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Ballet Nouveau Colorado PR Campaign Alanna Eaton, Madison Strouse, and Shannon Willison

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………….. 3

Basis of Research………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Situational Analysis……………………………………………………………………….. 4

Organizational Analysis…………………………………………………………………… 6

Internal Environment (including story audit)……………………………………… 8

Public Perception………………………………………………………………….. 10

External Environment……………………………………………………………... 11

Analyzing Publics…………………………………………………………………………. 12

Positioning Statement……………………………………………………………………... 14

Goals………………………………………………………………………………………. 15

Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………. 15

Strategy……………………………………………………………………………………. 16

Proactive Strategy…………………………………………………………………. 16

Spokesperson……………………………………………………………………… 16

Endorsers……………………………………………………….............................. 17

Rational Appeal……………………………………………………………………. 18

Emotional Appeal…………………………………………………………………. 19

Love & Virtue Appeals……………………………………………………………. 20

Tactics……………………………………………………………………………………... 21

Budget, Schedule, & Evaluation…………………………………………………………... 25

References page…………………………………………………………………………… 28

Appendices (see tabs)……………………………………………………………………… 29-33

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Succeeding this quick summary is an integrated communications plan for Ballet Nouveau

Colorado (BNC); specifically, the school of Ballet Nouveau Colorado. This plan provides a

thorough process of ways to approach the key publics in order to enhance results and fulfill the

goals of BNC. Their goals are:

1. To increase their annual revenue.

2. To increase the enrollment rate at their school; specifically for adult classes.

3. To increase awareness of the school of BNC

These goals, alongside our awareness and action objectives for our key publics, are explained in

further detail in the STRATEGY section of this plan.

In the FORMATIVE RESEARCH section, our key publics are identified as women ages 50-

75, families with children, and disabled students; all key publics are located with in the North

Denver/Colorado area. This section will further explain why these are the chosen key publics,

and why the location is specific to the goals of BNC.

The TACTICS section provides a detailed list of how we plan to reach our publics through

specific PR tactics. Tactics include interpersonal communications, organizational media, news media, and Advertising/promotional media. Here is a small example of our central tactics:

1. Offering a free week to all new participants and mandatory survey for new

students and current students.

2. Publicity stunts include flash mobs on Pearl Street in Boulder and the Fourth of

July parade in Broomfield.

3. Entering the school of BNC into the Boulder Creek Festival, here they will do a

performance and reach a large group of our key publics.

4. Social media; creating new uses for each BNC’s facebook, twitter, and blog

outlets. For example, making their blog specific to the school and interactions

with those who go to the school. A personalized blog containing two way

communications with the school, instructors, parents, and students.

After these sections, we have mapped out a comprehensive SCHEDULE for the success of this

campaign. Within this section we have charted the costs of each proposed tactic in accordance to

the allotted BUDGET. Following the budget we communicate a plan to EVALUATE the

success of the campaign. This includes measuring revenue, enrollment rates, and online

engagement.

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1. Basis of Research

In organizing our formative research, we focused on primary and secondary research

outlets. As a result, we have come to a better understanding of what BNC is all about. On

February 9, 2011, Alanna met with Ashley Burns, Communication Manager for BNC. From this

interview, our group gathered information pertaining to their performances, afterschool

programs, and community engagement activities. After the interview, we moved on to secondary

research. Here we focused primarily on the BNC website and their social media outlets,

including twitter, facebook, and their personal blog. BNC has been recognized and printed in

major Colorado publications; The Denver Post, Denver Business Journal, The Denver Magazine,

The Gazette, and more. These publications gave us a strong understanding on the community’s

perception of BNC. Following this secondary research and as well as further communication

with the organization, we aimed to focus primarily on the school of BNC in this campaign. We

conducted a small survey and gave it to current adult students at the school to get feedback about

the school and classes. (See appendices for survey)

2. Situational Analysis

BNC is a non-profit organization founded in 1992. BNC’s company, school, and

community programs have the mission of enriching lives through innovation in dance. The

company’s vision is to be recognized as an international leader in education, development, and

presentation of dance. BNC has become known for presenting work that is artistically rich and

accessible. The company values collaboration, creativity, and innovation in all of their pursuits.

In relation to the marketing and PR, BNC aims to build awareness about the full picture of who

they are as an organization.

Currently, they feel they do a good job of creating PR interest about their professional

productions but, are lacking interest with their school and community programs. For the school,

BNC’s biggest goal is to build more awareness about the vast variety of dance and fitness classes

they offer that reach far beyond ballet. They have many specialized programs for toddlers

through senior citizens that need more recognition.

BNC serves more than 300 students every year and is committed to every student

regardless of age, education, or financial status. The school provides a professional environment

for students of all ages. BNC offers classes not just in ballet, but also in pointe, jazz, modern,

contemporary, and Pilates. If a student cannot afford to pay for classes, BNC will provide

scholarships and tuition to those who cannot pay themselves.

There are also many community programs BNC offers that serve more than 20,000

people annually. BNC has an elementary partnership program that brings year long arts

experience to four public schools that are located in high-need neighborhoods. BNC offers 60

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performances every year in various elementary schools to entertain children and get them

interested in dance and theatre. These performances are an interactive way to get people

involved with the company. BNC has many community partners that help to fund and sponsor

community events. BNC partners are Kansas City Ballet, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, Cleo

Parker Robinson Dance, Oregon Ballet Theatre, The Colorado Ballet, The Washington Ballet,

and many others.

