Campaign ProposalHillary Cozzi. Ellie Barlow. Jessalyn Hatton. Patrick Manaher. Scott Eberhard.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary………………………………………….3Situation Analysis…………………………………………..4-5Research Plan………………………………………………...5Research Analysis………………………………………….6-7Campaign Plan……………………………………………….8Timetable……………………………………………………..11Evaluation…………………………………………………….12Appendix…………..……………………………………...13-17

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Executive Summary

Campus Candy is immensely popular with the Indiana University student

body. Since its opening in 2010, it has engaged with IU students through social

media, events and partnerships. The candy bar has also been constantly adding

new items to the menu to meet consumer needs. Our goal with this public

relations campaign is to highlight the delivery option and emphasize the healthy

snack options while continuing engagement with the Indiana University student

body.

We will define the success of the campaign by the number of customers

utilizing the delivery option, increase in healthy items sales and continued

engagement with customers via Twitter and Facebook. We feel these goals will

help to create a larger market share for the business. In addition, emphasizing

the delivery option will help to increase the accessibility for the brand among

Indiana University students.

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Situation Analysis

Campus Candy was founded in 2010 after an Indiana University student’s

father dropped her off at school and noticed the lack of a candy store on campus.

After he had the idea he began planning and researching where and how to open

a candy store. In 2010, Campus Candy opened its doors on Kirkwood Avenue.

The store features a futuristic feel with lime green floors, walls lined with candy

and flat screen televisions. There is often techno music playing and employees

are young, friendly and ready to assist customers.

Since opening in 2010, Campus Candy has partnered with organizations

such as Boy Meets Girl, Victoria’s Secret PINK, and We Advance to increase

brand recognition and raise awareness among the IU campus. The Campus

Candy name along with the popularity of these student events has created a

strong relationship between the IU campus and Campus Candy.

After seeing success with the Bloomington location the company has

since opened five additional stores across the country. The stores all have a

similar feel and are located on campuses of a similar size to Indiana University.

One way the company has been able to create a relationship with the

student body has been through social media. Campus Candy currently has a

strong presence on social media via Facebook and Twitter. The majority of

engagement and promotion on these social media platforms are for IU students.

The current target audience is Indiana University students. It does not

currently appear that they appeal to the local community. The in-store design and

ambiance are also geared for a younger target audience. The colorful decor, flat

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screen televisions and pop music position Campus Candy as a hip, trendy

hangout spot for the younger crowd.

SWOT AnalysisStrengths

Partnerships with national and local organizations

Unique store layout Sole ‘candy bar’ in Bloomington Use of social media Fundraising events in-store

Opportunities Offering sampling parties with

healthy items Emphasizing affordability of

items Emphasizing variety of items

available Promoting delivery option to

increase sales and popularity

Weaknesses Decrease in popularity after

quick success Lack of appeal in winter Engagement via social media

does not emphasize items

Threats Losing current partnerships Local sweet shops (Hartzells,

Jiffy Treat, Red Mango) Disinterest in product among

target market

Research Plan

From our SWOT analysis, we identified key weaknesses and opportunities

for the Campus Candy brand: increase knowledge of delivery option, emphasize

range of healthy items and improve engagement via social media.

To gain knowledge about the delivery option and items offered in-store we

will go straight to the source. First, we will conduct a survey with a sample of the

IU student body. We will conduct this survey using the online website,

surveymonkey.com. The survey can include a maximum of 100 students. The

survey will be dispersed via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter. Second, we will

interview the store manager to gain insight into how they are currently promoting

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the delivery option as well as how the store operates promotions of coupons,

special events, etc. Through both of these tactics we acquired information

surrounding the brand that we previously did not know.

Research Analysis

Through the use of surveymonkey.com, we were able to survey 50 Indiana University students.

The image below is what students surveyed currently think of Campus Candy. The words that are largest had the most frequency among students surveyed.

78% of students surveyed have visited Campus Candy.

95.8% would visit Campus Candy with friends.

93.6% of students would not eat their candy in-store.

Candy and frozen yogurt topped the list of popular items purchased by students.

92% of students do not know about Campus Candy’s delivery option.

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Interview with Store Manager

“We want to be the Starbucks of candy; we want to provide a feel good location. We want to be on many campuses, medium and large campuses, as big and prolific as possible.”

