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CAMPA
2IG
0N
15
PRODUCED BY
Erica Smith, Keryssa Slaubaugh, Nicole Marcus,
Carley Franks, Sierra Halstenberg & Kristen Barrows
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for PR 459
(Spring 2015)
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ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
This campaign book will provide an in-depth description of the efforts of Team Crossing,
a group of public relations and advertising students at West Virginia University, as they
design, develop and execute a strategic communications campaign for Evansdale Cross-
ing. Members of Team Crossing are in the Reed College of Media taking Dr. Geah
Pressgrove’s Strategic Communications 459 Capstone Experience course.
Team Crossing was assigned to work with University Relations to promote Evansdale
Crossing, a new student-centered facility being built on WVU’s Evansdale campus.
Through primary contact Becky Lofstead, John Bolt from University Relations and Rob
Moyer from Facilities, the team completed an extensive amount of both primary and sec-
ondary research used to guide a comprehensive campaign plan aimed at promoting
awareness of Evansdale Crossing.
A BRIEF NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Over the course of this semester Team Crossing worked with several individuals without
whom the campaign could not have been a success. We would like to take the time to
thank: Corissa Greer, client liaison and University Real Estate; Dean Maryanne Reed of
Reed College of Media, Professor Joel Beeson in the Reed College of Media, Dan Simp-
son, Fresh Hospitality partner, Provost Joyce McConnell, Becky Lofstead, John Bolt,
Rob Moyer, Deputy Mayor Shamberger, Doug Van Scoy, Fresh Hospitality partner and
Kristen Basham, graduate assistant.
Likewise we would also like to thank Dr. Geah Pressgrove for all of her advice and guid-
ance. This project came with many triumphs as well as trials, and always having her in
our corner gave us the support we needed to create a successful campaign.
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TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
Erica Smith-Account Executive
Erica Smith is a senior Strategic
Communications major with em-
phasis in Public Relations and a mi-
nor in Leadership Studies in the
Reed College of Media at West Vir-
ginia University. She is from Kan-
sas City, Missouri. She has held
three internships in her time at the
University. Most recently she com-
pleted her internship as a blog
writer for HerCampus WVU. She
has also interned with PR Plus Events and Inner Life Yoga Studio. Smith
hopes to pursue a career at a PR agency, with the hopes of specializing in
lifestyle, entertainment, or beauty.
Keryssa Slaubaugh- Research Director
Keryssa Slaubaugh is a senior Advertis-
ing major with minor in History in the
Reed College of Media at West Virginia
University. She is from Terra Alta, West
Virginia. During her time as a student,
she has worked in a retail store called
Gabes. She has been a part of a dynamic
team that has opened up three new stores
and successfully launched an event for
the stores grand openings. She has done
some promotional and marketing work
for Gabes as well. Keryssa is always seeking to challenge herself by learning
and developing new skills in the industry.
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TEAM BIOGRAPHES
Nicole Marcus-
Social Media Director
Nicole Marcus is a senior Public Re-
lations major with a minor in Com-
munications in the Reed College of
Media at West Virginia University.
She was born and raised in Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania. She is a four-
year member of the Alpha Xi Delta
sorority, where she has held many
positions including Public Relations
Vice President and Head of Activi-
ties Committee. Upon graduating, Nicole hopes to pursue her dream of do-
ing public relations in the fashion and beauty industry of New York City.
She also hopes to utilize some of the skills she learned at WVU to create her
own fashion and beauty blog.
Carley Franks-Media and
Community Relations
Carley Franks is a graduating senior
studying Public Relations at West Vir-
ginia University, with a minor in Com-
munication Studies. Carley Franks is
an alumni of the Delta Gamma Soror-
ity and has held multiple positions
throughout her membership. She has
also worked at the West Virginia Uni-
versity for two years and Regional
History Center and Stallmaker Dining
Hall for one year. Carley Franks is looking to start her career in Public Rela-
tions in the Washington D.C. area.
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TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
Sierra Halstenberg- Creative
Director
Sierra Halstenberg is currently a
senior at West Virginia Univer-
sity majoring in Strategic Com-
munications with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Business
Administration. As an intern, she has worked in a variety of departments in-
cluding public relations, marketing, design and compliance. Throughout her
work experience, she’s quickly produced press releases, media pitches and
pitch letters. She’s managed social media accounts and developed strategies
and tactics for events and crowd funding. She has also designed logos, pro-
motion materials and athletic wear. Sierra is seeking to continually challenge
herself in a position in marketing, public relations or strategic communica-
tions, where her skills can be utilized, and grow as a distinct asset.
Kristen Barrows-Event Coordinator
Kristen Barrows is a senior Strategic
Communications major with a minor
in Business in Reed College of Media
at West Virginia University. She is
from Tampa, Florida. She interned
with Franklin Foods, a market-
ing/sales position, where she worked
face to face with Dairy Managers. She
pitched them why their products
should be in their store. After gradua-
tion, she plans to move to Pittsburgh
and pursue a career in Pharmaceutical Sales.
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Overview:
West Virginia University consists of two separate campuses, Downtown and Evansdale.
Unlike the Downtown campus, Evansdale campus is not designed around an iconic build-
ing or “center” of campus. Evansdale Crossing is the answer to addressing student and
community needs on the Evansdale campus and creating a hub of activity. The Crossing
is a new student-centered facility that will serve two major functions. First, it will create a
sense of community on the Evansdale campus. The building will offer amenities like: a
two-story Barnes & Noble, Student Services, Reed College of Media Innovation Lab, a
Marketplace and a rooftop bar and lounge. Secondly, the Crossing will act as a “con-
nector” building which is intended to increase the walkability of Evansdale campus. The
Evansdale Crossing building is directly connected to the Personal Rapid Transportation
system (PRT) and offers indoor elevators and stairs in order to reduce on campus traffic.
The Crossing is located in the heart of campus making it virtually within walking dis-
tance from any point on Evansdale campus.
Research:
Evansdale Crossing is just one of the new additions to the makeover of Evansdale cam-
pus. With so many construction developments going on simultaneously, students and the
community seem uninterested in recent projects. It was vital to bring Evansdale Crossing
to the forefront of discussions surrounding Evansdale campus.
In order to address the lack of awareness surrounding Evansdale Crossing it was vital to
have a strong secondary research plan. We identified three objectives to begin our re-
search:
1) Define the target audience and identify the influencers within each audience
2) Research similar campaigns to draw inspiration to develop our own campaign and
3) Identify and evaluate potential market competitors of Evansdale Crossing.
From our secondary research, we were able to segment our audience into two categories,
students and the community. We were also detailed in researching similar campaigns in-
volving new student-centered facilities and social media campaigns that went viral. This
research inspired us to create an innovative and successful campaign. Through our sec-
ondary research we were also able to identify and evaluate the local market competitors
of Evansdale Crossing.
In order to identify the daily habits of our audience it was necessary to develop a conclu-
sive primary research plan. The following is an outline of the research questions:
1) Identify target audience’s awareness and knowledge levels of the Crossing
2) Determine if social media is an effective channel for communication
3) Conclude the most effective awareness building event
4) Identify effective messaging strategies
To test our research questions we used quantitative and qualitative methods. Three focus
groups were held and 25 in-depth interviews were conducted. The focus groups consisted
of one focus group with undergraduate students that have majors located on Evansdale
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campus and two focus groups with Reed College of Media students. We conducted in-
depth interviews with Evansdale faculty/staff, graduate students, student influencers, and
major employers in the area. Information was collected surrounding the opinions and per-
ceptions of on-campus gathering places, on and off-campus dining options, social media
and general knowledge of Evansdale Crossing. With this information and our previous
secondary research, we were able to effectively progress toward executing our main goals
and objectives.
Planning:
From our research we identified key elements that our audiences seemed to show the
highest levels of interest in. It was vital to include a preview of these elements at an event
before the official grand opening. We worked closely with University Relations to design
promotional items like invitations, banners, business cards and a virtual reality tour.
These items were used to meet our objectives. The objectives are the following:
1) Increase awareness among audiences
2) Build a following on Twitter
Our team determined that the best way to build awareness and excitement prior to the
completion of Evansdale Crossing was to plan a sneak peek event. This event was invite-
only so that we could reach out to key influencers within each of our audiences.
Execution:
The sneak peek event was held on the Evansdale campus near the Crossing construction
site. We kicked off the event with having four honored guests speak about the Crossing.
Each speaker discussed a different aspect and each touched on the key messages we had
provided. Following the speakers, we opened the event up to allow guests to preview a
virtual reality tour via Google Cardboard boxes and a watch a reality tour of the soon-to-
be completed building. There were also food samples from the Fresh Hospitality restau-
rants that will be featured in the Marketplace. To conclude the event, we invited guests to
join a team member on a perimeter tour of the Crossing.
Evaluation:
To evaluate the success of our campaign our team analyzed each objective via different
criteria. In order to evaluate if we increased awareness of Evansdale Crossing by 20% we
measured the results from a pre and post survey. To measure the success of our sneak
peek event we counted the number of people in attendance. Finally, to measure the suc-
cess of our social media campaign we counted the number of followers and analyzed lev-
els of engagement.
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BACKGROUND AND COMPOSITION
The Mountaineer nation prides itself on carrying a tradition as a family united, but for so
long the West Virginia University campus has been divided. In its current state the cam-
pus stands as two separate entities, Downtown and Evansdale. Evansdale campus was de-
veloped in the 1950s and 60s which plays a major role in the different atmosphere com-
pared to the Downtown campus which was developed in the late 19 and early 20 century.
Another main difference is how the two campuses were planned. Downtown campus was
planned and designed to surround the Mountainlair, which acts as the current hub of all
student-centered activity. Evansdale campus on the other hand has a lack of a “sense of
place” and has no real look of a cohesive campus.
