Integrated Marketing Communications Ray Richards Golf Course Final Presentation

By: Daryn Skjefte, Ian Humsey, Kevin Newberger, and Jeremy Gusass 12/7/15

Summary: Ray Richards Golf Course is currently one of three public golf courses in the Grand Forks, ND area. With being owned by the University of North Dakota, a vast majority of college students are rather familiar with the course and its attributes, while there still is a good amount of students who do not know a thing about the course. This all coming from one central idea, not having a well developed brand. Reconstructing the marketing plan for Ray Richards will provide not only the college students with a more developed image of the golf course, but will also increase revenue for the course. There are a lot of areas where RRGC could improve with the marketing of their brand. Being present on all major platforms of social media, and knowing the appropriate times and how often to post is key. Another area where RRGC can improve is the modernization of the course; there are a lot of areas on the course that need to be updated and tailored to the golfer's eye. Currently the clubhouse is lacking a lot of the basic necessities that golfers are used to at other courses, such as food and beverage selection, apparel, golfing materials, etc. Once RRGC has a developed brand and image, ordering apparel that appeals to the target market of college students would provide an increase in revenue and would also expand their brand image to the community of Grand Forks. Restructuring the marketing plan is going to be beneficial to RRGC, as well as to the college students of the University of North Dakota. Situation Analysis: Currently, Ray Richards Golf Course is “just getting by” financially with some help from the University of North Dakota, according to the in­class presentation given by the course director and accountant. The course offers nine holes, a driving range, a chipping and putting green, limited food/beverage and merchandise, and golf cart and club rentals. The pricing strategies range in prices for college students and regular adults. There is a large opportunity for growth among male college students during the months school is in session and again in the summer months for the citizens of Grand Forks. There are a few potential challenges that must be discussed before starting this marketing campaign. First, there are other courses in the Grand Forks area that are a major competitors. Additionally, the course is only nine holes which might not be ideal for some consumers, location limits future expansion, there is no opportunity to gain a liquor license, they have a limited staff, they are lacking social media usage and expertise, and there is no golf pro on­site.

Competitor Analysis: Ray Richards faces three main competitors in the Grand Forks area. The first competitor is King’s Walk Golf Course. Kings Walk is an 18 hole course located on the south end of town. Aside from the 18 hole course, Kings Walk also offers a variety of leagues ranging from Men’s league, to Women’s league, and even Senior’s league. Another benefit that Kings Walk offers is a play­and­stay package. The Holiday Inn Express in Grand Forks has partnered with Kings Walk. The golf course offers a special rate for customers who are visiting the area and are looking to golf, as well as local lodging. Lastly, Kings Walk has a well developed website where one can view the holes and green locations through the virtual hole tour, as well as being able to book tee times online, opposed to calling or walking in. The next golf course that serves as a competitor to Ray Richards is Lincoln Golf Course. This course serves as the biggest competitor to Ray Richards. Lincoln is the only other 9­hole course in the area that has prices relatively stable to Ray Richards. Some amenities that Lincoln offers to increase business include a developed clubhouse servicing snacks and beverages. The course also offers a 9 hole short range course for kids that are not able to keep up with the distance of the actual course holes. Even though Lincoln does not offer a Men’s league, they do however offer a Ladies league and a Senior’s league. Ray Richards is located at a busy intersection of Demers Avenue and 42nd street, which serves a high volume of traffic. Lincoln Golf Course is tucked away along the Red River, offering a scenic view for golfing and providing a few obstacles to make the course slightly challenging. The last course that plays a factor in Ray Richards competition is the 18­ hole, Valley Golf Course located in East Grand Forks Minnesota. Valley offers a numerous amount of amenities to tailor a wide customer base. Aside from the golfing aspect, Valley Golf offers a large banquet room that can hold events such as wedding receptions, corporate events, reunions, etc. The developed website allows customers to book tee times online, as well as subscribing to Valley’s CRM mailing list, where customers receive promotional items via Email. As far as the golfing aspect goes, Valley Golf staffs a golf pro on site, providing lessons for golfers of all ages at a surcharge depending on the time frame. Lastly, golfer looking to golf more than a few times per season, Valley offers golfing packages where individuals can purchase multiple rounds in advanced at a discounted price, enticing golfers to purchase these packages early on in the season. Overall Ray Richards has a competitive edge being associated with their target market of college students, but if Ray Richards wants to expand to a more family oriented market in the future, changes will need to be adapted to the course to make it a more family oriented environment.

