imPRess is a full-service public relations agency located in College Park, Maryland. Our mission is to provide clients with integrated communication programs for the achievement of their unique goals. Founded by five college seniors, imPRess understands the latest trends and new techniques in order to deliver exceptional results for our clients.

Situation Analysis

For nearly a century, the Mars corporation has been a leader in the chocolate and confectionery industries across the world. Mars Incorporated leveraged its success as the makers of the famous Milky Way and Snickers bars in the early 20th century to introduce products for the pet care, food, and drink industries. Today, after several strategic acquisitions and diversification in the marketplace, the Mars brand competes with industry leaders across all product segments. Although Mars as a whole company has thrived continuously since its conception, several current organizational qualities contribute to the unique situation Mars faces in 2012.

Strong SalesIn the U.S., the six segments of Mars operate in different locations across the country. Despite geographical separation, the company as a whole has maintained strong sales across the globe. The current net profit of Mars products exceeds $30 billion annually and Forbes ranks Mars as the 5th largest privately owned company.1 Mars chocolate brands include M&Ms, Snickers, Twix and Dove. Seven of the top 20 favorite chocolate candies in the U.S. are a part of the Mars brand. In operation for more than 75 years, the petcare segment includes household favorites such as Pedigree, Cesar and Whiskas. After acquiring the Wrigley company in the early 21st, Mars subsequently acquired the two billion-dollar global brands Extra and Orbit among 39 other brands. Uncle Ben’s leads the Mars food segment with billion-dollar sales and a variety of products for household food choices. Finally, Mars’ drink brands serve more than 35 thousand businesses each year.2

Expanding SegmentsDespite operating dozens of brands that generate billion-dollar sales annually, Mars does not have an identity that links the strengths of its different segments together. Most consumers recognize M&Ms and Uncle Ben’s as completely different and unrelated entities when in fact, they are both operated as parts of the large Mars Incorporated. Frank C. Mars probably never imagined this situation in 1911 when he first began making chocolate candies. But in 2012, the reality is continual expansion for Mars into new segments and industries. Mars acquired Wrigleys, a company with its own distinct corporate identity, only a few years ago. As Mars continues to acquire successful companies such as Wrigley's and Dove, as well as diversify its products, it will be increasingly difficult for Mars to build links between its brands.

5 Principles and Corporate ValuesWith strong sales and an employee base of nearly 100,000 people, Mars has spent many decades building and adapting its organization’s culture. Today’s focus of leaders within the organization is putting its 5 principles in action in its multiple segment’s operations. The Five Principles include quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom. These principles are rooted in Mars’ history as a family owned company. The Mars family has owned and operated the company since it was founded by Frank

1 ^ "America's Largest Private Companies". Forbes.com. November 3, 2010.

2 www.mars.com

C. Mars in 1911. The family fiercely believes in privacy and currently maintains little transparency. Despite the lack of communication about the family to external publics, the company makes clear that strong family values guide the operations of all its locations. Mars currently has adapted the production and distribution of its many products to align with its Five Principles.

Current InitiativesThe symbioscience branch at Mars is an important segment of the organization in the 21st century for honoring the Five Principles and keeping up with current trends of consumers. This branch, established in 2005, contributes through science research to Mars commitment to be a company conscious of its impact on the environment and on stakeholders such as consumers and employees. Some of the most recent research performed by the Symbioscience employees relates to health benefits of the ingredients in Mars products including chocolate and pet food. As a result of accumulating health research, Mars has proactively initiated several programs to reduce negative health impacts of its products. For example, Mars has recently introduced portion controls on its chocolate products. In addition, Mars has teamed up with Change4Life to promote responsible and educated eating among families in the United Kingdom. Although Mars has become a leader in providing opportunities for healthier eating, their initiatives haven’t been communicated effectively to health influentials and consumers in the United States. Effective communication of Mars’ unique innovations and efforts to stakeholders could link the diverse set of brands together under one strong identity.

Opportunity

Mars continues to gain market leadership in the U.S. across its chocolate, gum/confectionery, pet care, and food/drink segments today. But in order to guarantee long-term market leadership, Mars needs to create a strong corporate identity for building sustainable relationships with its key stakeholders.

