senior project proposal- second draft
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Carrie Skuzeski
MSCM 485
Senior Capstone
3-2-15
Project Proposal: Second Draft
Abstract
I will create a standing social media plan for the International Pinot Noir Celebration, an
event showcasing the excellent Pinot noir harvested and made in Oregon. The plan I create will
include a situation analysis of the International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) and an audit of its
current social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. The plan will detail the following
aspects of IPNC’s social media presence: tone and brand image, types of messages, types of
content, which social media site is best suited for various types of content, scheduling of posts,
etc. It will describe our target audience and strategies we will use to reach them. It will explain
the campaigns, hashtags, content, etc. incorporated in the plan. A portion of the plan will be
dedicated to attracting younger attendees to a lower-priced event within IPNC called Passport To
Pinot, an important goal IPNC hopes to achieve through social media efforts. I will gather and
create content such as infographics to post on the accounts. I will also write a social media policy
that explains who can manage the social media accounts, how to respond to comments, etc.
Description
My project will be a work of strategic communication. More specifically, it will be a
social media plan for the International Pinot Noir Celebration, an annual event that will be reach
its 29th year July 24-26 at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. I learned that the International
Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) staff wants to boost its social media presence through working for
Rob and Maria Stuart at R. Stuart & Co., a winery located in McMinnville. Maria is IPNC’s
current president and, therefore, due to the connections I have with IPNC and the Oregon wine
industry, I’m confident that I’ll have adequate resources and support to create an excellent plan
within the parameters of the senior project assignment. Although the IPNC staff aims to improve
their social media presence, they are not going to use my social media plan for this year’s
celebration. I spoke about this with Amy Wesselman, a member of IPNC’s staff, who said she
would still be willing to meet with me to discuss social media and offer any other help she can
for my project.
Examples
There are many examples of successful strategic communication plans in the wine
industry. One example is a social media public relations campaign for a wine company named
KRIS carried out by Benson Marketing Group (http://kriswine.com/). Benson managed KRIS’
social media, and after browsing its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, I was inspired by how
consistent and effective in garnering two-way communication their social media presence was.
Looking at their accounts also gave me ideas for what types of messages, visual content,
campaign or hashtag ideas and the overall tone and language to incorporate in the social media
campaigns that are part of my overall plan.
Although this is not an example of a social media plan specifically, the Visit Bend
website has been useful to me (http://www.visitbend.com/). It is visually appealing, fairly easy to
navigate and bursting with information that aims to attract visitors to Bend. The website gave me
ideas on what types of information and content has been successfully drawing people to that
destination. It promotes a variety of activities, events, locations, etc. in creative ways, which
helps me envision how I can best promote IPNC.
Constellation Brands (http://brandcenter.cbrands.com/), one of the world’s largest
producers of wine and other alcoholic beverages, sets a high standard for wineries that
incorporate social media into their marketing strategies. Constellation is careful about which of
its many brands should be featured on which social media platform. It saw a lot of success by
posting coupons and other online promotions for its followers. It also had a partnership with an
app called ShopKick through which it placed ads to reach cell phone users. Constellation
attributes a $41 million increase in sales to its strategic use of social media (Thach & Kolb,
2013).
My project will fit into the social-networking-sites sector of the media landscape. More
specifically, I will use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. IPNC already has accounts on
Facebook and Twitter, but Instagram should be created to reach a larger percentage of the target
audience and to capitalize on the creative, unique opportunities Instagram offers for posting
content. I will not actually implement the plan, so no special access or funding will be needed to
complete my project.
Audience
The majority of my target audience is made up of past IPNC attendees. The event started
in 1987, and has since accumulated a following of fans. A lot of these fans are wine enthusiasts
between the ages of 35 and 70, many of whom live in Oregon. A significant number of attendees,
though, travel from other states and countries. They are already following IPNC on Facebook
and Twitter and will likely follow them on Instagram once they have the opportunity. They are
likely to be part of the middle to upper socioeconomic classes, and therefore have the time and
money to take part in an expensive event (the full-weekend ticket costs $1,195).