SWOT Analysis:

Target Audience(s) / Persona(s): Our primary target is male college students. We are referring to this persona as “Matt”. Some demographics to keep in mind: he is 18­24 years old, a college student, male, and works to support himself. His behaviors include: working out or playing sports, sleeping, spending a lot of time on phone and computer, always hungry, constantly busy studying or working, he consumes news/media through all types of social media, and likes attending sporting events with his friends. His needs/goals include: keeping fit, being with friends, he measures success through money, and wants good job. We believe that it would be best to focus on this target market during times when school is in session.

Our secondary target is older men who live and work in the city of Grand Forks. We are referring to this persona as “Gary”. Some demographics to keep in mind: he is most likely retired, 60+ years old, works for fun if at all, mostly male, has low to medium income, but has a solid retirement fund, does not have a lot of bills. His behavior include: he likes to drink cheap coffee, works for city as lawn mower or Zamboni driver, not married, lives in Florida during the winter. His needs/goals are: to enjoy each day, he is always looking for something to do, likes to find

new hobbies, he goes to bar around 2pm, doesn’t pay rent—owns his house, doesn’t cook too much, wants to stay active and feel included in society. We believe that it would be best to focus on this target market during the summer months while students are away.

The negative persona(s) is a consumer that we are not trying to target. We believe this type of person would not have Ray Richard’s on their radar so it would be a waste of time and resources in attempting to gain them as a consumer. We refer to this persona as “Robert”. Some demographics about him to keep in mind: 40­65 years old, not married, may be divorced, male, very high income, fancy vehicle, if he does have family, he does not value family time, he has a very big house and many electronic gadgets. Some common behaviors are: he works way too much, top of management at job, he is always on his cell phone, purchases high quality products, likes to be pampered, uses social media platforms to show off his lifestyle. His needs/goals are: must impress people, status seeker, must feel better than everyone. We strongly believe that this type of person should never be focused on. Brand Positioning Statement: Ray Richards is a unique golf course located in the Grand Forks community that serves the University of North Dakota’s students as well as community members. This golf course is one of the rare university owned courses in the nation. Golfing at Ray Richards is a relaxing experience designed to help you unwind and have an enjoyable time with good company.

Creative Strategy/Creative Brief: The product is a great and profitable golf course located in the heart of Grand Forks. The competition includes Lincoln Golf Course, Valley Golf Course in East Grand Forks, MN, and King’s Walk. Consumers need a more focused marketing campaign to show them what the golf course has to offer and to get Ray Richards at the top of their list of golf courses available in the Grand Forks area. What consumers think of Ray Richards currently is very important. People are searching things online more now than ever so it is important to be aware of what is being said about the product online. A few of the customer reviews listed on Yelp.com and golfadvisor.com are shown below:

“This is a very nice well kept 9 hole course I've played it about 8 times now and feel I need to give this course a review. It's very walkable with very little terrain changes. The greens are very smooth with only a few unfixed pitch marks. The fairways are generous and even your missed fairways offer a chance at hitting most of the greens. There is a little creek and a pond that come j to play on a few holes. Give it a try you won't be disappointed.” (Yelp.com)

“I played the Ray Richards course only because the pro shop at the Valley Golf course in East Grand Forks decided not to honor my tee time at 6:30 am. By 7am they were still not open and I'm waiting around looking like an idiot. So to Ray Richards I went. The course plays stretched out and plays away from other holes enough that you don't feel abandoned. The course was in fantastic shape with really no difficulty at all. The greens are large and very nice. The pro shop staff were a bunch of college kids that were highly unmotivated as the golfers started stacking up trying to pay their fees. Great course for a quick 9 if you are in no hurry”. (golfadvisor.com)

We want the customers to believe that Ray Richards is a great golf course that is committed to their customer experience. We can make them believe this is true by offering a more concise marketing campaign that draws them into the business. We want to work on implementing a consumer database system so that each customer feels known and important to the business. The tonality of all advertising efforts is upbeat, casual, social, inclusive, and inviting.

