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S BY KAT SHANAHAN tudents today are inundated with messaging and technology that guide their on-campus experience. Student unions strive to capture student time and attention by providing safe programing that enhances the campus experience. With so many choices available for students, unions need to find a way to rise to the top of customer minds. Integrated marketing communications serve as a vehicle to drive the organization forward, steering it toward achieving the mission and vision set forth. Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is a process, not a department within an organization whose sole responsibility is to focus on the graphic design and brand image of the organization. Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, said: KAT SHANAHAN Kat Shanahan serves as the promotions coordinator for the James R. Connor University Center at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater where she has designed and implemented a rebranding project, restructured the marketing department, and led the center s staff in creating and implementing 10 integrated marketing communications plans. She is currently working on her master s degree in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University. Shanahan also serves as the Region V communications coordinator. A brand is a living entity and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures. CORE COMPETENCIES: LEADERSHIP n Vision and Planning MARKETING n Principles of Marketing PLANNING n Goal Setting; Assessment These small gestures combined are integrated marketing communications. IMC planning provides a roadmap of where the organization is going and what business success looks like. It also ensures that messaging is consistent across all touch points, which helps to build relationships with target audiences. THE BULLETIN MARCH/APRIL 2015 ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE UNIONS INTERNATIONAL 35
In this 2010 Snickers commercial, hungry passengers appeared as Liza Minnelli and Aretha Franklin (not pictured). The ad was among the first installments of the You re not you when you re hungry campaign. IMC In Action Snickers has been successful in implementing an IMC campaign surrounding the tagline, You re not you when you re hungry. The popular campaign was a successful follow-up to the previous Hungry, why wait? campaign. Snickers did more than use the same content and message across all of its marketing platforms; it individually tailored each message to the medium. Not simply recycling the messaging, but growing and enhancing messaging across multiple platforms is the basis for IMC. Snickers used celebrities acting out of character as other celebrities in their television ads. Their print ads targeted everyday activities that became difficult if customers were hungry. A favorite example was the guerilla marketing in the streets of Brazil. Snickers created a photobooth in which customers would have their photo taken, but what printed was the photo of someone else, thus furthering the idea that you re not you when you re hungry. According to the 2011 Effie Awards, in the first three months of the campaign, Snickers saw global growth. In the United States alone, sales volume increased 8% and single sales rose by 13.4%. Additionally, the yearon-year household penetration rose 1.8 percentage points after previously declining by 1.6. The success of this campaign is due to the strong brand focus and IMC plan. Snickers is positioned as a treat that satisfies hunger. Keeping the element of satisfying hunger and adding a humorous twist kept the messaging in line with the brand. The IMC execution has allowed that message to infiltrate Snickers target audience and create memorable experiences that reinforce the campaign message. IMC in a College Union Beginning in 2012, the James R. Connor University Center at UW Whitewater began developing an IMC process. The team started by drafting a campaign for the overall University Center, followed by an implementation plan that would lead to the creation of IMC campaigns for each individual department. In 2014 15, this totaled 10 plans. This number will vary based on the number of units within the union. Northwestern University has transitioned its union marketing efforts to a divisional structure, which resulted in 20 marketing plans in 2014 15. The first year of implementation was also a year of teaching. The marketing staff created an IMC campaign for the University Center while also educating internal departments on the importance of executing these plans. The departments worked to gather data to ensure the objectives outlined in the plan were attainable. The IMC Plan A typical integrated marketing communications plan is composed of the following sections. n Company Background Information n Target Market Analysis n SWOT Analysis n Integrated Marketing Communications Goals n Creative Strategy n Advertising n Public Relations n Direct Marketing n Sales Promotions n Conclusion In addition to these sections, the James R. Connor University Center asked departments to begin 36 THE BULLETIN MARCH/APRIL 2015 ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE UNIONS INTERNATIONAL
