Media Mavericks

Robin Perkins, Thea Robinson, Michelle Samson, Katie Hartman, Malcolm Jackson, Tyreik Talley,

Brice Walker, Devin Jones, and Tony Ports

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Table of Contents Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Meet The Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Situation Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Secondary Research Graphs and Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Competition Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Clubs and Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Notable Alumni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Target Segmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Primary Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Survey Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Survey Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Focus Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Focus Group Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Football Stadium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Premiums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Radio Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creative Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

S.W.O.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Goals & Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Meet The Team

Robin PerkinsPresident Robin is a sophomore at Radford University originally from Staf-ford Virginia. She is majoring in Communications with a concen-tration in Public Relations and a minor in marketing in hopes of getting into international travel and amazing journeys.

Thea RobinsonSecretaryThea is a freshman at Radford University from Falls Church, Virginia. She is majoring in Media studies with a concentration in advertising and a minor in public relations in hopes of working for a professional sports team and becoming head of their Public Relations department.

Michelle SamsonCreative DirectorMichelle is a Senior at Radford University from Centreville, Va. She is majoring in Communication with a concentration in Public Rela-tions. She is passoniate about how and why people communicate the way they do. She hopes to get a job in International PR.

Malcolm JacksonResearch ExecutiveMalcolm is a junior in Radford University’s College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences. He is studying Public Relations with a minor in Marketing and currently holds a 3.2 GPA.

Katie HartmanMarket Analyst

Katie is a first semester senior at Radford University majoring in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations and minoring in Marketing.

Meet The Team5

Tyreik TalleyMarket Research Analyst

Tyreik is a junior at Radford University and is a Market-ing major. His goal for the future is to move to Charlotte and pursue a career in Marketing or Sales.

Brice WalkerMarket Development SpecialistBrice is a sophomore at Radford University majoring in Public Relations. She would like to use her Public Relations degree in the sports world after graduating college.

Devin JonesConsumer Behavior SpecialistDevin is a first semester freshman major-ing in Media Studies with a concentration in Advertising. He hopes to go into the advertising agency directly after college and into a large firm.

Tony PortsArt DirectorTony is a senior studying Communi-cations at Radford University. He is an avid member and post executive council member of Theta Lambda chapter of Sigma Pi University inter-national.

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Situation Analysis

Secondary Research Graphs & Charts9

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Secondary Research Graphs & Charts

Radford University Key Event Timeline

1910The

Virginia Gen-eral Assembly

founded Radford University.

1911 Dr. John Preston McConnell was appointed the

first president of Radford Univer-

sity.

1915 The first residence

hall, Tyler Hall, opened.

1924Radford Univer-

sity is named State Teachers

College.

1934Merged into Virginia Tech and renamed Women's Division

of the Virginia Poly-technic Institute.

1938Dr. Donald Peters took

office as president.

1964Radford is re-

named Radford College and start-ed giving gradu-

ate degrees.

1970’sRadford adopts the

“Highlanders” for ath-letic teams.

1972Radford College

becomes co-ed and Dr. Donald Dedmon assumes the role of

president.

1979Radford College is

renamed to Radford University.

1984Radford become s a

member of the NCAA Division 1.

1994Dr. Charles Owens was named acting president of the

University.

1995Dr. Douglas Cov-

ington was named the fifth president

of Radford and first African Amer-

ican president in the common-

wealth of Virginia.

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2005Penelope W.

Kyle became the University’s sixth

president.

2008The Covington

Center for Visual and Preforming Arts Opened.

2011Radford University

gave its first doctoral degrees.

2012COBE building

opened.

2014Fitness and

Wellness Center opens.

2015New center for the

sciences opens.

2016CHBS building

opens.

2020Radford Univer-

sity’s football sta-dium is revealed.