The creative strategy for our marketing campaign is:

“Ray Richards is a place to kick back, relax, and spend time with good company”.

We choose this create strategy because we believe it applies to both the primary and secondary target markets and can be used successfully throughout all marketing efforts. Campaign Objectives:

1.Increase golf rounds among UND male students from 38.9% to 55% by June 30, 2017.

2.Increase revenue brought in by students from 44% of earned revenue to 60% by June 30th, 2017.

3.Increase revenue earned from memberships from 16% to 25% by June 30th, 2017.

4.Get 500 new customers by June 30th, 2017.

Integrated Communications Plan: Objective one is to increase golf rounds among University of North Dakota male students from 38.9% to 55% by June 30th, 2017. We plan to implement one strategy followed by eight tactics to help this objective be successful. The strategy for this objective is to increase overall brand awareness. Tactic one is to increase social media usage. We would like Facebook likes to increase from 117 to at least 2,000 and become much more active on all social media platforms by posting frequently (daily or bi­daily). Tactic two is increasing course advertising signage, more specifically on the corner of 42nd and Demers. This area gets so much traffic every day and is visible by many passerby’s that would be staying at local hotels. Because Ray Richards owns the land, the sign being made would be the only financial commitment. Tactic three is to sponsor a NoDak Nation prize per so many points. Currently, local businesses give out prizes for certain levels of points that students earn through attendance at different University of North Dakota sporting events. We suggest giving out a free round of golf once a student earns 15 points. Each game is worth only one to three points so students who earn this many points have probably attended about six events. The prize we recommend would be a free round of golf. The coupon would not expire until June 1st to make sure that students are able to use it within a decent time frame. Tactic four is offering one free pass for one free round of golf per student ID. These passes would be available at the Student Government office located in the Memorial Union and would be available all year. Each ID would be scanned so that it would be insured that truly only one pass per student ID is awarded. This would be very similar to the Grand Forks bus passes that are already available to students. Tactic five would be to have the bookstore put a coupon in each of their shopping bags to be given out anytime a purchase is made. These coupons would be the size of a business card and would be good for one free round of golf. Tactic six is offering an intramural class for the first half of the fall semester (eight weeks in length). The weather would still be good enough for golfing and students who participate would be more familiar with the course and would be more likely to return for golfing in the future. Tactic seven is to offer prizes for raffle during study­a­thons put on by the university. Each semester, the Sunday before finals begin, the University of North Dakota Greek community puts on an event for all students. Each student is given a raffle ticket and prizes are drawn every hour for the duration of the ten hour event. Ray Richards could offer a prize of “Free Golf for a year” to one lucky student. This student is likely to not only take advantage of their prize, but is most likely going to bring other friends with them, which in turn would generate more business. Lastly, tactic eight is to promote golfing at Ray Richards by using iHeart Radio and Leighton Broadcasting. Both of these radio stations are popular with students and would help reach the target market. Objective two is to increase revenue brought in by students from 44% of earned revenue to 60% by June 30th, 2017. The strategy we would like to implement for this objective to be successful is increase number of golf rounds. The first tactic for this strategy implementation is to offer deals on slow days to help increase golf rounds sold. This would mean creating a family night, ladies night, and student night. We know that families and ladies are not in our target market but

