John Caples International Awards

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1 Entry Kit 2011 For more information and to enter, visit dmnews.com/student-awards Sponsored by:

2 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 The assignment and challenge 7 Five tips to win My Campaign My Strategy My Creativity My Win

3 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 3 Do you have what it takes to develop a Caples Student Campaign of the Year? Test your direct marketing creative skills by entering our contest, sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing. Your group could win $5,000, an internship and bragging rights. A past winning team assisted the client, Pentel, in converting their idea to a live campaign. View this campaign at spinthepen.com What can I win? The winning individual or group will receive a generous $5,000 cash prize. In addition, the winning individual or one lead group member will receive an internship at Alloy Media + Marketing and a paid trip to the annual Caples Awards in New York in March of One runner-up individual or team will receive a $1,000 cash prize and one ticket to attend the Caples Awards. What do I have to do? Design a marketing campaign for the GM College Discount program. You will need to use your creativity and ability to think strategically and analytically to create a campaign that ensures the client achieves its desired objective. When is the deadline? The entry deadline is December 16, Who can enter? Whether a major in graphic design, marketing, communications or chemistry, any individual or group can enter as long as all members involved were enrolled as undergraduate students at a US college or university or students at a portfolio school program between December 14, 2010 December 14, 2011, and are 18 years of age or older.

4 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 4 Background Through the GM College Discount program, college students, graduate students and recent graduates receive Preferred Pricing the same preferential pricing GM gives its suppliers. Preferred Pricing is always less than MSRP (Manufacturer s Suggested Retail Price),but varies by vehicle. The discount from MSRP falls roughly between $500 $5,000 depending on the choice of vehicle, but can be combined with most other current incentives, bringing costs down even further. The gmcollegediscount.com website provides a build your own interactive feature that calculates discount amounts for each eligible vehicle, and incorporates other currently available incentives for an accurate cost estimate. The program is available through participating Chevrolet, Buick and GMC dealers on new vehicles except the Chevrolet Volt. Cadillac vehicles are not included in this discount program. To obtain the price discount, students/recent grads must go to gmcollegediscount.com to register and obtain an Authorization Number. (Note: You are encouraged to register for the program and experience the process for yourself.) Armed with the Authorization Number and documentation proving either current enrollment or recent college graduation, consumers visit a participating dealer, take a test drive and buy. GM Brands included in the GM College Discount n CHEVROLET continues to hold a special place in the heart of American culture as one of the quintessential American brands of any kind. For 100 years, it has stood for American pride and is associated with hard work attitudes and Middle America values. The brand is an upbeat, drivable version of baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. See chevrolet.com for more information. n GMC is encapsulated in its brand positioning We are Professional Grade. The division makes a line of craftsman quality trucks, SUVs and crossovers. GMC is the most masculine of the division brands. Its trucks in particular offer trim levels and heavy-duty options that appeal to professionals that demand a hard-working truck to help with heavyhaul and storage needs without sacrificing creature comforts. See gmc.com for more detail. n BUICK is the trimmest division of the four with only four models. Currently positioned as Luxury as it should be, Buick is focused on performance paired with upscale comforts. Visit buick.com for more information.

5 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 5 Market Problem The overarching goal of the GM College Discount program is to assist college students and recent graduates in the purchase/lease of a new GM vehicle, introduce them to GM brands and models and keep them in the GM franchise as their income grows and life circumstances evolve. However, the program currently has very low awareness (4% unaided). With a budget of $1.2 million, GM wants to create a sustainable and actionable integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign for the GM College Discount program. This program is seen as an important initiative in bringing new drivers to the GM fold and working to maintain loyalty. The assignment For this campaign, participants should develop a marketing plan that targets college students and recent college graduates. Create an integrated marketing communications plan that increases awareness of and drives purchase intent within the GM College Discount program. There should be a collection of target audience contact information (name, address, and phone) to create future marketing campaigns for the target. With a budget of $1.2 million, GM wants to create a sustainable and actionable integrated marketing communications campaign for the GM College Discount program. You are required to submit a campaign write-up and use the two required channels and one of the optional direct marketing channels listed below (for a total of three channels): n REQUIRED: Direct The 2010 winning team from the mail (envelope, postcard Academy of Art University or self-mailer) n REQUIRED: Digital marketing channel from the following: Website/Microsite, Mobile marketing /Online video, Online display/banner ad or Optional Media n Campus signage/ campus newspaper n Viral or word of mouth n Promotion (street team, event, grassroots) n Social media