Competition

Campus type: Large town, rural setting Sports: Division 1 AA- Big SouthEnrollment: Undergraduate: 8,885 Total: 9,798Acceptance Rate: 78%

Radford University

Campus type: RuralSports: Division 1 AA- Big SouthEnrollment: Undergraduate: 4,080 Total: 4,800Acceptance Rate: 81%

Longwood University

Campus type: UrbanSports: Division 1 NCAA-The AmericanEnrollment: Undergraduate: 21,589 Total: 27,386Acceptance Rate: 73%

East Carolina University

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Campus type: Small City Sports: Division 1-CAAEnrollment: Undergraduate: 18,431 Total: 20,181Acceptance Rate: 61%

James Madison University

Campus type: Small CitySports: Division 3-Old DominionEnrollment: Undergraduate: 2,150 Total: 4,000

Shenandoah University

Clubs & Organizations

Greek Life

Scholar Citizens

R-SPaCE

The Radford University Greek community is comprised of over 20 general fraternities and sororities. The organizations fall under the governance of three different coordinating councils - Interfraternity Council (IFC), Nation-al Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and the Panhellenic Council (PC).

The Scholar-Citizen Initiative supports Radford University’s institutional mission of fostering the development of “mature, responsible citizens” by preparing students to put their intellectual skills to work for the public good. Through integration of classroom and co-curricular learning op-portunities, Scholar-Citizen Intensive, or “SCI”, experiences attend to the whole student, helping them develop records of achievement in the areas of public service, leadership, and applied research.

R-SPaCE, or Radford Student Programming and Campus Events, is here to take this campus and make it R-SPaCE with fun and entertaining events, mixed with a little education from time to time. Our purpose at Radford University is to work with other organizations on campus to pro-vide our students with entertaining events.

Lead ScholarFreshman and sophomores who wish to enhance their leadership skills as they prepare to accept leadership positions at the University and in their communities should strongly consider becoming part of the LEAD Scholar Program. To become a LEAD Scholar, students must complete a compre-hensive leadership program consisting of three components: experience, academics and development. The program is highly individualized and flexible to suit most students’ leadership interests and courses of study.

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PRSSARU PRSSA offers students many opportunities to get invoved and explore their interests. This is done through fundraising, event plan-ning, newsletters, and much more. Members can gain real life ex-perience by joining our student-run firm, which offers free Public Relations services to local clients. All of these experiences help our members develop into qualified, well prepared professionals.

PRSSARU PRSSA offers students many opportunities to get in-voved and explore their interests. This is done through fundraising, event planning, newsletters, and much more. Members can gain real life experience by joining our student-run firm, which offers free Public Relations services to local clients. All of these experiences help our members develop into qualified, well prepared professionals.

The TartanRadford’s weekly student-run newspaper, The Tartan, features news and information about Radford University and the surrounding area and is distributed both on campus and around town. Founded in 1921 as The Grapurchat, The Tar-tan is Radford’s oldest student publication. New contributors are always welcome.

Notable Alumni

June AtkinsonSuperintendent of Virginia Schools

Scott LongHuman Rights Activist

Frank BeamerHead coach Virginia Tech Football

Randal J. KirkCEO of Intrexon

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Jayma MaysActress “Glee”

Dante WashingtonRetired professional soccer player

Steve RobinsonAssistant basketball coach at UNC

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Target Segmentation

Demographics of Targets

Primary TargetHigh School Juniors/Seniors and Transfer Students

Age: 16-20

Ethnicity: All ethnicities Gender: Male and Female Education: High school juniors and seniors and people who have completed at the most two years of education at another university or community college. Income: Market the fact that Radford is least expensive of all public institutions in the state besides Virginia State University.

Secondary TargetParents

Age: 40-55

Ethnicity: All ethnicities Gender: Male and Female Education: High school graduates and college graduates alike. Income: Market the fact that Radford is least expensive of all public institutions in the state that are not HBCU.

Research shows that average age of parents with 17 year olds is 45.

