2017

Public Relations Proposal

Sharni wakeman, Marketing director, NZWEAword count 1,197

Executive Summary

The following proposal to CEO Dirk Smithies is intended to identify the advantages of updating the public relations of NZWEA. This proposal identifies the perceived problems within the marketing department and describes objectives, benefits, and methodologies of updating public relations.

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Table of ContentsEXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................2

PROJECT DESCRIPTION..........................................................................................................4BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM...........................................................................................................4EXTERNAL RESEARCH.......................................................................................................................4

OBJECTIVES...............................................................................................................................5

BENEFITS....................................................................................................................................5

METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................................6

EVALUATION.............................................................................................................................8

FACILITIES AND PERSONNEL................................................................................................9

BUDGET.....................................................................................................................................10

BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................11

CURRICULUM VITAE.............................................................................................................12

APPENDIX.................................................................................................................................14A.....................................................................................................................................................14B......................................................................................................................................................14C......................................................................................................................................................14D – COMPANY DESCRIPTION..................................................................................................................15E – RHETORICAL PURPOSES...................................................................................................................15

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Project Description

Background and Problem

Recently it has been made apparent of the declining rates of companies creating memberships

with NZWEA. In addition to this, a decrease in web traffic to has been noted, which reflects

the declining memberships. As well as this, the activity of current members is becoming still,

with forum posts declining from an average of 780 posts per week in January 2017, to 270 in

December 2017. My team and I believe that an update on public relations and the website

will result in an increase in traffic flow, involvement with current members, and in the

monthly average of new memberships.

In this digital age, a comprehensive online marketing strategy can help to reach increasing

numbers of potential clients. We focus on a few relevant key components which we believe

can help fuel the growth of NZWEA.

External Research

Research has shown the necessity of refreshing company image to maintain a competitive

edge within the market. As a trusted voice in the debate about wind energy in NZ, it is

important that our public relations run parallel with our promise to New Zealand, which we

believe can be achieved through projecting a maintained company image, in line with our

maintained research and development. As this dynamic industry develops, so should our

company, which can be reflected through our public relations, including our website and

social media. With over 40 companies as our members, it is important that we deliver the

development that we have promised.

Social media is a developing marketing tool that NZWEA has neglected to use to our

advantage. Though many argue that social media may not apply to our technical target

market, research shows the rise of older generations turning to social media, particularly

Facebook, in conversing with companies.

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Objectives

To increase memberships is our main objective, over a short-term period.

We hypothesize an increase in members, with the objective of an average of 3 new members

per month, over a 6-month period.

By updating our website and maintaining an online presence across our social media

platforms on Facebook and Twitter, we believe that an increase in activity will result in an

increase in membership. By maintaining an easy to navigate website, our message can be

made clear to the public. The main purpose of this is to quickly and effectively communicate

who we are, what we do, the benefits of membership and most importantly the ease of

becoming a member. This begins with updating our public relations – particularly the

website, NZWEA.org.

Benefits

it is important we maintain a presence that reflects the importance of our values, as our key

strategic focus surrounds ideals of increasing climate change awareness and leveraging New

Zealand’s emission reduction target. We believe that an increase in members and member

engagement will promote the overall objectives of the company.

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MethodologyRefer to Appendix A regarding methodology and objectives.

The proposed marketing strategy has an estimated timeframe of 6 months.

To gain insight, analytics are crucial in understanding customers in a business context.

Therefore, before updating public relations, it is important that the success of the proposal

can be monitored and evaluated. Google Analytics Solutions uses digital analytics tools

which assist in analyzing data from all touchpoints on platforms such as websites and social

media. Through this tool, we can understand in-depth data of not only our customers, but the

trends of our online presence. Features of Google Analytics include:

- Identifying poorly performing pages

- Referrers

- Time on site

- Geographical position

- Custom visitor segmentation

- Sales activity and performance

- Commerce-related metrics (such as site transactions)

To effectively measure the performance of the public relations update, we believe that this is

the first important step in the implementation of this marketing strategy - from before and

after the website change.

Following this, we believe that the website is the most important aspect of our public image,

and therefore should be updated first. We suggest reaching out to our current members to

identify their personal issues regarding the website in terms of user interface. This qualitative

research will allow for in-depth understanding of our diverse target market. Content

Marketers work with frameworks in developing web interface and determining the success of

a website with its user. Common elements NZWEA are neglecting in website interface

include:

- Easy to read text

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- Ease of navigation

- Blank space

- A clear message

- Easy to access contact information

- A clear call-to-action (Shop Now, Lets Chat, Sign Up)

- Search Engine Optimization

- Search Engine Indexing

- Social media presence

- Analytics, measuring trends of:

o Site visitors, page views, pages per visit, average time on site, bounce rate, top

landing and exit pages, top content, leads and conversations, liked, followers,

growth, engagement, momentum

We suggest revising these aspects of the website in combination with qualitative research to

determine a newly designed interface that is not only more attractive, but clear and concise to

website visitors.