The consequences of Mars not creating a stronger corporate identity are unsustainable relationships. Relationships could important publics such as consumers and employees could waiver with changing trends or of the day or unanticipated issues and crises. But if Mars can build a strong corporate identity that stakeholders can feel personally connected to and invested in, long-term relationships will withstand trends and issues. Therefore, if Mars builds long-term relationships, Mars can guarantee long-term market leadership.

Research

Mars’ opportunity to attain long-term market leadership through building a strong corporate identity stakeholders can feel connected to can only be seized with a complete understanding of its current organizational situation. Based on a thorough situation analysis, imPRess performed research to understand how our agency can better communicate Mars’ strong initiatives of the 21st century for the creation of a strong corporate brand. The research findings that follow helped us direct a plan that will leverage the strong sales, Five Principles and unique initiatives of Mars to link expanding segments to a strong corporate brand.

Review of secondary researchimPRess reviewed articles about the Mars corporation, trends of health, and recent chocolate and candy studies. In addition to externally written articles, our agency reviewed current Mars communication materials as well as employee communication available on glassdoor.com for more perspective on internal opinions and attitudes. After accumulating extensive secondary research and comprehending the narratives this research tells about the organization and the issues that affect it, imPRess performed a SWOT analysis. As the final step before planning the campaign, the SWOT helps imPRess determine the strengths Mars should leverage, the weaknesses it should improve, the opportunities it should seize and the threats it must anticipate.

Review of Mars in the media

● By 2010, Mars removed 97 percent of the trans fats in its chocolate products known to increase risk of cardiovascular disease.

● Mars has committed not to ship any chocolate product that exceeds 250 calories per portion by 2013.

● Dieticians are advocating for responsible snacking and eating smaller portions of foods high in sugar and fat.

● Mars participated in March 2012 conference improve health through science.● Mars scientists presented cocoa flavonoids findings that prove positive effects on cardiovascular

system.● The Mars company is notoriously secretive.● The current president is the FIRST to not be a part of the Mars family.● Mars is changing ways with Wrigley and initiatives to prevent obesity.

Review of issues (chocolate, candy, food and family health) in the media

● 16.3% sales increase in nutritional bars from January 2011 to January 2012.● Consumers are now more interested in healthful snacking.● Mars has adapted its production by introducing Marathon bars.● Cocoa can reduce LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and prevent heart disease.● Most Americans specify eating less and portion control as methods for losing weight.

Review of Mars’ Communication Materials (Mars innovations)

DINNER FOOD HEALTH● Mars is looking for ways to make a difference in family diets by making our brands more

nutritious and natural, and by using fewer, simpler and more wholesome ingredients.● Mars is innovating to make healthier foods such as UNCLE BEN'S® Whole Grain White Rice.

PET FOOD HEALTH● Pet foods whether specialty or supermarket brands, are based on extensive and evolving

research into pet nutrition.● Mars scientific insights into protein, amino acid, fat content, vitamin and mineral requirements

and macronutrient profiles all ensure that Mars formulates high-quality foods.

WRIGLEY HEALTH● First chewing gum company to receive the American Dental Association (ADA) Seal of

Acceptance, for ORBIT® and EXTRA®,● Chewing these products for 20 minutes after eating stimulates saliva. The European Food Safety

Authority (EFSA) has also given positive opinion on seven oral-health claims.

DRINKS HEALTH● Most of drinks products are relatively low in calories, even hot chocolate drinks, DOVE® and

GALAXY®.

National Partners with Change4Life● Theme: “Eat well, move more, live longer.”● “Mars in the UK is supporting Change4Life by incorporating the Change4Life messaging and

materials into its employee wellness programme, Mars Winning with Wellness.”

SYMBIOSCIENCE HEALTH● Created own patented production process, COCOAPRO®, to deliver products with a guaranteed

level of cocoa flavanols. ● Mars Botanical has launched two products abundant in cocoa flavanols: COCOAVIA™ and

CIRKU™ beverage supplements.

Review of employees’ attitude toward MarsimPRess discovered 27 employee reviews from the past year on www.glassdoor.com. The average rating as a place to work was a 2.32/5. These are the most used phrases by U.S. employees in their reviews:

PROS● Good pay and benefits (14)● Strong brands (5)● Good people (5)

CONS● Very political (8)● Poor management (13)● Lean workforce/company, do more than your share of work (6)

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:● Consistently strong sales and brands such as M&Ms, Uncle Ben’s, Pedigree, etc.● Strong internal communication channels.● Traditionally family centered company with strong values.● 5 principles are clear and strongly used in operations and corporate responsibility.● Partners with TEDMED, a leader in envisioning the future of health and medicine.● MARS has already started reforms to make their products healthier.

