for your

friendship and support!”

*The company history was taken with permission from the Cedar Bend Humane Society website.

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Media Objectives

1. To raise a total of $55,000 in donations from the “Do the ImPAWsible” event.

2. To fill all 200 available seats at the “Do the ImPAWsible” event.

3. To gain 3 more sponsors than the previous year making a total of 33 sponsors by October 23, 2015.

4. To acquire more “big ticket items”* for the live auction from donors at the “Do the ImPAWsible” event.

Media Strategies:

Provide greatest focus on the radio and television mediums.

Use promotional materials and E-Newsletter primarily within

one month until the event.

Use the minimum amount of resources towards media as

possible.

*Wording by the Marketing and Events Coordinator, Amy Anderson.

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Target Audience

The primary target audience that our media plan will seek to reach includes

animal’s lovers, animal owners, animal advocates, animal

rescues/organizations, and anyone who had compassion for animals and

groups that assist them. We believe it is within these categories of people that

we will reach those who will be most enthusiastic about attending the “Do the

ImPAWsible” gala.

The geographical region that the media plan will reach is within a 30 mile

radius. This includes the communities of Independence, Oelwein, Hudson,

Reinbeck, Denver, Waverly, Cedar Falls and Waterloo. The media we outline in

our plan will create awareness in these surrounding communities and more.

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Media SelectionNewspaper:

Local newspaper articles is an obvious and efficient way to reach the target radius of

surrounding communities. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, based out of Waterloo, IA,

will be the paper that will most likely reach our intended audience. Since its first issue in

1859 this paper has provided the reliable news to the Black Hawk County area. This paper

will be used in order to utilize their area of readership.

The Northern Iowan is another local publication that will be beneficial to utilize. It is a way

to reach a younger demographic of animal lovers the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier may not

reach. It is more likely that a college student at the University of Northern Iowa will read

their affiliated publication rather than another option. Due to our minimum budget one

article per publication will be implemented 4 weeks out from the event date.

http://goo.gl/ogTmnR

Billboard:

Our media plan recommends the use of a billboard in a high traffic location along highway

20. This will be a great way to not only reach our target audience in the Cedar Falls and

Waterloo area, but also people outside the surrounding community commuting to and from

work.

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Television:

We have also chosen a local television station to further our chances of reaching the

surrounding communities with our message. Although an expensive medium, when used

appropriately it can be an effective media usage. On Monday afternoons the television

station KWWL allows businesses to go on air and share information about upcoming

events. The Cedar Bend Humane Society has used this opportunity in the past. Someone

from the organization will be able to appear on the station to advertise the “Do The

ImPAWsible” event at no cost.

http://goo.gl/fsWv47

E-NewsLetter:

An E-News Letter is a very cost effective way to reach an audience regarding an upcoming

event. This is a medium that the Cedar Bend Humane Society already utilizes. With over

2,000 subscribers our media plan will use this as a tool and provide the people with

information about the fundraiser in the issue immediately prior to the event.

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Radio:

Three Wednesdays out of the month Mix 93.5 The Mix radio stations provides air time,

called Wet Nose Wednesdays, for local animal shelters to showcase a pet of the week. The

second and fourth Wednesdays for every month are set aside for the Cedar Bend Humane

Society. On these days a Medical Technician from the shelter will on air and speak. It will be

beneficial to utilize the on air radio time to highlight details about the event. Mix 93.5 is

based in Cedar Falls and will give us the opportunity to reach our target audience.

http://goo.gl/rQyebe

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The PlanMedia Rationale:

The Cedar Bend Humane Society is a non-profit organization that runs solely on

donations of others. This limits the resources they are able to spend on advertising

and marketing uses. Our group prepared a media plan that will be cost efficient yet

effective when creating awareness about the shelter’s “Do The ImPAWsible”

fundraising gala.

The strategies we chose are based primarily on locally run advertisements and

marketing. Our intent is not to focus all of our information on one medium to cover

the event, but to lightly touch on a variety of different media to get our message

across. We decided to use this route based on budget constraints and our target

audience. Due to the fact that advertising for the gala will take place from now until

October, there is no seasonality to be concerned with for marketing purposes.

Our Media Plan consists of the following:

One 5x7 article in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier 4 weeks out from the event.

One billboard donated by Lemar Advertising to promote the gala. The monthly E-Newsletter sent out in August and September with

details covering the event. Print fliers/posters to post in local Cedar Falls and Waterloo business 3

weeks out from the event. Send Medical Technician to speak at Mix 93.5’s Wet Nose Wednesday. Send a representative of the Cedar Bend Humane Society to speak on

KWWL News Channel 7 on a Monday afternoon to speak about the event 2 months out.

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Budget

The Cedar Bend Humane Society does not have a budget limit for this event.

The organization wishes to be as efficient with its resources as possible. In the

past, the total costs for this event has been around $10,000. We have listed the

projected budget for this year’s event, along with expected donations.

Costs:

Venue = $7,000 (including rent and buffet)

Advertising = $1,000

Miscellaneous Costs = $2,000 - $3,000 (Centerpieces, decorations, items

for silent auction embellishments)

Donations:

Scratch cupcake for dessert

Billboard from Lemar Advertising

Cedar Valley big Band Performs

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Evaluation

After the Cedar Bend Humane Society hosts the annual fundraising gala, we

believe it is important to conduct an evaluation of the event. It is important to

evaluate the efforts of our team as well as gain knowledge about what to do

differently for years to come.

The best way to gain this information is to send each of the guests home with

a survey. The attendees can then fill out the survey about how they felt the

evening went or what they would change and send it back to the humane

society. The donors and sponsors may receive a separate survey to gauge

what they thought of the event as well.

We believe it is also important to evaluate the evening based on the amount of

money and items donated to the event. The final indicator to evaluate the

night will be how many people attended the event.

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Alternative Recommendations The following additional recommendations are primarily suggested for if more

resources become available to The Cedar Bend Humane Society. We believe it would

be in the event’s best interest to further expand the media they are already utilizing.

For example, we believe that further articles in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier as

well as surrounding publications in Waverly or Independence. We also feel it would

be beneficial to expand the media coverage for the event. This could be done by

spending additional resources on further TV coverage on different news stations

such as KCRG or by purchasing another billboard in a separate location from the one

that has been donated.

Closing statement

The Cedar Bend Humane Society is an amazing cause that has helped countless

animals since its opening; and it is through the assistance of generous donations

that has aided the humane society achieve this. We have developed a successful

media plan that will assist the humane society in promoting their annual fundraiser

and continuing to help the animals of Waterloo and Cedar Falls community.

*All of the pictures without a citation were taken, with permission, from the Cedar Bend Humane Society’s website.

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