Campaign Proposal

Visit Jacksonville

Midas Touch

Midas Touch Consulting

Mission Statement:

Midas Touch Consulting's goal is to attract leisure and business travelers to the Jacksonville beaches by cooperating with the city of Jacksonville, hotels and local restaurants and bars.

Team Members:

Chelsea Coleman has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and advertising. She is credited for creating hundreds of innovative and successful campaigns throughout her native state of Florida. Because of her keen eye for detail, Chelsea has led Midas Touch Consulting to advanced public relations strategies and also assists in management of crisis communication. Chelsea has a Bachelor of Science in Communication with a concentration in public relations from the University of North Florida and has a masters degree in integrated marketing communication from Florida State University.

Courtney Brown brings over 10 years of public relations field experience. She brings a breadth of knowledge in the tourism and hospitality industries due to her experience with corporate hotel branches such as Starwood and Marriott.Courtney has a Bachelor of Science in Communication with a focus on public relations. She the pursued a masters degree in communication from her alma mater, which is Boston University.

Lauren Hanna is a public relations specialist with more than 20 years of experience. Her skills include communication, writing, and problem-solving. She is a graduate of Harvard Universitywhere she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree. Lauren has worked with some of the worlds largest public relations firms including Edelman, MSL Group and Burson-Marsteller.She devotes a lot of her time to the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, where she leads as the vice-president.

Holly Skinner has 16 years of corporate public relations experience from working for FIS Global. She decided to take her skills to the commendable Midas Touch Consulting to capitalize on her creative ability. Her specialty includes strategic planning surrounding promotional events. She is a native English speaker but after working a few years abroad in France has extensive abilities with the French language and culture.

Bethany Williams has 15 years of public relations and advertising experience and specializes in hospitality. She obtained her masters degree from Duke University.Bethany has worked for some of the most elite companies worldwide. She is fluent in French, Chinese, Mandarin and English.

Situation Analysis

Visit Jacksonville is Jacksonville's visitors bureau. It wants to engage more locals with Jacksonville's beaches and encourage tourists to visit them. Visit Jacksonville is searching for a campaign that will attract people to travel to Jacksonville's Beaches through media relations. VJ received a sponsorship of $25,000 that will be expended in the efforts of furthering the tourism industry for Jacksonville Beach.

Client Background

Visit Jacksonville was founded in Jacksonville, Fla. to welcome visitors to the largest city in the state of Florida. The purpose of Visit Jacksonville is to be a resource for visitors and community stakeholders to see an array of areas, activities and restaurants that they can enjoy while exploring Jacksonville.

According to Visit Jacksonvilles website, www.visitjacksonville.com, the companys mission statement is:

To create and globally market, sell and promote an exceptional experience resulting in greater community prosperity, pride and vitality."

The three visitor centers offered by Visit Jacksonville are strategically planted in different parts of Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Landing, Jacksonville International Airport and Jacksonville Beach. The visitor centers aid visitors and locals to discover hot spots around the city to enhance their experience in Jacksonville.

Visit Jacksonvilles Board of Directors is the backbone to the company. The board members are vital in decision making and being a connection between the Visit Jacksonville staff, the Tourist Development Council (TDC) and Visit Jacksonville Partners.

Although Visit Jacksonville has brought in more tourism to the greater Jacksonville area in 2013 than in years past, it is seeking a way to bring more patrons to Jacksonville Beach.

SWOT Analysis

Secondary Research

According to UF Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Jacksonville Beach has a population of 23,077 people.Jacksonville has 22-miles of white-sandy beaches for tourists and locals of the Jacksonville area. USA Today named Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach among the best and most accessible beach communities to vacation in Florida. That is important to this campaign in order to promote Jacksonville Beach and all the amenities it offers to tourists in the Jacksonville area.Jacksonville Beach offers activities and events for everybody. It has a fishing pier for the fisherman, the SeaWalk Pavilion that has special movie and music events for families, breweries for the beer-lovers and an assortment of clubs and pubs for young-adults.

