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Execut ive SummaryS i tuat ion Ana lys i sObject ives and Tact icsEvent Implementat ion Media Implementat ion/Budget , T imel ine SummaryEva luat ion

Appendix 1a: Secondary ResearchAppendix 1b: Primary ResearchAppendix 2: MediaAppendix 3: InsertAppendix 4: Event SummaryAppendix 5: BudgetAppendix 6:TimelineAppendix 7: EvaluationAppendix 8: RecommendationsAppendix 9: BiographiesAppendix 10: References

Jean Triskett-Account ExecutiveKat Salters-Media RelationsAlisha Cooper-Logistical OperationsJen Davidson-Creative TechnicianBeth Dickey- Faculty AdvisorJeff Ranta- Professional Advisor

More Than Just Hocus Pocus...

Every 24 minutes Habitat gives a family a keyto their house.

We created a campaign that would equip ourclient, Central South Carolina (CSC) Habitatfor Humanity, with the tools and awarenessthey need to promote their store and establisha source of revenue. A successful store enablesHabitat to fulfill its mission to house, equip, andeducate those less fortunate.

Equally, The Merlin Group and Habitat sharethe goal of working toward a better commmu-nity.

The MerlinGroupIt’s not hocus pocus. Our

campaign is based on research,sound objectives and tactics,solid implementation, and mea-sureable results.

Read ahead to discover themagic of our campaign.

Columbia’s local Habitat for Humanity Storeneeded a makeover. The Merlin Group usedstategic objectives and tactics to increaseawareness and sales for the Habitat Store, thusensuring its future as a key source of funding forthe mission. ’

CSC Habitat haspotential to increasesales by incorporating anew target market: col-lege students.

Research and eventsshow the success of ourcampaign. Growth insales, volunteerism, andawareness of CSCHabitat Store were allaccomplished.

Publicity generated byour campaign was themajor factor in increasing their sales nearly100% during the campaign. We exceeded theirminimum monthly goal by approximately$17,000.(See Appendix 7)

Habitat Store in its old location in Five Points.

Target Audiences and *Key Messages:

Primary Audience: USC College students ages18-25 who live on and off campus.

*Information about the Habitat Store and itslocation

*Information on items available at the Habitat Store

*Ways students can volunteer with Habitat for Humanity

*Make second-hand items acceptable

Secondary Audience: USC College students’ par-ents and local community members.

*Affordable ways to supply students with items for college

*Ways to give back to the community through Habitat for Humanity

*Information on what the Habitat Store offers.

Our goal was to raise awareness about the CSCHabitat Store among 18-25 year old college stu-dents and increase both volunteerism and storerevenue.

Our Cinderella-like makeover was accom-plished using the following ingredients:

1. A pinch of publicity2. A touch of determination3. College students added for flavor

The Merlin Group’s perfect potion transformedCSC Habitat’s future.

The Problem: *The CSC Habitat Store’s item turnaround

was slower than other affiliates.*Despite a relocation, Habitat store traffic was

still below expectations.*Staffing was a critical issue.

The Solution:*USC COLLEGE STUDENTS

Overview:

Habitat for HumanityInternational is a non-profitorganization striving to endhomelessness around the world.

Established in 1985, the CSCHabitat affiliate is responsible forRichland and Lexington counties.In this area, it is estimated thatone of every four families lives inpoverty. (See Appendix 1a)

To help the community, CSCHabitat provides homes fordeserving residents. Althoughoriginally located in Five Points, amain area of downtownColumbia, the store still lackedvisibility and familiarity, particular-ly among our target audience,college students.

Researching Habitat forHumanity as a whole was thegroundwork to building a suc-cessful campaign. Conductingsecondary research providedinsight for a star ting point.Primary research conducted ona local level uncovered severalissues:

1. There is a continuous strug-gle for awareness of the HabitatStore among USC college stu-dents ages 18-25.

*Awareness is the pri-mary issue in marketing a store. If CSCHabitat lacks this awareness it will have weak activity.

