Public Relations Campaign

Nila Uriostegui&

Amber Montgomery

Table Of Contents

Executive Summary 1 Background Information 2 SWOT Analysis 3 Situation Analysis 5 Target Audience 6 Objective 1 7 Objective 2 8 Objective 3 9 Strateies and Tactics 10 Budget 12 Survey 14 Evaluation/ 15 Calender 16 Promotions 17

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Executive SummaryThe Problem

Although the women’s clothing boutique Lulu Bella has been in Rexburg for four years, the general awareness of the boutique is unknown in comparison to many of their competitors such as Maurice’s, Down East, and The Jean Girl. Although the product and selection of Lulu Bella is equal to, if not better than their competitors the women of Rexburg are generally unaware of the existence of the boutique and what is available there. Because the awareness of Lulu Bella is so low, potential customers do not stop in to see what is available when they want to shop for something in particular, or just go shopping for fun. With Lulu Bella not being on the radar of the ideal customer the boutique misses out on major opportunities to create a lasting, loyal customer base. The SolutionThe main audience in Rexburg that would benefit from the products available at Lulu Bella are young college aged women between the ages of 18 and 24. In order to increase awareness of the boutique amongst that particular group, Lulu Bella will host a fashion show benefiting the American Heart Association in order to showcase their product, and increase positive opinion of the bouquet by associating it with a strong and established charitable organization. Women will be invited to come mix, mingle, and get behind a charity that is close to many, and has the potential to impact all women in a fun and creative outlet.

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Lulu Bella is a women’s clothing boutique located at Hemming Village in Rexburg, Idaho. The boutique opened in December of 2010, after the owners of Hemming Villiage approached Cindy Nielson asking her if she would be interested in opening a shop in their building. Lulu Bella offers clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, bath and body products and other trendy items for women. Currently Lulu Bella has a presence on social media sites including Facebook, Blogspot, and Pinterest. They also have a website where people can purchase and order items if they don’t live near the physical store. Occasionally, sales and “giveaways,” sales, and promotions are posted on their social media sites. These promotions are used with the goal of helping to promote the merchandise and draw customers into the store.

Background Information

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Strengths: Lulu Bella offers many products that are trendy and fashionable. In addition to selling clothes they also sell shoes, jewelry, and accessories. Previously the boutique has used local models which saves money, and helps promote the product through the model’s friends. They have a stable social media presence, with frequent posts, and approximately 2,700 followers on each of their social media sites. The posts they share are well designed and interesting to someone who has an interest in fashion. Weaknesses: Despite having a stable social media presence, the growth of followers and “likes” does not increase quickly. In comparison to other local competitors, Lulu Bella is far behind on social media reach. Currently Lulu Bella has approximately 2,700 likes which pales in comparison to another local women’s clothing boutique, The Jean Girl who has almost 27,000 Facebook likes. Opportunities: The city of Rexburg is unique in that it has a constantly growing audience of young women attending Brigham Young University-Idaho. Every semester new freshmen come to town, many of whom are still supported by their parents. Many of these young women are trendy and longing for the more urban environments they come from, where shopping is much more prevalent than it is in Rexburg. Idaho Falls is the closest city that has a shopping mall, but many of these young women don’t have a means to make it to Idaho Falls as much as they would like to shop. Tapping into the supple market of young women looking to update their wardrobe is a very viable opportunity for Lulu Bella. Although there are competitors in town, there aren’t nearly as many as there would be in a larger city. Lulu Bella is also located closer to the campus of Brigham Young University-Idaho and many housing complexes than their competitors. The boutique is sandwiched between several single women’s housing complexes, and less than a block from the school’s stadium. It’s within walking distance from where thousands of potential customers live and go to school. The mass number of potential customers, and the lack of competition in the city of Rexburg and the location of the boutique are all fantastic opportunities for Lulu Bella.