BNC wants help bringing more awareness about all of these programs and also about the

level of quality they provide. The situation with the school right now is that not enough people

understand that BNC is trying to provide people of all ages with a place to harness their

creativity though dance. It allows people to express themselves in an innovative way furthering

the organizations vision to become a leader in the facilitation and presentation of dance. Many

students within the organization go on to be students in some of the top ballet and dance

academies around the country. Recently, two of their advanced ballet students were accepted to

one of the countries’ top dance programs at Harid Conservatory in Florida. Doing more

promotions and advertising about their events could bring more students to BNC and help

stimulate revenue.

Ashley Burns aims to use PR to help generate more students to come from around the

country to BNC’s advanced summer intensive program. She would like students on a local level

to come as well. She wants to get students of all ages and ability to come to BNC’s programs,

even if it’s just for their adult fitness classes. BNC needs this PR to help generate revenue.

With their school and community programs, their goal with PR is to build awareness and

find people, corporations, and businesses that want to donate to the cause.

Overall, BNC wants more awareness and recognition from people/businesses around

their area that can help. Every year $70,000 worth of tuition is given to students who cannot

afford the school otherwise. There are 4,700 classes offered in 1 annual year. BNC offers free

dance and fitness weeks as well as various summer camps and programs. PR will be used to

raise awareness about all BNC has to offer and all the good it brings to the community.

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3. Organizational Analysis

Strengths

Performances

Current PR for the company alone.

Community engagement- Serving

more than 20,000 individuals

annually.

Elementary school programs

Free ticket programs

After school dance classes

Pre-post production discussions

(allows community to engage with

professional dancers).

Website – informative, contains

testimonials, emotional appeal is

good.

Facebook page- very active, and

contains frequent updates

The summer “free week” event

Weakness

Twitter posts

Not focusing on the school

programs as much as the company.

Outdoor marketing (flyers and

posters)

The BNC dance school site- more

informative

Awareness- people don’t know who

they are besides a dance company.

Blog is exactly the same as their

Twitter account- needs some

spicing up.

Opportunity

More cross partnerships

Gaining awareness of all their

community engagement.

The school of BNC – has great

offers, like a summer intensives

Threats

Their tight budget with

marketing (internal)

Staff capacity (internal)

Free after school programs that

already exist

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Critically speaking, BNC is an established organization. They are a well-rounded, not for

profit organization that impacts the fitness and well-being of their target community. With their

after school programs and their free services, BNC does a good job accommodating a varied

amount of incomes and lifestyles. They have strong social media activity (Facebook) and their

website is well branded. The website contains tutorials that have a strong emotional appeal.

BNC has a lot of potential that they are not taking advantage of. There is a lot of opportunity

for the organization once they reach out to the specific audiences and markets they are trying to

incorporate into their school. They have their social media sites set up but, there is a lot to be

done with them in terms of personalization, and two way communications with followers. They

also have a lot of events and performances throughout the year; gaining awareness for them will

create opportunity for the school and will help fill up audiences, increasing revenue.

camp, and Day Off Day Camp

Enhance the blog

Enhance twitter

End of year Gala

Target audience beyond

mothers

Appeals to younger girls vs.

boys and girls.

Other dance schools- there are

over 50 dance studios in the

market they are reaching.

Other well known dance

companies in Denver. The

Colorado Ballet.

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BNC has two key weaknesses. First, their outdoor marketing is weak; they’re currently

relying on posters and flyers about the company, not the school. They want to increase

awareness, and part of doing that would be improving their outdoor display. Second, they are

using the same posts for both their twitter and blog accounts. This depicts a lack of interest in the

use of social media, even if that is not the case. We want to give specific roles to each of the

social media outlets, this way they reach out to the consumers that are active on those specific

outlets. Last is their website, though their branding is good, it represents BNC’s dance company

more than BNC’s school. Since the school is what brings in the most revenue, they should make

it more prominent on the site.

With BNC being a small organization, they are facing a few threats, some of which are

internal. First, they do not have a large staff; this can put strain on the time it takes to implement

a solid PR campaign. Internally, they are also dealing with a very small communications budget;

this makes the campaign less malleable because it has to be budgeted tightly. Externally, BNC

offers free after school dance classes, but they are still competing with other afterschool

programs. After school dance classes seem to appeal more to younger girls, verses other

programs that appeal to both sexes. On top of that, there are many other dance studios in their

area. We have to make our target see why BNC is the dance studio to choose. The last real threat

would be other ballet companies, such as The Colorado Ballet, who have similar community

engagement programs. Currently, BNC is ranked number three when it comes to ballet

companies in Denver, following Cleo Parker Robinson, and The Colorado Ballet. They are,

however, the only professional ballet company located in Broomfield, which could be used to

their advantage.

Internal Environment

The school of BNC is currently offering classes in ballet, point, and jazz, modern, contemporary,

capoeira, and pilates. Among these styles they offer specialty classes, highlighting, Dance with

me, Ballet Expressions, and adult specialty classes. Dance with me is a program designed for

toddlers and their parents to come to class together. It promotes family involvement and

interaction not only with the school but, with the classes as well. The Ballet Expressions class is

geared to students and children of all abilities. The teacher is trained in special education

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physical movement and tailors the class to the abilities of those involved. BNC also offers over

11 adult classes, all of which are geared towards dance and fitness.

As of right now the school has 300 returning students, however only 25 of these students are

adults. As a result to such a low number of adult students, most of the adult classes have an

average of three to five people, besides the more popular classes like ballet and jazz, which

contain fifteen to twenty people.