Last year, there were 200 people who attended 904 Happy Hour's Easter Keg Hunt bar crawl. This year they have an expected 350 people. The Easter Keg Hunt was located in Jacksonville Beach and the participating bars included Nippers, Zeta Brewing Company and The Brix Taphouse. This is valid to this campaign because of the beach bar crawl that was created by Midas Touch, hat headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, and we are also using some of the same bars.On Dec. 13, 2014, 904 Happy Hour hosted The Ugly Sweater Bar Crawl, which had around 400 contestants. This is 904 Happy Hours most popular event. However, almost all of their events have at least 100 contestants registered on Facebook. They send out around 1,800 invitations on Facebook and have 38,264 followers on Facebook. This research shows the demand and response for bar crawls that take place in Jacksonville Beach.

The US News Travel says that June through August are the beaches busiest times of tourism. This peak travel time will bring visitors into Jacksonville Beach and this campaign will make them have a memorable experience while visiting, therefore increasing the likelihood of making them want to visit again.

Over the course of three days, George's Music Springing the Blues music festival brings in about 150,000 people to Jacksonville's beaches. This shows the interest people have in music festivals located in Jacksonville Beach. The Great Atlantic Seafood Festival has an average attendance of 45,000 people, which shows the high interest in food festivals down at the beach.

The Jacksonville Beach Art Walk is put on by Better Jax Beach. Better Jax Beach creates a monthly Facebook event page for each art walk. The April art walk has 95 Facebook users who clicked attending. Midas Touch assumes that the attendance is probably higher than 100. This is due to other people who attend that do not register through the Facebook event page.

Primary Research

Midas Touch conducted a survey through the website Survey Monkey. The link is:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J9DRKQF

There were 30 respondents, which made up of 80 percent females and 20 percent males.

The total amount of respondents that had visited Jacksonville Beach was 79 percent and 40 percent said they slightly visited often.

The target audience made up 76 percent of the responses. That is people aged 21 to 34 that are married or single without children. Only 4 out of 30 responses were from out-of-state and the remaining was all located within Florida.

Location, weather and events were the top choices for the respondents first priority when choosing a vacation destination. The second most popular choice was cost. The third most popular priority was hotels and amenities.

When asked what type of events would make the respondents come to Jacksonville Beach the top answer was food, art and music festivals.

The most popular overall perceptions of Jacksonville Beach was young, fun, bad-parking and casual.

Overall Campaign Goal

The overall goal of this campaign is to raise awareness about the opportunities that Jacksonville Beach has to offer, as well as promote Visit Jacksonville through different events and social media platforms.

Objectives

1. To increase attendance at events at Jacksonville Beach by having at least 500 people registered or attended for each event, during the summer of 2015.

2. To increase guests in hotels by 15 percent during the summer of 2015.

3. To increase social media platforms by at least increasing follows by 200 follows on each outlet (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

4. To motivate patrons to visit Jacksonville Beach.

Audience Analysis

Young Professionals

This campaign will focus on a target audience of single/married with no kids young professionals aged 21 to 34 in counties surrounding Jacksonville that have a stretch of Interstate 95 going through them. These counties include: Nassau, Saint Johns and Flagler county. This campaign will also focus on young professionals who commute to Jacksonville or simply travel through Jacksonville via Interstate 95. The people in this age group are members of Generation Y. According to investopedia.org "over half (of Generation Y) are still receiving some form of financial aid from their parents." They tend to buy cheaper beers, however, they will spend money on a finer brand of wine. According to forbes.com, Generation Y works to live." According to metlife.com, in 2008 people aged 25-34 spent an average of $6,720 on food and alcohol a year.

Calendar

Communication Strategies and Tactics

Objective 1: To increase attendance at events at Jacksonville Beach by having at least 500 people registered or attended for each event, during the summer of 2015.

Strategy: To make people feel connected with the Jacksonville Beach community. Midas Touch will do this through music, food and art events. These events will create a lasting impression on attending visitors in the Jacksonville Beach area. A stronger sense of community will be created through these events where locals will meet and greet their fellow neighbors. In order to increase awareness for these initiatives, an events page will be created on Facebook where a current and upcoming list of Jacksonville Beach events will be listed along with ways to register or purchase tickets.