“They [corporate] will be opening a Campus Candy website specifically for Campus Candy next year. This will help with promotions. It will be easier to market. It will be more simplified, specific to Indiana University campus. ”

“The healthy options offered in-store currently include: trail mix, Cliff bars, Skinny Cal and frozen yogurt.”

“The delivery option has been offered since last April. It is popular when people cannot physically come in because it is too cold. It is promoted through Facebook, Twitter and B-Town Menus.”

Research Conclusions

After analyzing these results, we concluded that the biggest issues

Campus Candy currently faces are: the target market is lacking knowledge of

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delivery option, healthy options do not have as much popularity as candy and

students currently view Campus Candy as too expensive.

Overall Campaign Goal

The goal of this public relations campaign will be to improve accessibility

of brand and popularity among IU campus. This is our goal because we want to

capitalize on current popularity and make the product more accessible to

customers by utilizing delivery option. Through gaining more popularity for

Campus Candy, we will tap into customers who are searching for healthy options

in addition to sweets by emphasizing that healthy options are offered. From our

research we found 92% of students surveyed were not aware of delivery option.

We believe the delivery option is a key way that Campus Candy will not only be

able to gain more business but also to differentiate them from the competition.

We strive to achieve our goal in several ways: highlighting delivery option,

affordability, healthy options, and engagement with student body.

Objective #1: Increase Awareness of Delivery Option

By increasing the awareness of the delivery option at Campus Candy we

hope to increase sales by 5% and increase the use of the delivery option by

10%. From our research, we found a very large percentage (92%) of students

lack knowledge of the Campus Candy delivery option. Our key message of this

objective is, “There is a delivery option that can improve your ease of use.” The

delivery option will make Campus Candy more accessible by coming straight to

the consumer’s front door, no matter what the weather.

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Our first tactic to achieve this objective will be to have a promotion day with

coupon for those who utilize the delivery service. This option will be promoted

through social media platforms with a downloadable PDF.

Our next tactic will be implementing guerilla marketing with current student

interns. Interns will pass out candy and healthy options during high traffic periods

on campus (Ballantine, Arboretum, dorms, Kirkwood). Interns will hand out

coupon for using the delivery option.

Objective #2: Increase Awareness of Healthy Options

We plan to create a buzz around the health options Campus Candy has to

offer and increase the sales of these items by 5%. In our research we found that

most students surveyed believe only candy is offered. Our key message of this

objective is, “There is more at Campus Candy than just candy.”

Our first tactic will be to have samples at sorority houses on North Jordan, 3rd

Street and the extension. Samples will include Fro-Yo, Skinny Cow, trail mix, Cliff

bars. There will be nutritional information included with the samples.

We will also have samples at SRSC with student interns. Samples will include

nutritional information regarding samples.

Objective #3: Appeal to Affordability and Engage Student Body

To engage the student body, we plan to gain 250 Facebook “Likes,” and

300 Twitter followers. Through this we hope to increase sales by 5%. From our

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research we found that many students think Campus Candy is expensive. The

key message of this objective is relating and engaging with the student body is

important. Because Campus Candy’s founder is a father of a college student, the

company is aware of adhering to a student budget. The company is aware

students want a good price.

Our tactics will be to have booths outside of dorms and, high traffic areas on

campus with student interns. If students show proof of following Campus Candy

on Twitter and/or “like” Campus Candy on Facebook they will receive free

sample. They can prove this by showing us on their smart phones or by

following/”liking” on a laptop set up at the booth.

We can also use social media to promote affordability and coupons. (Ex: First

5 to retweet a Campus Candy tweet or “like”/comment on a Facebook post will

receive Fro-Yo coupon.)

To appeal to affordability we will promote that the quality and superiority of

location is in exchange for price.

Evaluation

We will evaluate the success of the campaign by aligning our objectives with

the achieved results and determined whether we achieved our stated objectives.

We will implement evaluation in December 2012 at the end of the fall semester.

Campaign Timeline

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By implementing evaluation at the end of the semester we will be able to closely

measure our success as compared with sales and engagement from 2011.

To effectively evaluate, multiple angles will need to be examined. First, we

will evaluate whether or not the campaign achieved 250 new Facebook likes and

300 Twitter followers. The increase in likes and followers will demonstrate an

improvement in not only engagement but popularity of the brand among the IU

student body.