ELEMENTS OF AN IMC PLAN COMPANY BACKGROUND INFORMATION The company background section helps focus on clarifying the mission and vision of the union and how it contributes to the overall campus environment. For this section, think about what is special about the union and how it has evolved and changed over the years. TARGET MARKET ANALYSIS The target market analysis is a beneficial tool that helps to identify primary audiences and determine which marketing tactics will most resonate with them. In this section, it is beneficial to be as specific as possible and gather as much information about the target market is necessary to help determine how to market to them. Identifying not only a primary audience, but also a secondary audience can make designing the rest of the marketing plan easier. For example, students are typically a target audience for student unions, but are faculty and staff audiences that could more effectively utilize the building and services more over the next fiscal year? One consideration when determining the target market is the role that student employees play in implementing organizational marketing efforts. Will there be specific marketing directed toward student employees? Is there demographic information on this population that will make marketing to them easier? A simple survey at orientation and training events can help determine how involved these students are on campus, when they expect to graduate, how long they are employed within the union, and how many credits the students are taking. A survey done by the James R. Connor University Center showed that 88% of student employees were involved in student organizations, other work opportunities, or both. Such information is extremely beneficial when evaluating student development activities and programming. SWOT ANALYSIS The SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis helps the union determine in which areas they excel and which areas need improvement. The SWOT analysis shows both internal and external strengths and weaknesses. It is beneficial to do this exercise with the executive leadership team or even the full staff. Including them in this part of the process helps to gain buy-in for the marketing initiatives and allows the team to see areas in which the union faces competition. Conducting a SWOT analysis also helps reevaluate the services and offerings provided elsewhere on campus. What improvements in other departments have led to competition with the union? INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS GOALS The integrated marketing communications goals are those to which every member of the union aspires. Think of these as overarching. For instance, would an increase in website traffic decrease the number of calls and questions that departments have to answer? IMC goals could also focus on internal brand awareness or, if the organization is feeling adventurous, external brand awareness. External brand awareness is more difficult to measure. It can be done but requires an initial survey to discover the current level of brand awareness and a post-campaign survey to discover if awareness has increased. CREATIVE BRIEF The creative brief is an essential communication tool that clearly establishes the messaging and design guidelines for the duration of the campaign. It outlines the target audience, explains the reason for this marketing campaign, and guides what the campaign should look like. ADVERTISING Advertising focuses on IMC tactics that require payment for ad space, not necessarily creation. Items in this category could include space in the campus newspaper or other publications. PUBLIC RELATIONS The area of public relations focuses on earned media. In higher education, many of the events we provide for the students are free. The union may decide to measure those events in the public relations section because such events aim to create a positive experience for the target audience and improve the organization s brand image. Other performance indicators may be the number of stories written by campus stakeholders about the union or features on the union in community papers. DIRECT MARKETING Direct marketing initiatives can be emails, listservs, and advertisements that are mailed to members of the target market. Typically, direct marketing has a small return rate. It s common for direct mail to lead to a less than 1% action rate. SALES PROMOTIONS As the name suggests, sales promotions are discounts and coupons provided for the target audience. Does the recreation center, bookstore, or dining location offer coupons or specials offers? What kind of redemption rate is successful? CONCLUSION The conclusion section of an IMC plan provides an overview of the union s business strategy, goals, and tactics. THE BULLETIN MARCH/APRIL 2015 ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE UNIONS INTERNATIONAL 37
EXAMPLES OF OBJECTIVES Increase weekend sales by 5% over 12 months Increase the number of RSS subscribers to the blog by 10% over 12 months Increase enrollment in the voluntary meal plan by 50 individuals over 12 months Sponsor or co-sponsor 10 events with an overall attendance of 10,000 over 12 months EXAMPLES OF TACTICS Posters Digital signage Attendance at fairs Social media posts Blog articles Paid Facebook ads developing semester-long or yearlong schedules to be included with marketing plans. This allowed the calendars to be centralized to see when events overlapped and also ensured marketing materials were requested in a timely fashion. Adding the calendar component assists departments with ensuring marketing materials are requested well in advance of the event date. Implementation Though these are the standard sections, student unions can adjust the categories based on current business practices. For example, if a union does not have a revenue-generating area such as a games room or bookstore, the sales promotion section could be eliminated and more emphasis placed on other promotional tactics such as giveaways or contests. Additionally, it may be beneficial to add a digital or social category if digital and social tactics make up a large part of the marketing strategy. An IMC plan helps a student union set and measure goals. These goals are not simply marketing goals, but rather business goals that marketing