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Tertiary TargetAlumni

Age: 22-25 & 40-50

Ethnicity: 78.3% Caucasian, 9.7% African American, 4.6% Hispanic

Gender: 55.8% Female, 44.2% Male

Education: Bachelors degree – primary degree received at Radford University

Income: Starting salary of new college graduate (≈ $44,000) and 40-50 year olds (≈ $70,000)

22-25Targets new college graduates that are eager to give back to the school where they just received their degree.

40-50Targets professionals with more disposable income than a new college graduate. This target is more likely to donate money to a good cause.

The campaign should primarily market to female Alumni seeing how the university was at one point an all female college.

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Psychographics of Target

Primary TargetHigh School Juniors/Seniors and Transfer Students

Looking for a social school that offers a medium size student body that is very involved throughout campus with activities and clubs.

Looking for a university where you can graduate with little debt and still receive a quality education.

Looking for a school that offers a wide array of degree options.

Secondary TargetParents

Looking for a safer environment for their children to learn in.

Looking for a modern campus with newer buildings and resources.

Looking for a university where their children can gradu-ate with little debt and still receive a quality education.

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Tertiary TargetAlumni

Looking to bolster the reputation of the school to enhance the validity of the current student and alumni’s degrees.

Looking to give back to their place of education.

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Geographics of Targets

Primary Target:

Northern Virginia (NOVA)

Secondary Target:

Southwest Virginia

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Tertiary Target:

Hampton Roads/Tidewater Region

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Primary Research

Survey Questions

1. We accept 78% of applicants, does this make you think less of Radford?

2. How do you see Radford Universities image? • Rising Academically • The greatest school on earth • Party school • Worst school ever

3. On a scale from one to five, (1 being the worst 5 being the best) how well do Radford students show their school spirit/pride?

4. Should we promote our D1 sports teams more?

5. Should we have a different mascot?

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6. Should we revamp the website?

7. Would you be more inclined to wear the logo it if was changed?

Survey Questions33

Survey Questions35

Survey AnalysisOur Media Mavericks’ survey had a total of 101 responses varying from freshman to senior grade levels.

1. We accept 78% of applicants, does this make you think less of Radford? • 59% of students agreed that because our acceptance rate was so high it made them think less of Radford, while only 41% believed it didn’t. i. This is important because it shows how students feel about their own school, the fact so many students believe the acceptance rate is too high proves something needs to be done.

2. How do you see Radford Universities image? • 57% Rising Academically • 9% The greatest school on earth • 33% Party school • 1% Worst school ever i. This shows that although majority of students believe Radford’s rising academically, there’s still a large portion of current students who view it as a party school. ii. This is a potential problem when visualizing how many NON Rad ford students still view Radford as a party school.

3 On a scale from one to five, (1 being the worst 5 being the best) how well do Radford students show their school spirit/pride? • 11% said 1 • 31% said 2 • 34% said 3 • 18% said 4 • 7% said 5 i. The top two percent’s are between the ranges of 2-3 for school spirit. ii. This is important because it shows Radford students believe school spirit is lacking, which is a large problem for potential incoming students interested in our school.

4. Should we promote our D1 sports teams more? • 99% Of Radford University students said yes while only 2% said No. i. This proves to be one of the biggest problems for our school, the lack of support for our sports teams. ii. This information gives Media Mavericks proof that Radford needs to re-brand and re-vamp our sports teams. iii. When talking to some individuals, they commented that having Radford University Football team would increase school spirit as well as awareness for our school.

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5. Should we have a different mascot? • 44% said yes having a different mascot would be better for our school, while 57% said no.

i. This is important because Media Mavericks had made a prediction that Radford students were unhappy with the highlander mascot, when in actuality, majority actually believed it’s what made the school unique.

6. Should we revamp the website? • 52% of students said yes and 49% said no. i. This was a close pull as its evident revamping the website could go either way. ii. Media Mavericks decided based on this information its best to focus on other important issues were it was clear Radford needed rebranding.

