St.

Louis Public Radio Rebranding Campaign By: Nadine Badra Winter 2013

Background of St. Louis Public Radio

Founded in 1972 271,800 St. Louis area listeners Funded by individual members, corporate sponsors, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and local, regional and national grants

St. Louis Public Radio is part of the University of Missouri-St. Louis 36 full-time and 11 part-time professionals Over 500 volunteers help the station in fundraising and special event activity 100,000 watt signal reaching 2.4 million people in the bi-state area In April 2011, KWMU broke ground on a new, state-of-the-art studio facility at Grand Center. The facility will also house academic space for UMSL. On June 18, 2012; KWMU moved from its longtime home on the first floor of Lucas Hall on the UMSL North campus in Bellerive, to the new facility.

In September 2010, St. Louis Public Radio became the radio outlet for live broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcasting its Saturday night concerts from Powell Symphony Hall.

On September 10, 2009, the station rebranded as St. Louis Public Radio and its website to STLpublicradio.org.

SWOT: Strengths Stays out of trouble The company is strong in its market. Keeps up with all current events happening in St Louis.

Weaknesses Doesnt reach out to young audiences Isnt advertised well enough. Could use new branding.

Opportunities Get involved with iHeart radio. Go to campuses and help them improve their radio stations Create a radio app for smart devices

Threats Competitors are advertising more frequently to younger audiences Facing obstacles of re branding and loosing the interest of some current listeners

Situational Analysis: The company chosen for this communications plan is St. Louis Public radio. The main problems facing this company are ones that can be improved with some determination and hard work. This company faces and ever changing modern area of technology that even the technology gurus have a hard time keeping up with. The demand for the newest products in the most convenient ways can be hard to keep up with but it can be done. St. Louis Public Radio needs to reach not only its current audience in a more forward and convenient way but it needs to make sure the young audience that will be the generation of tomorrow is aware of the company and can rely on it in everyday life. With the opportunity for St. Louis Public radio to dive into the social media scene such its mother station NPR the people of the St. Louis area can get all the satisfactions of listening to NPR with the comforts of home. The main factor that needs to be improved on at St. Louis public radio is reaching the young audience in a way that they can connect in order for the company to be a reliable source for this generation and so that in the future they will recommend it to the next generation and the generation after that. Making sure the company stays in touch with the changes of technology is essential in the success of the company not just now but for the future of the company.

Key Publics: External: People looking for a convenient and reliable news source in the St. Louis area that provides local and national news coverage on the radio. o Parents o Teachers o Government Leaders o Researchers Millennials in college life looking for a professional news and discussion source. o Students at community college Adults going back to school.

o Students at 4-year Universities Faculty of 4-year Universities

People looking to know more about current happenings in St Louis. o Future residents of St. Louis o Researchers

Internal: Employees of St. Louis Public Radio o Hosts of the various shows o Producers of shows and segments o PR Department o Marketing Department o Advertising Department

Goal: The goal for St. Louis Public Radio is for the millennial generation to be aware of its importance and the benefit of the St. Louis Public Radio station in their everyday life.

Objectives: Increase the amount of millennial listeners by 15% in the next 5 years. Increase the amount of public advertising in the local St. Louis city and county 15% by the end of the year. Increase awareness on college campuses with students and facility by 15% in two years.

Tactics: Focus Group o Hire a company to conduct focus groups to know how to reach the youth of the generation through radio Honorarium o Hire a guest speaker to speak at fundraising events Email Blast o Create email blasts to all of the affiliates of St. Louis Public Radio Internally and Externally. Fundraising Events o Two fundraisers a year A summer fundraiser At the zoo for wealthier donators and sponsors

A winter fundraiser At the art museum for wealthier donators and sponsors

Billboards o Put up billboards near college campuses o Have the billboards be colorful and catch young peoples attention. o Use Twitter handles on billboards

iHeart Radio o Collaborate with iHeart radio to start streaming on their app. o Advertise with iHeart radio through different tactics such as:

A release party for the first time St. Louis Public Radio streams on iHeart Radio

Internet ads and search engine optimization TV commercials and radio spots Use paper hand out when visiting University campuses

Radio Commercial Advertising St. Louis Public Radio o Gear ads towards young people by mentioning social media

TV commercial Advertising for St. Louis Public Radio o Gear ads towards young people by mentioning things such as pop culture news and music.

Add new radio segments on the station o Hire new staff for new segments o Create music segment with current music o Create segments and or shows based on research done about what the young audience wants to hear.

Get the word out in person o Go to university campuses Meet one on one with students Host a lunch with students Put up flyers Give students material about the rebranding such as pens, book bags, folders, phone cases.

o Go to coffee shops: Give public material about the rebranding such as pens, book bags, folders, phone cases, broachers o Go to local malls: Give students material about the rebranding such as pens, book bags, folders, phone cases, broachers

Budget: Printing Air Time (Radio) Air Time (TV) Printing of Merchandise (pens, bookbags, bracletes) Email Blasts Fund Raising Events Twitter/Facebook Management Honorarium Photography Graphics Licensing Rights Focus Groups Website Billboard Total $5,000 $3,000 $3,000 $5,000 $0 $10,000 $0 $500 $3000 $1000 $3000 $3,000 $3,000 $8,000 $47,500

Gantt Chart:

Jan. Feb. 2014 2014 Newsletter ____

March 2014

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Nov. 2014

Dec. 2014

Flyer Posted PSA

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Billboard

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Campus Visits Radio Spots on 90.7 iHeart Radio Spots

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Evaluation Tactics: Focus Group: The focus group turned out not to be as helpful as we thought it would be and told us things we already knew. Honorarium o Hire a guest speaker to speak at fundraising events: Having a Guest speaker at the fundraising functions ended up bringing people in and giving us more opportunities to reach people so it was a success. Email Blast o Create email blasts to all of the affiliates of St. Louis Public Radio Internally and Externally. The email blasts ended up being about as successful as email blasts can be. People see the, but dont really open them as much. People did notice them though due to the clever email title that got peoples attention. Fundraising Events o Two fundraisers a year A summer fundraiser At the zoo for wealthier donators and sponsors people really enjoyed having the zoo event and it really attracted people. Due to the guest speaker there was more attendance and the zoo as the event venue really helped. A winter fundraiser

At the art museum for wealthier donators and sponsors This event wasnt as successful as the zoo event but it helped with a lot of the revenue of the company.

Billboards o Put up billboards near college campuses Students noticed the big bright red billboards and used the company noticed the hashtag #STLPR was used more often on social media sites. o Have the billboards be colorful and catch young peoples attention. o Use Twitter handles on billboards

iHeart Radio o Collaborate with iHeart radio to start streaming on their app. iHeart Radio really helped the recognition among young people.

Radio Commercial Advertising St. Louis Public Radio o Gear ads towards young people by mentioning social media The audio used in the PSA was the audio bit used to air on the station and it wasnt as successful has the audio was with the short video on TV and on the website.

TV commercial Advertising for St. Louis Public Radio o Gear ads towards young people by mentioning things such as pop culture news and music. The short 15 second PSA was highly successful due to the fact that the images were creative and modern and the PSA was short and to the point and were shown as TV commercials and Ads on the website.

Add new radio segments on the station The new segments didnt seem as helpful as projected. New segments just added clutter to the other programs of the day.

Get the word out in person o Go to university campuses the campus visits were very successful and deemed helpful in gaining interns and future employees. The visits were during times such as campus job fairs and career week. Meet one on one with students Host a lunch with students Put up flyers Give students material about the rebranding such as pens, book bags, folders, phone cases.