Internally the school has a good amount of instructors. Some of which are performers in the

company. The organization has a small staff and would highly benefit from a comprehensive PR

plan. With such a small staff capacity, the only individual that does the communications is

Ashley Burns. She is in charge of the marketing, PR, and advertising for the entire organization,

and because of this, it is very difficult to do certain campaigns and projects. The company rarely

has interns, which would benefit them given their close proximity to the University of Colorado

Boulder campus.

Ashley also mentioned that BNC’s budget is very small. With a tight budget BNC is limited in

what they can do to meet their PR objectives. Most of their costs are in printing of flyers and

posters. Currently they do most of their communications through social media, websites, email

blasts, and word of mouth.

STORY AUDIT

The school of BNC has a very strong connection with their audiences, students, and community;

because they need to be reaching out more and telling their stories. Story audit list includes:

1. The “nature of our challenge” story

a. The entire organization was under financial scrutiny last year. They were saved

through fundraising, because they pleaded out to the community for help. As a

result they got a lot of negative news attention. If they turned their challenge into

a story it would have gotten less negative attention and more positive attention

from the public.

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2. The story about “people in the organization / performance”

a. There are hundreds of possible testimonials within the school of BNC that could

tell great stories regarding achievement, growth, self-confidence, family

involvement, and more.

3. The “striving-to-improve” story

a. This would have been appropriate to do right after their community bail out and

even now. Touch base with the community and explain through a story what they

are doing to make sure they will not be in financial trouble again.

Public Perception

In our small sample survey we concluded that current adult students are happy with the BNC’s

school. When asked on a survey to rank their experience, 95% of adult students ranked between

a 9 and 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. The majority of the participants would not change anything

about the school and feel it is worth the price of the classes.

Through secondary research, we are finding that overall people are very happy with the school

and company. BNC is well loved with in the community and has a solid reputation as both a

ballet company and an organization.

When it comes to their reputation, we perceive that BNC is coming out of a rocky phase. A

Denver Post online article uncovered that the company was under financial scrutiny in the

summer of 2010. To relieve their financial stress they sent out an email blast, over the summer,

to the community of north Denver that has been apart of the organization or has shown interest in

the organization. This includes donors, families, friends, students, audiences, and more. In a

sense, this entire effort was considered a bailout and got a bad wrap from some of the media.

However, it did have two-way communication and addressed measures they were taking to make

sure they were never in that financial position again. It seems that their honesty and bond with

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the community paid off; at their fundraising performance over that same summer, they were able

to raise enough money to stay functioning.

Their current reputation is strong, they are well recognized with in their community through their

pairings with elementary schools and tuition assistant programs. The Denver Magazine wrote an

article about their 8th

annual luncheon, and praised the organization on their passion for dance

and audience participation.

External Environment

Their supporters include donors, customers, partnerships, and community members. BNC is the

second largest ballet company in the Denver Metro area. The largest is The Colorado Ballet, who

is celebrating their 50th

anniversary this year. Both companies are very similar in their

community engagement. They both have schools for student dancers, after school programs,

scholarships, and they are both non-profit organizations. The big differences are their dance

styles and reputations. BNC has a much more modern and unique style of dance. They appeal to

a large audience base, and welcome all levels of dancers.

Through research no real opponent has been disclosed. We have been unable to find any real

opponents. BNC is an organization devoted to enriching lives through innovative dance. We

have not uncovered anyone who has harsh feelings for the organization.

When it comes to external competition, BNC is fortunately the only organization of its kind in

the northern Denver region such as the Broomfield, Boulder, Arvada, and surrounding areas.

They do however compete with other Denver companies which are, The Colorado Ballet and

Cleo Parker Robinson.

The Colorado Ballet has been present for over 50 years and has a long standing reputation in the

state of Colorado. Their mission, similar to BNC’s, states, “Colorado Ballet's mission is to

present superior quality in classical ballet and innovative dance through performances, training

and education programs that enhance the cultural life of our community while remaining

financially sound.” The Colorado Ballet reaches their audiences in similar ways to BNC. They

are also a not for profit organization, they engage with the community, and run a well known

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ballet academy. As a result, it is vital that we target the specific north Denver community for

BNC to reduce competition with The Colorado Ballet.

Cleo Parker Robinson is also a well known dance company that is located in the Five

Points area of Denver. Their mission states, “Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is an international,

cross-cultural, dance-arts and educational institution rooted in African American traditions, and

dedicated to excellence in providing instruction, performances, and community programs, for

intergenerational students, artists and audiences.” The organization is devoted to cross cultural

dance arts. It engages with schools within the community and is devoted to the arts. They are a

for-profit organization, which separates them from BNC, and they have a very diverse use of

dance. This competition doesn’t seem to have the potential to be as significant as the Colorado

Ballet, but it is in the top three dance companies in Colorado.

4. Identifying and analyzing publics

Customers:

Families with small children interested in ballet

Adults interested in staying in shape

Families with disabled children

Adults with limited movement abilities (ex: bad hips, joints)

Targeted toward elder adults (ages 40+), also smaller children (preschool, elementary

school)

Women who want to be active & healthy, alternative ways to exercise

Producers:

Employees of the company: professional dance teachers, marketing team, office support,

etc…

Volunteer parents/people of community helping with events, etc…

Families of already enrolled children in dance school

Enablers:

Professional dance companies (set examples/influence)

Professional dance schools (set examples/influence)

Butterfly Pavilion – cross promote each other

Local media

General media availability

Print media: newspapers, mailers, magazine ads, newsletters

Electronic media: e-newsletter, e-mails, social media (blog, FB, Twitter)

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Limiters:

Other competitive dance studios

o Ones that offer classes, schools, day camps, etc…

Other professional dance companies

The key publics for BNC are disabled students, older women (50-75), and families with children.