7. Would you be more inclined to wear the logo it if was changed? • 48% of students said yes while 53% said no. i. This information is important because again, Media Mavericks made a prediction that stu dents would be more inclined to change the logo, when in actuality more students wanted to keep it. ii. Based off this information we decided as a group to keep the option of changing the logo open, because the results were so close giving students the chance to decide would be beneficial.

Focus Group

IntroductionFocus group was conducted by: • Media Mavericks Focus Group Leader: • Tyreik Talley Focus Group took place: • On November 9, 2014 Location: • Bonnie, Room 248

Focus Group Participants: • Alex Austin • Ashley Williams • Carolina Rojas • Drew Zafaross • Jacob Britton • John Ingersol • Meghan Virostek • Merideth Hopper • Riley Anderson

Focus Group Participants:

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Purpose: My team conducted a responsive focus group. The purpose of this focus group was to gather a individuals to discuss the improvements that need to be made, positives, negatives, stereotypes, and the image of Radford University.

Tactics: The focus group was conducted in a respon-sive matter. The participants sat in a semi circle facing the team. Each participant had a chance to voice there opinions after each question was asked.

Focus Group

Objective: Rebranding Radford and Discussing Rad-

Agenda

Questions: • What are some stereotypes you've heard about Radford? • How do you feel about Radford's academic standards ? • How do you feel about Radford's academic standards compared to other schools? • How does having a higher acceptance rate ef fect our image? • How do you feel about the student awareness (fan support) of our athletic programs? • How many are in favor of a football team? • How do you all feel about our logo and mascot? • Would you want to change our mascot? • Do you think our mascot defines Radford's identity? • Raising our tuition do you think it would im prove our image? • How do you feel about the on campus dining experience?

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In conclusion to the focus group conducted by Me-dia Mavericks, most of the students that were inter-viewed seemed happy to attend Radford University. The major change that needs to be made based off of the groups responses would be adding a football team. Introducing a new football team would take a ten year plan and a lot would go into this project.

Analysis

This would connect the Radford communi-ty with Radford University. There was one participant who was not in favor of a foot-ball team strictly because it would take to much work and time. However, he did feel that having a football team would help raise fan support and awareness. Also, having a football team would help raise student participation at sporting games and events. The stu-dents interviewed would like to see the logo and mascot used in a man-ner that would give Radford an identity.

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Insights

Insights

Radford University • Radford Univeristy has many different majors and minors available. • Radford is known for it’s diverse culture. • The Univeristy is located in rural Southwest Virginia along the New River. • Radford has an 18 to 1 student ratio. • Is a comprehensive, midsized public university.

High School Students- Juniors & Seniors • The fascination of going to a good college. • A school that can connect with the student and its interests. • An institution that is up to date on technology and social media networks. • A prestigious institute but not that much to much for tuition.

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Parents & Guardians • Needs an accredited school that offers differ ent majors and minors. • Low tuition and on campus rates and good meal plan. • Nice surrounding area around the school. • Access to resources close and nearby the school.

• Community that surrounds and is embedded in Radford University.• Distance between Radford and their home.

Transfer Students • The need to feel involved and connected to the University. • Academics have to be up to students standards. • Transfer friendly orientation. • Either worked or went to community college before. • Looking at academic programs for the future with a Radford degree.

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Creative Brief

Goals & Objectives49

Goals & Objectives • Raising publics academic misperception of Radford University. • Establishing a football team. • Raising acceptance rate.

S.W.O.T.

Weaknesses• Party school.• High acceptance rate.• Campus Size.• School Spirt.• Second Choice School.

• Tight-knit community.• Affordable.• Growing fields of study.• Diversity on campus.• Teacher student ratio.

Strengths

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Opportunities• Expanding campus.• Expanding student body.• Lowering acceptance rate.• Raising school spirit.

Threats• Lower acceptance rate, higher GPA required for students.• Larger Virginia schools.• Reputation.• Better football teams.