6 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 6 Target audience The market for the GM College Discount program includes: All currently enrolled students from two- or four-year degree programs and nursing degree programs. Full- and part-time students are both eligible All currently enrolled students in a graduate degree program Graduates from any of the degree programs noted above within two years of graduation As a whole, the eligible target audience is nationally dispersed, ethnically diverse and spans a broad age range. 54% of buyers under the program are between 23 and 27 years old. Yet the average age of a buyer is 29. Looking at new vehicle buyers in general, 1% of new vehicles are purchased by year olds, while year olds represent 10% of purchases. Standard campaign Campaign Write-Up. Students are required to fill out the online entry form which is separated into the following sections: objectives, research and planning, budget, strategy, tactics, and evaluation/measurement of success. There is a 500-word limit per section. Campaign Creative (copy and design). For all forms of media used to promote the GM College Discount program, students should keep the following in mind: Make sure your creative concept solves the Market Problem, has a strong call-to-action and the ability to measure a result Creative should use GM branding Art and copy should be creative, original and appropriate for the target audience Concepts and designs should be executed as professionally and as real as possible All print elements must be mailed to: Haymarket Media c/o Eva Chan, Caples SCOTY Award 114 W. 26th St., 4th floor New York, NY Results. Students are strongly encouraged to use social networking tools to test their campaign ideas and illicit response from peers. The results of any efforts your marketing campaign receives should be delineated within the campaign write-up.

7 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 7 5 tips to win a Caples Student Campaign of the Year award A few things to keep in mind when trying to win the Caples Student Competition Visit dmnews.com/ student-awards to view the video portion from last year s winning entry. 1 Research There s no way you ll be able to come up with a well thought out campaign without doing some research. You should be able to answer these questions and more in your write-ups. n What are the benefits of the GM College Discount Program over its competitors? n What are the program s weaknesses? n What are the price points of the GM College Discount Program vs. competitors? n What promotions are competitors running? n What are competitors doing to market the product? n What media channels are the competitors using? Ads? On campus media? YouTube? Social media? Be sure to research what kinds of media students are accessing. What is their purchase criterion (price, features, reputation etc.)? How do you do this? It could be as simple as running a survey at your school and nearby schools or even seeking information from marketing publications. Ask your professors for help. They may know where you might be able to find this information. Leverage your professors all throughout your process as they are people with answers who can help you develop a strong, professional entry. 2 Find Help n You don t have to be the jack-of-all-trades. Sometimes you need help to perfect the parts where you are not as strong. n If you are not an illustrator or photographer and your idea needs a good piece of art, ask friends and classmates who have these skills to help you. n Work with your marketing profes-

8 Sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing 8 5 tips to win a Caples Student Campaign of the Year award A few things to keep in mind when trying to win the Caples Student Competition sor (or find one) to review your writeup. The stronger your write-up is, the better the judges will understand your marketing campaign. n Form a team. You don t have to do this alone. One of you might be great at layouts while the other great at developing Flash and interactive elements. The first year, two students teamed up and asked their friends for help (visit dmnews.com/student-awards). 3 Don t forget the direct marketing Caples is about creative solutions to tough marketing problems and direct response. How will people respond to your marketing and how will you track and measure it? That s what makes direct marketing so powerful. Each element is measured by how it performs. Your pieces should have the ability to capture names and contact information, measure sales against each component, and determine the success of the campaign overall. 4 Build a budget Not that we want you to be an accountant, but keep in mind, in broad stokes, what the cost of your campaign will be. If you can, put budget numbers in your write-up. If your campaign costs $100,000 and you project $50,000 in sales, you ll need to rethink your marketing program. Remember that you have a $1.2 million budget for this campaign. 5 Be creative Look at past Caples winners (visit dmnews.com/awards) and see how creative the solutions were. Remember that we are looking for creative solutions to tough marketing problems. Reviewing past winners is an excellent way to also spur your own creativity, as well as understand what wins a Caples award.