With these key publics, BNC will be able to fully meet their goals as an organization.

1. Disabled Students

a. Opinion Leaders/Intercessory Publics

i. This key public’s opinion leaders are mainly their parents or

caretakers. These people highly influence this key public because

they are around them during their day-to-day activities. Their

intercessory public would be the media because their parents or

caretakers would most likely be influenced by the media to engage

with BNC.

b. WINs (Demographics/Psychographics/ Geographics)

i. The wants, interests and needs for this key public are to have the

ability to feel a part of an activity, no matter their ability, and to

broaden their interests as far as activities go in their lifestyle. The

age for this group ranges from 5 to 21 and the socioeconomic

status of this public is middle class. There aren’t any specific

gender/cultural/ethnic/religious traits among this public. The

geographic area for this key public is Brighton, Thornton,

Northglenn, Arvada, Westminster, Boulder County, Louisville,

Superior, and Lafayette.

c. Benefit

i. The benefit for this key public would be that BNC would provide

an opportunity for disabled students to participate in an activity not

usually offered at other ballet schools.

2. Older Women, ages 50-75

a. Opinion Leaders/Intercessory Publics

i. The opinion leaders for this key public would be people who are

friends with these women that aren’t in this specific group. They

may influence and encourage them by word of mouth about the

programs that BNC offers. The intercessory public for this group is

definitely the media.

b. WINs (Demographics/Psychographics/ Geographics)

i. The wants, interests and needs for this key public is that they want

and need to know about a different ways they can exercise. It

would also be an interest to them because of the other classes

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offered that is specific to some of their needs. The age range of this

group ranges from 50 to 75 years old. The socioeconomic status of

this group is middle class. There aren’t any specific

gender/cultural/ethnic/religious traits among this public. The

geographic area for this key public is Brighton, Thornton,

Northglenn, Arvada, Westminster, Boulder County, Louisville,

Superior and Lafayette.

c. Benefit

i. The benefit for this key public is that BNC has the ability to offer

programs and classes for these women who are looking for

alternative, fun ways to exercise that won’t jeopardize their health

in any way.

3. Families with children

a. Opinion Leaders/Intercessory Publics

i. The opinion leaders for this key public would be other families

involved with BNC and also those who aren’t among the key

publics by word of mouth. The intercessory public would be the

media as well.

b. WINs (Demographics/Psychographics/ Geographics)

i. The wants, interests and needs for families with children would be

the want to have their children involved with some sort of activity

that they would like. The interest is to be involved with other

families and have an impact on the community. The need is to

have families socialize with other families that have similar

interests for both their children.

c. Benefit

i. The benefit for families with children is that BNC is able to offer

classes and programs that will enable familial involvement year

round.

POSITONING STATEMENT

BNC aims to be the leader in innovative dance in Colorado. With their passion for community

and education, they engage their audiences in the discipline and benefits of dance. They are

dedicated to enriching lives through dance.

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GOALS

Based on BNC’s mission and vision, the organization has three main goals. The first two are task

management goals, followed by a relationship management goal.

1. Their first goal is to increase annual revenue. From our primary research we found that

the BNC School earns the majority of the organizations revenue; grossing approximately

$374,000 over the last twelve-month period. In the next 12 months, we want to increase

the school revenue by 10% or approximately $35,000. This advances their desire to be

recognized as an international leader in the education, development, and presentation of

dance, as stated in their vision.

2. Their second goal is to increase the enrollment rates at the BNC School; specifically for

their adult classes. According to current rates, the BNC School has 300 students and only

25 of them are adult students. They are currently offering 5 regular adult classes, and 6

power hour classes. Ultimately, we want adult students in each adult class. This will

continue the organizations desire to enrich lives through innovation in dance, as stated in

their mission statement.

3. Their last goal is to increase awareness of the BNC School, to continue their pursuit for

leadership and desire to enrich lives, as stated in both their mission and vision.

OBJECTIVES

1. Awareness

a. To have an effect on the awareness of North Denver women, ages 50 –75, toward

the BNC School; specifically to increase their understanding of the benefits the

school offers for adult students. (Evaluate through measured reach; frequency of

media impressions, and social media)

b. To have an effect on the awareness of North Denver disabled students;

specifically to increase their knowledge about the opportunities BNC has for

disabled students. (Evaluate through measured reach; frequency of media

impressions, and social media)

c. To have an effect on the awareness on families with children in the North Denver

community; specifically to increase their understanding of the BNC school.

(Evaluate through measured reach; frequency of media impressions and social

media)

2. Action

a. To have an effect on the action of North Denver women ages 50-75; specifically

to increase the enrollment rate of adult students and increase school revenue.

(Increase adult enrollment rate by 50 % in the next six months; 13 new adult

students).

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b. To have an effect on the action of North Denver Disabled students; specifically

for more disabled students to enroll in the classes specified to their needs.

(Increase the number of disabled students by 5 over the next six months)

c. To have an effect on the action of families with children in North Denver;

specifically to increase the family involvement at the BNC school and increase

enrollment in all classes. (15 % enrollment increase in six months; total 45 new

students)

STRATEGY

BNC’s key message is to appeal to our key publics and to ensure they are getting the care and

services they deserve. Our main three key publics are families with children, disabled students

who need scholarships, and older women (50-75).

