Green Campus Fall 2011 Energy Efficiency CompetitionCourtney Butterfield

Lindsay AtwoodNick Lau

Emily TeixeiraNaomi Kim

March 2010

Overview

The Green Campus program at UC Merced has asked us to create a marketing campaign for their Fall 2011 Energy Efficiency Competition.  At this point in time, we are not certain of the specifics (i.e. whether the competition will take place in the Sierra Terraces, The Summits, or the Valley Terraces), but we understand that the competition has had past success with on-campus residents in the Sierra Terraces and we hope to recreate the same success during the Fall 2011 semester.

In the past, Green Campus has seen great success in educating housing residents in energy efficiency through their Energy Efficiency Competition between residence halls on campus. In the name of sustainability, the Green Campus program challenged student residents to commit to a month-long energy efficiency competition. The hall that had the lowest energy-consumption rate at the end of the month was declared the winner and given a gift card of there choice. This incentive, along with educational programming regarding energy efficiency throughout the month, delivered significant reductions in overall energy consumption.

To do our part in promoting the success of this competition, we plan to create fliers, posters, and a Facebook page in order to efficiently spread awareness about the competition.  We will conduct a focus group to create a market analysis report. This information will be key in developing a strategic marketing plan that connects to our target audience.  By advertising energy efficiency tips along with the competition, we hope to motivate students to “think green” and actively reduce their carbon footprints.

Assuming that the Green Campus program utilizes our templates, we envision our posters displayed in common resident areas like the Dinning Commons, Laundry Room, Gym, and the Lounge.  Also, with permission from Housing and Resident Life, we plan for our fliers to be distributed on dorm bulletin boards.  By linking our Facebook page to already-established UC Merced profiles, we hope to reach the majority of on-campus residents involved in the competition.

ObjectivesAfter completing the marketing project, we hope to achieve the following:

Practice different styles and structures of various genres of professional writing in preparation for advanced courses in specialized professional writing

Develop oral communication practices useful for professional settings, through collaboration with peers, interviewing, and delivery of presentations

Cultivate inter-personal, intercultural, and leadership communication strategies by working on team-driven projects consistent with real-world professional settings

Analyze the needs of different audiences in various rhetorical situations by adopting appropriate voice, tone, language, format, and style

Integrate elements of layout, design, and the visual rhetoric of professional documents Demonstrate the process of professional writing, through invention, drafting, editing, and

revision within conventions of responsible and ethical practices Practice credible argumentative strategies designed to appeal to audiences of various

professional communication genres and fields Improve research methods and gain informational literacy necessary to substantiate

claims and earn credibility from professional audiences Practice techniques of market research by conducting consumer surveys and/ or focus

groups to discover audience needs/ wants Produce persuasive marketing materials that generate credibility, inform audiences, and

provoke consumer interest Utilize strategies of graphic design to produce visually appealing professional documents

using multiple media Build interpersonal and team communication effectiveness by collaborating with small

groups in a professional scenario

Marketing Outcomes Increase energy efficiency awareness Promote a “greener” lifestyle Motivate student residents to use energy saving tips Promote the Green Campus program’s Energy Efficiency Competition

PlanWe have established an additional meeting time outside of class to collaborate on the project. When necessary, we will reserve a study room in the library or meet in the Lantern on Friday mornings at 10 am. We will keep in contact via email and phone. At our first meeting, we will brainstorm different ideas to promote a “green lifestyle”, decide our individual responsibilities, and discuss necessary details for our project with our Green Campus guide. For our second meeting, we will update other members of any progress made and finalize our marketing project proposal. Once we have established the outline of our project, we will all attempt to produce advertisements for the competition. During our focus group, we will let the participants determine what features they like/dislike about each of our ads. We will then combine the best features into an effective flier and poster. Once we have created the template, we will present it along with our proposed marketing plan to the Green Campus guide for further evaluation.

Timeline1. Kick-off event: March 1

a. Create informational fliers and posters by February 25thb. Advertise for the Kick-off event by February 27thc. Distribute posters/fliers

i. Dining commonsii. Bulletin boards in the residence halls

iii. In the mail roomiv. Mailboxes?v. Emails to residents

2. Mid-March Report: March 15a. Post ranks of the dorms’ energy consumption on Facebook page (Mar 15)b. Have 15 green tips posted (one for each day) by March 15

3. Closing event: Beginning of Aprila. Announce winner of energy competition

i. On the Facebook pageii. In emails (Happenings)

iii. On a poster in the dining commons b. Have posted one green tip a day on the Facebook page

Individual Responsibilities and ObligationsCommunal responsibilities

Creating fliers/posterso Responsible for creating fliers and posters to advertise for the eventso Make the posters and fliers eye-catching with sufficient information, without

giving too much informationo Accumulating one “green tip” for every day of the month of March

Courtney ButterfieldCreating an email posting on the information going on with the energy competition and receiving permission to send it:

o Compose an email that will be sent out in “Happenings”, possibly in a separate email as well.

o The emails sent out will explain: What the competition is about

Who the competitors are What they will/should be doing Where the competition will be taking place

o Editing the proposal outlineThe emails will be sent out before, weekly (to notify standings), and at the end of the competition to show which hall won and how/where to receive their prize.