Weaknesses:● Un-recognizable brand image, proven by surveys. Many consumers confused.● The company is too private.● Different sectors of company are split up all over the country, little unity.● Employee reviews claim Mars as a company is too political and the management does a

poor job at implementing principles and committing employees to company.

Opportunities:● American obsession with becoming thin and dieting.● A REAL need to fight childhood obesity now.● Moms are in control of family shopping, food and health. Take advantage of large

buying power.● Scientists are currently discovering new healthy aspects of chocolate.

Threats:● May diminish popularity of smaller individual brands.● Common negative perceptions of chocolate and candy for health.● Other parent companies have already built stronger identities such as Hershey and

Nestle.● Recent popularity of activist groups fighting fair trade and animal rights.

Primary Research

After sorting through common themes and trends in the secondary research, imPRess has decided to conduct primary research with the public, supermoms, to help our agency further develop these themes for the creation of effective strategies. Supermoms control health decisions because they do the majority of the food shopping for families caretaking of families. If imPRess is going to link health and Mars, tapping the brains of supermoms to determine what is meaningful to them is the best way for our agency to maximize changes in behavior during this campaign. imPRess built a 10-question survey and emailed the link to moms who belonged to large family-related organizations. Through the snowball effect, 93 moms responded and provided key findings to help our agency build a better campaign.

Key Findings from Survey Results:

● Moms think about health most when buying food for families. Because taste is also important to shoppers, this factor must be incorporated into program messaging.

● Our campaign aims to change the percentage of moms who change diet by stop eating snacks as proven above.

● More moms checked confused next to Mars than Nestle or Hershey. We hope to see changes in this percentage during the post survey after our campaign.

● Because moms trust experts online over celebrities or friends, we will have experts and bloggers online deliver our messages.

● The survey results show that moms shop more at supermarkets than Walmart, Target or Whole Foods so will utilize supermarkets to place our messages.

Additional Key Findings

1. Some of the most popular research right now related to food are chocolate health benefit studies. During our secondary research, we found that many health journals and dieticians recently published articles about cocoa flavonoids and chocolate’s benefits for the heart. This popularity should be utilized as a core component of our campaign’s messaging to take advantage of the current trends and attract more supermoms to campaign.

2. “Health from Heart” theme is a combination of Mars’ initiatives that lower risk for heart disease and Mars’ reputation as a family-oriented company. Through secondary research review, imPRess found these two qualities strengths of Mars.

3. Because moms trust experts for dieting and eating advice, our research from the internet and academic journals should be featured in programming. Influentials should be the voices of our campaign.

4. The Change4Life is a perfect campaign for us to build upon. Although Mars has already started improving the awareness of “educated eating” and responsible snacking, the focus of Change4Life is on Europe and kids. Our campaign will use Change4Life’s concept and connect it to American trends and values found in our secondary research to make the Mars’ corporate brand meaningful to publics in the U.S.

5. The new Mars Marathon Smart Stuff Nutrition bar is a perfect metaphor for our campaign. The research from health journalists above point to more responsible eating and enjoying sweets in moderation. The Marathon bar uses a small amount of delicious Mars chocolate with a whole mixture of whole grains, nutrients and fruit. This bar should be used in the campaign to help publics grasped the concept of incorporating portions of sweets into a healthy diet.

Goals:

1. To be the recognizable corporate brand preferred by health-conscious American consumers.Why? While Mars, Inc. has been successful in producing quality products, the company lacks public recognition of a connection between all of its brands.

2. To align Mars’ internal culture with corporate brand values.Why? Mars, Inc. must rely on the motivation of the company’s employees in order to push for new health initiatives toward the external public. The implementation of a strong, health-conscious, and proud employee base will translate into a strong corporate brand reputation as a whole.

Objectives:

For the first, external goal:

a) Increase consumer association of corporate name with all Mars brands by 75% after three years.

b) Educate 250 health influentials about Mars’ health and wellness initiatives in the first year.

c) Improve positive attitude toward the Mars brand among target public by 50% after three years.

For the second, internal goal:

a) Increase employee interest in joining ambassador or volunteer program by 100% in three years.

b) Increase management advocacy of the Five Principles by 50% in the first year.

