Celebrating COM’s 100-Year Legacy Media Relations Plan Celebrating COM’s 100-Year Legacy Nicole Briguet, Allison Cohen, Lauren Covey, Natalia Driessen

Situation Analysis Starting in February 2014, Boston University’s College of Communication will celebrate the first advertising and journalism classes taught in 1914 COM is planning two special anniversary issues of COMtalk, the alumni magazine, to celebrate. Objectives: To communicate as widely as possible that BU/COM has consistently led the field in the areas of all three departments/fields covered by our curriculum Our curriculum is focused at staying progressively at the forefront of the industry

Situation Analysis Strengths - Local interest - Success stories/alumni relations - Strong study abroad internship programs Weaknesses - Mostly relevant to only the BU community Opportunities - Potential students and grad students - Trade publications and professional organizations - News value: predictability Threats - Other universities: Syracuse, Northwestern, UCLA, NYU

Recommended Research COM’s Legacy/Firsts Conduct a third party survey of undergraduate advertising & journalism students Notable Alumni SMG 100 Analysis of the competition COM’s Legacy/Firsts- Research what makes COM the first, best, and only The survey would be used to better understand the perspective students attitudes and pre-existing knowledge of COM Notable Alumni SMG 100 Years- research how SMG handled their 100 anniversary: what events they put together Analysis on the competition How other universities with strong advertising and journalism programs handle their program’s anniversaries i.e Syracuse, NYU, Northwestern, etc.

Goals Increase COM graduate program applications Increase number of “hits” on the COM 100 landing page Increase media coverage of COM Positively influence the College of Communications national ranking among communications schools

Audience COM alumni Future and current students BU faculty and staff Industry professionals and influencers US News and World Report to influence rankings COM Alumni- Alumni newsletter Future students- College rankings, Post on popular blog i.e. BuzzFeed, social media campaign Current BU students, faculty, and staff- local BU related media- BU Today, Daily Free Press, BUTV, WTBU, social media (@comugrad, @butweets, etc.) Industry professionals and influencers- Trade publications and professional organizations US News and World Report- Forbes, Princeton Review, etc.

Strategy Focused effort at key moments in time over the course of 10 months to amplify the COM 100 image Commitment to excellence in education Promotes hands on learning experiences Professors with strong professional backgrounds in prospective fields Key Moments to focus on: 1. February 2014 - Kick off campaign 2. May 2014 - Graduation 3. Summer 2014 - Orientations 4. October 2014- Alumni Weekend Hands on learning experiences - AdLab, AdClub, BUTV, Daily Free Press, WTBU, Abroad/Local Internships

Tactic: Sponsored Content Pitch: How BU’s College of Communication is Secretly Running the World Original post on Buzzfeed National coverage Sponsored Content - BuzzFeed article, sponsored content For Editorial & General Inquiries: Ashley McCollum: VP Business Development and Communications Email: Ashley.mccollum@buzzfeed.com Catherine Bartosevich: Press Director Email: Catherine.bartosevich@buzzfeed.com Contact them for posting information. The cost comes with the advertisements. Will garner national coverage through internet post Appeals to both prospective students and current students BuzzFeed consistently delivers successful social distribution for branded content. On average, for every 100,000 views generated through paid media to advertiser content, an extra 30,000 views (earned media) were generated from sharing activity Story idea: List of notable alumni, name, picture, description about what that alumni is doing Title: How BU’s College of Communication is secretly running the world

Tactic: Trade Publications Pitch: Notable alumnus present “revolutionary” industry research on campus Boston Magazine Steve Annear Advertising Age Tim Peterson Specific Trade Publications Journalism Trade Publications Boston Magazine Reporter: Steve Annear (Covers stories similar to COM’s 100) Twitter: @steveannear Email: sannear@bostonmagazine.com Advertising Trade Publications Advertising Age Tim Peterson: Ad-Technology/Digital Media Reporter adagecontributors@adage.com Notable alumni presenting their research in the industry on campus Can pitch this to Trade Publications because it is research based. The idea is that the alumni has just completed research that is “revolutionary” or about a current industry trend

Tactic: Study Abroad Programs Pitch: COM is redefining “abroad” with its programs in LA and DC The role of abroad programs today Internship based LA Times Higher Education Reporter Carla Rivera Internship based Allows COM students to get a foot in the door and offers valuable networking opportunities Gives COM students opportunity to intern in a location where they are likely to get a full time job LA Times Reporters: Focusing on higher education: Carla Rivera (Cal State, community colleges/higher education) carla.rivera@latimes.com Jason Song (higher education) jason.song@latimes.com Teresa Watanabe teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Washington Post Reporters: Valarie Strauss: Education Reporter in the D.C. local area valerie.Strauss@washpost.com Lyndsey Layton: Education Reporter in the D.C. local area lyndsey.layton@washpost.com Can talk to BU student in LA/DC with awesome internship at a nationally recognized company

Tactic: NYT article Pitch: Boston University students win National Student Advertising Competition Responsible for National Ad campaign Reporter for NYT Advertising Column Stuart Elliott, stuart.elliott@nytimes.com This particular story is attractive to this reporter because it has national reach. Boston University students are responsible for a national ad campaign.

Tactic: Local Boston Print Media Pitch: How COM students positively affect Boston’s ad/journalism industries/economies Boston Globe Mary Carmichel Pitch story to Boston Globe reporter How students, particularly BU students, effect Boston’s industry/economy Huge student city How many BU graduates stay in Boston post grad Boston Globe Reporter: Mary Carmichel Reporter for the Metro section: covers higher education around Boston Twitter: @mary_carmichel Email: mary.carmichael@globe.com Phone: 617-929-3335 Social Media Campaign - the rest of the tactics can be used as content for the social media

Timeline February 2014 - Campaign launch New York Times Article on National Ad Campaign designed by BU AD Club Release of the first special edition of COMtalk May 2014 - Graduation Local Boston Print Media Pitch Summer 2014 - Orientations (incoming class of 2014) Study Abroad Programs Pitches October 2014- Alumni Weekend Research presentation from notable alumni Campaign to end December 31, 2014 Focus campaign coverage around these events

Budget $20,000 Sponsored BuzzFeed article, x % News Release - 275 dollars Alumnus Presentation Venue Cost Video Equipment Travel Cost of Alumnus Documentary Series Travel Costs Equipment Costs Production Costs News Release - National distribution through Business Wire begins as low as $275 for a 400 word news release Research the specific costs for the different kinds of posts on Buzzfeed, i.e. “Partnered Post” and “Sponsored Post” Alumnus Costs Venue: We will use an on-campus venue i.e. Morse Auditorium or Tsai Performance Center in an effort to keep venue cost down Video Equipment: Cost of video/recording equipment (can keep cost down by renting equipment through COM) Travel Cost: the cost of getting the speaker to and from Boston and lodging Documentary Series Travel Cost: The cost of getting the crew/equipment to each city Equipment cost: Cost of video/recording equipment (can keep cost down by renting equipment through COM) Production costs: the cost of creating the video series will be almost nothing because we will be using actual COM film/TV students. They will be proving their services in exchange for a 1 credit internship

Evaluation We will know we’re successful if we… Increase applications from top-tier colleges for COM graduate programs by X % Get X number of hits on COM 100 landing page (to be launched Feb. 2014) Increase media coverage of COM by X % Exact percentages will be calculated later on by COM staff.