Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop

Transcription

1 PUBLIC RELATIONS PLAN Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop Suite 170 Milton Avenue Janesville, WI Date of Plan Presentation: 4/30/15 Presented by: Logan Peaslee Kyle Rovinski Layla Freckmann Hayley Remmel Kali Schmieding

2 Background The Hope Institute of Uganda (HIU) is a not-for-profit organization that changes generations, one life at a time, by bringing educational and economic opportunities to those who may have, otherwise, not had such opportunities. With ongoing projects in Jinja, Uganda, HIU seeks to better the lives of those living in extreme poverty, without basic medical care, without adequate food and without education. The mission is to provide a better life for those in Uganda and to also have a local impact on Rock County, Wisconsin. The core areas of HIU are providing medical services for rural hospitals in Uganda, scholarship sponsorships for orphan children in Uganda, local volunteer opportunities and fair trade employment to artisans in Uganda. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop is an auxiliary shop for the Hope Institute of Uganda. With a fair trade agreement with the craftsmen and craftswomen, Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop sells unique, hand-made crafts from Uganda on a free market. The store exists solely for the sale of these items; it is dedicated to developing a sustainable lifestyle for families in Uganda by selling their unique works of art. The store s sales also help fund scholarships for children in Uganda and medical professionals trips to Uganda. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop is run by local volunteer staff. Situation Analysis Strengths The shop is connected to a worthy cause The shop offers unique products The shop s products are sold at affordable prices The shop offers volunteer opportunities Weaknesses There is a lack of awareness for the shop The shop is operating on a limited budget There is a lack of volunteer participation The shop lacks a digital presence Opportunities To connect the shop to the HIU To emphasize the uniqueness of the shop s products To highlight the affordability of the shop s products To offer volunteer opportunities Threats There are many other similar stores with a stronger digital presence A lack of connection to the HIU A weak digital presence A lack of volunteers

3 Goals and Objectives Goals: 1. Increase foot traffic to the Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop. 2. Increase traffic to the online store. 3. Increase in-store sales for the Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop. 4. Increase online sales for the Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop. 5. Generate online donations towards the scholarship program. 6. Generate interest in volunteer participation locally. 7. Generate interest in volunteer participation for traveling to Uganda. 8. Increase awareness of connection between Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda Impact Objectives: 1. To increase traffic to Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop by 50% by January 1 st, To increase traffic to the online store by 50% by January 1 st, To increase in-store sales for the Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop by 50% by January 1 st, To increase online sales for by 50% by January 1 st, To generate 50% more online donations towards the scholarship program by January 1 st, To acquire five new local volunteers by January 1 st, To acquire two new volunteers to travel to Uganda by January 1 st, To increase awareness of the connection between Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda by 100% by January 1 st, Output Objectives: 1. To join and engage on the following five social media platforms: Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by January 1 st, To put out three press releases related to newsworthy events or milestones for Jinja and HIU, by January 1 st, To create an informational brochure that is present at at least three of Jinja s special events before the first special event date. 4. To put on the various special events detailed later in the plan by January 1 st, To put out three media advisories for Jinja s special events prior to the specific special event date. 6. To attend three of the various outreach events detailed later in the plan by January 1 st, To begin issuing a customer evaluation after January 1 st, 2016.

4 Target Audiences Crafty Individuals: With the unique items that Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop sells, hitting a target audience of crafty individuals is key. The demographics of people who like to create and purchase hand-made products are as follows: years old, predominantly women, have a household income between $25,000-$49,999. Farmer s markets and craft fairs are the best places for reaching this audience. Potential farmers markets and craft fairs are listed under the Outreach Events in the Traditional Tactics Section. Also, art consignment stores will reach this audience. An example of a potential consignment store to partner with is Carousel Consignments located at 31 S Main St in Janesville, Wisconsin. Carousel Consignments is located in downtown Janesville. Their description on Facebook states, An Exciting 4000 sq. ft. shop crammed with antiques, collectible, and housewares. We would love to hear what you think of the store and as always feel free to stop in! This place can be used to sell Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop s products. Volunteers: A great place to look for volunteers is the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater s Business School. Each student needs 20 hours of volunteer service in order to graduate. To keep things even more local, contact the students of Janesville High Schools for volunteers. Many high school students are seeking out volunteer opportunities to participate in and to put on college applications. Also, refer to the College Students section to seek volunteers within relevant student organizations. Janesville Residents: Janesville Residents are a crucial target audience because the store is located in their city. Reaching out to Janesville may seem like a huge task, but with performing the tactics listed (and the subsequent word of mouth), it is achievable. Localize the plan s tactics whenever possible. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should connect with local Janesville businesses and place brochures within the businesses that agree. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should also connect with the city and place brochures within public buildings. College Students: College students are a huge target audience to be reached. They are eager to get involved with different organizations and volunteering experiences. Many organizations even require volunteer hours. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda are perfect for these sought after experiences. Below is a list of relevant University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student organizations (UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee have similar groups). American Marketing Association. This group could help with marketing Jinja Jewelry. Contact them at uwwama@gmail.com Pre-Health Associates of Today. This group is filled with students interested in the medical field. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop could use this group as volunteers