SWOT Analysis

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Threats:Although there are not many competitors in town, the competitors that exist are strong. Brand loyalty is a huge factor in where young women chose to purchase their clothes, and many of the potential customers have already made ties to companies such as Down East, The Jean Girl, and Maurice’s. These companies have been working hard to attract the same kinds of customers that Lulu Bella hopes to reach out to for a long time, and have been immensely successful.

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The young women of Rexburg are always looking for a new place to shop, and items to add to their wardrobe, and Lulu Bella wants them to choose their boutique over other competitors in the area. Although there are not many competitors, the other established boutiques in the area have more loyal customers and a stronger online following than Lulu Bella. The goal of this campaign is to show potential customers the fun, vibrant style of Lulu Bella through a charitable fashion show. Through the promotion and exposure Lulu Bella will receive from their charitable fashion show, it will help to increase the number of people who are aware of the boutique in hopes of increasing shoppers and sales at the boutique.

Situation Analysis

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Target AudienceWomen between the ages of 18-25. This group of women are interested in the kinds of styles and fashions that are available at Lulu Bella. This target group is also a part of the millennial generation. The millennial generation is interested in impacting and changing the world around them for the better. Partnering with a charity that produces much good, like the American Heart Association is the perfect way to reach this audience.

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Objectives 1

Create a positive association between Lulu Bella and charities GoalBefore the fashion show, a survey will be administered to current Lulu Bella customers. It will ask them what they think about Lulu Bella, and if they are aware of any charitable work that the boutique does.

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Objectives 2Increase social media presence and awareness Goal Through creating content for current customers who like Lulu Bella’s Facebook page to share, the organic exposure for the site will increase exponentially. The campaign will increase the number of “likes” on Facebook by 500 by the day of the event.

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Objectives 3Increase print presence in the community Goal Posters, flyers, and brochures for the event will be created and distributed throughout the community of Rexburg. 100 posters, 600 brochures, and 1,000 flyers will be distributed by the day of the event with 80% being distrusted by February 1, 2015.

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Strategies and TacticsCreate a positive association between Lulu Bella and charities Women between the ages of 18-25 are part of the millennial generation, a generation that is interest-ed in, and concerned about the impacts of their actions. They want to do good and believe that they can. Another thing that women, in general of this generation are concerned about is supporting women in general. The American Heart Association promotes the awareness of women who suffer from heart disease in the month of February, and Lulu Bella is going to join forces with the American Heart Association and sponsor an event where all the proceeds will go to the American Heart Asso-ciation.

Local businesses will be contacted requesting items and services that can be donated and auctioned off at a silent auction during the fashion show. All of the money raised from the items collected will be donated to the American Heart Association. Although the money raised from ticket sales can be used in helping to recoup the costs of the event, the money raised from silent auction items will be used exclusively to benefit the American Heart Association. This fashion show will create and opportunity for the young women of the Rexburg community to get involved with a well known and respected charitable organization, creating a positive association with Lulu Bella. In order to make sure that the goal of 400 attendants at the fashion show is achieved, there will be promotions encouraging current customers to bring a friend with them. Coupon codes will be distributed in person to those people who visit the store in person, and online via social media posts that will allow 50% off the price of a companion ticket purchased online for the fashion show. Increase print presence in the community Posters, flyers, and brochures will be created for the purpose of promoting the “Lulu Bella Goes Red for Women Fashion Show” event. Posters will be posted in places where women are the target audience . These places include doctor’s offices, beauty salons, and shops around the town of Rexburg. Wherever posters are left in offices, clinics, and salons, brochures with more detailed information will be left along with them that a potential customer can take with them to learn more about the event or boutique.