*The new store location lacks visibility.

*A negative perception of second-handitems prevents students from shoppingat the store.

2. The Habitat Store faces the challenge of avolunteer shortage.

*Students expect something in return when volunteering. “Volunteering has lost its venerable aspect, because now everyone forces you to do it,” says John, a member of a focus group con-ducted by The Merlin Group on USC’s campus.

*Students are unaware of abundant volunteer opportunities associatedwith Habitat for Humanity.

3. Lack of steady revenueaffects the number of housesCSC Habitat builds.

*Annually, Charlotte,N.C. builds approximately 50 houses; Columbia builds 10-12 houses

*CSC Habitat has a staffing deficit. This presents a predicament with turnaround, delivery and pickup, fundrais-ing, building houses, and sales in the store.(See Appendix 1a &b)

A form of Habitat’s advertising is their moving truck.

Overview

The Merlin Group createdreachable objectives that wouldhelp CSC Habitat for Humanity’scurrent situation and provideobjectives they can implement inthe future.

Objective 1: Incorporatecollege students as animportant target market forthe CSC Habitat forHumanity Store.

Strategy 1: Strengthen the rela-tionship with the University ofSouth Carolina (USC) andHabitat

Tactic 1: Establish relations withUSC student media to advertisethe Habitat Store.

Tactic 2: Incorporate the Habitat Store on cam-pus by sponsorship of events.

Objective 2: Market CSC Habitat Storeto achieve 75% student awareness.

Strategy 1: Conduct events that promote andpublicize the Habitat Store.

Tactic 1: Conduct a “mock yard sale”in front of the USC Student Unionusing items from the Habitat Store.A hands on display of goods avail-able at the store may stimulate traf-fic and convince students to shop atthe CSC Store. Literature aboutHabitat and the Store was handedout during the sale. (See Appendix 4)

Tactic 2: Alter a negative stereotypeattached to second-hand items byconducting a dorm room makeoveron the USC campus. By exclusivelyusing items from the Habitat Store,a miraculous room transformationfostered positive publicity for theCSC affiliate. (See Appendix 4)USC campus during class change.

Strategy 2: Embrace the use of cutting edge,student-friendly technology to promote thecontest opportunity.

Tactic 1: Using www.Facebook.com, a socialnetworking website, we created an interestgroup that provided updated information onthe contest, the store, and our campaign.(See Appendix 2B)

Tactic 2: Enhance the dorm room makeoverevent by developing a website for the applica-tion process. The websitewww.jour.sc.edu/pages/bateman2006, servedas the hub where students viewed all informa-tion regarding the event. This website ensuredcomplete knowledge of the requirements andrules. (See Appendix 4)

Tactic 3: Promote the online applicationthrough a student listserv. The listserv is anelectronic announcement students receive intheir emails. The Merlin Group’s announce-ment gave information about the contest andthe link to the application site. (See Appendix 2I)

Tactic 2: Collaborate with atleast two student organizations.

Tactic 3: Partner with University10 to generate voluteers.University 101 is a introductoryorientation course for freshmanwith mandatory service results.

Alisha Cooper recruits a student volunteer.

Strategy 3: Utilize media to gain positive public-ity for our events.

Tactic 1: Generate a press release to send to TheState newspaper and The Gamecock.(See Appendix 2G)

Tactic 2: Gain publicity by using a variety ofadvanced multimedia outlets. These outletsinclude a local television station, print media,and websites containing online news.(See Appendix 2C-2H)

Objective 3: Increase volunteerism for theCSC Habitat for Humanity Store.

Strategy 1: Face-to-face recruitment for CSCvolunteers.