5 for the store or as volunteers for the Hope Institute of Uganda trips. Contact them at Pi Sigma Epsilon Fraternity. PSE organizes community service projects and sales and marketing events. Jinja could contact them to discuss marketing ideas and also community service projects that can help raise money for Hope Institute of Uganda. Contact them at Helping Hands. The purpose of this group is to help people through volunteer work. Jinja could use them as volunteers for the store. Contact them at Circle K International. This group is about community service throughout the world. Jinja could use this group as volunteers for the store or for the Uganda trips. Contact them at hodgeskj20@uww.edu AIGA (Student Design Association). This group is involved with graphic design and is always looking for ways to add to their design portfolio. Jinja could work with them on graphic designs. Contact them at aiga@uww.edu One Campus Chapter, UW-W. This organization s description states, ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. Jinja could use them as a group that sells for Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop, volunteers for the store and furthers the connection to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. Contact them at wocc@uww.edu African Student Association. This student organization promotes African Affairs for interested students. Jinja could use this student organization for help with special events and as volunteers for the store. Contact them at Konerm17@uww.edu International Student Association. This club exists to promote diversity and cross cultural communication among students. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop can use members of this student organization for help with special events, as volunteers at the store, and as volunteers for the Hope Institute of Uganda trips. Contact them at isa@uww.edu Messaging The tagline Jinja for Hope will be used across all proposed tactics. This concise yet effective tagline will serve as a way to unite all of the tactics and attribute them to the organization. Jinja for Hope works to achieve our goal of emphasizing Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop s connection to the Hope Institute of Uganda. Examples of this include naming a brochure Jinja for Hope and using the hashtag #JinjaForHope after all tweets on the organization s twitter account.

6 Traditional Tactics Special Events: The Lion King: As the national tour of the broadway show, The Lion King, travels the country, an organization has recognized the connection to Africa and is selling handmade jewelry from Africa. In January of 2015, Marcus Theatres created a marketing promotion called Enchanted Tales. This promotion sought to capitalize on the nostalgia people feel for older Disney movies. Our proposed special event combines these two successful efforts made by other organizations. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should connect with movie theaters in the area and sponsor the showing(s) of the Disney movie, The Lion King. At the showings, Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should make a brief announcement to provide the audience with information and should have a table to provide the audience with the opportunity to purchase products. Jinja should try to get the participating theaters to show the movie for free or for a discounted cost (the latter was done by Marcus Theatres). It either offers the theaters an opportunity to participate in a worthy cause or to profit from attendance. Each showing requires a spokesperson, products and brochures. Possible theaters: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater s movie theater in the University Center, Cinemas of Whitewater, Wildwood Theatre in Janesville. Out of Africa: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop s Out of Africa is an incredible event. It entails a lot of different activities including: sampling African treats, listening and dancing to African music, participating in a Safari Treasure Hunt, seeing how clothing is made in Uganda, crafting, playing games and listening to storytelling. The event is a chance to learn more about our global world. This year, Out of Africa is set to take place in October. The most important thing is to get the word out as soon as possible via all of the proposed social media accounts. The organization should encourage volunteers, customers, friends and family to share the event on their social media pages to spread the word even more. Also, a flyer explaining the event should be produced. The flyer should be put up around Janesville, Whitewater, Milwaukee, Madison and Rockford. Jinja should also bring copies of the flyer to the other special events and to the outreach events. Book Drive: There is a Library in Jinja, Uganda that has very little of what an actual Library should have. Gideon explained that there was a volunteer working on the library project, but it was never fully realized. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Store should sponsor a book drive at local libraries, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and nearby universities. The book drive could also happen at local government buildings. Once the books are collected, at no cost to the organization, the books can be sent to the library in Uganda.

7 Press Releases: When it comes to press releases, they need to announce something news worthy. Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda should contact the Janesville Gazette when a group of people from Janesville goes over to Uganda. This would give the organization a local appeal, increase the public s awareness and increase interest in the cause and shop. Brochure: A brochure should be made that presents information about the Hope Institute of Uganda and the purpose of Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop. The brochures should be placed in Janesville businesses, Janesville public buildings and anywhere else that the organization gains approval for. These brochures should highlight the connection between Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda. Directions for connecting with Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop's social media pages should be included in the brochures; in doing this, a traditional tactic aids in the success of a new media tactic. Outreach Events: Milwaukee Domes Art Festival Milwaukee, WI Saturday, May 23 $35 application fee Outdoor booth fees: $250 for three days. A limited number of indoor booths will be available for $450. Indoor booths are available on a first-come-first-served basis and are air-conditioned. African World Festival Henry Maier Festival Park Summerfest Milwaukee, WI Sunday, August 3 $650 Standard Registration Fee -- May 15 $850 Late Registration Fee -- July 15 Spring Kick-Off Craft Show Oneida County Senior Center Rhinelander, WI Saturday, May 2 Fee $25 for 10 X 6 set-up Hand crafted items only Bring own table/ chair