Evansdale Crossing is the answer to defining the “hub” of Evansdale campus. The Cross-
ing is the start of a strategic makeover that will set the standards for the rest of campus
that is designed to incorporate the red brick which is used in all Downtown campus build-
ings. The Crossing has the potential to become an iconic building for Evansdale campus
and uniquely will connect the Creative Arts Center down to the dorms.
Evansdale Crossing, which will serve as a “connector” building, is currently under con-
struction and anticipated to be completed in spring 2016. The building is projected to be
approximately 100,668 gross square feet. The Crossing offers students two classrooms,
food services, Barnes & Noble, Student Services and the Reed College of Media Innova-
tion Center.
The Crossing is unique in its ability to act as a one-stop-shop, benefiting the students and
the community. Another feature of the Crossing is the connecting bridge to the Personal
Rapid Transportation (PRT) station. This station gets approximately 4,000 students a day.
The PRT is the easiest way for students to travel cross-campus and in doing so will re-
duce on-campus traffic. For those that prefer to drive, there will be 70 short-term parking
spaces available.
Evansdale Crossing creates a space to eat, study and hangout while on campus. Through-
out the many buildings on Evansdale campus, you will find a variety of food options. The
downfall to this current situation is that if you are unfamiliar with Evansdale campus, it
may be hard to find these restaurants and even harder to find a place to sit. A few of these
locations include: DaVinci’s in the Evansdale Library, The Greenhouse: An EatWell
Café in Student Health, and Brew-n-Gold in Towers.
The common concept of these food options is the grab-n-go aspect. All of the available
food options stretch across the Evansdale campus. Evansdale Crossing’s environment in-
vites people to come and enjoy a meal with friends while enjoying a variety of food in the
Marketplace. The Marketplace is also a grab-n-go food option with ample seating to ac-
commodate a constant flow of students throughout the day. If students and the commu-
nity are looking for more of a “come and hangout” space they can enjoy the amenities of
the fifth floor. The fifth floor houses the Juice Bar and Octane Lounge. The Octane
Lounge offers coffee, wine, beer and uniquely a private “roasting” room to try a variety
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of coffee beans. The lounge will be open until 11:00 p.m., allowing the enjoyment of a
new dining and beverage destination.
The Crossing resembles the Downtown campus Mountainlair (student union) in numer-
ous ways. Aside from the food services similarities, the building accommodates to stu-
dents as a gathering place. Round tables throughout function as formal and informal
meeting places. This is a great feature for not only students but faculty as well. Lounge
areas located on every floor can be utilized to serve as a semi-private resting area for
downtime on campus. The open-environment concept was designed to draw faculty and
students out of their offices and hallways and into the space, as well as giving local em-
ployers a lunch break destination.
RELATIVE PUBLICS
Evansdale Crossing is a reflection of WVU’s commitment to providing the best experi-
ence for students and the community. For this reason, we identified that the Crossing has
two publics which are then categorized into subsets. The first and primary audience are
the students. This public is categorized into two subsets, students taking classes on Ev-
ansdale and those who live on Evansdale campus.
It is important to segment this public into two subsets because of the vast differences in
characteristics. A similarity we have discovered is that most students are taking ad-
vantage of traveling by PRT which will be directly connected to the building. The Cross-
ing will also be added to the Evansdale campus bus route giving students easy access to
the building.
The secondary public is the community. This public is also broken down into two sub-
sets, faculty/staff and community members. Faculty/staff members will have offices and
the ability to schedule classes in this building and take full advantage of the Marketplace
and lounge areas.
The community members’ subset is identified as; three local employers, Rec Center visi-
tors, city representatives and the Evansdale Neighborhood Association. These categories
were chosen because of the higher levels of interest in community improvements, more
inclined to have longer lunch breaks and a higher income to accommodate healthier eat-
ing habits.
First, we will evaluate students who attend class on Evansdale campus. There are four
main colleges that are located on Evansdale campus who may frequently use the PRT.
These students are generally taking classes in their major fields, as most of the General
Education Curriculum (GEC) classes are offered on the Downtown campus.
Along with this segment of our student audience, we can include graduate students. Grad-
uate students are more inclined to longer visits on campus and more comfortable with the
higher prices of eating healthy as well as inhabiting the lounge for studying and drinking
purposes.
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Second, we will evaluate students who live on Evansdale campus. There are two main
university housing options available to students on Evansdale campus. The first and new-
est is Lincoln Hall. The second dorm is the Evansdale Residential Complex (ERC) also
known as Towers. Most students that live in these dorms are freshman, but other resi-
dents such as resident assistants (RA) are trained upperclassmen and graduate students.
Most freshman will be frequently traveling to both campuses as they will have GEC’s on
downtown campus and must travel via PRT or bus to get there. Our group chose to ana-
lyze this demographic because the Marketplace will provide students a variety of new
food options under meal plan.
West Virginia University’s faculty/staff and the surrounding community benefit from the
Crossing in different ways compared to the students. Faculty/staff will be flowing in and
out of the building all day. The option to order from the kiosk or directly from the
smartphone app, will make it easier than ever to grab coffee or lunch before, after and be-
tween classes. This will give faculty/staff the freedom to enjoy dining options on-the-go
or in the space they choose.
We chose to review the community as part of our relative publics because of the proxim-
ity to several offices, retail options, etc. in the area. This subset includes three major em-
ployers; NIOSH, Ruby Memorial Hospital and Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Also included in
this subset are Rec Center visitors, city representatives and the Evansdale Neighborhood
Association.
For the community, the Crossing will be an ideal place to go for a lunch break. After a
long day at work one can order a meal from their smartphone and pick it up on the way
home for take-out for the whole family to enjoy.
We included Rec Center visitors because the Crossing’s Marketplace will offer the clos-
est and healthiest food options for post-workout meals. It was very important to include
the city representatives and Evansdale Neighborhood Association as well because they
are more likely to be involved in what is going on in their community and the proximity
to the Crossing will have a major impact on their neighborhood.
COMPETITIVE FRAME
In the local market, Evansdale Crossing is one of five public-private partnerships that the
University has taken on. The other projects are three housing and retail complexes, and a
new ballpark complex.
WVU has partnered with the Monongalia County to construct the new baseball stadium
located in Granville. The complex opened April 10, 2015.
University Place, which is located on the downtown campus, is available to lease for stu-
dents in their sophomore year or above, undergraduate, graduate, professional, veteran,
and international students. The residents have access to on-site grocery and retail busi-
nesses.
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College Park is also a housing complex that is located near the downtown campus. It of-
fers one, two, three and four bedroom apartment options available for lease to students.
This housing option is available to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.
Also available to students with families, and faculty and staff.
University Park is a housing and retail complex. This complex is located on the Evans-
dale campus. University Park began accepting leases for fall 2015. This was the newest
of the university owned apartment complexes and will continue to meet the needs of a di-
verse student population. This new complex holds four fully furnished study rooms avail-
able to residents. University Park is in direct competition due to its proximity and similar
amenities to the Crossing.
In addition to the public-private partnership buildings, Evansdale campus has also under-
gone a transformation. One of the other major projects currently going on is the Agricul-
tural Sciences Building. This is a new building for the Davis College of Agriculture, Nat-
ural Resources and Design, and it will include 73,000 square feet of offices and class-
rooms as well as 55,000 square feet of laboratory and research space. This building is lo-
cated near the center of the campus, so students have walked past this building in all
phases of construction. Although this will offer many services and learning opportunities
for students, it will not take away from the Evansdale Crossing.
Another building that is under construction is the Advanced Engineering Research Build-
ing. This is another project to increase classrooms and laboratory spaces. It will add
60,000 square feet and will also include graduate student space.
The Crossing is a great addition and has the ability to provide a new icon of the Evans-
dale campus.
CURRENT POSITION
So far, the media has not informed WVU students or the community too much about Ev-
ansdale Crossing. The few people who do know about it, can find information on WVU
construction web pages, however most people, even students, are not aware of this.
The Evansdale campus is undergoing numerous upgrades and with construction going on
everywhere, the community seems to be immune to the constant construction. Students,
staff and the surrounding community should be excited for this soon-to-be student-cen-
tered facility, as this will create a new hub on the Evansdale campus.
WVU construction is active in disseminating information to the West Virginia commu-
nity about all of the recent developments. Their website has included updates about this
project, as well as the rest of the Evansdale campus renovations. They have posted sev-
eral pictures of the current state of construction and renderings of the finished buildings.
On this website, there is a tab that links to an unofficial Evansdale Crossing’s web page.
This shows a picture of present-day progress, a preview of what it will look like com-
pleted and a map of the area. This allows people to understand the plan for the campus.
There is a small article attached to the pictures, slightly describing what is going on. On
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their “News” section, they also included one article from the WVU student newspaper,
the Daily Athenaeum, and two articles from The Dominion Post. The articles do not offer
a lot of information and are not easy to find, which is limiting those interested to learn
more about the building.
The WVU construction also has a Facebook and Twitter page, which has only 10 posts
on updates of Evansdale Crossing. The Facebook and Twitter are connected, so some of
the content is shared across platforms. Their Facebook cover picture is a drawing of the
future finished Evansdale campus. With over 30,000 students associated with the school,
both social media outlets do not have nearly enough followers. The construction Face-
book page only has 431 ‘likes’ and Twitter account has 1,443 followers.
The Daily Athenaeum, has only posted one article in an attempt to increase student
knowledge of this project. The article included a map of the area, a picture and a brief de-
scription of the building. Some of the facts that were included are; “100,000 square foot
building, will connect the upper and lower parts of the Evansdale campus,” and “new fea-
tures include study spaces, classrooms, financial aid office, Barnes & Noble, fast food
venues and a rooftop restaurant” (Skinner, 2014). Although the DA has released this arti-
cles, it has not reached the attention of the student body.
