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Challenge X 2008Marketing Program Report # 2

Team: University of Texas at AustinName of Outreach Coordinator: Nicole MunguiaPhone number and email of Coordinator: 512-696-7215 / [email protected] Outreach Coordinator (Y/N): Y

Date posted: March 7th, 2008

I. Marketing Plan – 5 points

Changes to the Marketing PlanTwo significant changes have been made to our initial plan submitted and presented back in November 2007. The changes are as follows:

1. The team was not able to attend the PowerGEN Renewable Energy & Fuels conference that was scheduled for February 19-21st, 2008 in Las Vegas. The event took place during mid-terms and no team members were able to attend. However, the organizers of the PowerGEN would like for the vehicle to be displayed at next years’ conference. This will be a great way to gather sponsors for EcoCAR.

As stated and promised in the Marketing Proposal, the team will attend a large conference in order to increase the visibility of the hybrid vehicle. The team will be hauling the diesel hybrid, during spring break (March 9 th – 12th), to New Orleans for the 137th Annual Minerals, Metals and Materials (TMS) conference. The organizers of this conference have given the vehicle a highly visible location. Appendix A.1 is the floor plan of the exhibit floor. The TMS organizers have allowed us to park the vehicle on Technology Avenue and Innovation Boulevard. 80% of the attendees of this conference have Phds and will be visiting form 40 different countries:

www.tms.org/Meetings/Annual-08/AnnMrg08Home.html

To make the most out of this conference, the team has designed a strategic plan to collect marketing data for GM, DOE and ANL. The plan is that each UT CX team member will discuss the vehicle architecture to a small group of people. Then after explaining the architecture, the team will hand out clip boards with the marketing survey located in Appendix A.2. The purpose of the survey is to identify how intelligent, educated people generally feel about hybrid technology, and the teams’ diesel mild hybrid. This data will be presented to the CX organizers in May. To reward our customers for filling out the survey, he/she

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will be given one of the following give-a-way items: keychain, pen, bumper sticker in addition to the teams’ brochure and business card (Appendix A.3-A.5).

Although, plans have changed since the last Marketing report, it is best to have 6 team members attending the TMS conference rather than having one or two team members attend PowerGEN. Thus, plenty surveys will be filled out and good data will be provided to the organizers in May.

2. The Longhorn Bio-Diesel Truck is what is attracting kids in the Austin area these days. The team is currently developing an educational package to be sent to elementary schools across the area. This package includes a snap shot of the truck, an ‘Evolution of the Diesel Engine’ poster to be poster in class rooms across the Austin area, and some bio-diesel fact sheets for kids and teachers (Appendix B). If the teachers like what they see in the package, then he/she can request an appearance of the truck.

The team’s intentions here are to not only educate kids but to also attract media attention. These types of efforts to educate kids in an area where education is below average compared to the rest of the United States, can really make the news.

Three packages will be made: Package A is for elementary kids (ages 5 – 9). Package B for middle school children (ages 10 – 12), and package C for high school kids (ages 13 – 17). These packages will not be overwhelming the teacher, but instead provide a means for teacher to include renewable technology, hybrid technology and biofuels into their curriculum. Appendix B includes the work and data that has been generated and collected thus far for package A.

A new webpage has been created for teachers and families that can be accessed from the team website: www.me.utexas.edu/challengex/family.php All three of these packages will be available from our website so that teachers can pass the word to other fellow faculty members.

The local media networks will be contacted for the teams’ first display of the diesel hybrid at a local school. This is to come soon!

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http://www.me.utexas.edu/challengex/family.php

II. Marketing Activity Detail

A. Outreach – 5 points

Activity Date Location Audience Participants (Briefly describe which team

members participated)

1. ExploreUT March 3, 2008 Austin, Texas

Families (teenagers,

children, parents)

Outreach Coord., Team Lead, Radar, Mechanical Lead (C. Ohlsen), & 4 other team members

1. Activity name: ExploreUT Date/Time: March 3rd, 2008Location: On University GroundsTeam participants: Outreach Coord – Nicole MunguiaTeam RADAR – Jon BodenhamerTeam Lead – Dino SasaridisMechanical Lead – Chris OhlsenOther Team Members:Keith Krueliski, Mario Pulido, Enrique Villireal, Alejandro (new recruit)

Audience: The community (potential university college students, children and their parents, the University of Texas student body)

Activity description/details: This is the biggest open house in Texas. 50,000 kids come in on school buses from all over Texas. Texas is big, please keep this in mind.

Key Messages Covered: Hybrids are necessary for the future of public health. Not all hybrids are tiny like the Prius. GM is awesome for incorporating hybrid technology into their full-size SUVs (Two-

Mode Hybrid Tahoe, Saturn Vue Greenline), and mid-size cars (2008 Malibu) The Longhorn Bio-diesel Truck is fuel efficient, less polluting than other vehicles of

this size and nature and fun. Diesel Engines are fast, fun and cool Mechanical Engineering is a good future (this message was for prospective high

school students thinking about attending UT for higher education).

