Hollis Adams Mud Run Marketing Plan Jamison Turner, Ali Hernandez, Hayley Williams Aubrey Aspen, Logan Jones and Kendall Davies
Table of Contents Executive Summary Situation Analysis Customer Analysis SWOT Analysis Marketing Objectives Market Mix: Target Market A Market Mix: Target Market B Implementation Social Media Plan Evaluation
Executive Summary The Hollis Adams Foundation has provided quality social experiences to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities for more than 45 years. Its vision is to stimulate participants intellectual and social abilities, so they can enjoy life experiences the rest of us take for granted. Cardinal Communications plans to implement a marketing plan and social media plan that provides interactive content to promote Hollis Adams Foundation s yearly fundraiser, the Hollis Adams Mud Run, and motivate charitable donations through first person accounts of involvement and expression of the organization s values. Situation analysis Objectives To provide a fun and challenging run to raise money for the Hollis Adams Foundation. To raise awareness of the work that the Hollis Adams Foundation does for members of the community with learning disabilities. Resources There are other mud runs in the Indianapolis area. Accessing and analyzing how other events market their product can assist Hollis Adams Foundation in establishing and developing an outreach plan. Hollis Adams Foundation is a well-known charitable name that already has a strong following that will bring in participants and can lead to higher recruitment through former participants in the race.
Customer Analysis One persona of potential Mud Run customer is someone who will want to participate and who wants to donate to the cause. These customers may also be more likely to participate in other events throughout the year and be more likely to donate in the future. Exposing them to the atmosphere and message Hollis Adams Foundation portrays during the event will create a stronger bond between the runners and the organization, which can lead to a higher retention rate for runners in future races. The second persona of customers that will run in the mud run are the people more focused on the athletic aspect of this race. These people are primarily focused on the race itself, such as how long it is and the types of obstacles that are going to be included. This type of customer will also have more experience in other runs in the area, such as 5k s and other mud runs. We won t expect this customer to participate in other types of activities throughout the year that do not involve athletics.
SWOT Analysis Strengths: 100 percent of proceeds from the race go to the foundation Meal included for the racers Located in Indianapolis Weaknesses: High enrollment costs ($100 at race) Shorter race with less obstacles than other mud runs in the area People may not want to drive to the race from areas outside of Indianapolis Social Media following and content Opportunities: Feature more blogs and videos to increase visual awareness of the cause Promote Hollis Adams Foundation s success stories to help stand out amongst the competition Increase publicity of the mud run through social media Threats Other mud runs in the area (some very close to our date) Lack of participation Lack of information on cause and event
Marketing Objectives Market Mix: Target Market A (Prospective Market) o Place: Sneak Peeks The Hollis Adams Foundation can post more pictures on its website and/or social media sites that have sneak peeks of the obstacles that will make up the run this year. They can also create a map of the path the participants will be running. Photos and contest to win meal upgrades and merchandise may entice runners to invite their friends to join, too. o Promotion: Website More promotion of the Mud Run on the website s homepage could help draw in visitors to the event. On the homepage, the event should be on upcoming events calendar, with a shortcut to more information about it and where to sign up. The website should link to the Mud Run social media sites, so followers can create a continued connection. o Promotion: Social Media Utilize more interaction on Facebook/Instagram about the Mud Run to reach out to different organizations and different college campuses. Create photo challenges for past participants to showcase their involvement in the Mud Run from previous years. In addition, create challenges between large local groups (police officers, firefighters, sports teams, etc.) to see who can raise the most money for the Foundation. These photo challenges could result in prizes or discounted tickets.
Marketing Objectives Market Mix: Target Market A (Prospective Market) o Promotion: Pricing deals Create ticket deals for multiple tickets bought at once to help double the amount of attendees and give the runners more incentive to invite more people to the race. Partnering with local fitness gyms could reach out to a more athletic audience and provide an easier, more efficient way of registering for the race. o Promotion: Advertising Promote the event in advance in local and surrounding media outlets (newspapers, radio, TV, etc.) and surrounding college campus media outlets (many campus media outlets provide free publicity). Creating flyers to display in local businesses and on college campuses is an easy and cheap way of spreading the message and basic event information. Marketing Mix: Target Market B (Current Target) o Place: Website The Hollis Adams Foundation website currently has information regarding the Mud Run but not a lot of promotional materials. Most of the information is word-based, instead of utilizing pictures and social media promotions, which would get people more excited.
Marketing Objectives Marketing Mix: Target Market B (Current Target) o Product: Meal and shirt The Mud Run now offers participants Nelson s famous chicken, a beer if you are 21, and a post-race shower when you register. Participants also receive a Mud Run T-shirt. o Promotion: Indy Companies The Hollis Adams Foundation focuses mainly on promoting this event to Indianapolis promotion companies. Expanding into other companies outside of the city could draw more people in. o Promotion: Increase Attendance The Hollis Adams Foundation wants to increase attendance at the Mud Run to at least 500 attendees. In order to do this, it could offer discount days for promotion online, which could make more people willing to sign up. o Promotion: Website The website for the mud run seems to focus more on the information about the run, instead of drawing people in with fun photos of the event, as well as reviews. Updating the website to make it more fun could draw people into wanting to participate.
Implementation Social Media Stats: Hollis Adams Mud Run Facebook: 1,500 followers Utilize Facebook more by sharing promotional videos and blogs, as well as offer giveaways and prizes leading up to the event. Hollis Adams Instagram: 3 followers Increase the number of followers by linking posts to the Facebook page to increase accessibility to the account. Still new and underdeveloped. Needs heavy focus on creating unique content. Social media contests: First 100 followers on Twitter receive a discount to sign up for the run. Enter to win incentive by sharing Facebook post and liking the page. Post photo with team members. Most creative team name/theme receives incentive. Guerilla marketing tactics: Muddy footprints on college campuses and in gyms and fitness apparel stores.
Implementation Misc. Ideas: Plan a mini-mud run through nearby college campuses/indianapolis to draw attention to the race. Offer a mud run for children. Coin a term for awards i.e. Hollis Adams Hero (a hero could be anyone who finishes in the top 10 or donates the most money). Possible incentives: Sweat bands Backpacks Water bottles Towels Samples of protein/nutrition drinks Hollis Adams Foundation should observe the following organization s tactics and implementations: Warrior Dash Tough Mudder Spartan Race Dirty Girl Mud Run
Evaluation For the Hollis Adams Foundation Marketing Plan Evaluation, Google Analytics will provide an idea into how well the website is performing in relation to the end goal. We will utilize a bit.ly website through Google Drive for an emphasis on consumer satisfaction surveys. Facebook Insights could be another useful resource to help us evaluate their performance on that specific social media platform.