The Dominion Post, the local paper of Morgantown, W.Va., did not have any articles that
were easy to find on their website. When searched, the only article written about Evans-
dale Crossing was also posted on the WVU construction Facebook page. This means that
the community is not informed about the new and upcoming project that will change Ev-
ansdale campus.
SITUATION ANALYSIS/ SWOT
Evansdale Crossing will set the standard for upcoming buildings as part of the makeover
and updates made to Evansdale campus. The amenities that will be made available for
students, faculty and the community will offer something completely new to this side of
campus.
Adding a Barnes & Noble not only gives students easier access to books, but offers dif-
ferent options of WVU clothing options that will satisfy just about any Mountaineer fan.
Within the Marketplace, you are able to enjoy a variety of food selections all in one
place. You no longer have to select a restaurant catering to one person’s needs.
Unfortunately, the building is far from completion and establishing a relationship be-
tween our publics and an unfinished building will be a challenge in itself. However, our
group is establishing many possibilities and opportunities to unite the two.
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Table 1. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Fostering a sense of
community for the Ev-
ansdale campus
Limited parking op-
tions near Evansdale
Crossing
Explore new ways to ex-
cite students from Evans-
dale campus
Community hesitant to
participate in a public-
private partnership
WVU brand and support Parking options avail-
able are decal only
Providing the community
and university with healthy
food options
Close resemblance to
the Mountainlair
Gathering place for stu-
dents between classes
Construction will not
be completely fin-
ished until December.
Improve the reputation of
the school by providing an
iconic building with
healthy food options
Unpredictability of the
PRT
Accommodates to stu-
dent’s academic needs
with Student Accounts
and Barnes and Noble
Healthy food options
may be priced higher
than students are com-
fortable with spending
Improve relationships be-
tween Public-Private Part-
nerships and the commu-
nity
Winter weather may
play a major role in
moving forward with
construction
Accommodates to com-
munity needs with the
Marketplace
No printing services This campaign can be used
as an example for other
campuses trying to create
two student unions on one
campus
Competitor restaurants
with lower prices and
open longer
Accommodates to staff
needs with new offices
eat eating options
Improve students’ attitudes
about the separate cam-
puses
Open parking at com-
petitor locations
Location is prime for
high levels of activity
throughout the day (lo-
cated directly off PRT)
Great place to hold
events like Mountaineer
Week
Proximity to dorms and
classes
Offers innovative tech-
nology throughout the
building
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CORE PROBLEMS/ OPPORTUNITY
After analyzing our background research, we discovered some core problems that Evans-
dale Crossing may face with anticipation for its grand opening. However, these chal-
lenges give great opportunity for this building to not only be successful, but also bring the
West Virginia University community together for many years to come.
The entire Evansdale campus has under-gone a complete renovation to update and ex-
pand the campus. The University does not see each building as competing for popularity
or usage, but as working together to provide the Evansdale campus with opportunities to
grow. The Evansdale Crossing is the key to piecing together the upper and lower parts of
the campus.
The biggest challenge facing Evansdale Crossing is being able to reach their primary tar-
get audience in a way that the messaging resonates with the students. The current media
releases are not necessarily being placed in channels that students will be viewing regu-
larly. Students need to be informed of the amenities the Crossing has to offer and how it
can make their lives easier on the Evansdale campus. Although we are unsure of how this
messaging will resonate with our audience, secondary and primary research should help
aide us in finding the answer.
Another problem that we envision is holding the interest of the student and community
population. Since the building is still in production and not projected to being done until
November, it is vital for success to build enough interest among the target audiences well
before official opening so that the students are still enticed come spring semester.
Another setback that Evansdale Crossing might face is the community’s apprehension
about public-private partnerships. It will be our duty on behalf of the Evansdale Crossing
to mitigate any issues and inform the community of the positive impact this building will
have on the university and Morgantown residents. Many of the issues begin with the mis-
conception that tuition dollars are being spent to fund these ventures. Our team sees this
problem as an opportunity to initiate news and press releases related to the issues the
community may have. Although we cannot be certain of all the problems that the com-
munity has towards public-private partnerships, we will use secondary research to locate
community influencers as well as primary research to conduct in-depth interviews to indi-
cate some of those issues.
VISION
Mountaineers are pioneering, passionate, innovative and caring. After our client meeting
these are some of the exact words we want to brand with Evansdale Crossing.
To accomplish our goal of successfully building awareness for the Crossing, we need to
focus on creating buzz and events leading up to the grand opening. The better we position
our messages with our audience, the more successful we will be at promoting Evansdale
Crossing.
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One of the visions we have is to get students and the community involved and excited
about the opening of Evansdale Crossing. We plan to do this in a number of ways. First,
we want to increase the knowledge of the actual building and the amenities it has to offer.
In order to do this, we must create interesting content and expand to channels in which
our target audience has a strong presence. For instance, this may include Facebook, Twit-
ter, Instagram and Snapchat. All of these social media channels are visual based and can
show the true story of the progression of the Crossing being built. We see this as an op-
portunity to build a following and awareness level by promoting any news and updates
via social media. One of the ways to get students to follow such account is to hold a so-
cial media contest with giveaways. Prizes for the giveaways will include WVU gear.
Another idea we have is to host an event well before the initial opening of Evansdale
Crossing. This event will be an exclusive sneak peek of the amenities going into the
building and a chance to listen to the people who made this building possible. The event
will be geared towards influencers who we believe will be able to spread the word and
get people talking about the Crossing. At the event, we also are looking into doing some
kind of local coffee tasting and competition. The idea behind the tasting is to engage the
Mountaineer family in creating an official “Mountaineer Blend”. This will ease the tran-
sition of a new coffee shop competing with local favorite spots to enjoy the official
“Mountaineer Blend”.
Taken from our inspiration from other campaigns, we thought it would be an awesome
idea to have a virtual reality tour of the Evansdale Crossing. To add our own creative spin
on this idea we are looking to make this video viewable through Google Cardboard
Boxes. The choice to execute a virtual reality tour is the best option right now with the
current state of construction. This video will allow viewers to feel as if they are in the
building without actually physically being in the space. The tour will show off the new
building and views that students and the community have to look forward to.
Our overall goal is to build awareness and excitement among our internal and external
audiences. To execute this, we must identify what excites our audiences most and how to
keep their attention until the grand opening of Evansdale Crossing. We suggest to do this
by drawing attention to an official Evansdale Crossing website. Students and the commu-
nity will seek this outlet to stay updated on any news related to the Crossing. The website
is important and essential because we are able to post more detailed content. This will al-
low audiences to have access to more information related to the Crossing. The website is
also an alternate source of information for those who may not be active on social media.
We believe that this will start to build momentum leading up to the grand opening of Ev-
ansdale Crossing.
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STATEMENT OF THE SECONDARY RESEARCH
OBJECTIVE
Based on secondary research, the team was able to discover three objectives for Evans-
dale Crossing. The main objective is to understand how other universities promoted their
student centered facilities. The second objective is to understand and define the primary
and secondary target audiences and within those target audiences conclude who the main
influencers are. The third objective is to determine who the main competitors of the Ev-
ansdale Crossing are. The primary target audience are students enrolled in the Reed Col-
lege of Media, Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Col-
lege of Education and Human Services, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources
and Design, College of Creative Arts, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences
(CPASS), and students living in Towers. The secondary target audience is the commu-
nity. By community, we mean faculty and staff and the major employers that are in close
proximity of Evansdale Crossing.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND METHOD
In order to design, develop and execute a creative campaign, our team found a significant
amount of sources as inspiration. We researched relative successful campaigns that our
community and other universities have executed.
West Virginia University owns 11 residence halls and offers leasing options in two addi-
tional halls. These complexes reside on both the Evansdale and Downtown campus. For
the purpose of this secondary research, we are focusing on the Evansdale residence halls
because of its proximity to Evansdale Crossing. These are Lincoln Hall, Brooke, Braxton,
Bennett, and Lyon Towers.
There are five colleges located on Evansdale Campus. The colleges are Benjamin M. Stat-
ler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural
Resources, Design and College of Education and Human Services, College of Physical
Activity and Sport Sciences, and College of Creative Arts. Since there is an entire floor
dedicated to the Reed College of Media, we included these students in our primary audi-
ence.
Evansdale Crossing has several competitors in the area. This building is not just going to
be for students to use but also for the local community. However, students will be the main
target audience for this building due to its close proximity to student housing, the PRT and
academic buildings.
The restaurants will feature healthier options inspired by popular chefs. There will also be
a restaurant on the fifth floor of the building that will serve alcoholic beverages. All of the
food vendors going into Evansdale Crossing are mobile friendly. By mobile friendly, we
mean that all of the vendors are active on many social media platforms and are familiar
with the growing need for technology.
24. 24
The Octane Lounge is the restaurant that will be located on the roof top that will have a
separate app to order food from. Little Donkey also offers an app to order food from. This
restaurant will be on the first floor and will serve Mexican food. There will be a multi-
touch screen that displays all of the restaurant menus and the PRT schedule. This will bring
a modernized aspect to Evansdale Crossing. Evansdale Crossing’s theme is modernized
because of numerous new technological aspects featured in the building that cannot be seen
anywhere else on campus.
FINDINGS
Target Audience
Dorms
As mentioned before, West Virginia University owns 11 residence halls and offers leas-
ing options in two additional halls. These complexes reside on both the Evansdale and
Downtown campuses. The Evansdale campus has the Evansdale Residential Complex
(ERC), which includes Lincoln Hall, Bennett, Braxton, Brooke, and Lyon Towers. Each
hall has its own character and many different amenities.