Proactive Strategy

Proactive strategies for BNC would be the best approach to achieve their ultimate goal. BNC’s

goal is to increase revenue, increase enrollment in their adult classes as well as build an overall

awareness of who BNC is to the public.

In order to accomplish these objectives, BNC should participate in some of the suggested tactics

that we have provided. For instance, BNC should use organizational, interpersonal, advertising

and news media to increase the overall awareness about their organization. After utilizing these

important tools, adult participation in classes should increase and BNC’s revenue should increase

as well.

Another great tool for BNC to use is a mandatory survey to give at the start of their involvement

with the school of BNC. By handing out these surveys, with basic questions geared towards

students, students will be able to aeffectively think about their experience with the school and

have a voice concerning what they would like to see done differently. In accordance to giving

students a voice, BNC’s school will be able to adjust their programs to the liking of their key

publics and eventually increase enrollment in their programs.

Spokesperson

Christin Crampton Day is the new executive director at BNC as of January 2011. Not only has

Day operated her own business for twelve years, she has danced professionally for 25 years of

her life. She is experienced in the public relations field; with credentials ranging back two

decades. Day has received many awards such as being named the Denver Business Journal’s

“Power Book” as one of Denver’s top newsmakers in 2007, and the “Forty under 40” business

leader’s award. Day’s enduring passion of dance has led her to this position at BNC and she

hopes to bring to life the company’s mission and vision. With her specific experience and solid

credentials, she would be a great spokes person for women ages 50-75. She is relatable and

passionate about BNC.

Julia Wilkinson Manley, the school director, is highly recognized by the BNC community.

Parents of students state she is “personally invested in the growth of each dancer.” Julia’s

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extensive background in dance includes performing in many professional ballet companies; she

is also an award winning choreographer. Her charisma and passion for dance makes her a great

spokesperson for families with children in the North Denver community.

For our last public, disabled students in North Denver, the spokesperson would be Heather

Sutton. She instructs a class called Ballet Expressions that is designed to meet the ability level of

all students participating. She is a registered dance/movement therapist and with degrees in

Special Physical Education & Development and Somatic Counseling Psychotherapy. Her class

offers a therapeutic dance experience; designed to increase body awareness, help to develop

fundamental motor skills, build self-esteem, learn focus, and let students have fun expressing

themselves creatively; as stated in the class description.

Endorsers

Our most affective external endorsers will be third party advocates for each of our publics.

Specifically, for families with children, testimonials from parents or children who attend classes

at the school is the best way to appeal to other parents and children. This kind of endorsement

could take place in video form or just merely a quote on their website. Currently, they have a

testimonial posted stating;

“We keep coming back to BNC (5 yrs) because we’re part of the family. The talented and

experienced BNC staff can keep my 7 yr old ballerina focused and my 49 year old body

in shape. They really have something to offer everyone. We also LOVE the professional

company and see every show. You can feel their synergy when they dance. They are all

beautiful and excellent role models for our children.” – Adult student and parent of a

Ballet A student

We want to continue getting testimonials like these but, we want to personalize them with the

actual names and ages of the students they are quoting.

These same kind of endorsements are vital for our two other publics, women (50-75) and

disabled students. Relating to the specific publics through personal experiences of others within

that same public is significant for obtaining the goals of BNC. Specifically, a disabled student is

more willing to attend Ballet Expressions after hearing another student similar to him/her speak

highly of it. The same goes for women; if they can relate to the women who love the adult

classes they are more likely to sign up for them.

Beyond students, we can look at possible third party endorsers who participate in the North

Denver dance community. Below is a list of seven possible endorsers within the greater Denver

area

1. Bethany Cagle director of Denver Independent Choreographers Project- an organization

aimed to reveal unique technique and choreography in Denver.

2. Jane Monreal- TV Newsperson/Host. She is a local dance expert who currently does a

radio segment called “morning after’, providing expert feedback on the hit show So you

think you can Dance?

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3. Shalee Horstman- created a company called Dance for the Soul, Inc . She believes in

therapeutic healing through movement; a one woman company.

4. Onye Ozuzu – she is the Director of Dance at UC Boulder and an associate professor.

5. Chelsea Pierotti is the poms Varsity head coach at Broomfield High School.

6. Pamper yourself Denver- is a beauty blog that recommends fitness places and salons in

the greater Denver area.

7. The Denver Mom’s Blog- a blog for moms around Denver. They discuss ways to get fit

in 2011.

Rational appeal

The rational appeal presented in this campaign has three different propositions; factual,

conjecture, and value. The factual proposition is based on primary research, a survey, conducted

to discover current client satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The conjecture proposition is based on

the notion that there needs to be more adult students to fill the adult classes. The value

proposition is based on the fact that all of the main three key publics will be fully serviced to

their needs no matter age or disability.