Tactic: Jax Beach Art Walk

The first event will be a promotional event at the Jacksonville Beach Art Walk. This event takes place on the second Tuesday of every month, in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. There will be a booth at every art walk during May, June, July, and August, which will have promotional items for Jacksonville Beach including brochures, t-shirts, koozies, sunglasses and cups. The Visit Jacksonville Beach booth at the art walk will also be promoted through Jacksonville Beach's Facebook event page.

Tactic: Restaurant Rendezvous

The second event will be the Jax Beach Restaurant Rendezvous. This event will be held at the Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach. The event will provide culinary insights for Jacksonville Beach visitors and locals. There will be 15 participating local restaurants showcasing their food and drinks. The event will be free for attendees. Restaurants will include Zeta Brewing Company, TacoLu, Blind Rabbit, Green Room, Campeche Bay, V Pizza, Angies Subs, Jaxon Social, Metro Diner, Burrito Gallery, Lynchs, Salt Life, Mellow Mushroom, Delicomb and European Street Cafe.

Tactic: Bar Crawl

The final event will be the Jax Beach Bar Crawl. This event will be ages 21 and up, which is right in line with the target audience.The event will be $35 to enter and will feature drink specials throughout each participating bar. The Bar Crawl will consist of seven local Jax Beach bars. The contestants will be sent on a scavenger hunt throughout the participating bars. They will receive a stamp in their Jax Beach Bar Passport for every participating location that they successfully visit. At the completion of all seven stamps, the contestants will go to the final location: Freebird Live. This is where American acoustic rock, singer songwriter, Jack Johnson, will be performing and all completed passports will be thrown in for a raffle. One winner will receive a free two-night stay at the Casa Marina Hotel.This event will create fun memories for visitors and locals in Jacksonville Beach. The participating bars will be Zeta Brewing Company, The Ritz, The Brix Taphouse, Hoptinger, The Blind Rabbit, Lynch's Irish Pub and The Shim Sham Room.

Communication Strategies and Tactics

Objective 2: To increase guests in hotels by 15 percent during the summer of 2015

Strategy: To familiarize people with the hospitality industry in Jacksonville Beach as well as provide more funding for Visit Jacksonville through the 6 percent tax bed fee.

Tactic: Giveaways

The vast majority of young professionals use social media to stay updated with upcoming events. With that, we will use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as a tool to promote giveaways including, multiple ticket giveaways to the Beach Bar Crawl and even four different giveaways for a two-night stay at Casa Marina located in Jacksonville Beach. We will launch the giveaways via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Also, the promo code visitjaxbch2015 will be given away to giveaway participants to have access to a 15 percent discount on participating Jacksonville Beach hotels.

Tactic: Advertise hotels during the Fourth of July.

Jacksonville Beach is a huge 4th of July destination. It brings in about 100, 000 people into Jacksonville, according to News 4 Jax. Miller on Sports has named this day as the Annual Jacksonville Beach Fourth of July Bicycle Parade. There are patriotic cyclists as far as the eye can see and what more of a perfect time to visit Jacksonville then the fourth of July? Hotels such as Sheraton, Hampton, and Courtyard are all ocean front hotels that could attract visitors to repeat their stay in the future.

Communication Strategies and Tactics

Objective 3: To increase social media platforms by at least holding 200 follows on each outlet (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

Strategy: To connect with potential visitors through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and spread awareness of Jacksonville Beach's popular hotspots to young professionals and locals

Tactic: Create hashtags for Jacksonville Beach and tourists to use to learn more about hotspots and events.

There will be multiple new hash tags in an effort of spreading them over social media platforms to increase awareness of the event happening at Jacksonville Beach throughout the campaign. Most of the hashtags will coincide with our events that will be put on. For our Bar Crawl, there will be hashtags such as: #drinkininjaxbeach, #jaxbeachbarcrawl, #overtheditchjax and #jaxbeachgiveaway. There will be a giveaway for 2 free tickets per social media platform three weeks leading up to the event. In total, there will be 10 tickets given away on social media. The giveaways will be through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The tickets will be given away in pairs. Therefore, tje posts will ask followers to tag the person that they would bring if they won the tickets.