Dorm Descriptions
Bennett-There are four halls that make up the ERC, one being Bennett Tower. This
tower is named after Thomas Bennett, a former WVU student who was killed while serv-
ing in the Vietnam War. He then received the Medal of Honor for his bravery. The
unique motto of this hall is “primus inter pares” which means “first among equals”. This
relates to the hall because Bennett was the first of the four interconnected halls.
Bennett Tower is filled with over 450 students spread out throughout nine floors of sin-
gle, double and triple rooms. Each floor is equipped with two community bathrooms,
laundry facilities and a lounge area. Each hall in the ERC is geared towards specific
themes. In Bennett hall, they emphasize developing the mind, body, and spirit and en-
courage community. The entire ninth floor is designed to cater to students interested in
creative arts, specifically Art and Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance.
Braxton-Braxton Tower is also a part of the ERC. This hall offers the same room and
community amenities that the other halls all have. Braxton Tower is named after humani-
tarian Jim Braxton and aims to provide students with ample service opportunities as well
as planning trips and visits to various places like New York City and Washington D.C.
for sporting events.
The unique feature of this hall is its focus on academic and social ties to the College of
Engineering. This hall’s theme is a vision of the RFL’s, Dr. Robin and Peter Hensel. Res-
idents are given the opportunity to work very closely with faculty to help them focus and
improve their academics. They also are provided with educationally-rich, interactive pro-
gramming to help enhance learning experiences.
Brooke-Brooke Tower is named after honorary Charles Frederick Tucker Brooke, who
was West Virginia University’s first Rhode Scholar. He was also the first to study at Ox-
ford University in England. Brooke Towers focus is on their academic partnership with
25. 25
the WVU School of Medicine and The College of Business of Economics. Under the su-
pervision of RFL’s Tim and Lori Pearson, students are able to work closely with faculty
in these fields.
Lyon-Lyon Towers is named after West Virginia University’s first female graduate Har-
riot Lyon. This dorm offers the same amenities as the other halls that are part of the ERC.
RFL, Dr. Cynthia Bess and RHC, Ms. Brooke Zygmund, focus on providing a hall that
empowers students through engagement and true community.
Colleges
College Academic
Buildings
Majors offered
College of Ed-
ucation and
Human Ser-
vices
Percival
Hall
Allen Hall
Child Development and Family Studies
Elementary Education
MDS-Education/Human Services
Secondary Education
Speech Pathology and Audiology
Benjamin M.
Statler College
of Engineering
and Mineral
Resources
Engineering
Sciences
Engineering
Mineral Re-
sources
Aerospace Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Biometric Systems
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Engineering
Computer Forensics
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Engineering
Safety Management
Software Engineering
Industrial Engineering
Industrial Hygiene
Information Assurance and Biomet-
rics
Interactive Technologies and Seri-
ous Gaming
Mechanical Engineering
Mining Engineering
Occupational Safety and Health
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engi-
neering
Reed College
of Media
Martin Hall Strategic Communications- Public Relations and Advertising
Journalism
Multidisciplinary Studies
College of
Creative Arts
Creative
Arts Center
Acting
Art Education
Art History
Ceramics
Dance
Graphic Design
Intermedia/Photography
Multidisciplinary Studies
Music Composition
Music Education
Music Performance: Instrumental
Music Performance: Jazz Studies
Music Performance: Piano
Music Performance: Voice
Music Performance: Woodwinds
Musical Theatre
Painting
Photography
Printmaking
Puppetry and Creative Drama
Sculpture
Theatre Design and Technology
College of
Physical Ac-
tivity and
Sport Sciences
CPASS Athletic Coaching Education
Athletic Training
Physical Education
Sport and Exercise Psychology
Sport Management
Teacher Education
26. 26
The Reed College of Media will be expanding to the Evansdale campus when Evansdale
Crossing is opened in the fall. An entire floor will be offered to Reed College of Media
students. It will include another Innovation Center as well as new technological devices
and a Creation Center. There are 4,000 students enrolled, including nearly 700 graduate
students in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
There are also 1,762 undergraduate and 259 graduate students enrolled in Davis College
of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design.
Employers in Morgantown
Company
Name
Location Location
Type
Sales (mil-
lions)
Employees Contact In-
formation
Mylan Phar-
maceuticals
Inc.
Morgantown
WV United
States
Headquar-
ters
1,240.90M 7,500 1-304-599-
2595
West Virginia
University
Hospitals, Inc.
Morgantown
WV United
States
Headquar-
ters
703.70M 6,267 +1-304-598-
4000
West Virginia
University
Hospitals, Inc.
Morgantown
WV United
States
Branch 548.11M 8,0620,000 +1-304-598-
4355
West Virginia
University
Morgantown
WV United
States
Headquar-
ters
516.90M 6,245 +1-304-293-
2545
Gabriel Broth-
ers, Inc.
Morgantown
WV United
States
Headquar-
ters
295.60M 3,500 +1-304-292-
6965
This chart shows the top five employers in Morgantown. Out of these five, two are close
to Evansdale Crossing. Ruby and Mylan are located very close to Evansdale Crossing.
We also included Niosh as one of the employers we will target for the community be-
cause of the proximity to Evansdale Crossing.
27. 27
The secondary audience is early to mid-career professionals ages 24-44. Statistics from the
U.S. Census Bureau suggests that mid-career professionals consist of about 49.5% of the
entire population in Morgantown. These professionals are doctors, realtors, professors, in-
surance agents, lawyers and bankers. With the monetary status that comes with their pro-
fessions, the audience doesn’t mind paying for their own drinks and food. Since 31% of
the entire population of Morgantown, which is 29,660 as of the 2010 census, is married,
and 41% of the entire population has children under the age of 18. This seems like a decent
way to position ourselves into getting the community involved with Evansdale Crossing.
With the percentages under 50%, this means we can expect more single people or groups
of singles attending Evansdale Crossing. There is still a huge opportunity because a little
under half of Morgantown’s population is professionals ages 24-44.
Main Influencers
Dorms
• Resident Faculty Leaders (RFL’s)
o In charge of planning social events
o Provide support and guidance
• Resident Hall Coordinators (RHC)
o Supervises RA’s
o Make sure quality of life and needs are met
o Keep building quiet when it is supposed to be
• Resident Assistant
o Students who are trained to help manage the floor
o Works closely with hall residents
• Night Staff
o In charge of responding to policy violations and emergency situations
o Check identification, staff main desk and walk around.
• Residence Hall Association (RHA) RHA@mail.wvu.edu
o Student run organization helping to build the WVU experience
o Listen to suggestions and concerns to providing the best experience
o Meet weekly at 7:30 pm in Hatfield’s
o Twitter: @WVU_RHA!
o Phone reminders: Text 81010 and send @wvurha2015 for updates.
o Current meetings scheduled for February 16th
, March 2nd
and 16th
, and
April 6th
and 20th
.
28. 28
• Officers:
o President: Deonna Gandy—dagandy@mix.wvu.edu
o Vice President: Alexandra Arnold—aarnold7@mix.wvu.edu
o Secretary: Tiffany Newland –tnewland@mix.wvu.edu
o Treasurer: Irene Darkwaah— iadarkawaah@mix.wvu.edu
o National Communications Coordinator: Zela Wyrosdick—zswy-
rosdick@mix.wvu.edu
• Advisors: Liason between the RHA and the Residential Education Department
o Heidi Muller (Summit)
o Jeremiah Kibler (Honors)
• Bennett Towers:
o RFL: Dr. David Bess: Dave.Bess@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-2837
o RHC: Johnny Kocher: Johnny.Kocher@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-5037
• Braxton Towers:
o RFL: Dr. Robin Hensel: Robin.Hensel@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-6011
o RHC: Hellen Nditisi: hnditsi@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-6948
• Brooke Towers:
o RFL: Robin Jones: Robin.Jones@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-7082
o RHC: Zachary Tardiff: Zacary.Tardiff@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-7212
• Lyon Towers:
o RFL: Dr. Cynthia Bess: Cynthia.Conner-Bess@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-
8342
o RHC: Tiffany Hughes: TMHughes@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-9185
• Lincoln Hall:
o RFL: Dr. Ted Vehse: Ted.Vehse@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-8335
o RHC: Justin Ellis: Justin.Ellis@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-8115
o Live and Learn Community Specialist: Buffy Vehse:
Buff.Vehse@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-8335
Student Organizations
Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Alpha Omega Epsilon
29. 29
• Alpha Pi Mu
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• American Society of Civil Engineers
President: Elizabeth Bashiti
Vice President: Marcus Spina
C Outreach Coordinator: Erica Keller
Advisor- Jennifer Weidhaas: Jennifer.Weidhaas@mail.wvu.edu
• Association for Computing Machinery
• Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Organization
• Cyber WVU
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Institute of Industrial Engineers
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• Sigma Phi Delta
• Society for Biological Engineering
• Society of Exploration Geophysicists
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
• Society of Mining, Metallurgy Exploration (WVU Student Chapter)
• Society of Petroleum Engineers
• Society Of Women Engineers
• SPACE - Student Partnership for the Advancement of Cosmic Exploration
• Structural Engineering Institute Graduate Student Chapter
• Student Society for the Advancement of Biometrics (SSAB)
• Tau Beta Pi
• WVU American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
• WVU Chapter of the International Society of Explosives Engineers
• WVU Experimental Rocketry
• WVU Materials Advantage Chapter
• WVU Mine Rescue Team
• WVU Robotics Club
• WVU Solar House
• WVU Student Chapter of SAMPE
• WVU Student Section of the AADE
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design
• American Society of Interior Designers
President: Corie Posey: cposey4@mix.wvu.edu
Vice President: Madelynn Elkins
Secretary: Samantha Shaibani
Treasurer: Kathryn Kinnick