Key Publics

The imPRess plan decided to target two important stakeholders in order to implement success for the Mars Inc., brand. The primary publics include moms and Mars employees. Based on the primary research imPRess conducted, we found that moms have the most influence on what the rest of the family eats.

● When addressing the first goal, we have decided to target moms, aged 30-50 who control their families’ shopping, food choices and health. These moms have strong buying power and influence not only over their family but also other moms who may be more concerned about health conscious initiatives.

● Mars employees from all the United States locations are the primary publics in the proposal’s second goal. It is important to have Mars employees understand the Mars brand and feel part of the Mars family, no matter their location.

The secondary publics are consumers who buy Mars products, but who may not have as much influence on others like moms. This secondary public includes young adults and men (aged 30-50).

The campaign’s intervening publics can be utilized to deliver messages more effectively to our primary and secondary publics. Based on research, we found that moms mostly revert to online

articles and experts when searching for dieting advice. Based on these results, imPRess decided to take note of the intervening publics that specifically influence the beliefs of our primary public. These intervening Publics include:

● Mom bloggers● Health bloggers● Medical journalists● Medical professionals with online articles and websites● Food enthusiasts/foodies● Television news outlets (talk shows, morning shows, etc.)● Traditional news outlets (newspapers, magazines, radio, etc.)

Messages to Primary Publics

The imPRess plan crafted six specific key messages that cater to our each of our key publics. The first four messages focus on targeting our “supermom” audience and also support the first, external goal of the imPRess plan. The last two messages target Mars employees and will help attain our second, internal, goal.

Messages to Moms:“Our family loves your family”“Forget strict diets. Mars introduces Educated Eating.”“Chocoholics unite for healthy hearts!”“Let Mars pack your lunch with more balanced nutrition, natural ingredients, real portions and simply delicious flavors.”

Messages to Employees:“Mars is not run by a family, Mars Incorporated is the family.”“Every Mars employee is an Educated Eating ambassador.”

Spokespeople

A team of Mars symbioscience experts will serve as our main spokespeople during the public relations campaign. Head managers and imPRess will choose this team of experts based on their overall likability, knowledge of the company, understanding of the five principles and their communication skills. Those chosen will travel across America during the Mars daytime television show road trip. The experts will be leading demonstrations, talking to the publics about Mars’ new health initiatives, and will specifically present new ideas for healthy recipes using Mars products. We learned from our primary research survey that moms are more likely

to listen to dieting advice from experts rather than friends or celebrities, so imPRess decided this panel would be a credible source for the face of Mars in the eyes of our primary public.

ImPRess also wishes to partner with is Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association (AHA), another credible spokesperson for the campaign. Nancy Brown will be a great spokesperson for this campaign because she is both a mom and a credible expert on current heart health initiatives.

Many dieticians and health experts have found that chocolate’s antioxidants and cocoa flavonoids are actually healthy for your heart because they lower cholesterol, decrease blood pressure and have the potential to prevent heart disease. In addition, Orbit and Extra were the first gum to be approved by the American Dental Association. Research has shown that teeth health is directly related to heart health. A partnership with Nancy Brown, and the American Heart Association, is a strategic method to support the Mars new health initiatives because Brown and AHA are trusted among moms.

External Strategies

1. Involve influencers in Mars initiatives through interactive “Healthy Hearts Across America” family roadtrip events featuring partnership with American Heart Association

Mars will have events in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta in major city parks. The events will be apart of a “Summer Roadtrip” series that encourage supermoms and their families to come out and enjoy Mars products. There will be a Mars RV that travels to all the cities and will be adorned with Mars brands’ logos. During the summer 2013 Mars Inc. will be hitting the road with the American Heart Association to talk about ways to live a healthier lifestyle. The "Healthy Hearts Across America" is a new campaign from the Mars family to yours to teach families healthy ways to diet and still enjoy delicious Mars snacks. The main goal is to have people aware and practicing Educated Eating instead of feeling guilty for indulging in snacking. The Mars RV's first stop will be in the Big Apple on June 8th and will continue throughout the summer. Stations will be set up in city parks with Mars representatives sharing new recipes, talking about the new Mars health initiatives and providing free give-a-ways. Mars is inviting families to come join the new initiative. The media and families will enjoy multiple events at the events including; demonstrations for new recipes, games for children, taste-testing stations with Mars products, food carts and fenced in dog parks with water and Pedigree. A team of Symbioscience members and American Heart Association ambassadors will be at the events to talk about the benefits of whole grain and flavanols for better ingredients for people and pets. There will also be a new Healthy Hearts Roadtrip website created so people can get all the information they need on the initiatives and city stops.