*In-store help*Builders*Fundraisers

Tactic 1: Students can sign-up at focus groupsand/or “mock yard sale.” Our goal is to obtain25-30 volunteers.

only one received the makeover, the campuswide opinion of second-hand items can poten-tially change. (See Appendix 4)

Event Promotion:

*150 multicolor fliers posted in residence halls, academic buildings, and the student union (See Appendix 2A)

*Facebook announcement sent to USC stu-dents (See Appendix 2B)

Dorm RoomMakeoverDouglas Residence Hall8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.Feb. 22

The popularity of realitytelevision among colleges t u d e n t scontinuesto risewith pro-g r a m s

such as TLC’s Trading Spacesand While You Were Out. Themagic of new décor in a dullroom changes appearancesand attitudes. Through TheMerlin Group’s Dorm RoomMakeover, on campus studentshad the opportunity to change theirroom’s appearance by applying online. Although

“Mock Yard Sale”Greene Street, in front ofRussell House Student Union10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Feb. 7

Considering the abundance ofitems available at the HabitatStore, conducting a “mock yardsale” visuallyattracts stu-dents whiledemonstratingthe benefits ofp u r c h a s i n gsecond-handitems.

Although noitems could besold at ourevent due toUniversity regulation, the intrigu-ing scene guarantees opportuni-ties for interaction. Using CSCHabitat’s truck as a backdrop,there was no mistake that items

from the “mock yard sale”came from the HabitatStore.(See Appendix 4)

Students sign-up at the “mock yard sale” tovolunteer for Habitat.

The “mock yard sale” set caught the atten-tion of students passing by.

Event Promotion:

*500 multicolor fliers posted in residence halls,academic buildings, cars in USC parking garages,and the student union. (See Appendix 2A)

*Facebook announcement sent to USC stu-dents (See Appendix 2B)

Facebook, a popular social networking web-site, is key in college student communicationtoday.Technology advances daily and the targetaudience uses it relentlessly.To appeal to collegestudents, technology is vital. The Facebookannouncement covers the event providingspecifics similar to the flyer.

Facebook group:“Make Over My Dorm Room.”

Students were invited to join the online groupwhere the main page contained all informationabout the makeover. Word-of-mouth increasedthe membership and awareness of the event.The group provided access to the Habitat Storewebsite and the contest application. Frequentannouncements gave latest updates about theevent to enable university wide awareness.(See Appendix 2B)

Web based contest application

The application obtained student demograph-ic, encouraged creativity through a 100 wordessay and provided humorous content for oth-ers to read. Executing the contest through awebsite proves the frequency in whichcollege students utilize the Internet daily.(See Appendix 4)

Event Publicity

The following websites featured anannouncement about the makeover:

*The CSC Habitat for Humanity website

*The Carolina Reporter*Carolina Today*Carolina Productions*The Main USC homepage*The USC Housing website*School of Journalism and

Mass Communications home page, whichreceives 107,581 hits per month. Each ofthese websites provides a link to theapplication website. (See Appendix 2H) Mike Miller’s new loft bed constructed

with Habitat wood and paint.

WLTXNews 19

Media atten-tion is key inearning publicity for an event.WLTX News 19, a local CBSnews station, covered themakeover story and aired iton the 6, 7 and 11p.m. news,and on their website.

Reporter Addie Bradshawof WLTX arrived at DouglasResidence Hall at 8:30 a.m.,capturing initial pictures andvideo of the dorm roombefore the transformation.Br adshawi n t e r -viewed TheM e r l i nG r o u pi n q u i r i n gabout thedecoratingplans, theH a b i t a t

Store, the campaign, and also theBateman Competition.

WTLX proceeded to take video ofthe makeover until 9:30 a.m.Bradshaw then accompanied twomembers of The Merlin Group to theHabitat Store where Roy Kramer, CSCExecutive Director was interviewed.

At 5:30 p.m WLTX returned andinterviewed the winner of the DormRoom Makeover, Mike Miller prior tothe revealing. They caught Miller’sreaction and filmed the completedproject. Bradshaw’s message aboutthe Habitat Store helped the campaign and ver-balized all the great items Habitat offers.