helps achieve. Many times, unions get in the habit of creating more and more avenues to market events and services to students and don t take the time to determine which avenues are most effective. All departments can create an IMC plan. The James R. Connor University Center has implemented 10 marketing plans this year. Each department is responsible for working with the internal marketing office to develop and monitor the plan. 1. Overall University Center 2. Roberta s Art Gallery 3. Warhawk Alley (recreation center) 4. Information Services 5. Reservations 6. HawkCard Office 7. Ticket Services 8. Custodial Services 9. Graphics & Marketing 10. Human Resources/ Administration Each section of the IMC plan will have both objectives and tactics. The tactics say what is going to be done and the objectives say what the tactics will accomplish. Setting IMC objectives can be done one of two ways: The process can start with the objectives, or it can start with the tactics. A quick note on objectives: Objectives need to be specific and measurable. If the objective calls for an increase, how much of an increase? How long will it take to complete this task, one semester or one fiscal year? Being specific and clarifying measurements ensures that there are no misunderstandings about what defines success. STARTING WITH OBJECTIVES IMC, or marketing for that matter, is not a discrete department of the student union; IMC is what drives a student union forward. When implementing an IMC strategy by starting with the objectives, think about the goals of the student union. Are there service areas that need to increase sales? Is there an attendance goal that needs to be met? After the overall objectives are determined, the next step is to plan how those goals will be reached. Marketing tactics explain how something will be done. STARTING WITH TACTICS When beginning to implement an IMC campaign it can be difficult to think about the big picture, especially if measuring marketing efforts is new for the organization. If it s a struggle to determine the overall outcomes, start with reviewing what is already being done in the areas mentioned. That will organize the current marketing efforts and help distinguish what those tactics will accomplish. 38 THE BULLETIN MARCH/APRIL 2015 ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE UNIONS INTERNATIONAL
When the James R. Connor University Center began implementing an IMC plan, departments focused on what they were currently doing. They began by organizing the marketing tactics they had already put into place and then identified what they wanted those marketing tactics to do for them, which led to the creation of objectives. As it was the first year of implementation, this helped departments better understand what was currently being done to market their events and services. After that process was complete, the departments could better determine how they wanted to amend tactics. Execution As previously mentioned, IMC plans are the roadmap for the entire year. Throughout the year, the University Center marketing staff members at UW Whitewater are responsible for assisting departments with the maintenance of IMC plans. Students play a key role in the implementation of these plans. These account managers are assigned three departments. They do the design work for those departments and manage a calendar to streamline graphic design and marketing materials needed for departmental events. The James R. Connor University Center process also includes four check-in meetings between the marketing office and the individual departments. The meetings are not opportunities to reevaluate goals; rather, they serve to measure progress and assess and evaluate goals. Looking Ahead The IMC approach allows departments to strategically focus on business goals to ensure their budgets are being allocated appropriately. Additionally, the process of creating marketing plans helps departments stay on task with their overall goals and spend their resources on tactics to achieve those goals. It is a more intentional, efficient approach to marketing. Prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year, it is important to reevaluate objectives and set a new course. The marketing landscape is always changing and as such, marketing objectives will not be the same from year to year. It s acceptable to abandon goals and rework them to better benefit to the organization s strategic mission. Equally important as setting new goals is to ensure time is spent evaluating the success of the previous year s plans. Knowing where the organization was successful can help determine which areas need improvement. Chances are, goals will need to be set for the upcoming fiscal year prior to fully being able to analyze the results from the previous year; however, the information gathered during check-in meetings will be essential to creating new goals. Timm R. Crull, chairman and CEO of Nestle, said: Long-term brand equity and growth depends on our ability to successfully integrate and implement all elements of a comprehensive marketing program. IMC isn t just something that needs to get done; it is a smarter way of doing business. Looking for a new challenge? Need to find new talent for your office? ACUIRES is a one-stop shop for careers in college unions and student activities. Find a job: n Create a free online candidate profile n Search and save available openings n Receive new job alerts n Use the ACUI Career Center for job search and interview tips Find an employee: n Post your job opening for 60 days n View candidate information online n Receive new candidate alerts n See all past and current job postings THE BULLETIN MARCH/APRIL 2015 ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE UNIONS INTERNATIONAL 39