Planet Honda

Public Relations Plan

Contacts

Allie Dethmers adethme1@ithaca.edu

Steven Gilburne sgilburne@ithac.edu

Trevor LaRose tlarose@ithaca.edu

Leah Sachs lsachs1@ithaca.edu

Colleen Maher cmaher1@ithaca.edu

Tyler Nevill tnevill1@ithaca.edu

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary...3

Situation Analysis (SWOT)...5 - 7

Goals and Objectives...8

Target Audience...9 - 11 Strategies...12

Tactics...13 - 18

Measurement & Evaluation...19

Timetable...20 - 23 Budget...24 - 25

Meet Top Tier....26 -28

Appendix/Supplements:..29

Executive Summary

Planet Honda is located in Union New Jersey off of Route 22. The deal-ership provides consumers with lead-ing technology for fuel efficient and safe vehicles. The primary issues that Planet Honda has encountered are a lack of enthusiastic employees, poor customer service, and high employee turn over rates. Planet Honda wants to also widen their consumer base to

the Hispanic communities.

Top Tier’s public relations proposal is built to correct customer service issues and employ new customer service tactics to ultimately increase sales of the Honda Accord. Through multiple media outlets, we will solidify a larger Hispanic customer base as well as raise general Planet Honda awareness within a 20-mile radius. Involvement with local charities will allow us to brand Planet Honda with a positive and helpful reputation. Top Tier Public Relations Agency would like to thank Planet Honda and Michael Fillare for the opportunity to create this proposal.

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Top Tier’s public relations proposal is built to correct customer service issues and employ new customer service tactics to ultimately increase sales of the Honda Accord. Through multiple media outlets, we will solidify a larger Hispanic customer base as well as raise general Planet Honda awareness within a 20-mile radius. Involvement with local charities will allow us to brand Planet Honda with a positive and helpful reputation. Top Tier Public Relations Agency would like to thank Planet Honda and Michael Fillare for the opportunity to create this proposal.

Situation Analysis (SWOT)

Strengths Our strengths at Planet Honda are our loyal customer base and our strong and reputable brand name. Honda offers fantastic fuel-efficient models at extremely fair prices. Planet Man and Honda Boy are two great characters that allow the consumers to remember their Planet Honda experience. With the new Planet Honda renovations, we know we will capture the consumer’s attention. Our top of the line facilities ensures the consumer they are getting a top of the line product.

Top Tier PR Agency reviewed Planet Honda’s website, Facebook, and reviews on Yelp. The team also studied the surrounding demographic of Planet Honda specifically within a 20-mile radius. All sources led us to various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Weaknesses Opportunities Our weakness at Planet Honda is the poor customer service that is reflected upon on the companies Facebook and word of mouth. Online reviews show unsatisfied customers, mainly due to unenthused employees that deter customers.

Situation Analysis (SWOT)

Opportunities at Planet Honda through the Top Tier proposal consist of widening the Planet Honda consumer base and raising awareness of Planet Honda within a 20-mile radius. Building relationships between employees is another opportunity for Planet Honda that will make customers feel welcomed, increasing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. This, ultimately, will increaserevenue and overall sales.

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Situation Analysis (SWOT)

Threats at Planet Honda are our neighboring rival car dealers in the area. Companies like Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota and other competing Honda dealerships such as: -Madison Honda ( 8 miles away) -Staten Island Honda (12 miles away) -VIP Honda (6 miles away) -Garden State Honda ( 18 miles away) -Open Road Honda( 16 miles away) -Metro Honda(15 miles away) -DCH Academy( 16 miles away) are threatening Planet Honda’s customer base within the 20 mile radius. It is important that Planet Honda ensures customers that they are getting a better deal then they could at competing dealerships. Another threat to Planet Honda would be consumer’s brand loyalty to competing car manufacturers. Non-cooperative and unenthusiastic employees are one of the largest threats for Planet Honda because of the effects on Planet Honda’s reputation.

Threats

Goals & ObjectivesOur ultimate goal at Top Tier Public Relations Agency is to increase overall sales by 15% through the following three core objectives.

1. Enhancing customer services has shown to be necessary due to the poor reviews that Planet Honda has gotten.

2. Reaching the Hispanic community within a twenty-mile radius is important, as many of the consumers that purchase from Planet Honda are not Hispanic. Reaching the Hispanic community will add a multitude of business.

3. Lastly, increasing Planet Honda’s overall awareness in a 20-mile radius will ultimately bring in the remaining population that are loyal to other car brands, or those who are currently in the vehicle search process.

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Target AudienceOur target audiences include the following groups:

Vehicle consumers within a 20-mile radius.Those that are finan-cially stable enough to purchase or lease a new or used vehicle. Since they are within a 20-mile radius this audience is part of the localcommunity. They may be part of the social community behindPlanet Honda and may have built interpersonal relationshipsbetween employees, without the business aspect.