It is important to understand that SEO and SEI alone do not optimize our leverage in possible

website referrers. However, an active presence on social media has been shown to improve

customer engagement and web traffic activity. Therefore, we suggest hiring 1-3 student

marketing interns to maintain this web presence.

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Evaluation

It is also important to understand the overall demand for renewable energy in New Zealand,

as we believe we have a strong influence on this. This can be achieved through understanding

the market by maintaining strong relationships with our partners such as Gamesa and General

Electric who allow insight, which can not only reflect our performance, but continue to

improve our strategy. By using tools such as Google Analytics, we can quantify the success

of the proposed strategy. In addition to this, we believe qualitative feedback will also enable

insights and feedback into what could continue to be improved on, in terms of membership

related advantages etc. Social media presence will allow for engagement and feedback by

members, which we see as a crucial part of evaluating the progress of the proposal.

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Facilities and Personnel

The proposed strategy will involve several team members, however only a few of these will

be new recruits. To successfully and smoothly delivery the strategy, we believe the following

roles are essential:

- Web Engineer

- Graphic Designer

- Social Media Manager

- Social Media Content Producer(s)

- Marketing Analytics Manager

- Data Analyst

The current marketing team were approached on a volunteer basis. The roles of web engineer,

graphic designer, social media manager, marketing analytics manager, and data analysis can

be sufficiently filled within the existing marketing department. Appendix B shows a table of

employee names, their current role, their specialization, and the role they wish to adopt in the

proposed strategy. The department is aware that work day hours, nor salary, will be

increased. However, they still show enthusiasm towards the proposed strategy.

Research has shown the positive effects of having a diverse business team in terms of age.

Therefore, we propose opening approximately 3 paid internships for the role of Social Media

Content Producer. The marketing department agree that undergraduate or postgraduate

university students are suitable for this role which will involve the following characteristics:

- Tech savvy

- Social media savvy

- Innovative thinking

- New-age social media marketing strategies

- Reliable

- Talkative

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Universities across New Zealand, including Victoria and Massey, are known for reaching out

to students on behalf of a diverse range of businesses. There are also other advertising

options, including Student Job Search, and Trade Me Jobs, which are suitable tools to

promote the 3 positions.

BudgetAppendix C outlines the approximate costs of the proposal. As a company that has a primary

agenda of executing awareness rather than profit, minimizing costs was considered.

The cost sheet will also outline justifications and further details for your reference. Regarding

the proposed three new internships, the senior marketing team agree that these roles should

amount to a total of 45 hours a week, at a pay rate near the New Zealand minimum wage of

$16.50 per hour. The timeline for the intense social media focus is spanned across 6 months,

as shown in Appendix C.

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BibliographyCoco, M. (2013). Student and company reactions to a university internship program: content

analysis. International Journal of Education Research, 8, 89.Colborn, J. (2006). Search marketing strategies : a marketer's guide to objective-driven

success from search engines. Oxford.Joshua Newton, F. N. (2013). Ethical evaluation of audience segmentation in social

marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 47, 1421-1438.Lantz, J. (2011). Converting website visitors to clients: the three Rs for successful website

marketing. Arizona Attorney, 47, 40.New Zealand Wind Energy Association. (2018). New Zealand Wind Energy Association.

Retrieved from Wind Energy: http://www.windenergy.org.nz/Rebecca Langford, C. P.-B. (2013). A health equity critique of social marketing: Where

interventions have impact but insufficient reach. Social Science and Medicine, 83, 133.

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Curriculum Vitae

Sharni Wakeman15 Cornwall Ave Example City Phone: 0400 000 000 aevans@somedomain.net

Marketing Communications Manager Nationally award-winning marcom professional with 13 years of experience leading corporate marketing and

internal communications for multimillion-dollar companies across diverse industries.

Respected leader of creative teams, multimedia divisions and corporate communications departments. Conceptualize and orchestrate marketing campaigns that effectively reinforce and build brand images.

Expert in the technical, conceptual and content development of sales-driving collateral. Proven ability to drive record-high marketing campaign response rates and execute successful product launches.