this simple “daily deal” could help drive sales to make up for where sales are lacking in other portions of revenue. Tactic two is doing an in­game sponsorship at an University of North Dakota Men’s hockey game. We would help the athletics marketing department create a period break game that would be done on the ice during one of the two intermissions. Ray Richard’s name would be said throughout the stadium and would help create community awareness. The winner of said game would win five free rounds of golf in the spring/summer. Tactic three is offering a frequent visitor pass that would be electronic and linked to customer name. We recommend purchasing Constant Contact to help keep track of clients and to keep them organized. If customers feel like they are important to the business, they are more likely to return. Tactic four would be to email blast students one time per semester using constant contact to create the formatting for the email and then using the university email system to reach all students. Objective three is to increase revenue earned from memberships from 16% of total revenue to 25% of total revenue earned by June 30, 2017. The strategy we suggest for this objective is to create a better customer relationship so that customer retention is a main priority. We came up with six different tactics to ensure that this objective is successful. The first tactic is to purchase and use software (Constant Contact) to create a customer database. If the golf course is able to easily keep track of their customers, including their emails/info, this will help make it easier to look up customers, send out email blasts, and look up customer history. This will help the course know exactly how many customers they actually have so that it is possible to know if numbers are improving. Tactic two is being interactive with customers on social media. According to the social media course provided by the University of North Dakota (Marketing Special Topics, Spring 2015) it is best to post before 12 p.m. and after 3 p.m. to ensure that all posts have the most potential to be viewed. We want customers of Ray Richards to feel like they are apart of the conversation. We want them to know that their opinion matters and we want to figure out their likes, dislikes, and what more we can do to better accommodate them. One of the main goals of more social media interaction is to engage customers to be active on our pages. We want people to post photos on the recommended social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) so that we can share their photos with the rest of our viewers. Creating a “community feel” is a primary goal of this objective. Tactic three is to help sponsor local athletic events such as the Wild Hog Half Marathon and other youth events in and around the Grand Forks and East Grand Forks communities. Ray Richards needs to get their name out in the community on a bigger stage. Sponsoring local events will help them achieve this goal. We want the people of the Grand Forks and East Grand Forks communities to not only view Ray Richards as the University of North Dakota’s golf course, but the most relaxing, fun, family friendly, and affordable golf course in town. Tactic four is for the University of North Dakota golf team(s) to hold a youth camp in the spring (May­ish). Many sports programs at the University of North Dakota hold youth camps throughout the year which increases awareness about their program but also creates a bond with youth in the community. Getting kids to the golf course will help them recognize local athletes and could potentially create lifelong customers. Tactic five is to offer holiday specials. We are thinking a variety of specials could take place Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. The course is family

friendly so it would be easy for families to help take advantage of these deals if golfing is not something they would normally do with their families. We realize families are not apart of our target market, however, getting them to the course will help drive sales during non­peak times. We would like to be the number one choice for families in the Grand Forks area at all times of the year and offering specials on holidays is a way for families to experience the course at a discounted price. The last and final tactic for objective three is to hire a marketing intern. This intern would be only be employed for one semester at a time but could apply for multiple semesters depending on their previous experiences. This intern would be unpaid but could count their experience as an internship within the CoBPA for credit. The intern would be in charge of social media because they would be better adapted to social norms and more aware of what their peers are looking at on social media. Having a marketing intern would really help the course because the owners and other employees are not as great with social media/relevant marketing as we would like them to be for our programs to be successful. We want this intern to be solely in charge of posting on sites and to help create a more socially and relevant atmosphere. Objective four is to gain 500 new customers by June 30th, 2017. The strategy for achieving this objective is to better cater to the defined target market (University of North Dakota male students). The first tactic is to increase social media usage. The most relevant and free sites should only be used and include but are not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Yelp. Using free sites would help save advertising money but would still prove to be effective when used strategically and correctly. Tactic two is to offer specific deals geared toward college students through social media. Some examples would be liking a specific facebook post in order to receive a free bucket of balls for the driving range or screenshotting a snapchat MyStory to receive a free round of golf. Tactic three is to create an on­campus feel/presence. Currently, a lot of students do not know that Ray Richards is technically a part of campus. We want to be mentioned during summer orientation and throughout different programs already discussed that would be happening throughout the school year. Tactic four is to work with the University of North Dakota campus shuttle program to create a bus stop at the golf course. This would make the course completely accessible to all students, including those who do not have a car. Additionally, more students would become more aware that Ray Richards is a part of campus because those who ride the shuttles would view the stop. The last and final tactic of our campaign objectives is to coordinate with student housing to workout signage/promotional/sponsorship opportunities. This would include but is not limited to working with the Grove, the Boden, Sonoma Lofts, McEnroe Apartments, and all on­campus apartments and dorms. We would like to display signage (flyers) in these buildings and work with them to have promotional tables set up displaying information about the course. The intern would be in charge of distributing these flyers and would promote the course during these promotional opportunities.