This campaign will aim to target people who haven’t attended the event before. These
individuals will also likely be wine enthusiasts. They will share characteristics of past attendees,
such as being fans of wine and, in particular, Pinot noir. In addition to its normal target audience,
IPNC would like to focus on targeting a younger audience in order to convince them to attend
Passport To Pinot, a condensed version of IPNC’s full weekend that happens on Sunday.
Passport To Pinot gives guests the opportunity to taste a variety of wines, eat excellent food and
learn from spokespeople and other professionals at the event. Those who only go to the Passport
To Pinot event usually don’t have enough time or money to attend the whole IPNC weekend and
are looking for a more affordable way to enjoy the event. Passport To Pinot tickets cost $125.
The younger target audience will be between the ages of 21 and 35. Many of them will live in
Oregon, but it would useful to reach people within that age range who live in other popular wine
regions in the U.S., such as California. The entire target audience is comprised of people who
love wine, food and social outings. They appreciate the finer things in life, but also appreciate
the relaxed, unpretentious environment that can be found in Oregon wine country. They are
likely well educated and have pursued higher education. If not, they are curious by nature and
eager to learn about a rich subject like Oregon wine.
Another important segment of the target audience is made up of winemakers, sommeliers,
chefs and speakers. Since the beginning of IPNC, countless professionals have worked with or
have become connected to IPNC in some form or another. By targeting professionals who have
worked with IPNC in the past or are doing so currently, we’ll solidify our connections with them
and tap into their social networks to create new relationships and attract new attendees. This will
also help IPNC in finding renowned professionals to work with for years to come.
Logistics
Here I will describe the main phases of my project. First, I will conduct a situation
analysis of IPNC and its target audience and conduct an audit of IPNC’s current social media
presence. Second, I will research IPNC, its history and general information about Pinot noir.
Then I will write the social media plan that will incorporate a social media policy. Next I will
gather photos that will be used in some of the content I create. Although IPNC will not
implement my plan, I will create content and include it in my final project to demonstrate the
types of content I would post as part of my plan if it were implemented. I would post if IPNC
implements my plan. The plan itself will consist of three important phases: before the event,
during the event and after the event. The objectives, strategies, tactics and evaluation for each of
those phases will be unique.
Schedule
March 19-29: I will speak with Maria further about the event to better understand the
goals IPNC would want to achieve with a social media plan. I will do a lot of research using
books, articles and online research databases. I will gather information about IPNC, social media
strategies for events, how to write the most effective social media policy, etc.
March 29-April 5: I will continue to conduct research about social media strategies for
events. I plan on being finished with at least half of IPNC’s situation analysis, social media audit
and social media policy. I will distribute a survey to young people who work in the wine industry
to supplement research I will use to create a strategy to attract younger guests to Passport To
Pinot.
April 6-12: By this week, I should be at least 50 percent finished with my project. This
means I will have written IPNC’s situation analysis, social media audit and social media policy. I
will have started writing my plan, and will focus on finishing a first draft this week. I will start
brainstorming and creating innovative ideas for content that will resonate with our target
audience.
April 13-19: I will have nearly 75 percent of my project complete. I will have finished
writing the plan, but will continue to thoroughly edit and refine it. I will have detailed plans of
the types of messages, types of content, which social media site is suited for various types of
content, frequency of posts, etc. This week I’ll focus on finishing a strategy that will be used to
attract the younger target audience to Passport To Pinot. I will start designing and gathering other
content I’ll include as examples in my project.
April 20-26: The situation analysis, social media audit and social media policy should be
polished and nearly ready to be submitted. I will continue to work on editing the plan. I will try
to meet with Amy Wesselman this week to receive her feedback on my plan. I would also like to
share the plan and content I’ve created with people who have expertise in the areas of social
media strategy, marketing, design, etc. This way I can gather constructive criticism and bounce
creative ideas off of these people.
April 27-May 14: The last weeks of the semester will be dedicated to preparing my
project for presentation. I will continue to edit written portions of my plan and ensure the content
I create is of the best possible quality. The presentation for my project is scheduled for May 14,
so I must have my project complete by that date.
