01 Acemedia Final Imc Plan Spring22 Compressed 1
01 Acemedia Final Imc Plan Spring22 Compressed 1
01 Acemedia Final Imc Plan Spring22 Compressed 1
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Table of Contents CONT.
9.Sponsorship.................................................................................................................85
Bibliography .............................................................................................................................112
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AGENCY PHILOSOPHY
Mission Statement: To intertwine company goals with a cohesive marketing strategy that shares a
positive brand image to the world.
Standards & Beliefs That Guide Our Work:
• Transparency
• Communication
• Real relationships with clients
• Extension of our client
• Honesty
• Integrity Company Colors
• Passion
• Creativity
Competitive Advantage:
• Transparency throughout the entire partnership with each client
• Extension of their company – we take the time to do research and understand each client before
creating content
• Constant involvement and check-ins with the client – don't have to wait until the last minute to make
sure that everyone is on the same page with the campaigns. We want everyone to be on the same page
• Wide variety of skills and backgrounds from our team members. Different interests can make sure that
each client gets a holistic approach to their content.
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Meet the CE's
Erica Wirth
Erica is a junior Marketing major at JMU, pursuing a concentration in Digital
Marketing and a minor in Business Analytics. Outside of the classroom, Erica
loves to represent the JMU College of Business as a member of the Student
Advisory Council, where she leads prospective tours around the COB
Learning Complex.
Alyssa Spinner
Alyssa is a Junior Marketing major at JMU with a concentration in
Professional Sales. At JMU she is also a member of Gamma Phi Beta, JMU
SafeRides, the American Marketing Association and the University Program
Board. She also work as an Event Operation Specialist at the University
Recreation Center and was recently promoted to manager!
Matt Blair
Matt is a Senior Marketing Major at JMU. He is involved in the Professional
Sales Club and enjoys the outdoors and watching sports in his free time.
Carisa Burgman
Carisa is a junior Marketing major at JMU with a concentration in Digital
Marketing and a minor in Computer Information Systems. She is involved in
the sorority Alpha Delta Pi, where she serves as the Digital Marketing
Specialist.
Miguel Hernandez
Miguel Hernandez is a Senior Marketing major with a concentration in
professional sales. He is also a part of the fraternity Sigma Nu, the Club
Soccer team, as well as a member of the Professional Sales Club. In his
free time, Miguel enjoys playing sports and being outside on a sunny day.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Executive Summary
Introduction
This Integrated Marketing Communications plan was created for the Mercy House to increase
awareness of the organization's mission that will lead directly to an increase in higher quality
donations. Ace Media is excited to work with the Mercy House to help them meet and exceed
their 2023 goals, while growing the business and reaching new heights to help reduce the
housing problem throughout the community. As much as Mercy House creates value within the
community, Ace Media hopes to create value in the Mercy House business as a whole.
Target Audiences
Family Households: Parents between the ages of 28-45 years old located in the
Harrisonburg and Rockingham counties that are driven to help in their community.
College Seniors: Graduating Senior between the ages of 20-22 year old located in or around
the Harrisonburg area looking to donate unwanted items post graduation.
Marketing Goal
Increase donations to the thrift store or building supply store that will result in an increase of
sales by 25% by December 31st, 2023.
Campaign Theme
Full Circle
Overall Budget
$20,000
Traditional Advertising
The primary takeaway from this section is to create awareness, interest, and improve the quality
of donations through the use of TV, radio , newspaper, magazine, mail, and online video
advertisements.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Digital Marketing
The primary takeaway from this section is to increase awareness, interest, and desire by
implementing SEO, blog creations, email marketing and the usage of monthly newsletters.
Support Media
The primary takeaway from this section is to increase the reach the Mercy House has in regard to
awareness of their mission, what they do for the local community, and the donations they desire
through the handing out of cups, t-shirts, pens, magnets, stickers, flyers and transit bus ads.
Direct Marketing
The primary takeaway from this section is to increase interest in donating and increase the total
number of high quality donations received by the Mercy House through sending direct mail, emails
and texts to designated target market.
Sales Promotion
The primary takeaway from this section is to increase the frequency of donations, especially those
of high quality, through loyalty programs, raffles, sweepstakes, and coupons.
Personal Selling
The primary takeaway from this section is to increase awareness of the Mercy House through
attending networking events and tabling on James Madison University's campus.
Sponsorship
The primary takeaway from this section increase the frequency of donations awareness of the Mercy
House in highly populated areas through raffles, flyers, sports arena strip-ads, video boards and
banners
Measurement Techniques
The primary takeaway from this section is to measure the effectiveness of our promotional
strategies through various types of marketing tests such as pre-testing, post-testing, A/B testing,
recall, and field testing.
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INDUSTRY REVIEW
Size:
23,449 total businesses with an expected annual growth rate of 1.8%
Growth:
Profit is expected to grow at a 12.7% growth rate, Annual growth rate in the next five
years is expected to be 2.7% (in comparison to 1.4% in 2015-2020), 6.1% profit
margin growth(Daly, Used Good Stores in the US 2021).
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INDUSTRY REVIEW
09
INDUSTRY REVIEW & COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Company Description
History and Description:
The Mercy House started in 1988 when local judges and business owners bought a
house with a mission to help stop the amount of homeless people in the
Harrisonburg/Rockingham County area (Porter, Mercy House). They have evolved over
the years and have expanded tremendously. Thanks to federal and state funding,
private donations, and income from their thrift stores (2 locations) and building supply
stores, they were able to completely renovate their house. They have 11 open spaces in
their current house, with around 20 families on the waitlist. They also help every family
by providing benefits outside of a stable place to live. They offer counseling/therapy,
search for jobs and available housing that fits their need, supply jobs for them at the
thrift stores, medical care, food, clothing, etc. They are really a one-stop shop for local
families in need. One major way that they are able to continue supporting their cause is
through the proceeds they receive from their thrift stores/building supply store. They
take donations of clothes, furniture, books and household supplies, and then resell
them for a low price to members of the community. All money goes directly to support
the local families in need, which differentiates Mercy House from other thrift stores (like
Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity), as you don’t know who your donations will help.
Organization's present status:
Private, non-profit organization that is currently operating in Harrisonburg, Rockingham
County region. They own a home in Harrisonburg that they have converted into multiple
apartments for local families in need and have acquired two thrift stores and a building
supply store that help support the financial needs of their organization.
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COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Company Description
Product lines:
They sell many used goods: Clothing items, Household items (plates, kitchenware,
mugs, glasses, etc.), Books, Furniture, Building supplies
Homeless shelter services: Apartment-type living situations for multiple families at
one, Medical care, Food, Clothing (they can get free items at any of the thrift
stores), Employment opportunities at any of the stores, Employment counseling,
Regular counseling and therapy options, Help finding places to live after their time
at the homeless shelter (a whole staff member is dedicated to this role)
Other services: Donation pick-up services (for larger and multiple items), Help run
fundraisers and other events supporting their mission around the area (CiderFest)
Sales history:
Takes $80/day to run one shelter unit (they have 11 total)
Target markets:
Homeless shelters within the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County area
Local general contractors who are able to provide larger items for their building
supply store
Local homeowners who are getting rid of furniture and other household items
JMU students who are graduating/moving out of their dorm and have things that
they will no longer use and choose to donate to the shelter
Current marketing mix:
Product: Used goods, Household supplies, Furniture, Clothing, Books
Place: Their three stores (2 are in Harrisonburg and one is in Timberville)
Promotion: They aren’t too active on social media, but have used Facebook at times
to promote high priced items that are going to sell fast, they do some promotional
events around town, including their annual CiderFest, in which they pair with a local
cidery (they even have a special cider made for the Mercy House)
Price: They keep all their items very low priced, Clothing items (excluding designer
items) are all priced at $1.00
Low imports Low and steady barriers High recent revenue Low revenue growth,
High profit vs. Sector to entry growth Low outlier growth,
Average High competition High performance National unemployment
Low customer class High product/service drivers rate
concentration concentration Per capita disposable
Low capital requirements income is increasing
11
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Company Description
Positioning:
They are positioned on the higher value side of things since they are able to keep the
costs of the thrift store items low, while having a very large impact on the community
around them. These are two factors that are able to differentiate the Mercy House.
Brand Review:
The brand in general is innovative and has a good mentality. The Mercy House is
currently expanding the amount of stores that they have around town and are on track
for high growth in the coming years.
Other:
High growth, Increase number of needs because of the pandemic
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COMPANY DESCRIPTION
They support local Drop-off times are Work with and partner There are new thrift
businesses in limited to during the with local businesses to stores popping up in the
Harrisonburg, VA workday (9am-5pm) do fun events to get the area, and they are larger
Helping those around the There is no requirement community together brands that are more
people who will be as to quality of Engage with past/future recognizable (e.g. Plato's
donating to the cause; donations, so people customers more through Closet)
they can see the effects may bring in things that direct marketing contact. Growing popularity of
in their community are not of high enough online reselling
They offer pick-up quality at all, which turns organizations that allow
services for larger items out to be more expensive sellers to receive money
Tax benefits for those for Mercy House for their old items.
who donate
Key Benefits
Help the local community and make a positive impact on those living right around
you
Pick-up services are offered for the larger donation items
Those that donate can get non-profit tax deductions for donating their items
Brand Image
Positive within the community
Not strongly linked to social media
It might seem a bit old-fashioned when it comes to technology and what the inside
of their store looks like
Simple company with positive motives
Positioning
Affordable second-hand store that also supports local community
Other factors
The types of products that they accept
Average inventory turnover that they have for items in their store
The types of people (demographic-wise) that they see currently donating to their
stores and buying items
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PRODUCT/SERVICE REVIEW
LOCALITY OF
MISSION
Direct Competitors
Gift and Thrift is a local non-profit that markets themselves as a higher-end
thrift store with the goal of reimagining the stereotypical thrift store. They are
committed to giving used items a new life. With constant donations coming in,
Gift and Thrift’s future is looking bright and sustainable. They offer a variety of
benefits such as weekly discounts starting at 50% off Monday-Thursday,
70% off Friday and Saturday, and a base 10% off for college students every single day.