Campaign Budget:

Integrated Communications Timing Flowchart:

Creative Execution:

Mood Board:

Original Execution(s):

Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 7, 2015

Contact: Kevin Newberger 952­217­0345 kevin.newberger@und.edu

FREE GOLF FOR ALL UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA STUDENTS Full Time Students Enrolled In Summer Courses Get Free Golf

Through the months of May­August, any UND students enrolled in a full time class load

will receive free golf at Ray Richards Golf Course. All students need to do is present a copy of their class schedule along with their student ID to receive this benefit.

The reason Ray Richards is providing this benefit for UND students, is to not only promote the golf course, but allow students to take advantage of summer when they are not in class. Being a full time student is a stressful period for a college attendee, which is why Ray Richards Golf Course is offering this wonderful promotion.

This promotion will begin May 16th, 2016 and run through, August 12th, 2016. Ray Richards Golf Course hopes to attract high volume traffic throughout its summer months of business, and in return will hope for a positive image to be branded within the University community. The University has also given the golf course (2) 500 dollar scholarships to be awarded to UND students who make an effort to golf Ray Richards during the summer term. Students will be eligible to put their name in a drawing throughout the summer months. During the last week of the summer promotion, Ray Richards management, and University staff will hold a drawing party, where they will two names of student golfers to receive the cash scholarship. Ray Richards and UND really are striving for a high turnout of students during this promotional event.

If you would like to receive more information in regards to the free golf promotion, please do not hesitate to contact Ray Richards Golf Course at 701­777­4340, or Kevin Newberger, University representative at, 952­217­0345.

Measurement and Evaluation: All of our objectives have a goal of successful completion by June 30th, 2017. We think it would be best to give this large amount of time to make sure all plans, reservations, etc are made far enough in advance to ensure success. This would also give the course some time adjust to the number of changes and to allocate funds accordingly. Hiring intern(s) would be done during the spring/summer months of 2016 so that the ball is rolling well ahead of when students return to campus for the fall semester of 2016. All objectives are numerically based and could be calculated quickly to measure success. We firmly believe that every objective is completely doable with the correct amount of effort, timeliness, and planning.

References: Clark, D. (2013, July 25). What makes a good golf course? Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.golfwrx.com/119954/what­makes­a­good­golf­course/ Event Registration [Motion picture]. (2013). United States: Ad week. Grand Forks North Dakota Public Golf Kings Walk Golf Course. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.kingswalk.org/ Grand Forks Public Golf ­ Lincoln Golf Course. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.lincolngolf.org Johnson, L. (2015, November 8). Why Snapchat Is Becoming the Hottest Social Tool for Ad Agencies. Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/why­snapchat­becoming­hottest­social­tool­ad­agencies­167972 Ray Richards Golf Course ­ Grand Forks, ND. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.yelp.com/biz/ray­richards­golf­course­grand­forks Swant, M. (2015, November 11). Why Running Ads on Both Facebook and Instagram Is Likely to Be the New Normal. Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/why­running­ads­both­facebook­and­instagram­likely­be­new­normal­168061 Ray Richards Golf Course ­ Grand Forks, ND. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.yelp.com/biz/ray­richards­golf­course­grand­forks Valley Golf Course; East Grand Forks, MN 56721. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.valleygolfegf.com