2. Create momentum for the roadtrip events through traditional Media Relations

Develop “Health from the Heart” campaign at least 3 months prior to events and distribute materials to through media outlets. We will use the ads to link the Mars to health initiatives to places that are visited or viewed by targeted consumers. imPRess found through primary research that moms tend to do their family food shopping at grocery chains such as Giant and Food Lion. imPRess will therefore be using these supermarkets to advertise the new Healthy Heart Campaign. In addition, we will have ads in magazines which are read by mothers as well as have a daytime TV tour which spreads awareness about Mars initiatives. The hard copy ads will be one page full color ads in magazines such as Shape, Self, Women’s Day, Ladies Home Journal and Women’s Health. In the grocery stores the same ads will be created into large posters and displayed in the food chains of Giant, Food Lion and Publix. imPress will aim to put the large poster in about 500 stores. In addition to the ads, imPRess will create and distribute press releases closer to the roadtrip event dates. The press releases will be given to to specific reporters at major newspapers with health beats in the six major cities where events will be held that includes information about the events.

3. Form an alliance with the American Heart Association to educate supermoms about the benefits of Mars products for health.

imPRess wants to educate to consumers, specifically mothers, that Mars products although known for snacking, can actually be healthy. Looking at our research we found that our publics trust more in people than they can relate to more than a celebrity. Given this and our health initiative we want to form an alliance with the American Heart Association (AHA). To show our connection with the organization, we want to invite Nancy Brown, the mom-aged CEO of AHA, to talk at roadtrip events and meet moms. She would not only connect the organization with AHA but also with our target publics. To further our alliance, the first February of our 3 year campaign, 5% of all all chocolate sales will go to AHA. February is National Heart Disease Awareness Month, and this is why we chose this month to donate. The alliance and donations will spark awareness for upcoming summer road trip tour. The partnership with AHA will continue for the next two years and each February, proceeds will go to AHA. While we will be connected with AHA we want to make sure that Mars is seen a healthy option for their families. imPRess wants to be sure that our publics are choosing Mars products because they see them as the healthy and best option.

4. Foster advocates of Mars’ health and family initiatives through blogger relations.

Based on secondary research, we found that moms subscribe to and read “mommy blogs.” Additionally, based on primary research, we found moms like to get information and advice through online articles and internet searches. Therefore, imPRess has decided to use these influentials, specifically bloggers, throughout the three year campaign in order to spread awareness of Mars products and health benefits

for families. The bloggers will be targeted to discuss the Mars’ 250 calorie initiative and “chocoholic diet” with 100 U.S. influential family/mom bloggers by sending out blogger media kit that includes an event invitation to the closest city road trip tour, press release, chocolate recipes and Mars products to try. Example: Marathon smart stuff bar. We will also invite bloggers to the “Healthy Hearts Across America” roadtrip events in their local cities and provide them with free samples, demonstrations and speeches.This will further promote our events and provide us with invaluable genuine advertisement from bloggers. To maintain relationships bloggers will be invited to tour facilities, especially symbioscience center.

5. Draw attention to the use of Mars products in family-friendly dinners, snacks, meals and pet meals through a daytime television tour.

Mars’ daytime television show tour combines multiple aspects of secondary research. The strategy will specifically highlight the presentations of health professionals on T.V. in order for stay-at-home moms to watch. Because secondary research shows that most moms turn to doctors and health professionals for health advice, Mars will employ the assistance of various health professionals to perform presentations with Mars’ products. They will highlight healthy recipes moms can make by using Mars products, and will also go into detail about the research conducted by Mar’ often unidentified Symbioscience branch. Most of Mars’ target public during this campaign – Moms – are unaware of the great amount of scientific research that Mars performs in an effort to strengthen the value and health of all of its products.

