BARBARA SEMEDO Strategic Advisor, Communications & Media [email protected]

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1 Proposal LAUNCH NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING CAMPAIGN Sharing the story & building a strong brand for SAVE Students Against Violence Everywhere Thank you for the opportunity to offer a proposal to help the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) launch a communications and marketing initiative. This campaign would be designed to enhance the visibility and profile of the organization with key audiences, in particular, potential funders and supporters. Violence in the nations public schools and higher education institutions has rocked the hearts and minds of communities everywhere. We have the nation s attention. Now is the time to channel it toward change. As a student driven organization devoted to leading the conversation to reduce violence in our school and communities, SAVE, through its student volunteers, is well positioned to play a role as an important thought leader organization in the effort to curb violence in schools and neighborhoods. Goal Increase the visibility and influence of the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Create a sense of urgency and imperative to support SAVE among financial supporters from prominent philanthropic and corporate funders. What We Propose Developing a strong communications and marketing campaign initiative that achieves these ambitious goals will unfold in four broad categories: Clarify and identify key target audiences for campaign Develop a strong communications plan with strategic tactics Leverage communications campaign to create sense of urgency with potential funders and supporters Present options to track and measure campaign progress and success I would welcome the opportunity to work with your team to discuss the above goals and develop the plan that will put SAVE on the map as a national student-driven organization building momentum for a major (yet to be named) national campaign in all of America s educational institutions. Clarify and identify key target audiences and compelling messages that move the audience As a communications and marketing plan is discussed and developed, it is essential to identify with clarity the key target audience or audiences. As the process begins, I would propose to speak with the leadership of SAVE, key students who serve as active volunteer members for SAVE, and a designated number of board members. The goal would be to gain greater understanding of the organization s target audiences and whether there is consensus on initiative s goals, messaging etc. This is an important part of the development stage of a communications strategy. Understanding who our campaign needs to reach is key to the development of the message and story that will need to be 1

2 told long term. Once we have agreed on target audience(s), I would draft core set of messages crafted to move our target audiences to act. This document would be developed in close collaboration with the SAVE leadership and would be foundational to overall communications and marketing plan. Develop a strong communications plan with strategic tactics aimed at raising awareness and inspiring action Social Media Considering the timeline and desire to start the campaign on March 1, I would propose the development of an innovative online campaign driven by the use of social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, etc). We will be bold and creative in the development of a campaign that will show and let students talk about what they can and should do to stop the violence in their schools. Students are clearly one of SAVE s target audiences. Based on an review of your Twitter and Facebook feeds, there is great potential for a rapid increase in followers with a social media campaign that incorporate into its messaging SAVE s core principles Engage, Empower, Encourage and Educate. [Four E s = SSC Engage, Empower, Encourage & Educate means Safer Schools & Communities] SAVE s website is an excellent resource and foundation upon which to build a social media campaign. There are few Facebook pages tied to preventing violence in schools. None of those pages have more than 200 likes. Given SAVE s core audience of young people (who are plugged into social media 24/7), I would propose to work with SAVE s students leaders and staff to develop tweets and Facebook postings that will generate greater discussion and interest in the campaign. We want to use this initiative to generate buzz that students can leaders in this renewed effort to confront violence that s taking the lives of too many children. The National Youth Violence Prevention Week, March 18-23, is an ideal time to launch an aggressive effort to strengthen the social media presence of SAVE. I would evaluate the potential to incorporate the use of student-produced videos for the campaign and engagement of high profile personalities with a strong social media presence. Video Along with social media, I would propose the use of video in this campaign. In conjunction with the social media campaign, I would recommend SAVE consider launching a student-produced video contest. This contest could be a central element in the campaign. Our goal: create a viral video effort that is student-centric with young people competing to produce the most creative video about the role they can take in making their schools and communities safer. The contest could be featured on a YouTube channel we create for the submissions. I would collaborate with SAVE on the rules and parameters for contest and submissions. I would propose that we promote the contest through the growing social media presence we will build for SAVE. A contest of this nature could also be used as vehicle to secure a corporate sponsor who could participate in the review and selection of a winner. The social media campaign would then have another channel for potential promotion of the overall initiative. A student centered contest such as this could be a potential win-win for SAVE by: Providing a strong news hook for media coverage 2