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Football Stadium

Football Stadium

Radford University is growing as a whole, yet school spirit and campus merchandise could be significantly higher. Students at this school keep asking for a football team which would put Radford Univeristy at an even higher standard and raising number of students applying here.

Message

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Pros o Revenue o Rise in applications/student o School spirit increase o Increase town revenue

Cons o Expensive to build o Long term investment o Takes up space

Football Staidum

• According to the "NCAA Revenue/Expense Division I re-port," the median net revenue for college football in 2010 was $3.15 million per school. ESPN reports that 27.3 million viewers watch The BCS National Championship game alone. Even with so many viewers nationwide, 43% of schools in this division generated negative median net revenue of $2.87 million in losses.

Statistics

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• For schools in college football's top division, football revenues soared 99% in the last decade, with much of the growth coming from TV networks battling to broad-cast games.

• 17 of the 20 most valuable teams have undergone major stadium expansions and renovations over the last 10 years, and two others haverenovation plans in the works

• Premium seats has shown it can be a good steady source of revenue for schools. Ohio State and Tennessee added 81 and 78 suites, respectively, in recent years. For programs like Michi-gan, Ohio State, and Tennessee whose stadiums were built decades ago, luxu-ry suites are a much more cost effective means to increase stadium revenue than building another crowded upper deck. On average, the 31 largest college stadi-ums already have 11,000 more seats than a typical NFL stadium.

Football Stadium

The project includes:• New Stands and lower long boxes.• Large boxes, suites, and club seating. • Removal of the track and lowering the field by 4 feet.• A football operations building on the stadium’s west side.

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Football Stadium

Other College Expenses and Total Revenue

Total Football Expenses

Alabama $36,918,963 $81,993,762Ohio State $34,026,871 $58,112,270Oregon $20,240,213 $51,921,731Stanford $18,738,731 $25,564,646Georgia $22,710,140 $74,989,418Texas A&M $17,929,882 $44,420,762South Carolina $22,063,216 $48,065,096Clemson $23,652,472 $39,207,780Louisville $18,769,539 $23,756,955Florida $23,045,846 $74,117,435Notre Dame $25,757,968 $68,986,659

Total Football Revenue

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Florida State $22,052,228 $34,484,786LSU $24,049,282 $68,804,309Oklahoma State $26,238,172 $41,138,312Texas $25,896,203 $103,813,684Oklahoma $24,097,643 $59,630,425Michigan $23,640,337 $85,209,247

Total Football Expenses

Total Football Revenue

Football Stadium

Implementation

• Alumni donations (Tier system) o More money they give the more their donations will give back in the form of season tickets, box seat tickets, bricks with there name built into the stadium, Stadium seats with their name on them, and much more.

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• Booster clubs• Endorsement deals and selling ad space on the stadium• Slightly raising either tuition rates • Paid parking by the stadium

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Tactics

Tactics

Premiums

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Tactics

Students and faculty of Radford University we are proud to announce are new football team. The highlanders have been practic-ing hard for the upcoming season. Make sure you come out this Friday to support your team. The game starts at 1:00pm but there will be a tailgate before in the park-ing lot. Hope to see everyone there and showing your school spirit!

Radio Spot

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• 9:00- 10:00- parade on main street• 10:00-12:50- Block Part/Tailgate o 12:00- RU Rockers Perform o $5.00 lunch o Live DJ o Booths o Play houses for kids• 1:00- football game begins • 4:30-6:00- Alumni Dinner

Event Schedule

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Budget

Budget

• Premiums…………………………………………… o T-shirts…………………………… $8.74each o Beer Kozies……………………… $0.89each o Bumper Stickers………………… $0.73each o Bags……………………………… $4.52each o Cell Phone Case………………... $23.54each• Fotball Stadium……………………… $150 Million• A New Dedmon……………………… $80 Million

Budget Form

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