Consumers are also aiding their cause to contribute towards Mennonite’s Central
Committee’s relief, development, and peace endeavors in 60 countries around the world as
well as their support for other local non-profits in the area. They use a website to keep
people updated on specials, new items, and for information about the store itself as well as
have a Facebook page for announcements about events. Based off the fact that their main
source of advertising is from word-of-mouth communications, Gift and Thrift uses most of
their budget for other business needs rather than advertising and promotion. Gift and Thrift
has many opportunities to shop such as through their online eBay shop, book savers
amazon page, and silent auctions. They are positioned as affordable and high quality. They
are also known to be environmentally friendly, local, and offer opportunities to volunteer
and help the community. However, they do not offer pick up services nor do they help the
same local cause as the Mercy House.
Indirect Competitors
Facebook marketplace is a destination on Facebook where people can
discover, buy and sell items. People can browse listings, search for items for
sale in their area or find products available for shipping. The key benefit
of marketplace is the ability to sell products directly online (Facebook), by quickly
taking a picture and adding a brief description of the item. Potential customers of the
product can also easily comment on the post itself or message the buyer privately. This
platform has grown exponentially in the last couple years due to a lot of people being
home and cleaning out unused items. Facebook does not directly advertise for this
platform but allows users to advertise their companies or services. Facebook is
positioned highly among competitors with the ease of use being a huge factor.
Marketplace strengths are the ease of use, ability to see listings from anywhere, and it
is a quick way to buy/sell a product. Some weaknesses are having to have data/Wi-Fi to
use this service, technical difficulties with it being an app, and unverified sellers.
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COMPETITIVE REVIEW
OfferUp is an online resale platform where users can buy and sell items
locally. Their platform provides a place for users to sell a variety of items
ranging anywhere from furniture to shoes to cars to phones. Users are able
to communicate directly with their buyers from their phone and/or laptop.
OfferUp’s estimated annual revenue is $69.5 million, this revenue is generated through
seller fees, promoted listings, subscriptions, and mergers and acquisitions. OfferUp
acquired LetGo in 2020, aiding in the increase in their revenue and employee growth. A
key benefit of OfferUp is that users get paid for the items that they are trying to get rid
of. Being able to see who is buying your items and being able to talk to them directly is
also a benefit of OfferUp. OfferUp runs some TV commercials as their advertising. A
promotional offer OfferUp has includes allowing sellers to promote their items at a small
fee so that they sell more quickly and easily. OfferUp’s strength is their ease of use by
allowing users to sell their stuff from home by simply using their phone or laptop. A
weakness of OfferUp is that users have to have some kind of technology device to list
their items and there’s a learning curve to using their platform.
Plato’s Closet is a chain retailer that buys & sells trendy secondhand
clothing. Appealing to teenagers and young adults, they will take clothes
that someone is looking to turn in, evaluate a reasonable price while the
person is able to browse through the store and shop, and will then provide cash on the
spot if a deal is agreed upon before reselling the clothes in store. Plato’s Closet is a part
of the Winmark franchise, which has made a total of $1 Billion in sales across 1,250+
retail locations. The franchise has seen growth in recent years and predict that market
growth will increase in years to come. Key benefits of Plato’s Closet include being a part
of a franchise with many resources and brand name recognition, in addition to being able
to accept/reject items on the spot. That helps to keep their inventory up to date with
trendy items only. Winmark provides useful resources when it comes to establishing a
promotional budget and promotional mix. Winmark prides themself in “creating a close
partnership with all of [their] franchisees and giving them the business model, brand
name, resources, and support they need to thrive in their community” (Retail franchise
opportunity). Advertisements for the Harrisonburg Plato’s Closet run on local radio
stations, in which they attempt to raise awareness by explaining what Plato’s Closet is
and where you can find the closest location. They also run a sales promotion using a
rewards/loyalty program that encourages shoppers to come back and check out recent
style additions. In addition, all photos on their website and social media platforms
include younger girls and teenagers, which helps appeal to that specific market.
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BUYER ANALYSIS
Market Segmentation
Family Status
Doesn't have children
Has young children
Age Has children in college or
who are in and out of the
Less than age 22 (College
house
Students)
Has grown children and/or
Ages 23-29 (Young Post-
grandchildren
Gender
Grads)
Male
Ages 30-39 (Young Families)
Female
Ages 40-49 (Middle aged
Non-binary
families)
Ages 50-64 (Empty Nesting
Planners)
Ages 65+ (Seniors) Market Segments
A breakdown of six
core segments that will
be important in
determining the target Income Level
donor market. Less than $50,000
Between $50,000 and
College $75,000
Between $75,000 and
Education $100,000
Over $100,000
Has a degree Area Codes Near
Doesn't have a degree
the Mercy House
22807
22801
22802
22812
22815
22853
24471
User Profile
Profile 1 College Students
Demographic: Aged 20-22. Little to no income.
Geographic: Harrisonburg, VA right around JMU area
Psychographic
Personalities: growth mindset, outgoing
Values: responsibility, giving back to the community
Lifestyles: money-conscious, don’t have too much to spend or donate.
Behavioristic: Mainly focused on donating only when they are switching living
situations. 17
BUYER ANALYSIS
Profile 1 Retirees
Profile 1 Contractors
User Profile
Geographic: 20-mile radius around Harrisonburg, VA
Psychographic:
Personalities: easy-going
Values: simplicity, tax benefits for their companies
Lifestyles: fast-paced lifestyle, since they constantly run around to different
jobs
Behavioristic: Influenced by personal needs, satisfactions, and other people.
Driven through financials – may be more willing to help when driven by the tax
benefits
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BUYER ANALYSIS
Involvement Level
The process is a low-involvement purchase. The decision to donate to the Mercy House is not an
ongoing decision and not a naturally risky one. Many people are familiar with the general donating
process, the only question they would have to consider is where to donate. Naturally, people will go to
the place that they donated to in the past and not spend too much thought in switching.
Key Factors
Personal factors such as the feel-good feeling when you donate.
Income: shoppers tend to go to thrift stores while higher income shoppers can
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be the ones doing both the shopping and donating.
BUYER ANALYSIS
Buyer
Personas
*More Personas in Appendix A
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
Facebook Comments
Instagram Comments
Mercy House has a smaller presence on Instagram with 16 posts and 313 followers.
They average around 10-20 likes a post with very few comments.
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Primary Research - Yelp
Promotional Program
Situation Analysis
Current Promotions
1. Have a furniture set posting on Facebook, but not too much activity on Instagram.
2. Share information about the culture of the Mercy House and have a friendly
Recent posts
1. In memory of those at the Bridgewater incident
2. MLK day
3. Their partnership with WRMA radio station
Past Promotions
1. They do a Cider Fest every year where they pair with a local cidery to host an event
to help fund the Mercy House initiatives.
2. They have posted some exceptionally high-quality items on Facebook to initiate the
selling process
3. They have used Facebook to market some holiday events and other things that they
have going on
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SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING
Market Segments
Primary Market: Families with an Interest in Donating
Age: 30-49 with children
Income: $60,000 - $200,000 / year (middle to upper class)
Examples of Jobs: Professors and Administrative Staff at local colleges (JMU, Bridgewater,
EMS, BRCC), Physicians, Dentists, Engineering Managers. (USAWage, Top 100 highest-paying
jobs in Harrisonburg, VA)
Social Media Usage: 81% of this age group (30-49) in the US have said they at least us one
social media site (Pew Research Center, Social Media Fact sheet 2022)
Families within Harrisonburg and the surrounding areas are a primary target market for Mercy
House. This segment lives in the area for the duration of the year, and families will be able to
donate old clothing from growing kids, furniture from children’s room makeovers, etc. This
segment could be targeted via direct marketing (mail) and digital marketing (Facebook). Both
mail and Facebook attracted this demographic of individuals the most, so utilizing these
platforms will allow the Mercy House to reach the most amount of people in this segment as
possible.
Where to Reach Them: Between 2011 and 2017, the number of minutes that young adults
and teenagers spent on the television has nearly cut in half. (Johnson, 2022). In another
Statista study from 2014, it was agreed upon that 48% of college students prefer hearing
about products via word of mouth (U.S. student preferred product info sources 2014 |
statista 2014). This was followed by online advertising and TV commercials. Surprisingly, free
samples given while on campus was at the bottom of the list with only 16% preferring this
route.
While most individuals within this group may not have a steady income or large donations to
make, a large portion of the Harrisonburg community is rooted in the whereabouts of the
college-aged population. They take up a large portion of the area, especially during the
academic school year. Another important thing to note is that many of these students
eventually live in off-campus apartments. Upon graduation, many of them have a lot of slightly
used apartment goods that may not be worth keeping post college. This provides an open
door for a long relationship, where a tradition can be made to donate to Mercy House as 24
belongings are consolidated.
MARKETING GOALS & CAMPAIGN THEME
Marketing Goal
Increase donations to the thrift store or building supply store that will result in an
increase of sales by 25% by December 31st, 2023.
Campaign Theme
Full Circle
Rationale
The campaign theme decided on is “Full Circle”. This was inspired by Mercy
House’s continuous recycling of their products and their focus to evolve what
started as a small community mission, into one that is large and impactful. Circle is
strong and a constant reminder to stay connected, even in times of struggle. The
Mercy House preaches the concept that those who become a part of the Mercy
House, stay a part of the Mercy House forever. The Circle is a great way to show
that strong bond of humanity.
Another reason why Full Circle would be a great campaign theme is because of the
idea that the belongings being both donated and bought at the Mercy House store
locations are on their way of coming full circle. An item that someone may donate
could be one that they have relied on and used in the past. When the time has come
to depart from that product, the donator is providing a second (or maybe third) life
by donating it for someone else to use. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,
and Mercy House believes that every donation can help create a positive impact on
someone in need.
Products that those in need may buy at the Mercy House stay with that person as
they, too, try to come Full Circle in their personal lives. Those participating in the
Mercy House’s resources are those who are on the path to bring their life around.
That one item that they bought at the store may ride along for the journey for years
to come. The concept of Full Circle embodies this image – that one small item can
make a difference and lead to many more opportunities. Throwing your used items
out ends the linear trend of a product’s useful life, but those that are given a
second chance can truly become Full Circle. 25
COMMUNICATION GOALS AND STRATEGIES
Communication Goals,
Strategies and Tactics
Ace Media has taken an AIDA approach when it comes to the Communications
Objectives (Approach, Interest, Desire and Action). Each objective and the target
audience it correlates to is placed below, in addition to the objectives, strategies, tactics
that are placed within the Media Plan.