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Photos:

For more ExploreUT phots please visit our website: www.me.utexas.edu/challengex

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http://www.me.utexas.edu/challengex

B. Education Program – 5 points

Activity Date Location Audience Participants (Briefly describe which team members

participated)

ExploreUT March 3rd UT Campus Grades 1-5 The entire team

APPENDIX B includes material presented to the youth at Explore UT. This is in additional to the team brochure.

C. Social Marketing – 5 points

Please list any updates or modifications to your team’s website since your last outreach report, including:

new additions in functionality new look/design special features Please include at least one screen grab of your team website below

Also include any new media your team has utilized for marketing:

In effort to increase the appeal of our project to a wider audience, we have made several changes to our team website (http://www.me.utexas.edu/challengex). One major change is the addition of a youth section, which was added to help educate younger viewers on the importance of renewable energy sources such as biodiesel. New sections in the youth website include:

Biodiesel for kids – a synopsis of the most important aspects of biodiesel summarized for young children (source: National Biodiesel Board) .

Biodiesel emission – a summary of emission differences between petroleum sourced and renewable biodiesel (source: National Biodiesel Board).

Benefits of biodiesel – a more in depth look at the possible upsides to a biodiesel economy (source: National Biodiesel Board).

Myths and Facts – an effort to dispel misunderstandings about biodiesel, and set the facts straight (source: National Biodiesel Board).

Performance – A look at diesel engine performance when using biodiesel (source: National Biodiesel Board).

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http://www.me.utexas.edu/challengex

A screenshot of this new addition to our website is shown on below.

In addition to this new section of the website, we have also started a blog where UT students, involved with the project or not, can come together to share news about hybrid technologies and alternative energy. The blog is accessible at http://texaschallengex.blogspot.com/. A screenshot of the blog is shown on the next page.

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http://texaschallengex.blogspot.com/

D. Wrap-up – 3 points

Our marketing plan stands apart from others because we have placed a great deal of emphasis on not only the product (diesel hybrid Equinox), but also the technology in general. In addition, we have targeted a wide range of age groups in order to market to those directly in our marketing scope as well as increase awareness to those outside of it. We feel that increasing awareness of the maturing nature of hybrid technology, as well as alternative energy is of high importance.

Although it may seem that the number of appearances our hybrid has made to the community is lacking, it is important to note that we have spent a great deal of our efforts in the early part of this semester and last on refining the vehicle to the next level. Since we intend to hold ride and drive sessions, it is important that the vehicle possess a level of refinement that is as close as possible to a production vehicle. We are very close to attaining that goal, and plan to use the month of April chiefly to market the hybrid.

Our marketing budget is on track and we are pleased with the positive results we are getting in terms of web site hits and local knowledge of our vehicle and project. We decided to use our budged to focus on two primary means of getting interest in our vehicle. These two focus areas are low cost, high volume team logo give away items that include our team’s website, consisting of Bic pens, keychains, and bumper stickers, and a high profile conference visit, which we are executing this coming weekend in New Orleans, as one of the major displays in the entrance to the annual Minerals, Metals, and Materials conference, which we feel will generate a high level of interest in our project. The table on the next page is our marketing budget.

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Item Marketing Purpose Target Audience

BudgetedCost

ActualCost

Logo Keychains Give aways at static displays, ride and drives, and website distribution

18 + $550 $600

Logo Click Pens Give aways at conferences and static displays

10 + $500 $600

Baseball Caps Team members and key sponsor displays 25 + $400 $500Team Polo Shirts For team members to wear at public relations

events$400 $350

Bumper Stickers Mass distribution of the team website and logo at public relations events

5+ $800 $600

Metals Conference

High Profile Public Relations Event PhDs and industry

$1500

Local Media and outreach events

Get Austin population and schools interested in our vehicle

Local Citizens

$850

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Sponsorship program is being developed. We have Give-A-Way hats for our sponsors

Reported by: NICOLE MUNGUIA/DINO SASARIDIS Date:March 7, 2008

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Appendix A

A.1 Floor Plan for 137th Annual TMS Conference

A.2 Marketing Survey

A.3 Diesel Mild Hybrid Brochure

A.4 Give-a-Ways

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A.1 137th Annual TMS Conference FloorPlan

.

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A.2 Marketing Survey for New Orleans TMS Conference

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A.3 The Diesel Mild Hybrid Brochure & Business Card

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A. 4 Give-A-Ways

Bumper Sticker

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Appendix B: Educational Material

B.1 The ‘Longhorn Biodiesel Truck’ Brochure

B.2 The ‘Evolution of the Diesel Engine’ classroom poster

B.3 Materials from the National Bio-diesel Board

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B.1 The ‘Longhorn Biodiesel Truck’ Brochure

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B.2 The ‘Evolution of the Diesel Engine’ classroom poster

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B.3 Materials from the National Biodiesel Board (all linked from our ‘Family’ website)

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