8 Black Student Union Organization UW-Whitewater African-American Dance event Contact: Terri Jones -- Program Associate for the Office of Multicultural Affairs & Student Success Office: McCutchan Hall, Room 225 Phone: (262) Winter Art Fair Off The Square Madison, WI November Application Fee: $25 Booth Fees: $300 Art On The Lawn Rockford, Illinois July 19 Application Fee $10 Booth fee $70 New Media Tactics Social Media: Etsy: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should join and sell their products on Etsy. Etsy is a social media site that allows people to buy and sell items. The site places an emphasis on handmade items so it is perfect for the products from Uganda that Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop is attempting to sell. There is a lot of competition to sell on Etsy with 1.4 million active sellers, but there is even more opportunity because there are 19.8 million active buyers. Pinterest: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should join Pinterest. Pinterest focuses on projects and crafts and, therefore, it is great for displaying the handmade items from Uganda. On Pinterest, a potential customer can click on a photo of an item and be taken to a website. Jinja can post pictures of their products, which link to the website where their items are sold. There is a potential to reach a large amount of people because Pinterest has over 70 million users. With Pinterest, the stores website must be updated regularly so future customers know what is in stock.

9 Instagram: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should join Instagram. Instagram offers Jinja a unique social media opportunity. Instagram s focus is photos; since crafts are visual and artistic, photos are the best way to represent the products. Potential customers are able to view the jewelry and follow a link in Jinja Jewelry s bio section to purchase items. Instagram has over 300 million users so it provides the organization with an incredibly large audience. Twitter: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should join Twitter to update publics about products, events, and anything else pertaining to Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop. Links can be included in tweets which bring potential customers to the store s website or Etsy account. Jinja should use the hashtag #JinjaForHope in their tweets. This connects any twitter discussion about the organization and helps accomplish our goal to emphasize the link between Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and Hope Institute of Uganda. Twitter has over 645 million users for Jinja to potentially engage with. Facebook: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop needs to consolidate its multiple Facebook pages. Once there is one Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop page, the page needs to be used to update publics about products, invite publics to events, and promote anything else pertaining to the organization. The Facebook page should offer many links to the Etsy and Instagram pages since those are more focused on aesthetic and on purchasing. Although engagement on Facebook is not the most applicable for Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop, its enormous number of users (890 million) makes it worth inclusion. YouTube: Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop should establish a YouTube channel. Videos uploaded to the channel would include videos showcasing products and vlogs from those traveling to Uganda. A specific example would be to upload the interview about the Hope Institute of Uganda that appeared on NBC15. Having content related to both the store and the Hope Institute of Uganda as a whole serves to emphasize the connection between the two. YouTube has over 1 billion users and generates billions of views every day; therefore, it offers the organization a huge potential audience. Jinja For Hope Blog: Jinja should create a blog called the Jinja For Hope Blog. Postings on the blog would include stories about the creation of a product and descriptions of the product. The postings on the blog would also include stories of the personal experiences from those who have traveled to Uganda with the Hope Institute of Uganda. The blog would further Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop s digital presence and its content would further highlight the correlation between the store and the Hope Institute of Uganda.

10 Evaluation Internal Evaluation (Issue after January 1st, 2016): Did Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop experience 50% more foot traffic? Did Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop experience 50% more online traffic? Did the in-store sales increase by 50%? Did the website s sales increase by 50%? Did online donations towards scholarships increase by 50%? Did the store acquire 5 new local volunteers? Did the HIU acquire 2 new volunteers to travel to Uganda? Was awareness of the connection between Jinja fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda increased by 100%? Did Jinja join and engage on the following five social media platforms: Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? Did Jinja put out 3 press releases? Did Jinja create an information brochure, which was available at three special events?

11 Did Jinja put on the various special events detailed in the public relations plan? Did Jinja participate in three outreach events? Event Name: Location: Event Name: Location: Event Name: Location: Did Jinja put out three media advisories for Jinja s special events? Has Jinja issued a customer evaluation now that the plan is complete? Traditional Tactics used: Not Effective New Media Tactics used: Not Effective Effective Effective Could any part of the campaign be improved?

12 Customer Evaluation: Ask each customer who comes to the Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop the following questions: How did you found out about Jinja Fair Trade Gift shop? Can we have your address? An improved way to ask for customer evaluation is to build a customer list. The should include a link to Survey Monkey. ( Greetings Appreciated Customer, Thank you for supporting Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and the Hope Institute of Uganda s mission to help battle extreme poverty, lack of basic medical care, famine, and lack of education in Uganda. We were hoping you could fill out a brief nine-question survey about Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop and our mission. Please click the link below, We appreciate you taking the time to take our survey and hope to see you again soon! Jinja Fair Trade Gift Shop