• Animal and Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Association
• Block & Bridle
• Energy Land Management Association
• Fashion Business Association
30. 30
• Food Science Club
• Forest Product Society
• Graduate Resource Economics Club
• Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences
• Professional Parks & Recreation Society
• Sigma Alpha
• Society of American Foresters
• Society of Environmental Professionals
• Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics (SAND)
• Student Society of Landscape Architects (SSLA)
• US Green Building Council (USGBC) Students – WVU
• WVU Chapter of Society for Conservation Biology
• WVU Chapter of the Wildlife Society
• WVU Collegiate Horsemen's Association
• WVU Dairy Science Club
• WVU Horticulture Club
• WVU Livestock Judging Team
• WVU Plant and Soil Science Club
• WVU Student Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
• WVU Student Society of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry
College of Education and Human Services
• National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association (NSSLHA)
President: Samantha Kerwood,
Vice President: Catherine Taverna
Social Chair: Kristen Mack
Advisor: Leslie C. Graebe: Leslie.Graebe@mail.wvu.edu
• Education Student Governance Association
President: Caleb Alvarez
Vice President: Liz Gulick
Social Media Correspondent: Jennifer Lindsay
• Autism Speaks U at West Virginia University
• Education Student Governance Association
• National Council of Teachers of English
31. 31
• National Student Speech-Language and Hearing Association of WVU (NSSLHA)
• Student to Student
Reed College of Media
• Martin Hall Agency
Academic Advisor- David Howell- dmhowell@mail.wvu.edu
• Public Relations Student Society of America
President: Valerie Bennett: valerie.bennett@mail.wvu.edu
Vice President of External Relations: Max Bayer
Social Engagement Director: Tyler Le
• Radio Television Digital News Association
RTDNA Faculty Advisor: Emily Corio: emily.corio@mail.wvu.edu
• AAF
President: Christoper Adeigbo: cadeigbo@mix.wvu.edu
Vice President: Rebecca Klado: rklado@mix.wvu.edu
Secretary: Antionette Yelenic: amyelemic@mix.wvu.edu
Advisor: Catherine Mezera: Catherine.mezera@mail.wvu.edu
Student Government: sga@mail.wvu.edu
College of Creative Arts
• Kappa Kappa Psi
• Kazoo Corps
• Mountaineer Musicology Community
• Music Teachers National Association WVU Student Chapter
• Orchesis Student Dance Association
• Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
• Pre-Service Division of the National Art Education Association
• Sigma Alpha Iota
• Society of Collegiate Choral Scholars Chapter of the American Choral Directors
Association
• Theatre Student Organization
• West Virginia Low Brass Club
• West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra
• WVU Art Movement
• WVU Clay Club
• WVU Film Club
• WVU Flute Club
• WVU Horn Club
32. 32
• WVU Oboe Club
• WVU Official Anime, Cosplay and Asian Entertainment Club
College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences
• CATS Club
• Sport and Exercise Psychology Graduate Student Club
• Sport and Exercise Psychology Undergraduate Club
• Sport Management Graduate Students of WVU
• WVU Athletic Trainers Association
• WVU Sport Management Club
Inspiration
Student centered facilities and Events
In the fall of 2014, Coastal Carolina University promoted its student-centered facility ex-
pansion through a virtual hardhat tour posted on YouTube, their collegiate website and
Pinterest. The virtual tour highlighted the public art on display and the grand opening of
Chick-fil-A in the Cino Grill. Coastal Carolina implemented a simple and creative plan in
order to reach their students by making a professor at the University host Coastal Now.
This was a tactic to spread awareness through the professor because she was an active in-
fluencer on that campus. This campaign inspires our team to possibly include main influ-
encers in the upcoming campaign which would farther our success in our campaign.
Figure 1: Coastal Carolina University’s campaign promoting its student expansion
Similar to Evansdale Crossing, Rutgers University expanded their Livingston campus
features to the Plaza. The Plaza is a new development where students can come together
33. 33
to meet, relax, attend events, see a movie, shop or have a meal or coffee. The Plaza at
Livingston Campus includes Starbucks, Qdoba, Rutgers Cinema, Kilmer’s Market, Rut-
gers Tech Store, Etoile Nails & Spa, Hoja Asian Fusion, 16 Handles and Henry’s Diner.
The Plaza was promoted through social media platforms.
Rutgers Today reported that Henry’s Diner was created due to a campus survey. In the
survey, Rutgers students where asked what they wanted at the University. A diner was
the top pick. Before the diner’s grand opening, students were able to walk in and taste
samples while chefs were creating the menu.
The Plaza has its own website and mobile site, where students can view student infor-
mation, hours of operations, special events, maps, submit comments or reserve outdoor
space. As shown in Figure 2, the website features a parking map, which is something to
consider for our campaign.
Figure 2: This figure shows how Rugters made it very accessible for students to go to the
Plaza.
Social Media
West Virginia University Marketing students demonstrated the power of social media
awareness through its #RespectfulMountianeer campaign. In response to the weekend
disturbance after the victory against Baylor in the fall of 2014, the students led a social
media awareness campaign and developed the hash tag #RespectfulMountaineer. In two
days, the hashtag was used more than 1,500 times and reached 500,000 people. These re-
sults inspired our team to target our audiences using various social media platforms. Our
fellow Mountaineers taught our team that social media is a powerful tool that can be used
to interact and inform a desired audience.
34. 34
The Plaza was present on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Insta-
gram, which updates students on the latest events, deals, movie showings, etc. The Plaza
has 111 likes on Facebook, 155 followers on Twitter and 16 followers on Instagram.
Even though their social media presence wasn’t as beneficial, our group can use The
Plaza social media campaign as inspiration to create more creative content that can be
highlighted on social media platforms to spread awareness to students and the commu-
nity. As shown in Figure 3, The Plaza uses its social media platforms to build buzz by
motivating students to partake in contests.
Figure 3: This flier shows how social media was used to build buzz
As a means to build buzz among WVU students, Sheetz, located in University Place, has
its Coffee Truck as shown in Figure 4. In February 2015, the truck made numerous rounds
on campus offering free samples.
35. 35
Figure 4 is an example of how Sheetz used a coffee truck as a promotional tool.
In preparation of their grand opening, Sheetz also offered WVU students the opportunity
to win up to $10,000 in tuition and books. Students had up to four chances to win from
Feb. 16-27 by taking four separate photographs, two per week, in front of a backdrop at
the Mountainlair or the Sheetz Coffee truck. The students also had to tweet the picture to
@WVUPlaceSheetz with the hashtag #SheetzFreeRideSweeps as shown in Figure 5.
Sheetz at University Place, began its Twitter account February 9. Within two weeks, the
account reached 521 followers.
36. 36
Figure 5 shows how Sheetz incorporated social media into their campaign.
In 2007, The Ohio State University demolished their student centered facility to rebuild a
new and innovative structure. In 2010, the Ohio Union emerged. They promoted this new
student centered facility through Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook accounts
using various hashtags. The Ohio Union’s Twitter account has over 5,100 tweets and
over 12,500 followers as shown in Figure 6.
Their Twitter account started a tour for the new building using the hashtag #OhioUn-
ionTour as shown in Figure 7. Using this hashtag, the account showed viewers the differ-
ent rooms available in the building, as well as some of the history behind some of the de-
sign decisions. This hashtag was used 35 times by the account. This encourages our team
to take a similar approach to take Mountaineers on a tour of Evansdale Crossing from
construction to completion. This is an opportunity to demonstrate Evansdale Crossing’s
design choices, like using bricks similar to the ones located on the downtown campus,
which is meant to unite the two campuses.
37. 37
The Ohio Union also has an Instagram account. They have over 900 posts and over 3,600
followers as shown in Figure 8. The account posts pictures of events that are taking place
in the union, suggestions of study areas, general building pictures and reposts from other
Ohio State University Instagram accounts. The account also does photo challenges which
allows students to win “BuckID Cash” that can be used in the student-centered facility.
This strategy offers insight into the types of posts that could be successful in a similar
student-centered facility.
Snapchat is an emerging app that companies are using to create buzz and excitement
around up-and-coming events. The NBA used Snapchat’s Story feature to generate
awareness about Kevin Durant’s Most Valuable Player Award. The feed offered viewers
a behind the scene sneak peek of the event. The story encouraged viewers to go to their
website and use the hashtag #KiaMVP as shown in Figure 9. This could be a social me-
dia tactic that the team utilizes to build excitement around events that Evansdale Crossing
might have.
Figure 6 displays the twitter ac-
count for Ohio Union.
Figure 7 shows how Ohio
Union incorporated the
#OhioUnionTour.
Figure 8 shows the Instagram
account for Ohio Union.
38. 38
Figure 9 shows how snap chat used hashtags to create buzz about the NBA MVP, Kevin
Durant.
Competitors
Students and Local community
Evansdale Crossing has several competitors in the area due to the coliseum and numerous
restaurants being in close proximity to the building. Although students will benefit the
most from Evansdale Crossing, the local community is encouraged to use the building.
The restaurants that will be going in Evansdale Crossing will consist of an assortment of
options including Mexican, Mediterranean, pizza, and burger joint. The community can
use this whether it is on their lunch break from work or dinner at night. The students will
utilize this building for an in between class snack or dinner with friends. There will be a
restaurant on the fifth floor of the building that will serve alcoholic beverages and will re-
main open until 11:00 p.m. The building will also have a PNC bank within it, which is
accessible to both students and the community.