AWARENESS
(Both) Increase awareness of the Mercy House mission and how they give back to the
local community by 40% at the close of the campaign in December 2023, which
primarily is to house homeless families with dependent children in Harrisonburg and
the surrounding Rockingham County.
Sponsorships- Sponsorships with JMU Athletics, and two local Harrisonburg
businesses
Social Media- Utilize Facebook and Instagram more often and post the same or
similar content on both platforms
Traditional Advertising- Air radio and television commercials highlighting different
stories of the Mercy House
PR and publicity- Create press releases highlighting residents, employees and
donors from the Mercy House to be issued in the Daily News Record
Support Media- Create signage and advertisements to be used within and on
Harrisonburg Transit Buses/ Bus Shelters
(Both) Increase awareness of the types and quality of donations needed to support
Mercy House’s organization and their homeless families in need by 60% at the end
of the campaign in December 2023.
Sponsorships- Sponsorships with JMU Athletics, and two local Harrisonburg
businesses
Social Media- Create and post social media advertisements
PR and Publicity- Create press releases highlighting residents from the Mercy
House to be issued in the Daily News Record
INTEREST
(Primary Market – Families) Increase the interest of families in the
Harrisonburg/Rockingham Country area in donating their old goods to the Mercy
House by a total of 30% at the end of December 2023.
Direct Marketing- Utilizing direct mail
Traditional Advertising- Creating print advertisements
26
COMMUNICATION GOALS AND STRATEGIES
Communication Goals,
Strategies and Tactics CONT.
INTEREST cont.
(Secondary Market – Off-Campus Students) Increase the interest of JMU's off-
campus student population, including those who will be graduating/moving out of
their current off-campus living situation, in donating slightly used apartment items
to Mercy House by a total of 30% at the end of July 2023*.
*The reason why this goal is more aggressive in terms of the timeline is because most
off-campus leases are up in July and late summer. Since we are specifically targeting
those who will be moving out, the influx of donation interest will occur before July of
2023.
Direct Marketing- Sending mail to JMU students on and off campus
Personal Selling- Tabling on JMU campus and explaining the story of the Mercy
House
Sponsorships- Sponsorships specially with JMU Athletics and two local
businesses
DESIRE
(Primary Market – Families) Increase the desire in donating to the Mercy House by
40% by the end of December 2023 within the Harrisonburg and Rockingham
County areas.
Digital Marketing- Utilizing SEO and Google Ads
Social Media- Posting stories of previous of the Mercy House
Personal Selling- Participating in local networking events, talking to people
directly about the Mercy House
(Secondary Market – Off-Campus Students) Increase the desire in donating to the
Mercy House by 40% by the end of December 2023 within the Harrisonburg and
JMU student communities.
Internet- Sending emails to JMU students and local families
Social Media- Sharing frequent donors on social media and sharing how one can
donate
ACTION
(Both) Increase the total number of good/high quality donations by 40% at the end
of the campaign in December 2023, with the ultimate goal of eliminating extra costs
associated with having to transport low quality items to the landfill.
Sales Promotions- Creating a loyalty and raffle program for those that donate
Personal Selling- Creating campaigns centered spring cleaning and winter
holidays
27
CREATIVE
BRIEF
Prepared by:
CREATIVE BRIEF
Communication Objectives
Ace Media has taken an AIDA approach when it comes to the Communications
Objectives (Approach, Interest, Desire and Action). Each objective and the target
audience it correlates too is placed below.
AWARENESS
(Both) Increase awareness of the Mercy House mission and how they give back to
the local community by 40% at the close of the campaign in December 2023, which
primarily is to house homeless families with dependent children in Harrisonburg and
the surrounding Rockingham County.
(Both) Increase awareness of the types and quality of donations needed to support
Mercy House’s organization and their homeless families in need by 60% at the end
of the campaign in December 2023.
29
CREATIVE BRIEF
INTEREST
(Primary Market – Families) Increase the interest of families in the
Harrisonburg/Rockingham Country area in donating their old goods to the Mercy
House by a total of 30% at the end of December 2023.
(Secondary Market – Off-Campus Students) Increase the interest of JMU's off-
campus student population, including those who will be graduating/moving out of
their current off-campus living situation, in donating slightly used apartment items
to Mercy House by a total of 30% at the end of July 2023*.
*The reason why this goal is more aggressive in terms of the timeline is because most
off-campus leases are up in July and late summer. Since we are specifically targeting
those who will be moving out, the influx of donation interest will occur before July of
2023.
DESIRE
(Primary Market – Families) Increase the desire in donating to the Mercy House by
40% by the end of December 2023 within the Harrisonburg and Rockingham
County areas.
(Secondary Market – Off-Campus Students) Increase the desire in donating to the
Mercy House by 40% by the end of December 2023 within the Harrisonburg and
JMU student communities.
ACTION
(Both) Increase the total number of good/high quality donations by 40% at the end
of the campaign in December 2023, with the ultimate goal of eliminating extra costs
associated with having to transport low quality items to the landfill.
Target Audience
The primary market consists of Families, while our secondary market consists of
college students who are graduating in the near future.
30
CREATIVE BRIEF
Demographic Demographic
Ages 28-45, middle to higher class Ages 20-22. Little to no income
income
Geographic
Geographic Harrisonburg, VA, areas around JMU
Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area
Psychographic Psychographic
Personalities: family-oriented, Personalities: growth mindset,
close-knit outgoing
Values: They are aware of the Values: responsibility, giving back to
struggles for some in the the community
community and want to help give Lifestyles: money-conscious, don’t
back anyway they can. have too much to spend or donate.
Lifestyles: Outdoorsy people,
country folks Behavioral
Mainly focused on donating only when
Behavioral they are switching living situations
Driven by helping their community grow to
the highest potential. Want to see everyone
succeed and will help when possible. A
main driving factor to second-hand shop is
finding quality items at a valuable price
(Mintel, 2022) 31
CREATIVE BRIEF
Positioning Strategy
Primary Focus: Benefits/Attributes
Our positioning strategy will be primarily focused on the benefits/attributes that donating to the Mercy
House would bring. While donating to any organization can induce a range of positive feelings (both
internally and externally), donating to an organization geared around building up your own community
can provide even more joy. By using this tactic, we can show how the donations will be put to use and
go through a wide range of situations, specifically following the success stories of local community
members who have had a fresh start thanks to the Mercy House.
We are not the only ones that believe Mercy House’s benefits can be touching and inspiring to everyone
around - it has been proven that showing the benefits of product use is likely to create brand love and
loyalty (Shahid, 2019). Creating brand love and loyalty can lead to increased number of repeat donors,
who would be more likely to donate better quality pieces more frequently, as they see what their
donations are going to in the long term. 32
CREATIVE BRIEF
THEME:
Full Circle
Campaign Theme
and Story
To encompass the campaign theme of Full Circle, the story will highlight the idea of “Giving
back comes back to you”. It is important to note that we are not trying to encourage personal
benefits as the sole reason for donating, but instead focus on how the entire community will
benefit from donations. We want to make sure that the stories of past Mercy House residents
are told in such a way that shows how the donations they received from the Mercy House have
helped them along in their journey of bettering their own life – hence coming Full Circle.
The story will also focus on the concept of staying connected as a community, which can be
represented through the shape of a circle. Everyone in the community prospers when helping
those in need. Past Mercy House residents are given a chance to also come Full Circle and help
those that may be following a similar path of life. The cycle can repeat itself over and over, with
the community becoming stronger with each repetition. Another more physical representation
that can be lived out through this story is that the donation items can come Full Circle as they
circulate through many different life cycles. Even one small donation can lead to many more
opportunities and start a cycle of never-ending growth.
This story can be told in many ways, both visually and grammatically. The use of video will be a
powerful tool in displaying the emotions of hope, comfort, and helpfulness that helping
someone in their journey to come Full Circle may take on. This story can also be told through
different social media campaigns and print ads to help get the reader’s attention. While the
approach for each target market may change, the underlying message stays the same. Below
are ways that the presentation of the story should change for each target market to help better
appeal to the individual markets themselves.
33
CREATIVE BRIEF
Advertising Appeal
We are going to appeal to emotion in our IMC Plan. We selected this because charitable
organizations have been proven to succeed in marketing through poignancy. There may
be alternate mediums where people could sell their possessions for profit, but Mercy
House provides an emotionally touching incentive to donate their items because Mercy
House is more than just a thrift store. Sharing the emotional story behind Mercy
House’s core mission will incentivize the local community to donate, since they are
aware that their donations mean more than what they originally thought. A study done
by the University of Pennsylvania touches upon this idea, as people are more likely to
donate when the ad is focused on an “identifiable victim” (an individual who is impacted
by your donations) rather than “statistical victims” (University of Pennsylvania, 2007).
This shows that future donors may be more likely to act when told the story and impact
behind their donation.
Creative Execution
Current Mercy House Colors
r
The color choices above tie directly into Mercy House's current colors by sticking with a
similar earthy-toned calming color scheme. There is more green added into the mix to
represent the natural feeling of giving back. This helps represent the concept of the
Circle of Life that our campaign theme helps to portray, as donated items that the
Mercy House receives will be revived and given a new life. Since green is the color of
most new life in nature (ex. trees and leaves), it is the perfect representation for the Full
Circle story.
TONE - While we want to focus on emotional appeal, a balance between being too sappy
and positive will be needed. The main goal will be to start with sad emotions and work
our way towards a positive tone at the end.
34
CREATIVE BRIEF
GRAPHIC TYPES - Showing real images will be important to make sure an emotional
appeal and connection is made with those viewing the advertisements and those in the
advertisements. Examples of photos that could be used include photos of the Mercy
House thrift store locations, photos of people within the Mercy House organization,
event photos, photos of where past residents ended up, etc.