Target AudienceAudience between the ages of 24 and 54. This age range is generally a community that drives sportier vehicles such as the Honda Pilot because they do not want to com-promise the sleek aesthetic look to support a large family. Moms between these ages tend to want to drive a sportier vehicle that isn’t the typical ‘soccer mom’ car. The Honda Pilot provides them with the ability to fit five comfort-ably and any “surprises along the way”.

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Target AudienceHispanic consumers Hispanics are heavily populated within Union City, NJ, which is within the 20-mile radius of Planet Honda. Research shows that Hispanic’s tend to have larger families that require one or more vehicles. By reaching out to this demographic the Hispanic community will use word of mouth to increase their customer base.

StrategiesTop Tier will use several strategies throughout the campaign:

1.Issue an employee customer service class will improve employee’s personable skills.

2. Hiring Hispanic & Spanish speaking employees to bring a sense of connection for the Hispanic community purchasing from Planet Honda.

3. Increase awareness through several media outlets.

4. Helping local charities.

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TacticsEmployee Customer Service EducationTo improve customer service and employee morale, the CEO and President of Planet Honda will develop an Employee Customer Service class. This will help employees learn to deal with frustrated customers and still be able to close a deal. This course will last for the duration of one week. It will help enhance customer service skills for all employees.

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New Telephone Sales TacticsGenerally, consumers contact the dealership via telephone prior to visiting face-to-face. It is critical to employ new over-the-phone sales tactics be-cause consumers today want to build a relationship over the phone before they come in. The customer wants to know they are getting the best possible deal while spending the least amount of time at the car dealership. It is not enjoyable to play the salesmen’s game and wait while they speak with the sales manager for overly exaggerated period of time. By negotiating over the phone, the consumer is primed and ready to purchase once they meet face-to-face at the dealership. Solidifying a deal over the phone usually promises a sale when the consumer walks into Planet Honda.

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Tactics3. Charity Events

Planet Honda will rally up their employees to get engaged in their local commu-nity. Employees will take time out of their day to make rounds to local charities such as: The Women’s Fund of New Jersey (WFNJ) - The Women’s Fund of New Jersey is a comprehensive and innovative fundraising source for organizations dedicated to improving the lives of women, AIDS Resource Foundation for Chil-dren - The AIDS Resource Foundation for Children (ARFC), founded in 1985, is a community-based non-profit organization committed to providing cost-effective, family-centered services to children coping with the impact of HIV/AIDS, and Cen-tral NJ Maternal and Child Health Consortium - The mission of CNJMCHC, a non profit organization, acting as advocates and catalysts, is to improve the health of infants, children, and women of childbearing age in the region, utilizing the re-sources of private, public, governmental and community based organizations, and consumers. The Top Tier Public Relations Agency plan intends to have pamphlet incentives handed out at each of these charities.

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Tactics4.Employee Relationship-Building Events

In Planet Honda’s past, there have been communication challenges amongst em-ployees, managers, and departments. Top Tier plans to install an employee rela-tionship-building event that will consist of three activities: Bowling, Golf, and a casual get together at Park Avenue Bar and Grill. These activities will occur once a month every other month for the length of the entire campaign. All activities will be expensed to the company. Top Tier plans to build long lasting relationships among Planet Honda that will create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for everyone.

BowlingBowl-write Lanes bowling rates per person $4 a game Saturday and Sunday GolfGalloping Hill $80 w/ cartSuburban Golf Club Ash Brook Golf Course Casual Get together at Park Avenue Bar and Grill

TacticsSocial Media EnhancementsTop Tier plans to increase awareness through social media by consistently updating and monitoring the Face-book page, posting incentives and upcoming events while highlighting Planet Honda Characters. There is much negativity in the consumer’s posts, which Planet Honda will ad-dress by apologizing for the consum-ers inconvenience. They will then offer a free incentive such as a car wash to compensate for the custom-ers previously poor experience. In addition, Top Tier will create a Twit-ter dialogue to allow Planet Honda to reach out to a larger number of consumers.

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TacticsTelevision Advertising Television being the largest source of feedback for Planet Honda, we recommend airing incentives during Hispanic Heritage Month on local news channels and Tele-mundo, which will bring much needed awareness. The ad will being with Hispanic family of four with one on the way shopping at the Planet Honda dealeship. The Chil-dren will see an imaginary Planet Man and Honda Boy who will convince them to beg their mother for the sporty and spacious Honda Pilot. After the mother drives off the lot with the vehicle, she will talk to the camera and expresses her love for her Honda, and how her family would never have the easy and convenient transportation that Honda vehicles offer while providing a safe and fuel-efficient ride.

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Promotional IncentivesOther online incentives like fliers, promotions and printable coupons will continue to bring more traffic through Planet Honda. The coupons will focus on the newest incen-tive being offered by Planet Honda. The Advertisement will focus on whichever car needs to be needs to be moved off the lot. The advertisement will be crisp, clear, pre-cise, and to the point. Consumers do not want to deal with fine print and misleading offers. Planet Honda will ensure clarity in their incentives.