The Mediterranean restaurant that will be located in Evansdale Crossing will be a Tazi-
kis. The Mexican restaurant going into the building is called Little Donkey Taqueria. The
American aspect of food is a burger and barbeque joint. The restaurant that will be serv-
ing this type of food is called Hughes Baby BBQ. This restaurant is a spin-off of the Mar-
tin’s BBQ Joint which is located in the Suncrest Town Center. Both of these restaurants
are inspired by Chef Pat Martin. The pizza restaurant is going to be called Collo Rosso
Pizza. There will be one sit down restaurant in Evansdale Crossing, located on the fifth
39. 39
floor of the building. It is called the Octane Lounge and will serve coffee all day and al-
coholic drinks in the evening. The Octane Lounge will also have a rooftop area where
you will be able to sit and overlook the city of Morgantown.
Having a bank in Evansdale Crossing is going to be very beneficial for the community as
well as the students. Our group envisions that PNC will be a popular addition to the
building because there is no current bank on the campus. Evansdale Crossing will also
contain a two-story Barnes & Noble bookstore. Student Accounts, Financial Aid, and
Registrar offices will be located in the Crossing. This will allow students to access these
offices on Evansdale campus.
Suncrest Towne Centre is located in Suncrest, approximately 3.67 miles away from Ev-
ansdale Crossing. The message for Suncrest Towne Centre is that you can dine, shop, and
work all in the same place. Their website states that Suncrest Towne Centre is a gathering
place; a place to shop and work, a place to live well and a place to enjoy. As a consumer,
you have countless options as to what you want to do at the Centre. You can dine at vari-
ous restaurants ranging from fast food to sit down restaurants. Whether you are looking
to grocery shop or purchase some stylish clothes, you can do either of these at Suncrest
Towne Centre. There are also several medical facilities like Med Express, Women’s
Health and WVU HealthCare. So for whatever reason you are at the shopping center, you
are assured that you will be guaranteed a free parking space.
Suncrest Towne Centre is a huge competitor to Evansdale Crossing because of the differ-
ent dining options consumers have in one area. The complex is always expanding on the
assortment of options a consumer can have. In the last year, there has been many busi-
nesses that became a part of the Towne Centre. There are so many different types of busi-
nesses for all age groups. This is a place to gather with family and friends. One disad-
vantage for students that do not have transportation is there is no bus stop or PRT stop
close to the Suncrest Towne Centre.
University Towne Centre is located in Granville, WV which is about 3.54 miles away
from Evansdale Crossing. Similar to Suncrest Towne Centre, the message is consistent to
the consumers as stay here while you eat, shop and play. Where else can you go while
you’re out and about exploring through bargain retro clothing, chic designer fashions,
bath products, handmade leather goods, estate jewelry, local antiques and books. Mor-
gantown’s art galleries, department stores, street fairs and flea markets will surely satisfy
your inner shopper. Because University Towne Centre is located near one of the bigger
student living places in Morgantown, The Domain, this allows students to be close to
many of these businesses within walking distance. Like the Suncrest Towne Centre, there
are numerous available parking spots at the University Towne Centre also.
Both of these competitors of Evansdale Crossing are Centres. Unlike a mall or a food
court where you can stay in the same building and go from store to store, a Centre re-
quires consumers to go in and out of one building into the next. This is an opportunity for
Evansdale Crossing to position themselves as a convenient place to gather with friends
and family all under one roof. A disadvantage to Evansdale Crossing compared to the
40. 40
two Centres are the numerous available parking spots. Evansdale Crossing will be in the
middle of Evansdale Campus with a select few spots for parking. Many of the students
and employers will have to park at the Coliseum because there is no fee to park there.
APPLICATION
Communication is an important goal for the success of Evansdale Crossing. By using so-
cial media, we can effectively and efficiently spread awareness about Evansdale Crossing
much like the campaign demonstrated by fellow Mountaineers and Ohio State University.
Public Private Partnerships and the community’s relationship are very important for this
campaign.
Secondary research helped to identify a few key guidelines for primary research. We
have a better understanding of who the main influencers are and what college has the
most students enrolled in their college on Evansdale. By using the student influencers as
a way to reach the students, we can spread awareness more effectively. We have also de-
termined the major employers closest to Evansdale Crossing. We targeted staff and fac-
ulty on Evansdale Campus. By involving the employers, staff, and faculty, we can con-
clude that they will spread the word to the community.
Our group has studied previous student-centered facilities as an example on how to pro-
mote and make students aware of Evansdale Crossing. By reviewing these examples, we
feel comfortable in executing a successful campaign. Likewise, we analyzed an example
of a hardhat tour which will help us when we are developing our hardhat tour for Evans-
dale Crossing. We realized that Evansdale Crossing has numerous food options and two
Centres surrounding the building that might interfere with drawing the community into
Evansdale Crossing. There are many food options for students as well, but not all in one
area like in Evansdale Crossing.
Focus Groups will help identify student’s attitudes about Evansdale Crossing based on
what they think about the Mountainlair. This will help us determine how to affectively
message for Evansdale Crossing. In-depth interviews will help our team determine if em-
ployers close to Evansdale Crossing would go there to eat during their lunch. For our pri-
mary research, we know that we need to include the number of students enrolled in the
colleges and majors in that college on the Evansdale Campus.
41. 41
RESOURCES
About Us. (2015, January 1). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from http://www.stat-
ler.wvu.edu/
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44. 44
STATEMENT OF PRIMARY RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Our group outlined three primary research objectives:
To gauge awareness of Evansdale Crossing
To better understand attitudes, interests, opinions related to the project
To concept messaging and strategies to make our campaign more successful
The target audience for the first two focus groups were all undergraduate students who
will be on the Evansdale Campus. The target audience for the second two focus groups
were Reed College of Media students. The target audience for the in-depth interviews
were a variety of professionals, employers and students influencers that were actively in-
volved at WVU or their workplace. We decided to interview these influential people be-
cause we thought they could potentially help us create buzz about Evansdale Crossing.
We ultimately choose these people because their peers and co-workers look to them as a
mentor.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The above research objectives were used to design four primary research questions:
How knowledgeable are students, faculty, staff, and the community of the recent
development of Evansdale Crossing?
Would a social media account be an effective channel of communication to build
awareness?
What type of event would help our campaign succeed?
What is the best messaging and strategies to reach our target audience effectively?
RESEARCH METHODS
Focus Groups
The first focus group was held at Evansdale Library on February 22, 2015 at 4:00 p.m.
There were six students that attended and all of them were enrolled in colleges on Evans-
dale campus. The second focus group was held in Martin Hall Room 103 on February 25,
2015 at 4:00 p.m. There were seven Reed College of Media students that attended. The
third and final focus group was held in Martin Hall Room 201 on February 26, 2015 at 12
p.m. There were four Reed College of Media students that attended. (Refer to Appendix
A.1 for Focus Group Guide) The moderator discussed the following topics at each focus
group:
Hang out spots
How much time do you typically spend on campus in between classes? Where are some
typical hang out spots for you?
Evansdale Crossing
How much have you heard about Evansdale Crossing? Which amenities are you most ex-
cited about?
Eating habits
45. 45
Out of all of the food vendors, which one did you like the most and why? Do you cur-
rently have a meal plan on campus? If no, why not? If yes, where are your favorite places
to eat? What food options do you think are lacking on campus?
Social media
How do you find out about things going on around WVU? What channel of communica-
tion do you prefer to receive announcements of events around WVU? What WVU social
media accounts do you currently follow? Would you follow an account like the Moun-
tainlair to be updated about their events?
Events
Now that you know a little about Crossing, tell me what types of events would you attend
to find out more? What is the best time/day to have this type of event? Since the new
food options is one of the big draws, how would you propose we create an event that
gives people a sneak peak at what is to come? Would you come to a behind the scenes
hard hat tour if you knew you were some of the first people to get to check out the space?
Upon arrival, participants were greeted and asked to verbally consent, which was rec-
orded. A moderator followed an open-ended protocol that focused on answering the re-
search questions the focus group was recorded and transcribed for analysis. The re-
sponses from the focus groups were used to determine the most accurate way to word
questions on the questionnaire.
In-Depth Interviews
There were 25 in-depth interviews conducted by many team members within the groups.
The in-depth interviews were approximately 15 minutes long. (Refer to Appendix A.2
In-Depth Interview Guide)
Since scheduling conflicts interfered with our timeline, many of the group members vis-
ited Evansdale campus in search of willing participants. This did not allow us to ask fol-
low up questions. Also many of the employers were unavailable because of their demand-
ing work schedule; therefore, the interview was conducted over the phone.
Questionnaire
A questionnaire was hosted on Qualtrics. Questions consisted of a mixture of multiple
choice and open-ended questions. The survey went live on Friday, March 13, 2015. The
survey was created after the focus groups and in-depth interviews so that we could better
understand Evansdale student’s opinions and behaviors. The survey was officially closed
on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 6 p.m.
Before students took the survey, they received a short summary of what Evansdale Cross-
ing is seen in Figure 10, outlining what Evansdale Crossing is and what it entails, in or-
der to ensure that those who do not know about Evansdale Crossing could still answer
questions pertaining to it.
46. 46
Figure 10: Questionnaire summary of Evansdale Crossing
To expedite the survey process, skip logic was added to some questions so that partici-
pants who answered “no” did not need to answer related questions.
The survey began with an ice-breaker question about whether students are aware of the
developments located on Evansdale campus. Followed by questions aimed at student’s
behavioral and attitudinal habits, and ended with demographic-related questions and
open-ended questions (see Appendix A.3 for pre-survey).
RECRUITMENT METHODS
Focus Groups
In an attempt to recruit focus group participants, the team created and distributed one flier
design. The flier was designed to target students who spend most of their time on Evans-
dale campus. The flier contained a magnifying glass hovering over the text, “We’re look-
ing for WVU students who live in dorms on Evansdale campus to take part in a focus
group interview February 20, 2015.” As an incentive, free pizza was included in bolded
heading. The flier also included information about the focus group such as the discussion
theme, when and where the discussion would take place and our team’s contact infor-
mation. The week of the scheduled focus group, 40 fliers were distributed throughout the
hallways of Bennett, Lyon, Braxton and Brooke Towers. (See Appendix A.4 for Flier)
With a low response rate, the flier did not succeed. By using word of mouth, our team re-
cruited friends and classmates that often visit the Evansdale campus.