3 Building a stronger social media presence for SAVE Creating a model Stop the Violence initiative that potential new funders see as important to endorse and support with funding Develop a contest of this nature on a short timeline might be challenging. I would welcome the opportunity to further explore this idea. Earned Media We ll use an earned media strategy to announce the launch of the campaign to broadcast, online and print outlets. I propose targeting education and crime reporters, as well as opinion and editorial writers. The news coverage would help strengthen the online campaign by encouraging followers to spread the words using Twitter hashtags we develop and postings to their social network promoting SAVE s viral campaign to stop the violence. Longer term, I would use the success of the social media campaign to generate increased national and local media coverage, i.e. targeting national morning news programs such as Morning Joe. (Joe Scarborough has become an outspoken critic of the NRA s hard line position gun. Leverage communications campaign to create sense of urgency with potential funders and supporters Developing a set of crisp, concise and sharp messages for this communications effort is critical to engaging the target audiences. Messaging for the short and long-term should be consistent across all platforms, social media, website and collateral materials used for development outreach. I would propose a conference call or in person strategy session to define key objectives for messaging and seek input for development of a set of campaign messages and talking points. A key measure of success is to secure longer term funding or a philanthropic partnership to sustain SAVE for the next several years That goal to introduce SAVE and its work to a new audience of potential funders will underlie all of work and effort of the campaign. I believe there are corporations and larger businesses looking for ways to support the growing effort to prevent violence in school and promote a safe environment for all kids. I would propose to work with my network of colleagues with corporate experience to identify potential companies to target for an introduction. Additionally, once the social media campaign is launched and generating interest, I would propose to work with SAVE leadership to discuss the potential of targeting key leaders in the Obama administration for outreach. This may present an important opportunity to position SAVE and some its students for participation in the national discussion on gun violence. Further, it could present additional opportunities for SAVE to make connections with key national philanthropic and corporate leaders collaborating with the White House on strategies effort to combat gun violence Present options to track and measure campaign progress and success The social media campaign will encompass several social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs etc. All of this can be easily tracked for impact and growth. I would work closely with your team to develop the list of organizations that SAVE should follow and like as we roll out the communications and marketing campaign to share your story and build your brand. We will track social media engagements daily as well news coverage of the campaign. Daily electronic sets of news clips will be offered to the SAVE leadership. 3

4 We will use National Youth Violence Prevention Week to launch a targeted outreach to key national news organizations, influential opinion columnists and major market news outlets. We close monitor news coverage of school violence to identify regional columnists and editorial writers who should be contacted as well. Timeline March Develop set of messages for all platforms Develop content to propose Facebook posting and Twitter feeds Initiate quick turnaround discussion on the feasibility of a student video contest Develop a media list for outreach Draft and distribute press release announcing campaign April Continue to promote the campaign through social media network Launch the student video contest and build a YouTube channel to promote it and other elements of the communications & marketing campaign Identify potential funder targets in the corporate sector Consider outreach and partnership with major social media outlet to host a Google Hangout or Facebook town hall with students ambassadors and key spokespeople on preventing violence in our schools May Continue to build social media audience adding new content to all online tools Select a winner of the student video contest June or July Produce final report on successes and lessons learned from SAVE s new social media initiative Discuss next steps for continuing and building on the effort with (hopefully) new funding streams BIOGRAPHY Ask anyone who has worked with Barbara Semedo and they will tell you that she is an excellent leader and manager. They'll also tell you she is an expert in communications planning and media relations. Barbara is passionate about the narrative - good story telling. It's a skill she developed as an on-air reporter who showed up everyday ready to find and tell a new story that was compelling and meaningful to viewers. With those skills and talents, she built a successful career as a senior communications strategist and advisor. If you need an expert on media outreach, Barbara is a "media guru" who knows how newsrooms operate. Reporters and columnists appreciate working with her because she "gets it" and understands what they need for their stories. In her recent communications leadership roles, she worked with senior editorial staff at Time magazine to 4

5 secure a partnership to support a major economic growth summit in Chicago. She cultivated connections with key national columnists at the Washington Post and New York Times that resulted in columns highlighting work by research colleagues. If you want to do a better job "sharing your story & building your brand," Barbara can to lead that effort. She will work with you to better understand how to use "integrated online marketing & communications strategies" to grow your business/profile and engage new customers and audiences. Her goal is to ensure that your business or organization or you can have a lasting and enduring impact with your work. Barbara is an effective strategic advisor who will help you become or your organization be a "thought leader" in your field. "It's all about telling your story and 'building the buzz' that attracts new clients and audiences." BUDGET I would propose the following estimates as per your request for three budgets levels: $5000 (roughly hours) Review and analysis of SAVE target audience Message development Draft communications, marketing & social media outreach plan $10,000 (roughly hours) Draft press release Develop media list Execute media outreach (regional and national outlets) Prepare daily news and web clips as needed Develop and expand initial social media plan Draft plan for video contest proposal $25,000 (roughly hours) Draft op-ed for national placement Targeted national media outreach Prepare and execute video contest plan Identify and initiate conversation with potential contest sponsor Identify potential targets for organizational funding support Collaborate with SAVE leadership & board on outreach to influential leaders in In the Obama administration and on Capital Hill Prepare final analysis and report on the SAVE promotional campaign 5