The first giveaway will be through Twitter, @visitjacksonville, where followers will be asked to retweet the post, favorite the post, mention who they will be bringing along and use the hash tag #jaxbeachgiveaway. On Facebook, followers will need to share the post, like the post, tag Visit Jacksonville and use the hash tag.

On Instagram, Visit_Jacksonville will ask followers to repost, tag three friends, and use the hashtag. For our Restaurant Rendezvous, we will be posting numerous posts leading up to the event to promote it. The hashtag #jaxbeacheats will be used. The posts on Instagram will inform followers of the wide variety of restaurants that will be attending our Restaurant Rendezvous.

The hashtag #whycrosstheditch will also be used around the different social media platforms. This is a saying that locals use to imply that everything that they need is in and around Jacksonville Beach.

For those who are from out-of-town, visiting Jacksonville Beach, there will be a spread of a promo code around the social media platforms, offering them a discount for their stay in a hotel in Jacksonville Beach. The promo code will be "Visitjaxbch2015."

Communication Strategies and Tactics

Objective 3 Continued:

Tactic:To continue social media posts throughout the campaign

There will be multiple social media posts each month. They will be promoting events, restaurants and hotspots. For example, Jacksonville Beach Art Walk will be promoted by asking followers to post pictures of them at the art walk, using the hash tag #jaxbchartwalking. We will do similar things with other events and specials going on in Jacksonville Beach. There will also be social media posts every Sunday asking followers to post what they are doing on their "Sunday Fun-Day" and hash tag #SundayFundayJaxBeach. We will update our social media platforms every day, creating awareness for all of the opportunities Jacksonville Beach has to offer.

Objective 4: To motivate patrons to visit Jacksonville Beach.

Strategy: To increase Jacksonville Beach patrons by multi-platform advertising. One digitial advertisement will be placed on Interstate 10, just before arrival in Jacksonville. Ten 30-second radio advertisements will be broadcasted on local radio station 95.1 WAPE to advertise the Jax Beach Bar Crawl and Restaurant Rendezvous.

Tactic: Buy a digital billboard space in a non-beach area in Jacksonville to raise awareness about Jacksonville Beach

The header photo from the @VisitJax twitter will be used onto a digital billboard. It will be strategically placed on Interstate 10 before people arrive to Jacksonville, so it will leave a lasting impression to visitors and people driving through the city.

Tactic: Broadcast radio advertisements in southern Georgia, Daytona and Central Florida

A representative from Visit Jacksonville will go on NPRs morning show, First Coast Connect, to promote the Restaurant Rendezvous. The target audience is young professionals and being on this radio show will catch commuters heading into work in Jacksonville. Also, 95.1 WAPE will be invited to attend the Beach Bar Crawl.

Recommended Budget

Social Media Advertising

Traditional Advertising

Social Media Giveaways

Recommended Budget

Jax Beach Art Walk

Beach Bar Crawl

Recommended Budget

Restaurant Rendezvous

Promo Items Listed Above (Do not calculate into budget, already included)

Recommended Budget

Evaluation

Objective 1: To increase attendance at events at Jacksonville Beach by having at least 500 people registered for each event, during the of summer 2015.

Measure:In order to measure the success of this objective, there will be a registration web page, TicketLeap. This page will keep track of the amount of people registered for each event. Also, by distributing the tickets on the day of the events, it will help Visit Jacksonville keep track of and add that total number to the amount registered on TicketLeap.

Objective 2: To increase guests in hotels by 15 percent during the summer of 2015

Measure: This objective will be measured by checking the most popular Jacksonville Beach hotels guest rates prior to our campaign. Then, there will be a comparison of guest rates to the guest rates during the end of our campaign and look for a 15 percent increase.

