PR Campaign for The Fortress

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Research/SWOT

Strengths

• One of the greatest strengths of The Fortress is that it is locally based. It seeks to cultivate

community relations, broadcast local programming and air news events that focus on

community happenings.

• The Fortress is a non-commercial station. This permits the music department to expand

the repertoire of songs and allows for more time for music/entertainment.

• The Fortress is an excellent example of a public relations model. The station focuses on

the public relations ideal of building mutually beneficial relationships (see partnerships,

page 2-3).

• There is 24/7 streaming opportunity available anywhere at wiwi.fm.

• Someone is live on the air from 10 a.m. - 12 a.m. every day.

Weaknesses

• There is a lack of maintaining relationships with local businesses due to high turnover

rate of the executive staff.

• Technological difficulties exist due to multiple operators.

• Internal communication and information is prominently conveyed by word of mouth;

there is a lack of concrete information or written documents.

• The staff does not equate with the demographic (the staff’s characteristics do not match

the target demographic which is women ages 25-54).

• There is a lack of internal information regarding demographics, number of listeners, etc.

o No previous internal research base

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• This is an educational radio facility, first and foremost, rather than a professional radio

station.

o The staff are college students learning the craft, not professionals

o Com lab student inexperience (with board operation as well as on-air talent)

Opportunities

• The Fortress can partner with even more Grant County businesses through opportunities

like underwriting and remote broadcast sessions.

• Fortress Featured Events - community update program which encourages businesses to

submit events they have going on at their establishment (e.g. VBS, fundraiser dinners)

• Texting line - listeners can text the station for song requests, shoutouts, contest entries,

etc.

• Adverse event log formation - documents problematic issues that occur at the station

(what went wrong, how was it fixed, who was contacted)

• Insert survey link to Facebook page and/or webpage (listener feedback and create

demographic survey)

Threats

• Internet radio (Pandora, Spotify, etc.) and satellite radio are threats to FM radio since

they can be streamed anywhere and individualized to the person’s tastes

• Possibility of Dr. Perry leaving in the near future. Dr. Perry accepting another position

and leaving the University.

• KLove out of Ft. Wayne. These overlap in the sense that they are the same music genre

whereas The Fortress is local.

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Objectives

1. To increase number of business partnerships by 25 percent

a. Strategy: Contacting business owners and sustaining an ongoing, two-way

relationship

b. Tactics:

i. Facebook/Twitter (“liking” their business on social media)

ii. Calling

iii. Face-to-face interaction

iv. Email (sending press releases)

2. To develop and sustain internal communication efforts

. Strategy: Creating documentation and updating it regularly

a. Tactics:

. Start recording incidents (documenting technological errors, etc.)

i. Create a digital rolodex (with community partnerships and IWU partnerships)

3. To adequately train staff and increase their skillsets (including com lab students and

executive staff)

. Strategy: Increase training time at beginning of the year for executive staff and have more

observations for com lab students

a. Tactics:

. Allocate two days for technical and specific position training for executive staff with one

on one time with Dr. Perry

i. Assign each of the oncoming/new staff a mentor

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Internal Secondary Research:

What information exists within the organization?

Handbook, format information, policies

Partnerships -

• Grand Cupcakery

• Top Dog Carwash

• 5 Points Mall

• IWU

• Cub Scouts Troop

• Walkway of Lights

• Tree of Life

• Grant County Rescue Mission

• The Potter’s House

• ADD Answers

• God’s House - Center for Success

• Tree of Life Church

• Angela Herrington

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External Secondary Research:

• Competitor: WBCL (90.3)- Wide coverage based in Fort Wayne

o Schedules to air live events

• Competitor: KLove

• Competitor: Satellite Radio

o Typically ad-free

o You can listen to whatever you want

o STRENGTH: you don’t have to subscribe to The Fortress like you do with

satellite radio

o Satellite radio can be accessed anywhere around the continent -- we’re only Grant

County

• FM radio has advertisers who pay to have advertisements on the air, which allows them

to stay on the air.