The rational appeals for women

o A factual representation of the school;

Fair cost

Fun

Good exercise

Adaptive programs

Nice people

Flexible class schedule

Large studio space

First week free

o Conjecture proposition;

Increase adult students

Good environment

Comfortable for all levels

The rational appeal for families with children

o A value proposition asserting the schools best interest is for the students;

Safe

Whole family involvement

Repeat customers

19

Individual growth

Recognition

Self – confidence

Self –expression

Motivation

A rational appeal for disabled students

o A factual representation of how the school incorporates disabled students;

Therapeutic practice

Learning

Engaging

Increase motor skills

Trained instructors

Adaptive

Peer support

Family engagement

Emotional appeal

There are two important emotional appeals involved with our message: love and virtue. Our

message contains an emotional appeal because it provides the key publics comfort in knowing

BNC is flexible to each client’s needs, no matter what disability or what age. The love appeal

will encompass feelings of family togetherness, nostalgia, compassion and sensitivity. All of

these feelings may be evoked by participants involved with the different types of classes. The

virtue appeal is involved with the message because of the societal values embedded within. For

instance, the Ballet Expressions class that’s offered helps disabled children have the ability to

participate in a dance class, no matter their disability. Also, for older women or women with

injuries, there’s a class offered that will tailor itself to medical need with in the class, which

provides more opportunity for older customers.

Love appeals

Families with children

20

1. Family togetherness- a mother and her little girl getting their hair done in dance buns in

the mirror. Dad walks in and says “look at my two beautiful girls” then we see mom and

daughter walking out of house in their ballet attire holding hands. They are leaving to go

to the Dance with Me class featured at the BNC sschool for parents and toddlers to dance

together.

2. Nostalgia- a mother looks at her 18 year old daughter and drifts back to her first dance

recital. The little girl has a wide smile and big bright eyes; she is glowing on stage. We

see the moms eyes focus on the young woman in front of her now and her eyes water

with memories.

3. Love- an image of a dad hugging his daughter after a dance recital. His face appears

relaxed and prideful, the daughter is around 6 years old and has her entire body wrapped

around her dad. Her eyes are closed tight she seems relieved by her dads embrace.

Disabled students

1. A warm image of a disabled child engaging with the instructor of the dance class. The

image is of the two dancing together, the teacher showing the student with one hand,

while her other hand holds on to the disabled student’s hand. Both are smiling and

activity engaged in what they are doing.

Women ages 50-75

1. Togetherness -Pleasant image of older women in dance attire warming up on a ballet bar

and on the floor. Some are stretching while others are doing technique. They are all

smiling and looking towards each other as if they are engaging in conversation. Everyone

appears relaxed and comfortable.

Virtue Appeals

Families with children

1. Esteem appeal - this image depicts two parents watching their younger daughter dance

through the looking glass outside of the studio. The mother is pointing at the daughter,

and the dad is watching with pride as his little girl does a double pirouette.

Disabled students

1. Social acceptance- a disabled student is at the front of the dance studio bowing, the rest

of the students in the class are looking his way; their faces exude excitement, they are

cheering and clapping. The bowing student at the front is smiling and seems thrilled by

the acceptance and peer support he is receiving from the class.

Women (50 -75)

1. Esteem- An image of an older woman posing in the studio mirror. She is prepping for a

pirouette in her stance. Confidence exudes her as she watches herself; her back is upright,

pelvis is tucked under and her feet are turned out. She is in perfect form.

21

TACTICS

Tactic Details Public Type Objectives

Adult classes

survey

New Student

Survey

Students fill out a general survey about

what they want to see more of from BNC.

Gives insight to the faculty on new ways of

teaching/programs to implement.

We want every new participant at the school

to also fill out a survey. Each new student

will receive a free week after doing so. This

will allow the school to learn where their

consumers are hearing about the school and

why they chose the school, enhancing

opportunity for growth and stability.

Women

(50-75),

and

families

Organization

al media

O2, a

Promote free

adult weeks

Offer free adult classes 2 X’s a year to get

potential students to visit BNC.

Organization can oversee deliverance of this

message. Provides a direct way to promote

BNC. The adult free weeks will be

advertised by email notifications, an

entertainment ad, as well as be included on

the BNC home page two months prior to

when the free weeks take place. These free

weeks will also be tweeted and blogged

about as well as mentioned and encouraged

on facebook.

Women

( 50-75)

Interpersonal

media

O1,a

O2,a

Social Media

interaction;

Blogs

Facebook

Blogs on news, videos and photos of BNC

students/performances. News will include

upcoming performance information and

student achievements in dance. Videos will

be posted of students rehearsals so that

parents and students can go on the blog and

check it out. Highlight one student every

week to tell their story on the blog to make

the page feel more personal.

BNC will join facebook causes, a place for

non-profit fundraising. Here they can talk

about the events coming up and the

Women

( 50-75),

families,

and

disabled

students

Organization

al media

O1- a,b,c

22

Twitter

fundraisers taking place which will generate

more revenue. This will be a place for BNC

to talk about the classes they provide and

the new classes that will be opening.

Use twitter to talk about BNC promotions,

spur student, potential student, and

community interactions. BNC will use

twitter to promote their company and start

conversations with their followers. Their

goal is to get feedback from the people

following them to better understand their

audiences. BNC will encourage students to

retweet about special offers.

Boulder Creek

Festival special

event

Student performance during the Boulder

Creek festival. Take BNC to a family

public to conveniently showcase the

company to its audience. This event brings

in 450,000 people annually and BNC will

take place in the event in 2012. The event

takes place in late May every year and

application forms are due by the February

prior to the event date. The event allows

local talent to perform on one of five stages.

BNC will submit an application this next

February with a $250 application fee to be

entered and advertised in the festival. The

$250 dollar fee will be raised through

company performances put on throughout

the year.