A daytime television show tour will specifically appeal to Moms because the shows occur in the morning and throughout the daytime. Moms, some of whom are stay-at-home and are always eager to implement new healthy recipes, will be interested in watching these daytime television shows. Shows to be included in the tour are:

● The Rachael Ray Show● Live With Kelly● Good Morning America● The Today Show● The Doctors● The Ellen Show

These shows specifically appeal to Mars’ target audience of Moms and food bloggers. Presentations by health professionals on these shows will draw a great amount of attention to Mars’ “educated eating” initiative and will share a new spin on the idea of healthy snacking. This tour will position the Mars brand as a leader in protecting family health by having Mars representatives and health professional specifically talk about recent portion control, sodium reduction, cocoa science, saliva research, and pet gold standard initiatives during demonstrations.

6. Generate a buzz about Mars among the public through Social Media.

imPRess decided utilizing social media outlets would be a great way to get people interested in our campaign. We have decided to implement the following:

● Twitter account to post unusual nutrition facts for followers and healthy recipes with use of Mars food products. @mars_heart

● Application for smartphones that has a daily Mars health recipe available for users● Mars campaign blog that highlights healthy posts and Mars employee spotlight: “guest

employee blogger of the week” whose blog post is connected to the employee's own personal health and wellness motivation practices. Link the blog on all small brands popular Facebook pages. (Skittles & Uncle Ben’s very interactive Facebook pages)

● QR codes on advertisements to be used to guide public to blog (Appendix C)

These outlets allow for interaction between the organization and the publics. Having active sites that allows for two-way communication will keep our publics engaged and involved in the conversation.

Internal Strategies

1. Activate U.S. employees to commit to 5 principles by promoting interactive contests at each location.

After conducting secondary internal research, imPRess found that many Mars employees said that although the Mars 5 Principles are a good platform for the organization, they also said that the principles do not necessarily resonate as they once did, especially since the acquisition of Wrigley. Therefore, imPRess felt it was important to reinstate these principles so Mars can be a cohesive organization once again. We have decided to encourage these 5 principles through interactive contests among the employees at all levels. Management will distribute handouts to employees that explains the contest. The employees will form teams to build unity competing to build the best community project that incorporates the principles. The teams at each location that win will compete with other locations’ winners across the country, forming some kind of unity among the various Mars locations throughout the US.

2. Encourage employees to become ambassadors of Mars’ new initiatives by hosting Brown Bag Lunch Series:

This series will allow for employees to learn from the Mars symbioscience team about the new health initiatives from Mars, allowing employees to develop healthier eating habits. Once a month at each location members from the symbioscience branch will educate Mars employees through a series of brown bag lunches where the speakers bring in healthy food. This will get

Mars employees to realize the importance of healthy eating and encourage them to practice healthier lifestyles. By informing employees on Mars’ health initiatives they will be better apt to talk about Educated Eating. The knowledge that they gain will allow them to communicate to their family and friends how Mars is making an effort to be a healthy company.

3. Foster participation among employees by featuring Employee Spotlight On Blog:

To have employees feel more like a family at Mars, imPRess decided it would be useful to have an Employee Spotlight each week so employees can talk about their life at Mars and what they do to stay healthy. This will not only benefit the internal organization, but also will allow transparency. It will allow outside publics to get a glance at Mars worklife and will give employees a chance to be an ambassador for the healthy Mars initiatives. Employees of the week will be chosen by a manager based upon great work to write a guest blogging piece about their own motivation to be healthy in the home. The previous strategies will help to make sure that employees are aware and have the resources to be health conscious Americans. By featuring them on a blog, Mars’ employees and consumers will see how the company truly does care about its employees and leading healthy lifestyles. Each Mars location will participate in the blog and a schedule of rotation will come into effect.

BudgetFor the MARS proposal, we determined a budget of $2,000,000 would be required to implement

our strategies. The budget is broken down into nine categories:1. Monthly Professional Services. Monthly professional services is the cost to pay each member of

imPRess.2. Out of Pocket

a. Surveys: A membership to a survey provider website is roughly $800 per year. The projected budget for surveys also includes the cost to get publics to participate in the surveys.

b. Website/App development: The cost for creating the new MARS blog, mobile application and QR codes. The projected budget is largest in the first year because of the development process. The remaining budget is projected for website and mobile app maintenance.

c. Give-aways: This is the projected budget set aside for product give-aways (such as MARS Marathon bars) at the summer road-trip events.

d. Advertisement placements: The cost to place (not create) full-page advertisements in Shape, Women's Health, Ladies Home Journal, Self, Women's Day twice.

e. Venue bookings: The venue bookings budget includes the cost to rent out the six parks during the summer road trip, as well as the cost for security and other necessary event maintenance personnel.

f. Speaker training: The anticipated cost for preparing speakers for event presentations and Q&A sessions.

g. Travel expenses: The cost for the RV rental, gas for the cross-country road trip, hotel bookings and other travel necessities.

h. Donation base: The cost to start a donation fund for the American Heart Association. The remainder of the donations will come from a portion of proceeds in February of each year of the campaign.

i. Media kits: The projected cost to create, compile, and distribute press materials for the media, bloggers, and other influentials.