• Huge competitor for the FM radio industry is also Pandora, Spotify or other internet

radios

o Radio is not “dying” necessarily; it’s just changing its format to adapt with the

times and what the people want… Therefore, The Fortress is somewhat “old-

fashioned.” What efforts are we putting forth to engage with younger people?

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Organizational chart -

** Com Lab students are underneath the directors but are not a part of the executive staff. They

are all students.

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Crisis Communication Project - 94.3 The Fortress

A potential crisis The Fortress staff could experience would be a major fire destroying all

of the key equipment needed to perform a radio broadcast. The fire, which would have to

consume much of the first floor of Elder Hall, would not only destroy the equipment but also

incinerate any documents or files from previous years. The fire would most likely cause dead air

on the station until essential communications were repaired. This would require the staff to move

elsewhere until Elder Hall was inhabitable again. If and when the staff relocated, the General

Manager and Dr. Mark Perry would have to coordinate new schedules and standby until

equipment and procedures were restored.

Most crises are completely unexpected, especially in the case of a fire. Preparing for a

fire is rather difficult, but there are certain steps the staff can take to prevent starting an electrical

fire from the radio’s equipment. First and foremost, staff should be aware of all fire hazards and

taught how to avoid them at all costs. This could be accomplished with a presentation at the

beginning of every year where Dr. Mark Perry and the General Manager of The Fortress address

the new staff and Com Lab students about safety precautions. These precautions could include

monitoring for any damaged cables or wiring and notifying someone immediately if there is a

concern. The General Manager should also enforce the “no food or drinks” policy in the on-air

studio. Spilling liquids on any sort of electrical equipment could lead to serious consequences.

Another step would be to train Com Lab students and new staff members on every piece of

equipment they will be using in order to minimize improper usage or accidents.

Because we are renting the space from IWU, the fire code of the rest of the building is

out of our control. Elder Hall should already be following state fire codes in regards to having

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smoke detectors and a designated number of fire extinguishers, but it would be beneficial to

place additional fire extinguishers in fundamental areas of the communication department. For

example, a fire extinguisher should be placed in the on-air studio, which we know someone will

always be occupying between 10 a.m. and midnight. During the safety meeting at the beginning

of the year, the General Manager should inform the students of each of the new extinguisher

locations. Everyone would be made aware of the rules put in place by the fire Marshall as well.

Fortunately, the Fortress already has an organizational chart that can be used in the event

of such emergencies. The General Manager would be the first WIWU staff member contacted

(following the school calling Dr. Fiebig, who calls Dr. Perry), and the rest of the phone tree

would be used to inform the rest of the staff. The remaining individuals of influence would know

within a few hours of the incident. The campus would be notified via emailed announcements,

and other publics would observe the station’s Facebook page.

As quickly as possible, we would want the station to broadcast music from the satellite

feed that is used when no one is live in the on-air studio. This would still take time, but it would

be cost effective and better than having dead air. We’d also need to replace the station’s

equipment in a timely manner. This is extremely expensive, and it is very unlikely that we would

receive full reimbursement from IWU for the lost and damaged items. The station should have

all of the equipment insured, and that could potentially cut the costs. Unfortunately, the

equipment we currently have is outdated and not worth as much as most modern equipment, so

there is still a discrepancy we would have to make up. To help, we could have a Save the

Fortress™ fundraising event, calling on former staff members, the community, families, IWU

donors, etc. to donate money that would help in purchasing up-to-date equipment for the new

radio station. We could also ask some local radio stations if they have any equipment they are

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looking to get rid of. There is also an opportunity to capitalize on whatever press coverage we

would get and ask the writers to include the fundraising event information in their articles. They

would show people they care about the community, and we would get free publicity. The price of

the total replacement of equipment would be entirely dependent on where we found the

equipment, and how much it cost. Unfortunately, there is no standard, and when trying to go as

cheap as possible with large equipment, searching in catalogs is not really an option.

As for the station itself, the best place to move it would be to Center Hall. The Computer

Science program used some space there for years before moving to Ott, and the art students do

not occupy the entire building. The location is obviously less than ideal, but it’s readily available

space that would not be a burden to relocate to. The antenna might pose a technical issue, and we

would have to work around that. (Center Hall is very flat. We’re not sure how much extra

infrastructure has to exist for it to broadcast.) But that could be fixed by finding a suitable

location and setting up a Virtual Private Network between the computer controlling the antenna

and the computer in the On-Air Studio. This would allow the antenna’s computer to be

controlled as though it were in the same physical space.