EXECUTION FRAMEWORK - The main framework used are testimonials. This is a method
that can connect the viewer directly to the cause and create a strong need to donate to
the Mercy House. When considering our secondary audience of college-aged students,
many of them were not raised in the Harrisonburg area, so they might not be
completely aware of the situations that locals might be dealing with. Testimonials are a
way to increase this awareness while creating a desire to donate. This framework will
also work for our primary audience. Even though they might be aware of the struggles
faced by those living around them, hearing it directly from those who have gone
through the process will help increase the desire to donate.
Creative Tactics
35
CREATIVE BRIEF
36
MEDIA
PLAN
Prepared by:
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Traditional Advertising
Introduction
Welcome to Traditional Advertising! In this section, we will prioritize the following
communications objectives:
Prepared by:
01
01
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Traditional Advertising
Objectives
Objective 1: Increase awareness of the Mercy House mission and strategy by 20%
throughout the duration of the advertising campaign (December 2023). This will be
done through the use of creative videos that will be shared online and on local TV
stations, in addition to flyers and other print advertisements around town.
Strategy 1: videos to go online and local TV stations
Tactic 1: Run it on local TV stations around dinner time or in the evenings when
parents are going to be watching the news. Could also do early
Saturday/Sunday mornings
Tactic 2: Post the video on YouTube to help us gain traction and increase
awareness
Tactic 3: Story of the commercial: The main story of the commercial
advertisements will follow the campaign theme of “Full Circle”. It will follow the
story of a former Mercy House resident as they go about building their life back
together after their time at the Mercy House, which shows how they have come
Full Circle themselves. They are going to specifically talk about one item they
received from Mercy House that still holds an important value in their life. This
will help create an emotional connection with donating goods, as viewers will
see directly how their donated items will come Full Circle and help those in need
living around them. Playing with emotions will create a strong connection and
desire to donate good quality items that too can have an impact on an
individual’s journey to build a better life for themselves and their family.
Strategy 2: Place flyers around town in places that most locals/students will notice
Tactic 1: Can place flyers inside of the local Harrisonburg City buses for free.
Placing advertising on the outside of the buses can also help gain extra traction
Tactic 2: Placing flyers within student buildings/dorms
Tactic 3: Placing flyers on the doors of off-campus residences
Objective 2: Increasing the frequency and desire to donate used goods to the Mercy
House by 10% by the end of the advertising campaign (December 2023) using different
radio and print advertisements, as well as direct mail to local families and off-campus
students.
Strategy 1: radio
Tactic 1: Mercy House representative appearance on WXJM (JMU student-run
radio organization) explaining Mercy House benefits to reach college crowd
Tactic 2: Place on local Pop (93.7 Now) and Country (104.3 KCY Country)
stations either in the mornings or evening drive times, when most people will be
listening as they commute to and from work
39
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Traditional Advertising
Objectives CONT.
Tactic 3: Make sure our message is conversational and uses a friendly tone. We
can place 3 different messages that are slightly different but all tie together to
help increase frequency and the number of times people will see our message
Strategy 2: print ads (flyers in mailboxes of students, other direct mail, or
partnerships
Tactic 1: Posters inside of the bus are free, so we can place it in there. We
contacted Harrisonburg Transit to find this information. Finding more
information about what it will cost outside of it
Tactic 2: Placing flyers around off-campus housing locations to reach college
students with potential furniture to donate
Tactic 3: Sending direct mail to local families and off-campus student
apartments. For families, we can send these out around winter time, when more
people are willing to give to charity, as well as around spring-cleaning time as
people are going through their house and clearing it out. When it comes to
student apartments, we can prioritize mail around the time that they are starting
to pack and move out (April-July).
Objective 3: Increase frequency of the message that increases the need for high quality
donations by 10% throughout the duration of the advertising campaign (December
2023) by using print ads in newspapers and radio advertising.
Strategy 1: print ads (flyers in newspapers, pre-printed inserts)
Tactic 1: Print ads can be placed in the local JMU Breeze Newspaper and define
what high quality means to the Mercy House. This can occur by contacting The
Breeze and finding out pricing and timeline. Then can submit the ad to be place
in the paper on a weekly basic. Can also place a monthly ad on the JMU Potty
Mouth by contacting Student Affairs Communications and Marketing Team.
These steps will encourage JMU students to potential donate in the future.
Tactic 2: Placing print ads about the quality of donations in the Daily News
Record. To place ads here reach out to the local paper and ask for pricing and
timeline. This will reach local families and people in the community that could
potentially donate.
Tactic 3: Direct mail sent to local families and off-campus residence houses as a
call for quality donations. These can mainly be sent around the time that
students are moving out (May-July) and throughout the holiday and spring-
cleaning season for family homes.
40
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Traditional Advertising
Objectives CONT.
Budget
Total Budget Expenditure Trad. Adv. Breakdown
41
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Rationale/Explanation
Total spent on Traditional Advertising: $3,596.50
Rear Bus Ad on Harrisonburg Transit
Cost includes production and placing of the ad $240 (Media Transit)
Full Page Ad in the Breeze
Cost $1,175 (Madison Student Media)
1/8 of a page Ad ran 12 times in the Daily News Record
Cost $241.50 (2021 Daily News Record Advertising Rates)
Placing flyers around Harrisonburg
Cost $60 (FedEx)
Shenandoah Valley Monthly Magazine 3 ads over the course of a year
1/8, 1/4, full page ads
Cost $260 (Shenandoah Valley Monthly)
Sending around 1,000 post cards through the USPS to local
Harrisonburg local addresses
Cost $640 (USPS)
WHSV TV commercial 2 times a year
Cost $800 (WHSV)
Running a 30 second radio ad once a month for a year in 93.7 Now
Harrisonburg radio station
Cost $180 (93.7 RadioLemire, iHeartMedia)
42
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Deliverables CONT.
Television Storyboards
43
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Item
Gender
Description
2 Females and 1 Male Narrator
Radio Scripts
(SFX loading things into truck) “Hey
Gender 2 Females and 1 Male Narrator
Neighbor! What are you up to?” (in
Length :30
first female voice). (SFX car door
Length
Target Empty Nesters:30or families with shut) “Oh, just loading up some old
older children who are getting furniture and clothes to take to
Demographic Emptyready
Nesters or families
out with Mercy House” (in second female
Target to move
older children who are getting voice). “Oh that’s the place on South
Demographic
Character Friend, neighbor, early to late
ready to move out High street with the thrift store
50’s
Friend, neighbor, early to late right?” (in first female voice). “Yep!
Character Natural, conversation-like, Their store helps fund their homeless
Vocal Direction 50’s
energetic, happy and easy-going shelter and supports families directly
Natural, conversation-like, living in the Rockingham county” (in
Vocal Direction
Suggested Music Brett happy
energetic, Young’s “Mercy”
and easy-going second female voice). Stop by our
Sound of loading thrift store and donation collection
Suggested
Suggested Music
SFX Brett Young’sthings
“Mercy”onto a
truck, car door shutting, walking zone Monday through Friday 9-5 and
Sound of loading things onto a help support local families in need
Suggested SFX
truck, car door shutting, walking today! (In male narrator voice)
Item Description
Gender 2 Females and 1 Male Narrator
(SFX packing) “Hey I’m almost
Gender 2 Females
finished packing, what about you?”
Length :30
(first female voice) “Same, just have
Length
Target Empty Nesters:30or families with to figure out what to do with this
older children who are getting desk. I don’t have room for it in my
Demographic car, and I won’t need it in my new
Target ready to move out
College Students apartment” (second female voice)
Demographic
Character Friend, neighbor, early to late
“Oh I saw an ad today for this place
50’s
JMU seniors getting ready to downtown called The Mercy House.
Character Natural, conversation-like, They take quality donations, and
Vocal Direction move out after graduation
energetic, happy and easy-going they’re more than just a thrift shop.
Vocal Direction Conversational They use the profits from selling the
Suggested Music Brett Young’s “Mercy” donations to help house homeless
Subtle
Sound of upbeat
loading music
thingsinonto
the a families here in Harrisonburg” (first
Suggested
Suggested Music
SFX background female voice) “Oh that’s awesome,
truck, car door shutting, walking
Shuffling sounds of people I’ll definitely take my desk there
Suggested SFX then!” (Second female voice)
packing up stuff
44
DIGITAL MARKETING
Prepared by:
01
01
DIGITAL MARKETING
46
DIGITAL MARKETING
Tactic 3: While they should be entertaining, the blogs also need to have an
informative purpose beyond an emotional appeal to make sure potential donors
know how to have an impact. Some blogs should focus on content such as how
to donate, what items to donate, quality of item checklist, etc. This can also tie
back into the campaign theme of Full Circle so community members know that
they are giving back to the community in a productive manner. Blog posts will
be created 3 times a week in order to drive the most traffic to the website
(Brenner, 2022).
Objective 2: Increase the frequency of content creation by 30%, while increasing
interaction with the new content by 5% throughout the duration of the campaign
ending in December of 2023 to all potential donors within a 15-mile radius of Mercy
House using a consistent, pulsing method every week and every month (depends on the
strategy of choice).
Strategy 1: Consistent email marketing to potential donors in surrounding areas
(send a message every week or so)
Tactic 1: One idea for email marketing would be to do weekly emails asking for a
specific type of donation item. The person that donates the most of that item
would then win a small prize or could be entered into a monthly raffle drawing of
some sort. This could be called something along the lines of “Item of the Week”.
Last week’s winner could be called out in the next email as well. This would tie
well into social media marketing and could be used strategically both ways.
Tactic 2: The most important step of sending emails is making sure that you
send it to the right people. Therefore, it is pertinent that Mercy House utilizes
the latest contact list technology.
Tactic 3: With the abundance of emails getting sent to both desktop inboxes and
directly to mobile devices, it is important that Mercy House use interesting/fun
subject lines. Questions could be asked, timely offers, and other ways to connect
with each unique audience are some ways that creativity can be brought into the
subject line and message of each email.
Strategy 2: Monthly newsletters to send to all contact lists.
Tactic 1: The name is in the word itself- NEWSletter. It is important that each
newsletter talks about upcoming events and other activities going on at the
Mercy House. It may also be interesting for viewers to get updates on the
turnover of residents in the house.
Tactic 2: To help provide an incentive for generous donations, a member
spotlight of the month can be tied into each month’s newsletter. A prize or
giveaway could also tie into this tactic.
