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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 – [email protected])
OnCity Advertising (Contact: James Scully – [email protected])
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