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Increase social media presence and awareness While promoting the charity event “Lulu Bella Goes Red for Women Fashion Show” online social media contests and promotions will be posted to the Lulu Bella social media pages. By sharing, liking, and commenting on the posts, current and potential customers will be eligible to win small prizes, and tickets to the event. The sheer act of sharing, liking, and commenting on these posts will substantially increase organic views of the social media sites. Lulu Bella is located in a prime location, surrounded by housing complexes that house hosts of young women, all with in the target audience range. To further increase awareness, managers of the local housing complexes will be contacted asking for their support in promoting the charitable event. Flyers will be passed out to the women in the housing complexes, and those managers who agree to assist will be asked to send out an email with a PDF version of the poster attached urging the residents to purchase tickets to the event. In addition to physically passing flyers out to residents of local apartment complexes, direct mailers will be sent to community members, and approved housing urging them to attend the fashion show.

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BudgetVenue:The Atrium at Hemming Village$100 an hour 5 hours total = $500 Models:Volunteer Models but sub sandwich lunch will be provided for 20 models - $150 Food: Hor D’ourves Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes from Cocoa Bean - $75 Little Smokies - $30 Red Pepper Poppers - $75 Drinks Cranberry Ginger Ale “Mocktail” and ice - $50 Cups, napkins, toothpicks $35 DJ: DJ and equipment - $250 Decorations: Ace Hardware donated lights – Free Other decorations - $50 Printed Material: Posters – $100 Brochures – $50 Flyers – $50 Mailed Items – $250

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Surveys: Pre Survey – $50 Post Survey - $200Social Media Prizes: Prizes - $50 Total Budget: $1,965

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SurveyGender: Female Male

Age: under 17 18-21 22-25 26-30 30+

Marital status: Single Married

Are you a student? Yes No

How often do you shop at Lulu Bella? Once a week More than once a week Once a month A few times a month Never How did you hear about Lulu Bella? Television Newspaper Posters Mail Word-of mouth Other

How often do you shop for clothes? Once a week More than once a week Once a month A few times a month Never

When purchasing an item, do you consider price or style more?

What specifically do you look for when walking in a boutique?

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest), how involved is Lulu Bella with the community and charitable events?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10On a scale form 1-10 (1 being the lowest), how much do you care about the store atmosphere?1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

On a scale form 1-10 (1 being the lowest), how much do you care about customer service?1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Do you prefer shopping on-line or in store?

What is the best method to get in contact or send new information to you?

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EvaluationBefore the “Lulu Bella Goes Red for Women” Fashion Show a survey will be sent out to current and potential customers asking their opinion on the boutique Lulu Bella, and their shopping preferences in general. During the fashion show, a table will be set up with blank copies of the same surveys avail-able for guests to fill out. In addition to hard copy surveys, emails will be sent to those who pur-chased their tickets online to complete, and will be posted on Lulu Bella’s social media sites. Once results have been gathered, Lulu Bella can use the results to draw conclusions and evaluate to what degree the campaign was successful at increasing customer opinion of Lulu Bella and their charitable affiliation.

Objectives1. To be able to distinguish the specific demographic group that shops at Lulu Bella.

2. To find the best method /advertising that attracts and brings women to Lulu Bella.

3. To learn the overall image customers have of Lulu Bella

4. What factors (store atmosphere, customer service and price) customers consider when shopping at Lulu Bella.

Demographic Information- Women-Ages 18-25-Married or single

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Calender

December

Distribute posters - December 30 Contact and hire catering - December 30 Contact and hire DJ - December 30 Announce event on social media - December 31

January

Contact hardware store for donations - January 2Contact local businesses for silent auction items - January 2Select clothing from boutique to feature in fashion show - January 3Social media promotional post - January 3Purchase decorations - January 9 Distribute pre-survey via social media - January 12Mail out survey and promotional material - January 12 Social media promotional post - January 14Distribute flyers at apartment complexes - January 24Social media promotional post - January 28

February

Distribute flyers at apartment complexes - February 3Lulu Bella Goes Red for Women Fashion Show - February 6Evaluate before and after surveys - February 7Thank you notes for donations - February 7

Promotions

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Lulu Bella Goes Red

For Women Fashion Show

A&N Public Relations Agency