47
DIGITAL MARKETING
Tactic 3: This newsletter can tie into direct mail marketing and can be turned
into posters to hand out in local places/the thrift stores. This will increase the
number of people that see the newsletter and rely on it for information every
month. Placing them in the same place every month will help drive loyalty to the
newsletter itself.
Objective 3: Increase the reach by number of interactions (clicks) of Mercy House
digital ad content by 3% at the end of the campaign (December 2023) for areas within
a mile or two of JMU’s campus in hopes of targeting off-campus upperclassmen. To do
so, tactics using a consistent pulse scheduling pattern will be used to create content
and focus on optimization once or twice every two weeks.
Strategy 1: Mobile marketing and website optimization, making them more
interactive for users on their mobile devices.
Tactic 1: The use of interactive advertisements will draw people’s attention to
the Mercy House and allow them to keep that image of the advertisement in
their head. It could be something along the lines of “which item could you
donate?” - where it flips through different commonly donated items to spark
interest.
Tactic 2: Have an interactive website and make sure it is mobile functioning.
Upgrading their website would be a great start. Many people will search for
Mercy House online and then head to the website to gain more information, so it
is important that the website experience is positive. The website also needs to
function extremely well on mobile devices, as most of our target market
audience spends a lot of time on their phone everyday.
Tactic 3: Send text reminders to those that sign-up through our website
regarding events, deals, and needed items. This makes a more personal
connection with each receiver and they get reminded about Mercy House every
few weeks.
Strategy 2: Pay for display ads to be placed on popular websites that college
students are navigating to or that correspond to Mercy House.
Tactic 1: have it be on popular sites such as Plato’s closet or what they are
going to be looking at when they go shopping at surrounding stores in
Rockingham County.
Tactic 2: Ads could also be placed on moving websites. This will attract to both
our primary and secondary target audiences, as those who are moving out of
their apartments and those who may be moving out of the area will most likely
have extra pieces of furniture or items to donate.
Tactic 3: Advertisements can also be placed on sites related to school, such as
RateMyProfessor, Chegg, and Quizlet to attract students more frequently.
48
DIGITAL MARKETING
Explanation
SEO: $750 (How much does seo cost? 2022)
Website Ad: $2,000 (How much does it cost to advertise on the internet? 2022)
Email Newsletters - $200, costs ~.01 per email newsletter, directly reaches
20,000 people in Harrisonburg area (Lehman, 2017)
49
DIGITAL MARKETING
50
DIGITAL MARKETING
Banner Advertisement
51
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media The main focus throughout this section will be on the sharing of
information. As a local business, it is apparent that Mercy House facilitate conversation
and post sharing that will reach a wide audience within the Harrisonburg/Rockingham
County geographic locations. When it comes to who will be targeted, geographic and
age factors will be a large distinguishing factor. The idea of fresh starts and the Full
Circle campaign theme will be utilized throughout this section. Both lives and items are
being transformed and repurposed, creating a new meaning that will forever be a part
of a new circle of life. This will appeal to the emotions and personal feelings of gratitude
expressed by the target audience, creating a drive to donate that is unmatched.
Prepared by:
01
01
SOCIAL MEDIA
53
SOCIAL MEDIA
54
SOCIAL MEDIA
55
SOCIAL MEDIA
Explanation
Facebook ads (Karlson et al., 2021)
$1.35 CPC daily budget
reach about 14,000-42,500 people locally
ran daily for all of 2023 totals to $492.75
Instagram ads (WordStream, 2022)
$3 CPC daily budget
reach 330,000-850,000 people automatically selected by Instagram
algorithm based on followers
ran daily for all of 2023 totals to $1,095
Snapchat filters
$5 for 8 hour events
placing filter within 22,000 square feet of The Mercy House and each thrift
shop location
Pinterest ads (MuteSix, 2022)
$1.50 CPC
ran daily for all of 2023 totals to $547.50
56
SOCIAL MEDIA
Pinterest is also a great resource as the Mercy House can create their own boards with
photos they have gathered and also able to target people with ads that are relevant to
home improvement searches. Pinterest will be a great resource for the Mercy House to
use as this form of social media is very unique and customizable to their individual
needs. Being able to share photos and events on social media will be very vital to the
increased awareness of the Mercy House as others in the community will come across
their page and read on to learn more. Sharing information, giveaways and posts with
the local community will increase views to their page and likely increase donations as
well. Being able to spotlight those who have donated in the past and sharing their
stories will serve as a benefit on social media. These post will show how much the Mercy
House values those that have donated to their cause. Also showing what a day in the life
as a resident of the Mercy House will allow followers to see how this organization
impacts the community and why they do what they do.
Snapchat filters will cause people to look into the Mercy House a little more and just
generate name recognition. These filters can also be useful for events downtown or for
this organization to host their own events. Snapchat filters are relevantly inexpensive
and are able to have them in a large geographic area. Another plus to social media is
most platforms attract people of all ages. Examples of this is that many ages are on
Instagram, so it is important to post as often as possible to be able to get the
information out to the target audience. Posting on Instagram is completely free and
easy to do. Posting often will allow multiple people to see what the Mercy House is,
increase reach, and allow for more quality donations.
57
SOCIAL MEDIA
Snapchat Filter
(to be shown on bottom of photos taken in off-campus
apartments)
Have a little
Bring used items to the
Harrison clubhouse!
58
SUPPORT MEDIA
(Both markets) Increase awareness of the Mercy House mission and how they give
back to the local community by 40% at the close of the campaign in December
2023, which primarily is to house homeless families with dependent children in
Harrisonburg and the surrounding Rockingham County.
(Both markets) Increase awareness of the types and quality of donations needed to
support Mercy House’s organization and their homeless families in need by 60% at
the end of the campaign in December 2023.
While these are the overarching objectives that are applicable to this section, the
following pages dive into more detail about how support media will be used to support
this mission. The two main support media areas we will focus on is the use of
promotional products and out-of-home transit advertisements. The promotional
products will be used both on prospective donors, as well as given as a reward to those
who have already donated to the Mercy House. In general, this is used to spread
awareness on the Mercy House by creating name and logo recognition. With a little bit
of text, we can place a connection to the campaign theme on these products and make
sure people know that the Mercy House brings the community together into a Full
Circle. The transit ads will also help share the story on bringing the community
together. It's hard to miss coming in contact with the HDPT bus route, no matter where
you are commuting, so placing ads on the outside of the bus is a great way to build
brand awareness of Mercy House to members of the 22801 zip-code. Interactive flyers
and advertisements placed within the bus shelters is one way to specifically capture the
attention of off-campus students, especially when placed at the main off-campus living
facilities (i.e., The Harrison, Sunchase, Southview, etc.). While we may not have their
attention for long, placing flyers in these locations will make the student target
audience in these specific locations remember the Mercy House name.
Prepared by:
01
01
SUPPORT MEDIA
60
SUPPORT MEDIA
Tactic 3: The primary message we want to display on the bus itself is to focus on
how the Mercy House facilitates an effort of giving back to the community. The
campaign theme will be prominent in a short and sweet message highlighting
the act of giving items a new life.
Strategy 2: Place advertisements in transit bus shelters, specifically those in off-
campus student housing, to increase the frequency of how often bus riders will see
the Mercy House advertisement on their daily commute.
Tactic 1: We want the message to be short and sweet, while grabbing their
attention. Using a short slogan would help with this and draw people in to read
more.
Tactic 2: We can combine the transit shelter advertisement with an interactive
element or a QR code to engage people with the ad and encourage them to learn
more about the Mercy House.
Tactic 3: If there are certain events happening within the Mercy House, we can
use flyers in the shelters to help spread the word on it.
61
SUPPORT MEDIA
Another support media tactic that would help garner awareness towards Mercy House
is bus/bus shelter advertising. It costs $260 to display a large advertisement on the
side of a HDPT bus. With that in mind, it would be logical to utilize a campus bus to
display a Mercy House advertisement in hopes to reach a large student audience that
frequents HDPT buses. To reinforce Mercy House's awareness, it would be
advantageous to place flyers, banner ads, and QR codes on the bus and bus shelters
directing users to the Mercy House website. Flyers and QR codes are generally cheap to
produce and reach a broad audience, so this would be a sensible and cost-effective
method to reach a JMU-affiliated target audience. This would also provide extensive
awareness, especially to people who live off campus and have a higher propensity to
donate furniture from their apartments, townhomes, etc. than someone who lives on-
campus. Through these support media tactics, prices would be kept at a reasonable
level while still providing a wide reach of influence to the Harrisonburg audience. 62
SUPPORT MEDIA
I Donated to
Pen
Today
Helping my community
come Full Circle
one donation at a time
ro
ud Dono
r
P
63
DIRECT MARKETING
While Direct Marketing has been used in conjunction with other media outlets that have
appeared before this in the report, this section is specifically geared towards building a
strong database of potential/future donors and how we would curate specific messages
for each type of donor and the rest of their target market. After all, Direct Marketing all
comes back to how strong your contact list is, so it needs to take priority. Ways to build
a database and learn more about each individual are listed in the following pages. A
strong database will allow for the differentiation of individuals as either a past donor, a
future donor who is living locally, or students who are still able to give back to the
community around them. Once it is known where each individual falls, Direct Marketing
will be much easier and certain messages can be sent to them via text, email, and
regular mail. It is important to keep a personalized touch, and organizing the database
accordingly will make that feasible. The campaign theme will be predominant in the
messages potential donors will receive, and the messages will follow a pulsing strategy
to make sure that our contact list is constantly being reminded of the Mercy House
benefits.