Lindsay AtwoodIn charge of:

o Creating the posters/fliers from the ideas the group brainstormed together. o Updating the postings of Green Tip for everyday of the competition.o Creating pop out table cards to distribute in the D.C. o Using some of the to purchase gift cards from the winners of the competition. o Editing the proposal outline

Nick LauCreating/updating the Facebook page everyday

o Create a Facebook page that will allow for residents to see different green tips and their standings in the energy competition.

o Everyday, there will be a new “Green Tip”/ “Green Fact” which will allow for residents to see a new way of saving energy or a way to help the environment.

o Post the Green Tip everyday of the competition, post weekly updates on who is winning in the competition, and connect with other UC Merced Facebook pages to expand the audience of the Facebook site.

o Editing the proposal outline

Emily TeixeiraWriting the report based off of the focus groups data collected.

o Determines what features the focus groups like as well as the feature that they did not like.

o Creates a one page report compiling all the questions asked, answers received, and important quotes gathered form our focus group participants.

o Listens to the auto recording of the focus group meeting to glean any information missed from the scribes report.

o Creating the flyer of fact sheets that will be held inside a pocket attached to the grand poster hanging in the dining commons.

o Editing the proposal outline

Naomi KimPosting the fliers/posters and getting permission from housing

o Collaborate with those who are in charge of creating the posters/fliers. o Responsible for getting permission from housing to post the fliers/posters in the

designated areas.o Go around and hang up the posters in the designated areas.o Editing the proposal outlineo Help to update Facebook page when necessary

Focus Group March 2, 2011 Summary Report

Energy Competition: Market Research ReportsThe purpose of this market research was to identify the actions, perceptions, opinions, and attitudes of students on and off campus to gather any suggestions they may have for improving advertisements for the upcoming energy competition. A focus group of four was assembled. Participants of the focus group were made up of students from the Introduction to Professional Writing course. The focus group invited the students to perform a brainstorming activity and then asked a number of relevant questions. This report compiles focus group results, and offers interpretation of the significance to marketing.

Brainstorming ActivityAfter the opening statement, students noted some key ways they can or could conserve energy:Unplugging chargers for electrical appliances when they are fully charged or not in use. Using less water when showering. Recycling and reusing whenever possible. Purchasing green products. Using energy efficient light bulbs. Turning off entertainment devices when not in use. Many students also drew trees or the recycling image of three arrows in a triangle when asked to draw an image that comes to mind about the term "thinking green".

Do Do not

How many of you learn about happenings on campus through Facebook?

1 3

How many of you live on Campus? 3 1

Focus Group FindingsHow do you find out about different events on campus?Through posters at DC, events publicized by their RA and sometimes Facebook. Suites do not pay much attention to bulletin board posts outside their door.

Do you ever read the “Happenings” emails that are sent out?Sometimes, depending on level of interest and the subject heading. They pay more attention to DC posters.

What information is important for you to know about an event?How it fits in with their schedule (date and times), usually cannot make an event if it is on a Friday.“I go home on Fridays, so the events should be on Mondays when people are coming home from the weekend.”

Would you be more willing to join a contest on campus if there was knowledge of prizes?Yes, but a pizza party is not incentive enough since they can go to the dc or order pizza themselves, gift cards are better. “People already have the mentality that the pizza prize will come from the D.C, and they think if they can just go to the D.C. for it, why participate the competition.” “When my RA did events the most effective thing was when they gave gift cards to us rather than pizza, some people don’t like pizza or it usually ran out, I remember the thing that was most effective was gift cards.”

What are the benefits of saving energy?It saves money, makes you feel good about doing something for the planet and helping the environment. “At the end of the day you know you are doing something good for the planet.” “In the shower, thinking about turning off the water and saving a little bit of energy. When you just stand there in the shower you are not really getting any cleaner, it just feels good.”

What does the term “Think Green” mean to you?It means thinking about living sustainably, respecting the Earth. “I like recycling things.”

Do you know what the term “carbon footprint” means? Do you ever think about your carbon footprint?It means, “How large of an impact your daily activities have on the earth.” Most students only think about it when reminded.

Do you do things differently than you normally would to live a “greener” lifestyle on campus – What do you do?On campus they use the elevator since it is more convenient and the stairs are hidden and secluded in the dorms, which makes them feel unsafe. “I live on the forth floor of Tenaya and most of the stairs are secluded, so I end up taking the elevators more for convince, I feel that I would use stairs more if they connected to the front entrance, also you get to see people you know when you go through the main entrance.”The group concluded that it is hard to conserve energy on campus. Most said they recycle more on campus than at home because it is easier. Off-campus students tend to be pickier about energy because they have to see the “fatty-bill”, while those who live on-campus are not picky because they do not notice their energy usage. In addition they have already had to pay for their electricity, and they cannot control what their suitemates do about conserving energy.

Significance to MarketingPosters should be bright, have interesting pictures, advertise the prizes like gift cards, and be located in the DC. The posters lining the walk up the hill do not catch people’s eye as much, where as in the D.C peoples eyes wonder and when you sit there for so long it is easy to get the full message the poster is trying to give off. The posters size is important and it should be big, you cannot miss a huge poster. People are not likely to walk up and check out the small posters. The slogan should be memorable and imagery should not be green, have a tree, a hand, a pile of dirt, a sprout or the earth to avoid redundancies in advertising.

Place cards on DC tables are a great idea, it gets the people sitting at the tables to pick it up and read it because they are naturally curious. The winner’s party should be on a Monday night so as to not conflict with classes. Gift cards should given away at the winners party from businesses of their choice from around Merced (Target, Rally’s, iTunes).

Naomi Kim

Writing 30

John Haner

4/9/11

Ads and Posters