1 Media Plan

Flagler College – Tallahassee Media Plan

Leila Jett, Katelyn Harvey, Yulonda Mitchell,

Jessica Callaghan

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Media Plan Objectives

Flagler College-Tallahassee’s media plan will seek ways to increase the

awareness of Flagler College-Tallahassee. Flagler College has been in Tallahassee at

Tallahassee Community College for about 15 years. The college currently offers bachelor

degrees in Accounting, Education, Strategic Communication and Business.

Currently, Flagler College-Tallahassee enrolls about 9% of Tallahassee Community

College Graduates. A major objective is to increase the number of graduates from TCC.

Secondarily, we would like to increase the awareness of Flagler College-Tallahassee

among community college students from Pensacola to Jacksonville. Flagler College-

Tallahassee would also like to increase enrollment to allow for day and evening classes in

every major offered at the college.

Flagler College-Tallahassee currently uses the message "Flagler Works!" and we have

incorporated this into the plan that will be presented. The population at Flagler is very

diverse with a combination of traditional and non-traditional students.

Competitive Analysis

Budget Analysis:Competitors’ budgets (industry) and leading competitor’s media use

Media Selection Analysis: Media used by competitors, media vehicles used by

competitors, Industry timing of media delivery.

Enrolling into Flagler College certainly has its benefits, which makes the private

institution a top pick over its local competitors. Flagler’s primary competitor is Barry

University, and its secondary competitors are Saint Leo University and Thomas

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University.

Flagler is conveniently located on the campus of Tallahassee Community College, and

offers five different Bachelor of Arts programs in Accounting, Business Administration,

Elementary Education, Elementary Education/Exceptional Student Education and

Strategic Communication (Public Relations). Flagler is also the most affordable private

school, with classes averaging around $225 per credit. The institution also awards

students with the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG), which covers 1/3 to 1/2 of a

student’s class tuition. Flagler aims to attract both traditional and nontraditional students,

working adults who need a flexible schedule and enjoy learning in a smaller class size.

Day and evening classes are offered for most programs for that very reason.

Flagler’s primary competitor, Barry University is located on the community college

campus like Flagler but offers four Bachelor of Arts programs in Administration, Health

Services Administration, Information Technology, and Public Administration. This is the

only college of the group that provide Master’s degree programs, including Master of

Arts in Administration and Master of Arts in Public Administration. In addition, Barry

differs in the aspect of their PACE program which stands for The School of Professional

and Career Education. This is an accelerated program designated for their target audience

who consist of nontraditional students or working adults. This school is also more

expensive than Flagler College with classes ranging from $454 per credit hour, however

they do provide the FRAG grant as well. Additionally, Barry provides a small class size

setting and a flexible schedule where students have the option to attend class once a week

in the evening, Saturdays, or online.

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Saint Leo University is one of Flagler’s secondary competitors. Likewise, it is

conveniently located on the campus of Tallahassee Community College and offers three

different Bachelor programs in Criminal Justice, Psychology, and Sport Business.

Students have the option to choose class during the day, evening, weekend, or online.

Saint Leo is also a bit more expensive than Flagler ranging $246 per credit hour but they

do provide the FRAG grant to their students. This school is for non­traditional students

who prefer a smaller class size and flexible schedule.

Flagler’s last secondary competitor is Thomas University, which is also located on the

campus of Tallahassee Community College. This private school only offers one Bachelor

of Arts program in Social Work. They target non­traditional students who need a flexible

schedule just like the rest of their competitors and offer the night, day and online classes.

This school is the most expensive per credit hour that also does not provide the FRAG

grant to its students since they are not a Florida university.

Neither of the three schools, Barry, Saint Leo, or Thomas University have a direct budget

for their Tallahassee campuses. Barry University has a complete zero budget and claimed

to do all of their marketing on their own. They use permanent signs such as banners as

well as E­mail, newsletters, booths on TCC campus and have faculty speak to TCC

classes. They advertise year round. Saint Leo does it’s marketing through their main

campus which provides them with year round advertising budget to put out billboards,

radio ads, one television commercial, Facebook and using presence marking by setting up

a booth on TCC’s campus. Last we have Thomas University who also gains their

marketing budget through their main campus. They are provided with banners year

round, as well as social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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Likewise, they set up a booth on TCC’s campus to inform students about their program.

Media Strategy

Our Media Strategy is organized in a calendar format. Each event is color

coordinated in order to keep track and visualize what needs to done each week. The PR

department at Flagler will keep up with making post to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or

LinkedIn that correspond with the events/news for each week.

August ’16: To start off a new school year Flagler will be joining TCC in their Week of

Welcome. This event is to get students involved in volunteer work for the community.

TCC’s goal is to get 50,000 hours in honor of them being established for 50 years. TCC

alumni that are currently at Flagler will have a booth at the event in order to show

support, spread the word about Flagler and students TCC to Flagler stories. Flagler will

advertise the scholarship for the “Flagler Lion” which will be coming up in October.

September ’16: Throughout this month Flagler is going to focus on advertising for the

“Flagler Lion Scholarship”. Flagler will have up posters and flyers in classrooms around

TCC with the information about the scholarship and how to enter. They will also be

posting to all social media outlets.

October’16: There will be two days that the “Flagler Lion” will be spotted on campus for

students to get their picture with. Also, this month Flagler will be advertising spring

registration due dates on digital billboards located at high traffic intersections in

Tallahassee.