To recruit for our second phase of focus groups we targeted Reed College of Media stu-
dents. We were able to recruit 80% of the students through Dr. Pressgrove’s Strategic
Communications 215 class. The other 20% of students we recruited was through word-
47. 47
of-mouth to get a broad spectrum of Reed students. As an incentive to participate, the stu-
dents in Dr. Pressgrove’s class were offered attendance points and pizza.
In-Depth Interviews
In-depth interview participants were recruited using word of mouth. The in-depth inter-
viewees ranged from student influencers, employers, staff and faculty. A variety of the
interviewees were chosen because our team had already established those people as influ-
ential mentors toward our target audience.
Questionnaire
In order to recruit participants for the survey, the group had to email numerous professors
that had classes located on Evansdale campus. The group went to numerous classrooms
to give out paper surveys which were later inputted into Qualtrics. The survey was sent
through email to certain professors who stated that an online survey link would be easier
for them because either they taught an online class or our schedules conflicted.
DATA ANALYSIS
Focus Group
The focus group was recorded by one of the group members’ phone as an audio file. The
audio file was transcribed into a Word document. As stated above, the focus groups were
held before the survey launch in order to analyze the data and see if any questions should
be added or deleted from the questionnaire. Analysis took into account the main objec-
tives of the focus group. After transcribing the focus group responses, the responses were
grouped into categories of common themes that occurred. Next, the responses were com-
pared with the corresponding research questions. (See Appendix B.1 for complete Anal-
ysis of Focus Groups Chart)
In-Depth Interviews
Each in-depth interview question was placed into a Word document as a chart. For pur-
pose of analyzing, we created two charts. One chart was used to analyze the responses of
graduate and undergraduate students. The second chart consisted of the community which
was the employers, the staff and faculty. (Refer to Appendix B.2.for complete Analysis
of Employers and Faculty/staff Chart)
After entering each response and how many times they occurred, the team analyzed the
chart to determine the most common answers among students and the community. This
allowed our team to effectively evaluate and compare the answers.
Questionnaire
A report of the survey was generated using Qualtrics software. Questionnaire responses
were analyzed by individual questions, as well as through cross-tabulation. Survey ques-
tions were also categorized depending on which research question they were created to
answer.
48. 48
FINDINGS
Focus Group
From the three focus groups, there were eight Evansdale students and 11 Reed students
that attended. We decided to compare Evansdale and Reed student’s responses because
they are two different groups. The Reed students would be more exited for the Innovation
Center. While the Evansdale students would be excited about a central gathering place
with food options. (See Appendix B.3 for Focus Group transcription)
Both Evansdale and Reed students have heard very little about Evansdale Crossing. Our
team thought it was interesting that Evansdale students have not heard anything about
Evansdale Crossing because those students are over there the majority of their day. This
is an opportunity to increase awareness surrounding all of the amenities that the Crossing
has to offer. As a team, we have noticed that Evansdale Crossing is not being discussed
enough in the media for students to know what is being built. Due to the amount of con-
struction on Evansdale campus, many students seem to ignore the construction because
they cannot tell what is being built.
Of the 19 participants, 12 stated that Twitter was the main way they receive news about
WVU. There were many other platforms mentioned such as word of mouth, Instagram,
Yik Yak, Facebook, and The DA. Our group sees Twitter as the most effective way to
reach our target audience.
Out of the 19 participants, 11 stated that they would follow a Twitter account for the
Mountainlair. Because the majority of participants stated that they use Twitter as a means
of communication to receive news about WVU, we believe that creating a Twitter ac-
count for Evansdale Crossing would be the best way to communicate to our audience
about upcoming events that will be held at the Crossing.
The Evansdale students expressed they would want to attend events that involve food
such as cookouts and luncheons. The Reed students also said they were interested in
events that had food such as taste testing and a chef meet and greet. The Reed students
were excited about the Innovation Center and were interested testing the new technology.
Between the two groups, food is an obvious choice that they wish to see at an event held
at Evansdale Crossing.
Both Evansdale and Reed students stated that in order for them to come to an event they
would want free items. The majority of the answers were along the lines of a carnival
themed event. For example, students stated they would enjoy activities such as dunk tank,
games, raffle tickets, prizes, and live music. It seems that students want interactive games
and food to be at the event.
In-Depth Interviews
Over the course of the week, group members conducted 25 in-depth interviews. The in-
terviews included eight student influencers, five employers, five graduate students, and
seven staff members. (Refer to Appendix B.4 for In-depth Interview transcription)
49. 49
Graduate Students VS. Student Influencers
Both Graduate students and student influencers have heard very little about Ev-
ansdale Crossing. This goes to show that Evansdale Crossing is not being dis-
cussed enough in the media. All of the students said they knew very little about
what Evansdale Crossing was.
Many of the students said, “I haven’t heard anything about the student-centered
facility until this interview”. Overall, the majority of the students were excited
and thrilled to be getting a student-centered facility on Evansdale campus.
Graduate students stated that the best way to receive news about WVU was
through email along with the DA and WVU Today. Social media was an alternate
outlet that these students receive news about WVU such as Twitter and Facebook.
Student influencers stated that email was a main way to receive news about WVU
as well as social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and RubberU.
Every student influencer participant stated that they would follow a Twitter ac-
count for the Mountainlair. This tells us that a Twitter account would be effective.
Three of the five graduate students said they would follow a Twitter account for
Evansdale Crossing. The other two participants said they would never follow the
Twitter account.
The graduate students and the student influencers would want to attend events that
involve food. Many of the participants said they would be interested in trying
samples of the food options that will be in the Crossing. Our group sees this as an
opportunity to increase the awareness of the amenities offered at Evansdale
Crossing. Once again between the two groups, food is an obvious choice that they
wish to see at an event held at Evansdale Crossing.
Both graduate students and student influencers stated that in order for them to
come to an event they would want deals, promotions, and coupons. Consumers
are always interested in saving money when they can. By offering deals and pro-
motions once Evansdale Crossing is opened, this will draw people to Evansdale
Crossing. This will potentially create repeat consumers. Those loyal consumers
will then tell their families and friends about Evansdale Crossing, resulting in a
constant flow of consumers in and out of Evansdale Crossing.
Staff/ Faculty VS. Employers
Staff and Faculty stated that they would add the following items to Evansdale
Crossing to attract more students, employers, and faculty/staff: parking, reliable
Wi-Fi, and shops. The employers stated that they would also add more parking.
The employers were also interested in attending events geared towards families at
Evansdale Crossing. This would increase the community presence at events.
50. 50
Between the faculty/staff and employers, both groups agreed upon the annoyance
of the lack of parking for commuters and visitors. The visitors would mainly be
family visiting their children enrolled at WVU and employers located near Evans-
dale Crossing. This is a threat because we know that parking is one strong reason
people believe that Evansdale Crossing won’t benefit the community. Parking is a
threat but also an opportunity for the development of Evansdale Crossing. In or-
der to have a community presence at Evansdale Crossing, there must be more
short-term parking available on Evansdale campus.
The staff/ faculty seemed to be more knowledgeable about Evansdale Crossing
than any other target audience. Many of the faculty/staff knew a good bit about
the amenities that will be in the Crossing such as elevators, restaurants, and class-
rooms. The employers knew nothing about Evansdale Crossing. All of the em-
ployers were totally unaware that there was a student-centered facility in the pro-
cess of being built.
Of the long list of amenities offered in Evansdale Crossing, faculty/staff stated
that they would most likely use the following items: rooftop bar (Octane Lounge),
office space, restaurants, Barnes and Noble, and the new technology. Both fac-
ulty/staff and employers said they would most likely use Evansdale Crossing for a
place to meet up with co-workers. Three of the five employers interviewed stated
that Evansdale Crossing would serve them no personal use.
One employer said, “Evansdale Crossing would not benefit me personally, but I
think it will be good for students and give many options for food so that they
don’t have to travel elsewhere”.
The faculty/staff and employers stated that the most effective way of communica-
tion regarding WVU news and updates is email. As professionals, email seems the
most logical tool of communication due to the numerous times a day they have to
check their email.
Students as a Whole
After close examination of the participant’s responses, our team realized there are
many common answers. The majority of the students stated that Twitter and email
are the main ways they receive information about WVU. With that being said, the
students would follow a Twitter account for Evansdale Crossing to stay up-to-date
on what is going on at the Crossing.
Many of the students were interested in attending an event either carnival themed
or a backyard picnic. Free items, coupons and promotions would be beneficial in
getting students to come to Evansdale Crossing.
Community as a Whole
Overall, the community response to Evansdale Crossing was uninterested. They
felt that the amenities were much more geared towards student needs and didn’t
51. 51
realize how they could benefit from the building. This is a great opportunity to
unite the community with the university and inform them of all the ways in which
they too can benefit.
Questionnaire
The online questionnaire yielded 250 responses, 242 of which were completed, a 97%
completion rate. The survey had three pages and contained 18 questions. (See Appendix
A.3 for complete questionnaire)
The participants consisted of 31% juniors, 26% seniors, 18% Graduate, 17% sophomores,
and 9% freshman. The majority of the student’s majors were Engineering, Child Devel-
opment and Family Studies, Biochemistry, and Counseling.
Evansdale Crossing
Of the 250 respondents, 81% of the students were aware of the new developments on Ev-
ansdale Campus. When students were asked if they have heard about Evansdale Crossing,
54% said “No” and 46 % said “Yes”.(See Figure 11) This graphs shows that many of the
students are unaware of Evansdale Crossing.