7.Tactics

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Measurement & EvaluationThe following activities will help to measure and evaluate the success of this campaign:

1. When people come in, employees will find out how they became aware of Planet Honda.-The television - Word of Mouth - Facebook - Twitter- Feedback from Charities 2. Increase activity on Facebook get more “likes” and followers on Twitter. 3. To measure the increase in sales of Honda Vehi-cles, the annual sales reports will need to be com-pared and contrasted.

4. To measure the effectiveness of the em-ployee customer service classes, results will be tallied by e-mailed surveys to the consum-er after purchase. Employees will be reward-ed for their improvement.

5. To measure how effective our Hispanic outreach was, Planet Honda would record the amount of vehicles purchased by the Hispanic community as well as the returning Hispanic customers.

Timetable

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Timetable

TimetableNew Employee Sales Tactics: New sales tactics will be employed and practiced for the entire duration of the campaign beginning in June 2014 and ending June 2015.

Charity Events: Charity events will take place during the first and last three months of the campaign (June-August 2014 & April-June 2015). Each month will focus on one charity to give them each Planet Hondas individual attention.

Employee Relationship Building Event: These events will take place every other month, once a month. All costs will be expensed to the company.

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Social Media Enhancements: Social media enhancements will take place for the entire duration of our campaign, starting immediately. The social media pages will be updated daily.

Employee Customer Service Education: The customer service education will happen once in the beginning of the campaign in June, and again in December to solidify what has been learned.

Television Commercial: Television commercials will begin to air September 15th and end October 15th. The television commercials will last for the same duration as Hispanic Heritage month.

Promotion Incentives: Promotions and Incentives will last for the entire duration of the campaign. Promo-tions will always be available online, and will be updated depending on which vehicles Planet Honda needs to move off the lot.

Timetable

BudgetTelevision Commercials: - Approx. $1,000.00 Per 30-Second Commercial.- 80 Total aired commercials.o TOTAL: Approx. $80,000.00Flyers:- 500 Flyers at Approx. $1.54 per print.- 500 Flyers per 6 monthso TOTAL $650.00Golf:- Approx $80.00 Per game.- 2 total matches.o TOTAL: Depends on number of employee’s.Bowling:- $4.00 per game per person (Saturday’s & Sundays).- 2 total gameso TOTAL: Depends on number of employee’s.

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Budget

Park Avenue Bar and Grill:- Limit $25.00 bar tab plus a meal (Approx. $15.00) per person.- 3 total meetso TOTAL: Depends on number of employee’s.

TOTAL BUDGET COST: $82,650.00

Meet the Team Allie Dethmers

is a sophomore Integrated Marketing and Communications major with a minor in Funtivities 16’. Her favorite Honda car is the Honda Pilot 2014. Her passions include: singing, dancing, eating, Beyonce, and playing the French Horn. Some day she would love to be part of a marketing and event planning team which involves world traveling.

Trevor LaRose is a sophomore Integrated Marketing Commu-nications major. He drove a Honda Accord for two years and it remains as his favorite Honda model to this day. He really enjoys both playing and writing music in his free time for guitar, vocals, or piano. As a future career choice, he would love to find a way to blend his passion and creativity with music to his love for both advertising and PR work.

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Meet the TeamLeah Sachs

is a sophomore IMC major. Her favorite Honda model is the Honda NSX. Her interests include traveling, watching live music, going on outdoor adventures, and hanging out with friends. Leah’s future goal is to throw music events for a cause.

Steven Gilburne is a Sophomore Integrated Marketing Commu-nications Major at Ithaca College in the Roy H. Park School of Communications. Born in New York, he grew up Sarasota, Florida. His favorite Honda is the Honda s2000 due to its unmatched handling, sleek aesthetics, and aggressive stance. In his spare time he either does market research on the latest and greatest new vehicles, find himself in the gym, or spends his leisure time with close friends.

Meet the Team Tyler Nevill

is a sophomore Sport Media major. His favorite Honda car is the 2014 Civic Coupe. His main passions include play-ing/ watching any major sport, making memories with friends, visiting Canada, and freestyling. In the future his dream job would involve being the head of media relations for a National Hockey League team.Colleen Maher

is a junior Music Major with an Integrated Marketing Communications minor. Her interests include playing the oboe, going to music shows, dancing, and spontaneous adventures. Her future career goal is to do marketing research for a classi-cal music performance group in New York City. After being hit by an 18 wheeler and totaling her car, her favorite car is definitely a Honda Accord, primarily for the safety reasons.

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Appendix/Supplements

Honda released their first automobile in 1963 with the release of its first sports car, the S500. Now Honda has become a world-re-nowned name. Today, Honda has become of the leaders in the car industry for safe, fuel-efficient, and stylish vehicles for people of all ages. Planet Honda is one of the leading branches of Honda for new and used car dealerships in the Union, New Jersey area located off of route 22. Planet Honda offers many incentives upon the purchase of a new vehicle such as, A $1,000 additional trade-in value guarantee, 72-Hour exchange policy, 30 Day lemon-free pledge, and the Planet Honda’s best value guarantee.

2285 US 22Union, NJ 07083SALES:(877) 411-8066SERVICE:(908) 851-5597PARTS:(908) 964-8411FAX US:(908) 851-5906