Objective 3: To increase social media platforms by at least holding 200 followers on each outlet (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)

Measure:The success of this objective will be measured by tracking the rise of the followers on the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts of our client. The starting amount of followers will start at zero, because they will be brand new accounts. However, at the end of our campaign, if there is at least 200 followers on each account, we will have fulfilled this objective.

Objective 4: To motivate patrons to visit Jacksonville Beach

Measure:This objective will be evaluated based on a post-campaign survey that we will conduct. Every patron that registered through the event page, TicketLeap, will receive an email following the event pertaining to Jacksonville Beach tourism. The results of the pre-campaign survey and post-campaign survey will be analyzed. The success of this objective will be measure based on a heightened perception of Jacksonville Beach and a higher visiting frequency rate than the first survey results.

Resources

904 Happy Hour. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/904happyhour

About. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.springingtheblues.com/about/

A-Frame Wooden Picnic Table - 6' (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-2999/Outdoor-Furniture/A-Frame-Wooden-Picnic-Table-6?pricode=WY699&gadtype=pla&id=H-2999&gclid=Cj0KEQjwi-moBRDL4Omf9d_LndMBEiQAQtFf80UKU09VlZO334pgKWUZMQj_ZnO-9Rd6MVl18CBIGDUaAvCV8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

America's Gen Y. (2013, January 1). Retrieved March 17, 2015, from https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/Profiles/mmi-gen-y-demographic-profile.pdf

Asghar, R. (2014, January 14). Gen X Is From Mars, Gen Y Is From Venus: A Primer On How To Motivate A Millennial. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/robasghar/2014/01/14/gen-x-is-from-mars-gen-y-is-from-venus-a-primer-on-how-to-motivate-a-millennial/

Best Times to Visit Jacksonville. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://travel.usnews.com/Jacksonville_FL/When_To_Visit/

Brochures. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.vistaprint.com/custom-brochures.aspx?mk=brochure maker&ad=e&crtv=57962419579&psite=mkwid|lB7lnGcI&device=c&couponAutoload=1&GP=3/11/2015 12:38:56 PM&GPS=3454325736&GNF=0&rd=1

Calculate your online ticketing fees Ticketleap. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.ticketleap.com/info/pricing

Cussen, M. (n.d.). Money Habits Of The Millennials. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/021914/money-habits-millennials.asp

Custom Koozies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.discountmugs.com/category/custom-koozies

Resources

Custom Printed Plastic Stadium Cups & Wholesale Personalized Stadium Cups. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.discountmugs.com/product/sc16-16-oz.-plastic-stadium-cups

Custom Sunglasses. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.discountmugs.com/category/sunglasses-and-accessories/

Facebook Ads. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads

Facebook logo. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/events/1575450512723916/

FOUR SEASONS EVENT TENT - CANOPY TOP. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.aceexhibits.com/four-seasons-event-tent-canopy-top.html

Gildan Ultra Cotton Tank. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.customink.com/styles/gildan-ultra-cotton-tank/112100

How Much Does it Cost to Rent Portable Toilets? (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.costowl.com/rental/rental-portable-toilets.html

In Stock Tyvek Wristbands | 24HourWristbands.Com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://24hourwristbands.com/shop/in-stock-tyvek-wristbands/in-stock-tyvek-wristbands

Jax Beach Festivals | Music Festivals in Jacksonville, Florida. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://jaxbeachfestivals.com/

Resources

Mainstays 8' Centerfold Table, White. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-8-Centerfold-Table-White/33148261

Music Event Ticket Templates. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from https://www.ticketprinting.com/Event-Tickets/Tags/Music/

Rates and Specials. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://casamarinahotel.com/accommodations/rates-and-specials/

Renting City Facilities. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/sites/default/files/documents/Special_Events/special_event_policies_fee_schedule.pdf

Discover Jacksonville! (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from http://www.visitjacksonville.com/

WAPE Radio Advertising Costs. (2015, March 31). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.gaebler.com/WAPE-FM-FL-Radio-Advertising-Costs 18857

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