Prepared by:
01
01
DIRECT MARKETING
65
DIRECT MARKETING
66
DIRECT MARKETING
Explanation
Total: $1,000
Mail catalogs, flyers: $400
Emails: $400
Website up-keep: $150 (Website maintenance cost in 2022: A full pricing
breakdown, 2022)
-platform for people to create accounts
Bucket purchases and designs: $50
- 3 buckets, 15$ per bucket and designs
By media Vehicle:
Postal Service USPS : $400
Internet (Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook): $400
Mercy House Website updates: $150
Bucket in Apartments and Concession Stands: $50
67
DIRECT MARKETING
09
68
SALES PROMOTIONS
The primary goal of the following sales promotions will be to increase the quality of the
donations the Mercy House receives. Some of the sales promotion techniques will help
to drive traffic into the store which will in turn entice shoppers to also donate to the
Mercy House. There will also be sales promotions that directly incentivize people to
donate, and these incentives will have a varying scale so that higher quality donations
receive more compensation. The campaign theme, "Full Circle", is going to be tied in in
the form of informational flyers and pamphlets that explain how making a quality
donation will go further than just being sold at a thrift store. It will tell the stories of the
families staying in the Mercy House and how the donors are making an impact on them
through donating quality goods.
Prepared by:
01
01
SALES PROMOTIONS
70
SALES PROMOTIONS
Strategy 1: Entertain month long challenges within the Mercy House thrift stores
that will assist in bringing customers back to the Mercy House for repeat shopping
experiences, which will increase their desire to donate to the Mercy House.
Tactic 1: Posting on social media to inform the community about this promotion.
This can include Instagram posts, reels and stories, and then also using
different Facebook groups and Facebook posts to reach all of our target
audiences.
Tactic 2: Place a piece of paper/flyer in bags when someone purchases an item,
educating customers on the monthly challenges (as well as the benefits) that
they would receive when they donate. This would reinforce the idea that the
Mercy House is more than simply a thrift store.
Tactic 3: One example of how this would work could be a rainbow monthly
challenge (this could also potentially be during LGBTQ+ pride month) where
customers need to buy at least one item that is every color of the rainbow.
Strategy 2: Providing thrift store coupons given with the stipulation of donating
items to the Mercy House.
Tactic 1: Send exclusive coupons via mail to specific donors to offer sales
promotions and incentives for them to come to the store and buy items.
Tactic 2: Offer content on Mercy House's website to support this initiative. While
the coupons may be small, we want to incentivize people to donate to the thrift
store while also coming to shop and bring their friends.
Tactic 3: Mercy House promoting this opportunity on various social media
platforms, including Instagram posts, stories and reels and Facebook.
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SALES PROMOTIONS
Explanation
Total: $795
Loyalty Program: $70 (Flyers, VistaPrint)
500 5.5" x 8.5" custom flyers from Vistaprint
Raffle: $65 (Custom ticket printing for events, Raffles & More: Avery
2022)
500 custom tickets from Avery
Sweepstakes: $70 (Flyers, VistaPrint)
500 5.5" x 8.5" custom flyers from Vistaprint
Coupons: $590
Coupons are mailed to top 20 donors every other month
On average, 82% of millenials use coupons they receive in the mail
(Statista, 2020)
Assume the average thrift shopper spends $30 in one trip
Coupons are 20% off their entire purchase
72
SALES PROMOTIONS
The strategies and tactics of the first objective will help to achieve the goal of receiving
frequent, good quality donations by incentivizing donors. These incentives are relatively
inexpensive solutions for the Mercy House to implement that will ultimately drive the
desire to donate higher quality goods. As the quality of donations improve, so do the
incentives the donors could receive. This is a win-win scenario for the Mercy House as
they are not spending much on these promotions, but ultimately will receive higher
quality goods that will increase their profits.
As for the second objective, the strategies and tactics will help drive foot traffic into the
store to shop, where shoppers will be reminded of the Full Circle campaign theme and
that they too can play a role in donating and giving back to their community. The
monthly challenges, while they encourage shopping moreso than donating, will be
hosted in conjunction with flyers to remind shoppers of the benefits of donating to the
Mercy House. The coupons, although they discount the revenue of the stores, come
with the stipulation that the people who receive the coupons must also be frequent
donors. So, even though coupons lower their revenue, they will also drive the increase
in frequent and good quality donations.
73
PERSONAL SELLING
Prepared by:
01
01
PERSONAL SELLING
75
PERSONAL SELLING
Tactic 1: Begin a Family Tree Sponsorship, where local families are called upon
to sponsor a family either in the Mercy House, or awaiting help from the Mercy
House. Those local families will then receive a list of gift items that the Mercy
House family have on their wish list, and they will be able to go out and hand
deliver the gifts to the family themselves.
Tactic 2: Discuss certain donations that are in drastic need around the holiday
season, and encourage local families to bring in those items for the families in
need. These can either be wrapped or not, and can also be hand-delivered.
Tactic 3: Host personalized, group events where Mercy House employees and
local families will be invited to engage in gift wrapping services of some of the
recent donation items that will be given to the families. They can also help
decorate the Mercy House for the holidays and make sure that there are
Christmas trees and other holiday items in each of the apartments.
Strategy 2: The second communication will be around the Spring Cleaning time
(April or May), when the majority of families are starting to clean out their homes
after Winter and re-organize their house.
Tactic 1: Highlight the pick-up service for larger items that Mercy House has,
which will make it easy for those families to get rid of a larger amount of items.
This also includes showing families how this works, and how they can sign up for
a truck pick-up date and time.
Tactic 2: Discuss specific donations that are in drastic need as the weather
starts to get warmer, and encourage these families to donate these items
specifically.
Tactic 3: Highlight the value of donating to the Mercy House and how it benefits
those in the community, as well as the individuals who are donating. This
includes the positive tax deductions (which can be used to go towards summer
vacations, for example), and the feel good feeling of giving back to the
community. The campaign theme can make its way into this discussion, as the
Full Circle aspect of donating can be a positive experience for many families and
individuals looking to give back.
76
PERSONAL SELLING
Total: $400
Explanation
Updates: $150
Tables: $100
Time: $150
By media Vehicle:
Mercy House Website/email updates: $150
Tables on JMU Campus: $100
Representatives Time: $150
77
.
PERSONAL SELLING
The tabling opportunities relate more to the secondary market of JMU students
because there will be more tabling opportunities around the JMU campus. The
website updates/email updates provide more of a mixed bag of awareness to
the primary and secondary markets of Harrisonburg families and JMU off-
campus students.
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78
PUBLIC RELATIONS
This will all be accomplished by internal and external Public Relations efforts. Within
this section Ace Media has multiple different ideas for Mercy House to achieve these
goals, some include word of mouth marketing, utilizing social media, creating a bulletin
board within the stores to share information, creating press releases to submit to the
Daily News Record. The full circle campaign theme ties into this section perfectly
because this will allow the Mercy House to show how their organization is really a full
circle in being able to have press releases and stories that show where their residents
are now. This will allow the Mercy House to show what their organization does for the
community and why what they do matters in the community. Seeing testimonials of
those that have stayed at the Mercy House will allow people in the Harrisonburg
(specifically JMU students and local families) to understand why the Mercy House does
what it does.
Prepared by:
01
01
PUBLIC RELATIONS
80
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Tactic 1: Submit press releases for future events happening at Mercy House or
Mercy House partners, including Cider Fest and other activities that will be
happening. This will encourage a larger turnout at these events.
Tactic 2: When there is a very large donation piece being made to the Mercy
House, another press release could be made. Hopefully, there will be more of
these throughout the duration of the campaign, but something of this
importance would be perfect in a press release that will be pushed to the
surrounding area's news stations.
Tactic 3: Testimonials from previous residents will also be a great press release
topic. Have them share their success story with the community to generate an
emotional appeal and a larger desire to donate to the Mercy House and make a
difference on families like the ones in the testimonials. The campaign theme can
be brought into this section as well.
Strategy 2: Target the larger spread Harrisonburg County and Timberville areas,
specifically those that are not already getting correspondence from the Mercy
House. This will be an interesting way to share the mission of the Mercy House with
these groups.
Tactic 1: Posting in Harrisonburg/ Timberville Facebook Groups at least once a
month, while actively searching for new groups or create some of their own. This
will spread a conversational feeling of publicity with a wider audience who may
not already know about the Mercy House initiatives.
Tactic 2: Undergo networking at large community wide events, where there is at
least one Mercy House employee or sales representative attending. This is a
great opportunity to have a one-on-one engaged experience with members of
the surrounding community, while being able to share the mission of the Mercy
House.
Tactic 3: Utilize press releases that highlight what Mercy House is doing to give
back to the community, e.g., when a family 'graduates' from the House or when
they have raised a certain amount of money, or what renovations are occurring
at the house and the thrift stores. This is an important way to reach larger
audiences in a more generalized fashion.
81
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Within the first strategy under internal public relations, the main goal was promote
the Mercy House accomplishments within the organization and employees within
the store and on social media.
82
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The second strategy in this section focuses more on community events within the
area. In order to this, the plan is to utilize a bulletin board that will be in the Mercy
House to be able to post Mercy House wide events and other local community
events on; moreover, plan on making the bulletin board able to read effectively and
aesthetically pleasing so people notice it in the store and want to read more. Also,
want to allow people to be able to sign up for the Mercy House newsletter while in
the store while talking to employees. All of these tactics will allow more people to
be aware of what is going on inside the Mercy House for those that already come
into the store regularly. This section of public relations requires little to no money
allocated from the budget. The money used here is primarily for the creation of the
bulletin board in the Mercy House and printing flyers which are a pretty small
percentage of the overall budget.
The second objective again focuses on external public relations, and this can be
accomplished through submitting press releases to the Daily News Record and
sharing information with the Harrisonburg and Timberville communities. Ace Media
plans to send press releases at least once a month and these press releases can
vary from events happening at the Mercy House or with partners, when someone
makes a large donation to this organization, and/or send in testimonials of
previous residents. All of these tactics will allow again for others in the community
to learn a little more about the Mercy House has to offer and what they do for the
community. Although way to implement external public relations is to post in
Facebook groups that center around both Harrisonburg and Timberville. This will
be beneficial to the Mercy House because those in these groups will be able to
learn how to donate/ what they do from a simple post within a group people
already belong to. Networking is another huge opportunity for those in the
community to learn about the mission of the Mercy House and be able to build a
relationship more with someone else. Another important aspect is what the Mercy
House is doing to give back to the community and this can be done through press
releases highlighting what they are doing to help those in need. This section is
important and is primarily useful to allow others to learn a little bit more about the
Mercy House. Pertaining to the budget press releases cost no money, and the
reminder of the money here is used for networking costs (i.e. cost to attend or food
cost) and additional print materials to market the Mercy House within each store
and at networking events.