May 15-May 28: I will make any necessary revisions to my project based on feedback
given to me by the professors and peers who watch my presentation.
Research
In order to create the most effective strategy for IPNC’s social media plan, I will need to
conduct a lot of research. I need to gather all information available about IPNC and its target
audience. I will research the Oregon wine industry in general and uncover important
demographic and psychographic data about Oregon wine consumers. I would like to distribute a
survey to past IPNC attendees to better understand them and to learn ways to better promote
IPNC using social media. I will find information about how to create the best social media policy
and plan, and how to best use social media to promote events. I will also do a lot of research
about what types of messages and content will be most effective for my plan, and how to best
construct and deliver those messages and content. I will monitor the promotion of other wine
events and popular social media accounts related to the wine industry to gain inspiration for my
plan.
Resources
Since I have connections to IPNC and other aspects of the Oregon wine industry, I will
have access to a lot of resources, materials and contacts. I will be able to do research on my
computer or by using the Linfield Libraries resources. I plan on exploring the Oregon Wine
History Archives at Linfield and speaking with anyone from Linfield who is connected to IPNC
and could be a potential asset to my project. I have Adobe Creative Suite on my laptop and,
therefore, will be able to create a lot of content for the social media campaign. The IPNC staff is
the only entity involved with my plan and, if necessary, I will also seek assistance and support
from the IPNC staff, other individuals I’ve connected with in the wine industry, professors in the
Mass Communication Department and Chris Miles, who is a graphic design and branding
professional I have worked with in McMinnville.
A lot of coursework I’ve completed during my college career will assist me in creating
this project. Nearly all of the classes I took in the Mass Communication Department taught me to
think strategically when selecting target audiences, appropriate types of messages and content
and distribution channels. Intro to Media Writing, Newspaper Practices, Information Gathering
and working as a reporter for the Linfield Review and News-Register have given me the skills
necessary to gather information effectively and to write well. I took Principles of Public
Relations and am currently enrolled in Public Relations Writing. These classes have helped me
to think and plan strategically and have equipped me with skills and knowledge required to
create a successful public relations plan. I took a Social Media Theory and Practice course that
covered a wide breadth of information about social media. I learned how social media sites work,
which platforms should be used in certain scenarios, how to use measurement and analytics
software, how to conduct a social media audit, how to write a social media plan and much more.
I am also the social media coordinator for the Linfield Office of Sustainability and created our
social media plan. Therefore, I think I’m adequately prepared to create a social media plan for
IPNC. Also, I took the graphic design course taught by Chris Miles and have continued to work
with him on graphic design since, so I feel equipped with the skills and resources necessary to
produce quality graphic design content.
Evaluation
I would like my project to be evaluated based on Learning Goal 1 and Learning Goal 3.
Learning Goal 1 should be weighted at 70% and Learning Goal 3 should be weighted at 30%. I
decided that Learning Goal 1 should be weighted at 70% because I will be creating a significant
amount of informative and persuasive content for my campaign. By the time I finish the project,
I will have had to think strategically about my target audience and what message/content should
be delivered to them through which medium. I will have spent a lot of time ensuring that the
information I gathered and am using in the content I create is completely accurate. My writing,
layouts and other design materials will be edited profusely to ensure they are production-ready
and helpful in achieving the campaign’s overall goals. I will have considered all of the contextual
factors of the Willamette Valley and Oregon in order to produce useful content and select
appropriate distribution channels for that content.
Learning Goal 3 should be weighted at 30% in the evaluation for my project because, in
order for my campaign to achieve its goals, I will need to understand the effects social media
have on likely followers of IPNC’s social media. These followers are likely fans of the Oregon
wine industry as well as the wine industry on a global scale. I need to understand how the
mediated communication I deliver, via posting to social media sites, will have an effect on the
audiences that sees it. Furthermore, I need to consider what posts will convince followers to take
the action we want them to (i.e. attend IPNC).
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