To measure the popularity of the new Bloomington Campus Candy

website we will use Google analytics. With Google analytics we will be able to

see how many people are looking at the website. This website is critical because

it is specific to the Bloomington location.

The measurement of sales as compared to before the campaign will be

extremely important. We will evaluate overall sales as compared to last year and

we will specifically look at healthy option sales as compared to last year. Healthy

option sales will be important to examine because many of the new promotions

will be geared towards these items.

Finally, we will look at the delivery option utilization as compared to last

year. From our research we found 92% of students were unaware of the delivery

option. We will look at the increase in delivery usage as well as surveying

students to gage the awareness of the delivery option.

Appendix

Survey Results

50 students surveyed using an online survey

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1. Have you ever visited Campus Candy?Yes: 78%No: 22%

2. What comes to mind when you think of Campus Candy?

3. Typically, when would you visit Campus Candy?Weekdays: 19.6%Weekends: 80.4%

4. What time of year are you most likely to visit Campus Candy? (Check all that apply)Holidays: 34%Warmer months: 74.5%Winter: 25.5%

5. Who would you usually visit a candy store with?Myself: 18.8%

Friends: 95.8%Family: 20.8%Co-workers: 0%Other: 4.2%

6. How much candy do you typically purchase when visiting a candy store?Just a few pieces: 45.5%A bag full: 54.5%

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7. Where do you eat your candy?In store: 6.4%Take it home: 93.6%

8. If you are a customer, what do you visit Campus Candy for?Candy: 88.6%Frozen yogurt: 59.1%Baked goods: 2.3%Beverages: 4.5%Hangout/study: 4.5%

9. Are you aware of Campus Candy’s delivery option?Yes: 8%No: 92%

10. What year in school are you?Freshman: 2%Sophomore: 46%Junior: 34%Senior: 16%Graduate student: 2%

Interview with Store Manager

Q: “How are you currently promoting the delivery option?”A: The delivery option has been offered since last April. It is popular when people

cannot physically come in because it’s too cold. It is promoted usually through

Facebook, Twitter, and B-town Menus. They will be opening a Campus Candy

website specifically for Campus Candy next year. This will help with promotions.

It will be easier to market. It will be more simplified, specific to Indiana University

campus.

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Q: “What healthy options does Campus Candy currently offer?”A: Healthy options currently include: trail mix, Cliff bars, Skinny Cal, Fro-Yo.Q: “What was the long term goal for opening the business?”A: We want to be the Starbucks of candy, we want to provide a feel good

location. We want to be on many campuses, medium/large campuses, as big and

prolific as possible.

Q: “How many employees currently work at once?”A: 2-4 at once, 12 totalQ: “Is there a marketing team who handles promotions?”A: A few people in corporate office. There are interns and store managers locally. Q: “Are there any current/recent/near future marketing campaigns taking place?”A: We do holiday promos on a broad scale, each school has signature events.

[For example] for Penn State we help with dance marathon, IU [with] Little 5 -- we

focus on signature events unique to each campus. We do percentage nights; this

helps forge a partnership. In [Bloomington] they do a house charity (Big Brothers

and Big Sisters) they donate to them, give them discounts when they come in.

For percentage nights they say “you get out what you put in”, they give 20%,

each charity must reach 50 transactions with coupon/etc. advertisement and then

they donate from there -- that is an attainable amount. They like to partner with

organizations that work hard.

Q: Where do they plan to open your next store?A: Eventually hope to open stores in more campuses and then cities – New

York, Boston, Los Angeles. We want to remain quality and then move to quantity,

[it’s] expensive to make changes when you have many businesses. Campus

Candy experience is “much better day when you leave than when you came in”.

Q: Do they want to expand target market to more than just college students?A: Yes, they are centered on college campuses but they do understand it is not

just a school year thing. To effectively compete and stay in business they must

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make sure they do business during the summer as well. To reach local

communities and stay connected, they remain connected to Big Brothers Big

Sisters, Taste of Bloomington, and they hope to sponsor a baseball team this

upcoming summer.

Additional Support Documents

http://www.campuscandy.comhttp://www.facebook.com/campuscandyfanhttp://twitter.com/campuscandy

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