Women

( 50-75),

families,

and

disabled

students

Interpersonal

media,

Promotional

Media

O1-a,b,c

O2- a,b,c

BNC shadow

day

Invite potential students to shadow a BNC

student for the day. Will be effective in

generating future audiences. There will be

an email blast encouraging students to get

involved in the shadow day by handing out

goodie bags for those participating.

Potential students can pick 3 classes that

they would like to shadow someone in for

the day. These shadow sessions can take

place all in one day or, the potential student

can do the three classes on separate days

and shadow someone different each time.

These will appeal to families who have

children but also disabled students.

Families

with

children,

and

disabled

students

Interpersonal

media

O2- b,c

23

Brochure/flyers

Families with

children

Women 50-75

Disabled

students

Promote company awareness, membership

services, and features to generate support

for the organization. The flyer and brochure

will be redone quarterly to allow the

company to update any classes or summer

programs being changed. These materials

will be placed in public school offices,

coffee shops, grocery stores, restaurants,

Targets, salons, and children’s hospitals in

the Broomfield and Boulder areas.

The example brochure and flyer appeal

specifically to the entire school and what it

has to offer to everyone.( see appendices)

Beyond the broader versions of flyers and

brochures that we have examples of, we

recommend creating a flyer and brochure to

appeal to each of the public’s. For women

the brochure and flyer would highlight why

women should come to BNC’s school and

depict the qualities of the organization

through images of women just like those we

are trying to reach.

With this target it is important to have a

separate brochure and flyer that appeal’s to

their needs. We want to show images of

disabled students dancing in studios and

having a good time.

Women

( 50-75),

families,

and

disabled

students

Organization

al media

O1- a,b,c

O2- a,b,c

Dance-a-thon

Press release

Highlight an event put on by the company

that benefits the community and the

company. Dance-a-thon to raise money for

a BNC student scholarship fund. This event

will be a fun competition for students to see

who can dance the longest. Parents will

sponsor their child by agreeing to donate a

set amount for each hour their child dances.

Those left dancing at the end of the night

will receive prizes such as tickets to a BNC

company show, movie tickets, mani/pedi

gift certificates, etc.

Women

( 50-75)

and

families

News media O1- a,c

O2- a,c

24

Flash Mob Students will correlate doing a flash mob at

different local sites. Middle school aged

students will do a flash mob at Broomfield’s

4th

of July parade and BBQ. They will be

wearing a BNC shirt with a pink tutu and

will get up and dance when a certain song

comes on at the BBQ. The older, high

school aged students will perform a flash

mob in downtown Boulder in the high

traffic area of 16th

street mall. One student

will walk down the mall with a boombox

gathering other student followers and the

students will perform when they reach the

most crowed area of the mall, at 13th

and

Broadway.

Families

with

children

in the

boulder

and

Bromfiel

d area.

News Media O1- b

Entertainment

section ad

Adult free week

Disabled class

Place an advertisement in the local Boulder

county paper highlighting current classes

and performance updates.

One ad should be specific to the adult free

week. Highlighting the event and the classes

offered.

One should be geared to the class that is

offered to students with disabilities.

Women

( 50-75)

, families,

and

disabled

students

Advertising

and

Promotional

Media

O2- a,c

Print Ads

(optional)

Women 50-75

Families w/

Children

Disabled

students

Collateral to put in local magazine and news

papers.

An ad that displays our target women

dancing and enjoying their time. This ad

will stress the concept of “getting fit while

having fun.”

This stresses the family environment that

takes place at the school. It depicts children

from 3-18 performing and being a part of

the school.

This ad directly illustrates what we want the

multi-ability classes to look like. We want

to stress that “ability is limitless” at the

school because they offer this kind of

opportunity.

Women

( 50-75)

, families,

and

disabled

students

Advertising

and

Promotional

Media

O1 &O2 –

a,b,c

25

BUDGET/SCHEDUAL/EVALUATION

Schedule

The adult class survey was conducted by the PR team and took us about a day to do. The

social media tactic is planned for April 16, will be administered by Ashley Burns

(Communications Manager), and is expected to take about 3 days to do. The BNC Shadow Day

is expected to take place on April 23, will be carried out by one of the school’s dance teachers

and will take one day. To promote the free adult weeks, we expect this to be done by May 1, to

be executed by the PR team and will take about a week to carry out. We would like to see the

brochures and flyers out by May 14 which will be handled by the PR team and is expected to

take about a month. The Dance-A-Thon press release will be handled by the PR team and is

expected to take two days to execute by May 14. The entertainment section ad will be conducted

26

by the PR team and is expected to take one day to be finished by May 14. The Boulder Creek

Festival falls on Memorial Day weekend and we have chosen May 29 to be a part of it. A team

of students will perform at the festival and this performance is expected to take about a month to

prepare.

Budget

Personnel Cost (assumed)

N.A

Estimated Materials

(paper, printing,

postage, etc…)

$750-2000

Media (advertising rates)

$350

Online 50

Magazine 200

Newspaper

100

Miscellaneous $100-900

TOTAL $1,200-3,250

The total project cost will be between $1,200 and $3,250. Let’s assume at our Dance-A-

Thon event and at the Boulder Creek Festival, that we get 65 donors that donate $50 each. That

will be our break-even point. If we assume that we receive about 57 new adult students from this

campaign, that take 1 class a week at $57, then we would also reach our break-even point.

Evaluation

To measure our campaign’s success, we will take several steps to evaluate each of our

presented objectives.