Expense June-Dec 2012

Jan-Dec 2013

Jan-Dec 2014

Jan-May 2015

Monthly professional services

$87,500 $150,000 $150,000 $62,500

Out of pocket

Surveys $1,250 $1,250 $1,250 $1,250

Website/App/QR code development

$12,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500

Give-aways $1,300 $1,700 $1,300 $1,300

Advertisement placements

$800,000 -- $400,000 --

Venue bookings -- $300,000 -- --

Speaker training -- $7,000 -- --

Travel expenses (including gas)

-- $17,500 $13,000 --

RV rental -- $100,000 -- --

Media kits $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000

Donation base $20,000 $20,000 $20,000

Total $912,550 $608,950 $597,050 $96,550

Three year total $2,215,100

Timeline

For the MARS proposal, a three-year timeline was created. Further, the timeline was broken down into four segments, (1) June-Dec 2012, (2) Jan-Dec 2013, (3) Jan-Dec 2014, and (4) Jan-May 2015. The first segment of the campaign, June-Dec 2012, will be dedicated to brainstorming and preparations. It is essential that during the beginning of the campaign, MARS creates all of its web and app material so that it is ready for release in the following year. In order to be best prepared throughout the entire campaign, MARS needs to prepare all materials early on in the plan.

In June-August of the next year, MARS will be embarking on its summer road tour. The tour will start in NYC on June 8th, and then travel to DC, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and finally ending in LA on August 24th. Other highlights of the 2013 projected timeline are ad/media kit dissemination and the beginning of the employee contest and brown bag lunch series.

2014 will be largely focused on the daytime TV tour and the blogger tour. Additionally, MARS should begin incorporating employee stories in the campaign blog.

Finally, the campaign will wrap-up during Jan-May of 2015. MARS will conduct a post-test to determine if publics have changed their perceptions of the brand. The final months of the campaign will also include sending out final media kits to bloggers in order to wrap-up the relationships developed over the three year engagement.

EvaluationIt is important to evaluate the campaign in order to determine its successes and

opportunities for improvement. Evaluation should take place throughout the entire campaign, not just at the end. The most beneficial method of evaluating this campaign is by using the PII formula. The PII formula presents three elements: preparation, implementation, and impact.

● Preparation. Investigating the preparation of the MARS campaign shows how successful the plan and research was. The questions to ask when evaluating the preparation include:

■ Was the timing for the road trip realistic? ■ Did we anticipate how many people would attend the events?■ Did we target the right bloggers and influentials for spreading messages?■ Was the employee contest design motivating?

● Implementation. This step of evaluation investigates the successes and opportunities for improvement in regards to output objectives and execution of those objectives. The questions to consider when evaluating implementation include:

■ How many unique traditional media hits did the campaign generate?■ How many bloggers and/or moms attended the events?■ How many RSVPs were obtained for the events?■ How many hits did the website, www.healthyheartsroadtrip.com, receive?■ How many Twitter followers did the account gain?■ How many users follow the blog? How many comments and/or notes did

the users contribute?■ How many QR codes did the campaign receive?■ How many employee projects were submitted?

● Impact. Finally, evaluating the impact of the campaign considers the successes and opportunities for improvement in regards to outcome objectives. Ultimately, this is where the campaign is assessed for changes in awareness, attitudes/opinions/perceptions, and action/behavior of the target public. Some questions to consider when evaluating the campaign’s impact are:

■ How many bloggers talked about MARS initiatives? ■ How much money did the campaign raise for AHA from first February to

last February?■ How many viewers watched daytime TV programs?

Additionally, some actions to consider when evaluating the campaign’s impact are:■ Send out original survey to moms at the end of the campaign to measure

changes in awareness of brand.■ Conduct likert scale throughout the campaign to measure attitude toward

brand.