(See Appendix 2D)

Student Newspaper

The Gamecock isUSC’s student newspa-per. The paper versionis published three timesa week. The Gamecockonline is updated daily.An article about TheMerlin Group’s Habitat

“mock yard sale” was published online atwww.TheDailyGamecock.com, which receivesapproximately 9,000 hits a day.

USC faculty, staff, and students read TheGamecock and its online publication. The paperversion of The Gamecock covered the dormroom makeover story. Information was givenabout Habitat’s sponsorship in the contest andhow students can decorate their own rooms

with Habitatitems.

(See Appendix 2C)

Merlin Group member Kat Salters gets interviewed by Addie Bradshawfrom WLTX.

Mike Miller meets Addy Bradshaw from WLTX.

Carolina Reporter

The Carolina Reporter is a pre-professional stu-dent-run newspaper that prints both paper andonline versions.The paper version runs twice amonth. The Carolina Reporter is updated daily.An article about Bateman and each USC team,including The Merlin Group was published onthe week of March 2, 2006. The featured top-ics included transforming the public image of theCSC Habitat Store, background of Habitat,increasing awareness, increasing knowledge ofthe variety of different ways to volunteer, andtargeting college students.These topics gave thereaders an idea of the goals of The BatemanTeam Case Study Competition, awareness ofHabitat for Humanity, and more information onthe mission of The Merlin Group’s campaign.(See Appendix 2E)

Carolina Today

The University’s main website covered themakeover and provided excellent press forHabitat for Humanity. The story was postedonline for two-and-a-half weeks. (See Appendix 2H)

*Messages were also sent through Facebookand reached over 1000 USC Students.(See Appendix 2B)

Budget:

Our budget was modeled after a Habitat budget: Doing amazing things with little funds.

Our total campaign cost $364.00.(See Appendix 5)

Timeline Summary:

Our timeline stretched from November 29, 2005to March 21, 2006.

All our events were completed by February 28,2006, in compliance with PRSSA regulations.(See Appendix 6)

ROI Summary

Our ROI exceeded $15.00 for every dollar spent.It included broadcast and print media. Our campaignalso included a substantial amount of unpaid media,while did not contribute directly to the ROI figures,served to dramatically raise awareness and con-tribute to the overall success of our campaign.(See Appendix 5)

Objective 3: Increase volunteerism forthe CSC Habitat Store.

Exceeded

The original goal for this objective was to gain25-30 volunteers and at least two studentorganizations to partner with CSC Habitat dur-ing our campaign. After successful events andpromotions, The Merlin Group was able torecruit 53 volunteers and four different studentorganizations agreed to partner with CSCHabitat for Humanity. These organziationsinclude:

*Reformed University Fellowship*Campus Crusade for Christ*Baptist Collegiate Ministry*Maxcy College

(See Appendix 4)

Objective 2: Market CSC Habitat Storeensuring 75% of local student awareness.

Exceeded

Of the 260 surveyed USC students, 96 wereknowledgeable about the CSC Habitat storeand its location. The original goal was toincrease this number by 75%. After saturatingthe campus with fliers and information with keymessages, gaining media coverage, hostingevents, and gaining partnerships, The MerlinGroup was successful at increasing that numberby 83%. Overall 216 students surveyed wereknowledgeable about the CSC Habitat storeand its location. (See Appendix 1B)

Objective 1: Incorporatecollege students as animportant target marketfor the CSC Habitat forHumanity Store.

Achieved

During meetings with Habitat,recommendations were madeto advertise and publicize theHabitat for Humanity store inUSC publications, including, TheGamecock, Garnet & Black, andRussell House Student Unionadvertising. Recommendationswere also made to sponsorongoing events taking place onUSC’s campus.

Overall Campaign: Far Exceeded

-Larry Forsyth, Development Director of CSC Habitat

“On average, our sales have increased from about $450per day to $900 per day. We believe the publicity gen-

erated by your project was a major factor in this.”