Our primary objective is awareness. First, we want to have an effect on the awareness of

North Denver women ages 50-75 towards the BNC school; specifically to increase their

understanding of the benefits the school offers for adult students. Second, we want to have an

effect on the awareness of North Denver disabled students; specifically to increase their

knowledge about the opportunities BNC has for them. Lastly, we want to have an effect on the

awareness of families with children in the North Denver community; specifically to increase

their understanding of the BNC School.

There are several different techniques to use to measure this first objective. One of the

main techniques is to focus on the message exposure. A way to do this is to assess the amount of

hits BNC receives on their website, Facebook page and blog. Another way is to track the

possible size of the audience is to analyze the message content in our advertising and to survey

customers about the message recall.

27

Our second objective is action. Initially, we would like to have an effect on the action of

North Denver women ages 50-75; specifically to increase the enrollment rate of adult students by

50% and increase school revenue. Then, we would like to have an effect on the action of North

Denver disabled students; specifically to increase the number of disabled students by 5 to enroll

in the classes specific to their needs. Finally, we would like to have an effect on the action of

families with children in North Denver; specifically to increase the family involvement at the

BNC School by 15% and increase enrollment in all classes.

The techniques that will be used to measure our second objective are audience

participation, direct observation and relative media effectiveness. For audience participation, we

will figure the number of people who acted on the relayed messages about the programs at BNC.

From there we can figure to see if we made our increased enrollment goal. For direct

observation, we can observe at an event, Boulder Creek Festival for example, to see how well the

audience receives the student’s performance. We can observe if the crowd is asking for more

information about BNC and their offered programs. For relative media effectiveness, we will

measure how the newly enrolled students at BNC heard about the classes being offered. We will

ask them how they heard about us and from there we will know whether they heard about it from

social media, news media or from advertisements.

28

References

Type of

Source

Reference

Person Ashley Burns , BNC , Communication manager

Person Stephanie Moir , Administrative assistant at the school of BNC

Text Book Ronald D. Smith (2009). Strategic Planning for Public Relations, 3rd ed. New

York: Routledge

Websites http://www.coloradoballet.org/about/history-

http://www.cleoparkerdance.org/about.htmly

http://www.bncdance.com/

http://www.facebook.com/bncdance

http://twitter.com/#!/bncdance

http://www.youtube.com/user/balletnouveau

http://www.linkedin.com/company/ballet-nouveau-colorado

Online

articles 1 . W enz e l , J o hn . "Ba l l e t No uv eau C o lo r ad o app o i n t s n ew

ex ecu t i v e d i r ec to r . " D en ver po s t . com (2 0 11 ) : 1 -2 . W eb .

3 M a y 2 0 11 .

<h t tp : / / w w w. denv er p os t . co m/ en t e r t a inm en t / c i _1 70 88 56

8 > .

2 . E y l , E r y c . " T h e M i l e H i g h M a k e o u t : B a l l e t N o u v e a u C o l o r a d o t u r n s

t o l o c a l s i n g e r - s o n g w r i t e r f o r i n s p i r a t i o n . " R e v e r b . N . p . , 2 2 A p r

2 0 1 1 . W e b . 3 M a y 2 0 1 1 .

< h t t p : / / w w w . h e y r e v e r b . c o m / 2 0 1 1 / 0 4 / 2 2 / t h e - m i l e - h i g h - m a k e o u t -

b a l l e t - n o u v e a u - c o l o r a d o - t u r n s - t o - l o c a l - s i n g e r - s o n g w r i t e r - f o r -

i n s p i r a t i o n / > .

3 . W e n z e l , J o h n . " D a n c i n g a s f a s t a s t h e y c a n : B a l l e t N o u v e a u ' s d i r e

d a n c e f o r s t a b i l i t y . " d e n v e r p o s t . c o m . T h e D e n v e r P o s t , 2 3 J u n 2 0 1 0 .

W e b . 3 M a y 2 0 1 1 . < h t t p : / / w w w . d e n v e r p o s t . c o m / e n t e r t a i n m e n t / c i _ 1 5 5 8 0 5 1 1 > .

4 . W e n z e l , J o h n . " J u s t I n : B a l l e t N o u v e a u C o l o r a d o p l e a d s f o r n e a r l y

$ 2 0 0 K b y J u l y 3 1 . " d e n v e r p o s t . c o m . T h e D e n v e r P o s t , 0 8 J u l y 2 0 1 0 .

W e b . 3 M a y 2 0 1 1 .

< h t t p : / / b l o g s . d e n v e r p o s t . c o m / a r t m o s p h e r e / 2 0 1 0 / 0 7 / 0 8 / j u s t - i n - b a l l e t -

n o u v e a u - c o l o r a d o - i n - d i r e - s t r a i t s - p l e a d s - f o r - f u n d r a i s i n g -h e l p / 1 0 8 5 / > .

29

Appendix A.

Organizational media including a brochure and flyer. The brochure and the flyer will be

used to promote awareness, membership services, and other features to help increase revenue.

Appendix B.

Advertising and promotional media that will include entertainment section ads. These

ads will highlight current classes and performance updates. This section will also contain a few

print ads that can be placed in local papers and magazines.

Appendix C.

This section will contain News Media. BNC’s Dane-A-Thon press release will be

included. The press release serve as a mechanism to get other community members involved in

the BNC school by letting them know about a fundraising contest.

Appendix D.

This section also includes organizational media. The survey’s will go in this section

which served as our primary research and new surveys will be produced for each of our target

audiences in order for BNC to improve what they offer their clients.

30

Appendix A

31

Appendix B

32

Appendix C

33

Appendix D