83
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Sponsorship Introduction
Welcome to the Sponsorship section! The following communications objectives
apply:
(Primary Market- College students) Increase the frequency of donations
towards Mercy House by 10% at the end of the campaign (December 2023) by
offering promotional strategies through JMU athletic events throughout the
academic year.
(Secondary Market – Harrisonburg community) Increase community
awareness of the Mercy House by 8% within the Harrisonburg city limits by
partnering with small local businesses to help sponsor items in their store
while increasing the desire to donate to Mercy House by the end of the
December 2023 campaign.
Sponsorship will play a significant role in the success the Mercy House intends to
achieve through this campaign. Through Sponsorship, the Mercy House will be
able to continue making that deeper connection by being a part of the sporting
events that bring the JMU students closer together throughout the year. Along
with JMU, the Mercy House will also be able to increase its reach among the entire
Harrisonburg community by partnering with local businesses that support their
cause. Sponsorship will increase how many people know of the Mercy House and
how many times people donate through actively creating a relationship with them
through the places and things they love doing. Our campaign theme of “Full Circle”
will be demonstrated through the generations of college students and
Harrisonburg residents that come and go but the Mercy House will always be there
for the new ones that take their places. We want our target audiences to know we
are always there for them and the community. The next couple pages will address
exactly how we plan to accomplish that.
Prepared by:
01
01
SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorship Objectives
Objective 1: Increase the frequency of donations towards Mercy House by 10% at the
end of the campaign (December 2023) by offering promotional strategies at on-campus
JMU athletic events throughout the academic year.
Strategy 1: Place promotional elements at JMU home basketball games, which are a
large hit with local families who want to bring their children to JMU sports and get
them out of the house in the Winter.
Tactic 1: Displaying Mercy House logo on JMU sports arena electronic ad-strips
throughout the Atlantic Union Bank Center to provide more brand recognition
for those at the basketball games.
Tactic 2: Place an information table in Atlantic Union Bank Center with student
giveaway or raffles. Raffles are a way to generate more monetary donations to
the Mercy House, while giveaways may be more commonly sought after by
college students. Either way, it is important to make sure the table visitor
provides their information to the Mercy House prior to entering in the raffle.
Tactic 3: Sponsor a half-time event or inquire about being called out as an
outstanding nonprofit during the many game breaks.
Strategy 2: Place promotional elements at JMU home football games and tailgates,
which are a large hit among past JMU alumni and their friends/family who may be
living in the area.
Tactic 1: Set-up a table in the many tailgating sections, where the Mercy House
would hand out shirts, pens, magnets that will stay with the table visitor for a
long time. This will help reinforce the campaign theme of Full Circle, in addition
to create more buzz around the Mercy House initiative.
Tactic 2: Place a short, 30 second video on the video board/jumbotron at the
appropriate game breaks. This will highlight the Mercy House mission, while
playing with the heartstrings of those who are in the stands.
Tactic 3: Place paid banners on the side of Godwin Hall, which is behind where
most of the non-student attendees are sitting. Many of them will catch these
advertisements in their photos and their memory - as they look at them
throughout the entire day.
Objective 2: Increase community awareness of the Mercy House by 8% within the
Harrisonburg city limits by partnering with small local businesses to help sponsor items
in their store, while increasing the reach and desire to donate to Mercy House by the
end of the December 2023 campaign.
Strategy 1: Pairing with Mr. J’s Bagels (just the one on South High which is closest
to the Mercy House to start with, but possibly all three locations in the near future).
Tactic 1: Creating a “Full Circle” bagel for Mr. J’s to sell in which the Mercy
House would receive some of the proceeds for purchases of that specific bagel.
86
SPONSORSHIP
Tactic 2: Help support Mr. J’s by placing signs in the thrift store, as well as
coupons if Mr. J's has them - to encourage customers/donors to go to Mr. J’s
Tactic 3: Place a flyer or informational poster at Mr. J’s that will explain the
Mercy House and where their donations go to when they purchase the breakfast
sandwich.
Strategy 2: Partner with Black Sheep Coffee - a very popular coffee and study spot
that is located downtown. This coffee shop has received the largest amount of
reviews (positive ones as well) within the Harrisonburg city limits.
Tactic 1: Creating a “Mercy House” coffee for Black Sheep in which the Mercy
House would receive some of the proceeds from the purchase of said coffee.
Tactic 2: Help support Black Sheep by placing signs in the store to encourage
customer and donors to go to Black Sheep
Tactic 3: Place a flyer or informational poster at Black Sheep Coffee that will
explain the Mercy House and where their donations go to when they purchase
the mocha latte.
Sponsorship Budget
Total Budget Expenditure Sponsorship Breakdown
87
SPONSORSHIP
Budget Explanation
Percent of Total Budget: 4.8% (960$)
By Media Vehicle:
Flyers Placed inside Mr. J's and Black Sheep:140$
Raffles at JMU sports games: 65$
Atlantic Union Bank sports arena strip-ads: 430$
Video Board in Bridgeforth Stadium: 250$
Large Banners outside of Godwin Hall : 75$
Sponsorship Rationale
Considering a good chunk of our target market is college students in the Harrisonburg
area, a sponsorship with JMU athletic events would significantly increase the frequency of
donations from a good portion of our target audiences, especially college students as well
as the locals, parents, and other people that attend JMU sports events. Partnering with
local businesses such as Mr. Js and Black Sheep will also greatly increase the reach the
Mercy House is trying to achieve when it comes to creating awareness of the Mercy
House, its mission, and increasing the desire to donate. Through promotion within the
stores such as a special bagel or coffee in which the Mercy House would receive some of
the proceeds and placing flyers addressing the Mercy House’s cause. At the same time
Mercy house will place signs in their stores to encourage customer traffic at both Black
Sheep and Mr. J’s so the Mercy House and the local businesses can both significantly
benefit from this relationship by bringing customers/donors to both of their
establishments. Sitting at 4.8% of our total budget, the Mercy House does not need to
allocate a large amount of our assets for sponsorship for them to have an enormous
impact on our campaign. Placing most of the money towards the JMU sports events
because the students are a primary market this campaign is trying to have an impact on
but also through that constant exposure to the Mercy House at Harrisonburg’s local
businesses will make that money worth the cost.
88
SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorship Deliverables
*More Deliverables in Appendix I
Mr. J's "Full Circle" bagel flyer Sports Arena Electronic Ad Strip
89
MEDIA FLOW CHART
90
MEDIA FLOW CHART
91
BUDGET BREAKDOWN AND SUMMARY
Budget Breakdown
92
BUDGET BREAKDOWN AND SUMMARY
Budget Summary
A budget of $20,000 was allocated to marketing efforts to be used over the span of
January 2023 to December 2023. Ace Media has further portioned this budget based upon
different media categories and will use the money to deploy specific strategies and tactics
to attract the target markets and achieve the marketing and communication goals.
The majority of the budget, 34.8%, has been allocated to digital marketing. Digital
Marketing is a rapidly growing realm of marketing efforts these days, and the Mercy
House has much room for improvement in this department. Right now, they maintain a
website and Facebook. However, there are many opportunities that the Mercy House can
and should expand into. This is why a large portion of the budget was allocated to Google
ads and website maintenance. A decent portion of the budget was also dedicated to
increasing social media efforts, however there are also many ways in which the Mercy
House can boost their social media for free, so the budget for social media marketing
wasn't as high as digital marketing.
Traditional marketing efforts also received a large portion of the budget, 18%, as there
are many opportunities in this field to reach the target audiences. The strategies and
tactics for traditional marketing efforts are able to reach both target audiences through
one tactic, so these efforts will contribute to a large portion of audience reach. Traditional
marketing strategies and tactics also overlap with many other media categories, so any
overlaps were included in only the traditional marketing portion of the budget and not the
other media categories.
Support media has about 9% of the budget, however the items purchased with this
portion of the budget is also used in other media categories, such as sales promotion and
sponsorship. Direct marketing accounts for around 5% of the budget. This includes
advertising mediums such as direct mail and change-bucket locations. Lastly, personal
selling and PR account for the final 3.5% of our budget which includes tabling services
and press releases. Less financial resources were invested into these aspects of the
budget due to social media and digital marketing playing a more pronounced role in
consumers' collective conscience, therefore providing a more extensive reach of
awareness.
93
MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
Accuracy/inventory checks should be done at least once every other week, although
weekly checks would be a great way to keep track of donations. With those reports,
the campaign can be adjusted and there will be a better generalized view of what is
working and what is not. If there are certain spikes in sales/donations around a
certain time in the campaign those measures can be increased to help drive
efficiency.
Evaluation of Communication Objectives
While there are a lot of communications objectives that have been used throughout
the IMC plan, measuring the effectiveness of these will also help guide the
measurement of the plan as a whole, as these objectives are constantly referenced
throughout the plan's entirety. There are two important areas that are
recommended to be of extreme focus - the message and the media being used.
The Message: Each message that gets sent out to customers, no matter where
that message is being sent out, needs to be effective. Is the message strong
enough to get people to come to the store? Is it strong enough to get people to
donate items? One way of checking the ultimate goal of all of the messages will
be to follow a similar format to evaluating the Marketing Goals - by directly
seeing an increase in sales and donation numbers. The numbers don't lie, and
they can be an important tool. The best time to see this is to specifically check
after a certain campaign is pushed out (more detail can be found within each
section, but a general rule can be a month or so after the message spreads.
The Media: Each media form should also be deeply evaluated for success. Each
media will have different measurement tactics that will be listed out in the
following sections, but the key to understanding the evaluation of the entire
campaign as a whole will be by looking at the success of all the different
mediums together. Creating a spreadsheet to see them all in one place will be
beneficial in the long term.
Traditional Advertising
Pre and post testing will be beneficial for traditional advertising tactics, as these
take up a higher unit price and it is important to make a lasting impact on potential
donors. Print advertisements will benefit from having readability tests done prior to
sending for final review. This will ensure that the message being portrayed is short
and to the point so that viewers can form a connection to the piece. This will be
done at least 3 months before the media needs to be submitted to ensure there is
enough time to make edits as needed. Day-after recall testing will also be beneficial
to all traditional advertising types, including radio advertisements and print media
forms. Focus groups can be used for both the pretesting and recall testing. These
focus groups will also beneficial in providing more qualitative feedback on the ads
themselves, and emotional reactions can be documented and saved for reference.