Upon having new equipment, we would have to move it into whatever space we would be

occupying, which would be a lengthy and intensive process. We could see if there were any

talented carpenters of the community willing to help us design the new On-Air Studio. A portion

of the fundraising money would go to hiring a professional carpenter. Dr. Perry and members of

the WIWU staff/IT department would help us get all the pieces of the station in broadcasting

order, and hopefully we would get the station in working order as soon as possible.

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Plan

Situation

The Fortress needs improved and more effective communication efforts, both with Grant County

community members and within the staff.

Objectives

1. To increase number of business partnerships by at least 25 percent

a. Strategy: Contacting business owners and sustaining an ongoing, two-way

relationship

b. Tactics:

i. Facebook/Twitter (“liking” their business on social media)

ii. Calling

iii. Face-to-face interaction

iv. Email (sending press releases)

2. To develop and sustain internal communication efforts

a. Strategy: Creating documentation and updating it regularly

b. Tactics:

i. Start recording incidents (documenting technological errors, etc.)

ii. Create a digital rolodex (with community partnerships and IWU

partnerships)

3. To adequately train staff and increase their skillsets (including com lab students and

executive staff)

a. Strategy: Increase training time at beginning of the year for executive staff and

have more observations for com lab students

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b. Tactics:

i. Allocate two days for technical and specific position training for executive

staff with one on one time with Dr. Perry

ii. Assign each of the oncoming/new staff a mentor

Audience

Grant County business owners and Fortress staff

Calendar/Timetable

Some of the strategies can be implemented once materials are produced. The revamped training

efforts will begin at the beginning of the 2015 academic year. We plan to have contacted at least

four Grant County businesses by April 20. We’ll also schedule a time with Dr. Perry in the

coming weeks to discuss training efforts.

Budget

This plan is cost-effective and should not require a budget. If a budget is necessary, it will be of

minimal cost to the station.

Evaluation

We will evaluate the effectiveness of our plan by counting the number of partnerships we have at

the end of the semester as opposed to the beginning. In order to evaluate training efforts, The

Fortress should document the number of recorded incidents in the next several months. If the

training efforts were effective, there will be a lesser amount of incidents.

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Fundraising Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mark Perry

March 16, 2015 Phone: 765-677-1838

Email: [email protected]

MARION, Ind. -- Due to a fire that destroyed Indiana Wesleyan University’s Elder Hall on

March 15, 94.3 The Fortress has lost all of its equipment and offices. The radio station will be

decommissioned until the equipment necessary for broadcast is replaced.

“We lost all of our facilities,” Dr. Mark Perry, professor of broadcast media at IWU said. “We

would love for you to partner with us to rebuild The Fortress.”

In response to fire, the staff of 94.3 The Fortress will host a charity concert March 21 at Abbey

Coffee Co. from 5 to 8 p.m. The concert will feature student musicians from Indiana Wesleyan

and Taylor universities.

Ten percent of every drink order at the event will go directly to the replacement of WIWU

equipment. There will also be an area for charitable donations.

###

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Email Template for Connecting with Business Owners

Dear [business owner],

Hello, my name is [name] and I am the [position] at 94.3 FM The Fortress – a radio

stations serving Grant County. We strive to serve the community by connecting our audience

with positive music, presence at community events, connections with churches and other means.

We also believe in creating relations with several Grant County businesses, and we’d like you to

be a part of that.

By connecting with you, we hope to learn more about your business and the word you do.

We also hope to start featuring you on our weekly community update program, Fortress Featured

Events. FEE is a chance for businesses to share about any of their upcoming events, fundraisers

or outreach programs on the air.

If you’d like more information on FEE or creating a relationship with us, please email me

back. We’d love to connect with you. You can also call us a t 765-677-1838.

Thank you,

[Name]

PR Campaign for The Fortress

Documents

Transcript of PR Campaign for The Fortress