November ’16: The billboard for spring registration will end this month on November 2nd

which is also the last day to register for spring. At the end of this month Flagler will run

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the “Why Flagler?” commercial. This ad will have student testimonies on why they

choose Flagler. Flagler will also post signs throughout FSU parking garages.

December ’16: The first day of this month Flagler will get the Dean to do a radio

broadcasting to talk about the upcoming year. The FSU banners in the parking garage

will come down at the end of this month.

January ’17: This month Flagler will start 2017 off by building Flagler’s Springtime

Tallahassee float. This will be a project that will be worked on for the next two months.

Flagler will air our newest commercial “Not just a student”. This commercial leads into

the Spring Time Tallahassee Float.

February ’17, March ’17 and April ‘17: Flagler will continue to work on the float and

booth every other weekend. The last day of March is the kickoff of the Spring Time

Tallahassee event. Flagler staff will set up the booth Friday afternoon. Saturday, April 1st

students will be in the parade. Flagler PR staff will post updates throughout all three

month.

May ’17: The Flagler banners will go back up this month in the FSU parking garages.

Flagler will also display new campus signs throughout TCC. Flagler students will draw

huge chalk arrows to each sign in order to bring attention to them.

June’17: Flagler will do radio broadcasting with the Dean for the upcoming Fall

semester. Flagler ads will go back up on the digital billboards around Tallahassee. Flagler

will advertise the upcoming Fall registration deadlines and orientation dates.

July’17: The billboards will come down the day registration closes for Flagler. Flagler PR

department will post updates for orientation.

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August ’17: This month Flagler will participate in the “Student Success Summit”. TCC

puts on this event in order to help students who need class advising. Flagler will have a

booth for students who are in their last semester at TCC that would be interested in

attending Flagler in the spring.

Budget

In order to maximize potential enrollment, spending will be concentrated on

improving awareness leading up to the Fall semester at Flagler. A billboard located at the

intersection of Appleyard Drive and Tennessee Street will boost impressions by over

110,000 per week (Lamar Strategic Communications). The billboard will run during the

month of July for both years of the campaign at a cost of $1,300.00 per month, resulting

in a total cost of $2,600.00. A large amount of Tallahassee Community College students

travel the route past the billboard to go to T.C.C. every day, so the billboard location is

ideal for boosting awareness in college students seeking their degree.

StarMetro bus line presents another viable, as well as affordable, source for

advertising to college students. With prices as low as $40.00 per month and an

installation/removal fee of $12.00, StarMetro offers nearly 100,000 impressions per

month (OnCity Advertising) for interior advertising cards. Advertising Flagler’s degree

programs during the month of July for each year will greatly increase awareness of Fall

enrollment in degree-seeking individuals.

In addition to billboards and bus advertisements, banners advertising Flagler

College are a reusable, affordable resource in promoting the college. One large, four by

eight foot banner costs $47.99 from Vista Print and can be used nearly anywhere. Five

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banners at $239.95 will give Flagler the flexibility to use them to their fullest potential in

multiple areas and with multiple designs.

Television and radio commercials are indispensable when it comes to classic

advertising. Flagler can benefit greatly from both, with 30-second ad-spots running

around $25.00 on radio (Red Hills Broadcasting) and $500.00 television (Comcast

Spotlight). Running these commercials ahead of Fall enrollment will further increase

awareness of the benefits of attending Flagler College.

Social media is at the heart of the target market, so boosting posts pertaining to

upcoming enrollment is critical. By contributing as little as $20.00, a post can viewed by

more than double the original impressions (Facebook). With social media in mind, the

Flagler mascot lion costume will generate buzz among users. A quality lion costume that

is consistent with the Flagler brand is priced at $400.00 and can be used for many years

to come. The free enrollment is $1,000.00, with $500.00 going towards the Springtime

Tallahassee raffle and $500.00 towards the Flagler Lion Mascot contest. $500.00 has

been set aside for renting a trailer and decorating it for Springtime Tallahassee.

Springtime Tallahassee attracts over 200,000 people per year (Springtime Tallahassee

website), so Flagler’s presence will result in a large amount of impressions.

Basic media around T.C.C. campus is highly beneficial to improving knowledge

of Flagler. Purchasing low-cost items as giveaways can be a productive, memorable way

for promoting the brand. Flagler sunglasses are only $6.95 a pair and have a high

retention rate, due to their practicality. Flagler cozies are also a popular, affordable

medium, at only $4.95 a piece. A 60-piece pack of sidewalk chalk is only $5.00 and can

be used as a fun, memorable way to direct students towards Flagler events.

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Lastly, updating the campus signage is important in keeping the conversation

about Flagler going. New sign boards are $250 a piece and panels are only $48 for each

side. Four new signs and eight new panels will give Flagler the edge on showing off the

new programs and benefits to attending Flagler College.

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References

Increasing your Career Success. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2016, from

http://www.flagler.edu/academics/flagler-college-tallahassee/

Springtime Tallahassee. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2016, from

http://www.springtimetallahassee.com/

(n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2016, from http://www.vistaprint.com/

(n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2016, from http://www.legacy.flagler.edu/

Lamar Advertising (Contact: Julia Causseaux – jcausseaux@lamar.com)

OnCity Advertising (Contact: James Scully – jscully@oncityadvertising.com)