Have you heard of Evansdale Crossing?
Figure 11: shows the percentage of students that have heard of Evansdale Crossing
Students were asked how likely they were to use Evansdale Crossing and 41% stated
likely. (See Figure 12). This graphs shows that Evansdale Crossing will get plenty of
foot traffic.
52. 52
How likely are you to use Evansdale Crossing?
Figure 12: shows how likely students are to use Evansdale Crossing
When students were asked, “Which of the following amenities of Evansdale Crossing
would you use the most? Rank 1-7”, a consist response showed itself. The number one
spot belonged to The Marketplace followed by gathering locations, Rooftop Lounge,
Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Innovation Lab, PNC Bank and lastly Student Accounts
and Financial Aid. This means that students are excited to have healthy new additions to
Evansdale campus. Evansdale Crossing will serve as a central meeting place on that cam-
pus especially since it is so close to the Engineering PRT stop.
Behavioral Habits
When asked how you travel to Evansdale Campus, 45 % said by vehicle. (See Figure
13).
Ways students travel to Evansdale Campus
Figure 13: Various ways students travel to Evansdale
Students were asked what do they do in between classes and the most common answers
were grab something to eat with 75% and study with 74%. (See Figure 14)
53. 53
Activities students do between classes
Figure 14 shows what students do between classes
Students were asked if they had meal plan and 80% said no and 20% said yes. Since the
majority of students who have meal plan live in the dorms and are usually freshman, this
explains why this answer is so low. Like stated earlier, the majority of the respondents
were upperclassmen.
Students who had meal plan were asked where they eat the most and 65% responded The
Mountainlair followed by Bits and Bytes at 37%. Many students would travel downtown
to eat at the Mountainlair because of the food options. Evansdale Crossing will be signifi-
cant to Evansdale students so they will not have to travel back and forth between cam-
puses.
Social Media
The main way students like to find out about WVU news or events is MIX, the university
email. MIX was the top choice at 91% followed by social media sites at 36%. (See Fig-
ure 15)
54. 54
Ways students find out about WVU news
Figure 15: shows the ways students find out about WVU news
Students were asked if they were active on social media and 89% responded to yes and
11% said no.
Students were asked what social media sites are they most active on. The top answer was
Twitter (See Figure 16).
Most popular social media site among college students
Figure 16: displays the most active social media sites among students
55. 55
Obstacles/Mistakes
Although scheduling conflicts interfered with many of the focus groups, in-depth inter-
views allowed the team to gain knowledge of the student influencers, faculty and staff,
and employers. In-depth interviews allowed our group to ask follow-up questions.
Due to the low attendance of the focus groups, placement of fliers should have been dis-
tributed sooner than they were. If our group could have contacted the student influencers
earlier in the process, more possible participants could have attended the focus groups.
This would allow the student influencers to reach out to the group members in the student
organizations.
In an attempt to engage with faculty, staff, and employers, team members approached
many of these people on Evansdale campus. Due to the lack of responses our team got by
trying to arrange an interview through email, group members were forced to go to the
campus and interview that way. Many of the student influencers did not have any contact
information on their organization website which made the group have to result in using
classmates to get in touch with the influencers. Our group later got in touch with Kim
Harrison who provided all email addresses of the president of each student organization
APPLICATION & INTERPRETATION
Reed College of Media Students
Of the offered amenities at Evansdale Crossing, students seemed to be most excited about
the Marketplace and updated technology. Even though the Innovation Center will be the
main attraction specifically for the College of Media students, many of the students were
interested in the developments of the center and what other technological additions there
will be.
Evansdale Students
One of the most important things we learned about Evansdale students was the lack of
general knowledge of Evansdale Crossing. Students knew little to nothing about the cur-
rent development and even less about what was actually going inside the building. This is
one of the main focuses we had in designing this campaign. We learned throughout our
primary research the social media channels that the students hold a strong presence on.
In our secondary research, we discovered the outlets that news about the Crossing is be-
ing distributed on does not correlate with its immediate audience. This is an opportunity
for our team to create innovative content and place it on channels in which the message
will resonate with the students. The majority of the students were excited to finally have a
place they can go to meet with their friends that won't be so crowded. Many of the stu-
dents seem to be relieved to not have to travel downtown for many of the amenities that
will now be in Evansdale Crossing.
56. 56
Students as a Whole
The focus groups allowed us to gain information about the students’ behaviors and atti-
tudes toward social media, food and events. The students suggested events like food sam-
plings and pop-up tents around campus would be a great way to introduce new restau-
rants to campus. The participants reported a strong presence on Twitter. It was vital for us
to create interesting Twitter content highlighting the Crossing so that students would see
it, get excited and potentially spread the word. We also found in our focus group discus-
sions that word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways students will gain interest in a
topic. From this discovery, we knew that finding influential people on campus and in-
forming them of the Crossing would eventually snowball into a campus-wide discussion.
Student Influencers
In-depth interview results were similar to what the group analyzed in the focus groups.
Most were receptive to the idea of attending events once Evansdale Crossing was opened.
Most of the participants in the focus groups said they would want to attend a backyard
picnic or a carnival themed event. Participants felt confident that food tastings, games
and giveaways would offer an incentive to come to the Crossing.
Staff/ Faculty
The faculty/staff were more aware of Evansdale Crossing compared to any other audi-
ence. All of the participants are aware of the amount of construction on Evansdale cam-
pus, but hardly anyone was aware of Evansdale Crossing.
Employers
Employers were unaware the building even existed. As said before, this is an opportunity
to spread awareness of Evansdale Crossing and the amenities it has to offer not only for
the students but the community as well. Another common disadvantage participants
brought up was the lack of short-term parking on Evansdale campus. Ultimately, this
could be one of the main reasons as to why there isn’t a strong community presence at the
Crossing. Many of the employers were uneducated on the subject of public-private part-
nerships, therefore; they did not feel comfortable giving an answer that they could not of-
fer an explanation with. The group sees this as an opportunity to inform the community
toward a positive view of public-private partnerships and how the building can benefit
the community.
Community as a Whole
Email was considered the best source because of its reliability and the ability to reach
more students and the community. A similar misconception the group noticed when inter-
viewing faculty/staff and employers was that many participants were unaware of the pub-
lic-private partnerships issue.
Our group proposes that Dan Simpson, Fresh Hospitality representative of Evansdale
Crossing, be interviewed about the restaurants and the impact of public-private partner-
ships. At this point, we believe that the community is not informed enough to form an
opinion about public-private partnerships. Another opportunity to make the community
57. 57
understand and accept public-private partnerships is having a group member and Dan at-
tend a town meeting where questions can be answered and addressed. This would allow
the community to ask questions that they are concerned about.
Questionnaire
Similar to the focus groups and in-depth interview responses, questionnaire respondents
said that they would like to receive updates via MIX emails. Twitter has shown to be the
main social media site that students use. This is the main reason our group chose to create
a Twitter handle in order for our campaign to be successful by spreading awareness
amongst students. By creating a Twitter account, we were able to spread awareness to the
downtown campus.
Almost half of the students are driving to class. Most of these students park either at the
coliseum or short-term paid parking. However, many students stated that they have
bought permit parking passes to park on Evansdale campus. Since there will be an addi-
tion to the Engineering PRT stop to connect with Evansdale Crossing, this will create
more students to use the PRT. Evansdale Crossing will help the flow of foot traffic better
by incorporating easier routes to get to classes and other buildings like the Rec Center.
The survey results suggest that the students are mostly excited for the new, healthy food
options coming to Evansdale campus. All of the students have positive things to say
about Evansdale campus. The majority of the students are looking forward to having a
central meeting place on campus.
The post-survey will help our group measure the success of our campaign is in spreading
awareness. The post-survey will be distributed after the Exclusive Sneak Peek event.
59. 59
CAMPAIGN GOAL
Overarching Goal
Our primary goal is to build awareness and excitement among internal and external audi-
ences. We want to inform our audiences of the impact of Evansdale Crossing and its re-
flections of West Virginia University's commitment to student and community life.
Key Publics
Primary Key Publics
We’ve identified WVU students who will be spending most of their time on Evansdale
campus as our primary key public because our research found that these students are in
close proximity and more likely to use the Crossing. This audience is broke down to stu-
dents that live on Evansdale campus and those who take classes there. Students are going
to be the main users of the Crossing because most of the amenities are student centered.
Also students are more likely to eat out. The new food options available in the Market-
place gives students another food option to integrate into their “eating out” routine. From
our focus group interview we found that students were interested in the idea of new food
options to the Evansdale campus, which will drive potential business.
Students
Taking Classes
This audience includes WVU students, both undergraduate and graduate, in the Davis
College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, College of Education and Human
Services, Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, College of
Creative Arts and College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. We have listed The
Reed College of Media to this public because of the expansion to the Evansdale Campus
when the new Evansdale Crossing is opened. The new media innovation center will offer
all WVU students the opportunity to work with new technology and create innovative
projects. There are 4,000 students enrolled, including nearly 700 graduate students in the
Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. There are also 1,762
undergraduate and 259 graduate students enrolled in Davis College of Agriculture, Natu-
ral Resources, and Design. These students spend an ample amount of time on Evansdale
campus placing them in direct proximity to the Crossing. The students will potentially in-
tegrate the Crossing into their daily routine when they are on campus.
Living
The second half of our primary key public involves students who live on Evansdale cam-
pus. The Evansdale Residential Complex (ERC), which includes Bennett, Braxton,
Brooke, and Lyon Towers, including Lincoln hall are all in close proximity to Evansdale
Crossing. There are over 1,800 students that live in on-campus housing on Evansdale