94
MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
Digital Marketing
When it comes to the website, it will be relatively easy to track the number of
backlinks and overall site health, which is an important part of increasing the SEO
ranking of the Mercy House site. A tool such as WordPress insights can be used for
this, and should be checked regularly (at least once a month). The numbers of
organic traffic, site click through rate, and the amount of time that each user
typically spends on the Mercy House website will also be beneficial to look at. This
will inform the pages that are most liked and viewed. When it comes to direct
emails, open rate and click through rate are two very important numbers. These
should be checked around four days after sending a mass email to ensure the most
accurate and complete responses, although data can be tracked and stored through
the emailing website (such as HubSpot) at any time within the week following
sending.
Social Media
The most important tactic to note for social media marketing would be the total
number of impressions that the Mercy House receives. All social media platforms,
including Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook, will have built-in functions that can be
checked at least once a week for any updates. Other content interactions, such as
likes, comments, and reshares/pins will be important to note as well, although not
as important as total impressions - especially when factoring in the overall
awareness. While people may see the ad and click on it, they may not like, comment,
or share.
Support Media
An easy way to recognize the effectiveness of material support media would be to
track the remaining quantity on hand after a certain event. The number of items
missing would be the number of people that received the items, such as t-shirts,
pens, etc. Pre-testing and post testing could be one way to determine if the item is
something valuable to potential donors. This would also help to determine what
items to create with the Mercy House brand on it. To ensure time to change any
items after the focus-group study, this should be done at least 3 months before the
event in which the Mercy House will be handing these out. When it comes to transit
advertisements, field tests could be used to perform recall tests for those people
that stand at the off-campus living facility's bus shelters. These could be done a
week after the campaign stopped, and a month afterwards. To determine which
transit advertisement worked better, split-run testing would be used and the results
of the recall test for both versions would be compared.
95
MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
Direct Marketing
One quick way to measure the effectiveness of direct marketing, would be to track
sales and the number of donations, specifically after a spike in Direct Marketing
advertisements. Sales may increase faster than the number of donations, so that
would be easier to relate back to a specific direct marketing collateral that was sent
out, but there should also be a small increase in donations over time if the direct
marketing efforts are working. A quick way to determine which bin placement
collected the most donations would be to compare what's in the bin and to do recall
tests (similar to mall-interception tests) around the area of the bin a few days after
the bin is removed, asking passerby whether they remember seeing the bin there
and if they know what the Mercy House is. This will help compare different bin
locations to determine the best spot. In addition, A/B pretesting would be beneficial
to do for different email and mail items, as it is an expensive cost. Things to test
would be different graphics, email subject line varieties and headings. This should
be done at least a month before the anticipated send date of these items.
Sales Promotions
Keep track of the number of people in the Loyalty Donor program, as well as the
number of people that are entering in the raffle each month. This number should be
increasing, and should be checked monthly to help stay up-to-date. On the few
coupons and other promotional events that will be sent to loyal customers, it is
important to track how many were used out of how many that were sent out. This
should be checked immediately after the sales promotion ended.
Personal Selling
Keep detailed records of how many people come to the tabling options Mercy House
hosts by using a Google or Microsoft Form. These people should then be added to
the Mercy House's database and should be contacted as a follow-up with a survey of
how the event went no later than the following day. This will give an exact
perspective on how things went. A lot of this information will also come from the
people on the field talking with potential donors and customers. After each event, it
is important to note the type of people interacted with, what their views on the
Mercy House were, and general information on everything went. A spreadsheet or
online document could be used to track this and should be updated within a day of
the event as well. General surveys to the entire Mercy House database that will be
sent out at least every year will be beneficial in measuring community perspectives.
96
MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION & CONCLUSION
Publicity and PR
Keep track of the number of times press releases turned into articles within the local
news stations. It is important to also follow-up by posting this on The Press section
of the Mercy House website for all users to see, regardless of their access to a news
medium. Looking at site traffic for this specific page would be an interesting way to
know how many people are gaining access to their publicity. Track what type of
items people are looking at on the bulletin board within the Mercy House. This could
have interactive elements that they could rip off to take with them. Those with the
most pulled off, are clearly generating a more positive outlook on the customers.
Sponsorships
When it comes to sponsorships, one way to directly see how many generally saw the
mention of Mercy House at JMU sporting events would be to get a general count of
how many people attended the game by talking to JMU faculty. Another general way
would be to perform a field test, in which Mercy House employees attend the event
and take note on the general viewing response. Were people engaged or looking
around at the Mercy House advertisement? This should happen at every sporting
event. Another way to measure the success of the partnerships with local
businesses would be to consistently check on the remaining number of flyers or
business cards are at the location (at least every 2 or 3 weeks), as well as
corresponding with the local business itself to see what the sales were of their
specific drink or food item.
Conclusion
Per Mercy House's request, Ace Media set out to increase awareness of Mercy House's
mission by 40%, increase awareness of the type and quality of donations by 60%,
increase general interest in donating, increase desire to donate, and increase overall
donations. Through Ace Media's "Full Circle" campaign theme, an attempt at creating a
community fellowship was devised that spotlighted the importance of meliorating
impoverished Harrisonburg families.
By analyzing market data through IBISWorld, a primary market of JMU families and a
secondary market of JMU students were generated to construct the most effective
advertising campaign. This campaign sought out reviews from Mercy House's various
social media platforms to determine the efficacy of their company and areas for
improvement. After compiling this information, Ace Media developed an integrated
marketing plan that utilized numerous forms of advertising media - namely traditional,
digital, social media, support, direct, sales promotions, personal selling, PR, and
sponsorship. 97
CONCLUSION
Conclusion CONT.
Through extensive research on market data and key industry drivers, Ace Media
determined that a budget weighted towards digital/social media advertising would be
more conducive in amassing awareness towards the targeted audiences, reflecting a shift
to the digital age. By implementing social media ads, website optimization, SEO,
newsletters, and surveys, Mercy House broadens their advertising reach and stands the
best chance in yielding the most donations possible.
In order to attract as many donors as possible, this campaign also set up different
traditional advertising tactics that would reach an audience that does not rely as heavily
on social media. This campaign aimed to achieve this by disseminating print ads, local
television ads, and radio ads. Different attempts at JMU sporting event sponsorships,
promotional tactics to incentivize repeat donations, and personal selling opportunities to
build a face-to-face connection were also considered to cover the widest advertising
scope possible for the intended markets. By providing a breadth of advertising tactics,
Mercy House stands the best chance in achieving their communication goals.
98
APPENDIX
99
APPENDIX
Appendix B - Traditional
Advertising
Television Storyboards
100
APPENDIX
Appendix B - Traditional
Advertising CONT.
Television Storyboards
Item
Gender
Description
2 Females and 1 Male Narrator
Radio Scripts
(Man 1) “Hey man, we really need to
Gender 2 Males
get things moving on this project but
Length :30
I have no idea where to get the
Length
Target Empty Nesters:30or families with materials we need at a cost we can
older children who are getting afford” (Man 2) “I actually just saw
Demographic General
ready toContractors an advertisement for this place, the
Target move out
Mercy House who own a building
Demographic
Character Friend, neighbor, early to late
supplies store out in Timberville for
50’s
Partners looking for supplies to affordable and quality material, we
Character Natural, conversation-like, should check it out!” (SFX queue in)
Vocal Direction complete a large project
energetic, happy and easy-going (Man 1) “Wow! I don’t know if we
Vocal Direction Urgent would have finished this project in
Suggested Music Brett Young’s “Mercy” time without the Mercy Houses’
Sound of loadingnature
thingslike
onto a help!” (Man 2) “Right! Now we
Suggested
Suggested Music
SFX Outdoorsy,
finished our project in time, saved
truck, car door shutting, walking
Suggested SFX Machine/building tools money, and helped the community all
at one place!” (Man 1 and 2) 101
APPENDIX
Appendix B - Traditional
Advertising CONT.
Item
Gender
Description
2 Females and 1 Male Narrator
Radio Scripts CONT.
(Person 1):Hey man, we’ve got some
Gender 2 Males
leftover furniture that none of us can
Length :30
bring home after we move out. You
Length
Target Empty Nesters :30or families with guys want one of our couches?
older children who are getting (Person 2): You mean that dingy
Demographic fraternity couch in your yard that’s
Target ready to move out
Off-Campus Students started vegetating from the rain?
Demographic
Character Friend, neighbor, early to late
(Person 1): Nah, we’ve got a solid
50’s
Conversation between JMU off- loveseat in our living room that none
Character Natural, conversation-like, of us know what to do with. (Person
Vocal Direction campus neighbors
energetic, happy and easy-going 2): Appreciate it, but we don’t have
Vocal Direction Humorous, conversation-like space. You could honestly get the
Suggested Music Brett Young’s “Mercy” Mercy House to come pick that up for
Sound of loading you and they’ll give it to the
Suggested
Suggested Music
SFX Nonethings onto a
truck, car door shutting, walking disadvantaged. (Person 1 laughs)
(Person 1): Nah, that’s just the
Suggested SFX Outdoors
outside couch. (Both laugh)
Item Description
Gender 2 Females and 1 Male Narrator
Appendix B - Traditional
Advertising CONT.
Print Advertisements
103
APPENDIX
Appendix C - Digital
Marketing Deliverables
Email Newsletters
104
APPENDIX
Social Media Ad
Instagram Post
105
APPENDIX
106
APPENDIX
Hey there!
107
APPENDIX
Appendix G - Sales
Promotions Deliverables
Raffle Ticket
John Doe
[email protected]
te an
123-456-7890 Did you dona
item?
ffle
Enter our ra
today!
Sweepstakes Flyer
108
APPENDIX
109
APPENDIX
Have extra items around your home? You can help us by donating
to the Mercy House today! For more information check out our
social media pages or website!
110
APPENDIX
Appendix J - Sponsorship
Deliverables
Mercy House Coffee Advertisement VIdeo Board at Football game
10
111
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
References
112
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
References CONT.
113
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
References CONT.
114
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
References CONT.
115