Skills

Marketing Strategies & Campaigns Corporate Communications Creative Team Leadership Product Positioning & Branding Web & Print Content Development

Focus Group & Market Research Development of Training Materials Sales Collateral & Support Public & Media Relations New Product Launch

Recent Awards

Award of Excellence for Outstanding Advertising (ABC Co “Road Warrior” campaign), 2008Gold Award for Outstanding Advertising (ABC Co “Open Road” direct mail campaign), 2008Award of Excellence for Outstanding Advertising (ABC Co “Automotive Drive” campaign), 2006 Action Award for Outstanding Advertising (ABC Co “Hit the High Road” campaign), 2005

Professional Experience

ABC COMPANY, Sometown, NY – Multimillion-dollar company selling automotive supplies and partsMarketing Communications Manager, 5/2003 to PresentManage corporate marketing and communications functions, overseeing a $2.3M budget and 8-member team. Direct brand management, PR, media relations, corporate positioning, product launches, advertising, sales collateral and tradeshow marketing.

Selected Accomplishments:

Developed and launched integrated, multi-channel print, catalog, web and direct marketing campaigns that propelled sales from $3.2M (2003) to a projected $9.5M by 2008 year-end.

Led market launch of 21 new products. Identified opportunities, researched new product possibilities, collaborated with engineering team and created campaigns generating $2.6M in annual sales.

Created web portal to transform previously archaic intranet into a dynamic website improving communication flow and adding an effective sales tool for field reps.

Wrote catalogs, course guides and training brochures that enhanced the sales reps’ understanding of complex product features and helped them sell more effectively.

Performed ongoing customer/market research and demographic profiling to identify and capitalize on unmet market needs ahead of the curve.

Produced media kit that demonstrated key marketing analytics and demographics for use in sales presentations. Efforts were credited as instrumental in closing numerous high-level deals.

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Sharni Wakeman Page 2 Phone: 555-555-5555

DEF COMPANY, Example City – Full-service advertising, marketing and PR agencyMarketing Supervisor, 2/2000 to 5/2003Developed marketing programs for a variety of business-to-business clients. Used an integrated approach to create balanced programs for clients to build their respective brands and businesses.

Selected Accomplishments:

Expanded client base by 78% in three years by consistently delivering goal-surpassing marketing results and ensuring complete client satisfaction.

Closed new accounts as a member of business-development team, including a $1.5M win with Action Company and a $1.2M win with JFK Corp.

Earned commendations from client executives for communication deliverables that targeted desired audiences and articulated the value of products and services.

GHI COMPANY, Example City – Leading advertising, direct marketing and communications agencyCreative Director, 1/1998 to 2/2000Manager, Creative Services, 8/1996 to 1/1998Copywriter, 6/1995 to 8/1996Advanced through a series of promotions, culminating in oversight of group copy division and 6-member creative team. Created concept and copy for journal ads, direct mail campaigns and sales collateral for diverse clients and projects.

Selected Accomplishments:

Served as primary copywriter on advertising campaigns for multimillion-dollar accounts and successful product launches.

Assumed a lead role in pitch team meetings due to strengths in presentation and negotiation skills, and helped close major accounts ($500K to $1M+ initial contracts).

Generated campaign response-rates of between 6% and 8% (up to 4 times the industry average).

Technology

Software: QuarkXPress, Photoshop, ImageReady, MS Project, Crystal Reports, MS Office (Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint)

Web/Multimedia: ColdFusion, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, EMC Documentum, Visual SourceSafe, Search Optimisation, Web Server Administration, Content Management Systems

Education

ABC UNIVERSITY, Example CityBachelor of Science, 5/1995 Major: Communications Minor: English Graduated with high honors

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Appendix

A

B

C

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D – Company Description

The New Zealand Wind Energy Association (NZWEA) aims to fairly represent wind energy to the public, government, and energy sector. The focus is to share the development of the dynamic industry, to work towards the development of wind as a reliable, sustainable, clean, and commercially viable energy source. NZWEA is a membership-based industry association, and a central point for information as a trusted voice in the debate about wind energy in New Zealand.

E – Rhetorical Purposes

1. Triggering eventLow membership numbers and poor membership participation

2. Key playersCEO, Senior Management, Marking Director, Human Resources Department, Marketing Department

3. Respective goalsTo gain a ‘competitive’ edge through updating public relations to maximize membership potential

4. Previous occurrencesLack of strategy regarding customer retention

5. Organizational situation driving the act of communicationProposal by the Marketing Director to the CEO of NZWEA

6. GenreProposal

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