2. Problem Overview
Problem Statement: Tampa is undergoing a major gastronomic renewal with new restaurants
opening to offer cuisine just as unique and rich as the culture. The vibrant food scene provides
opportunities for newcomers, but also more competition for establishing restaurants. Earlier this
year, Armature Works opened in Tampa. The building features food vendors in Heights Public
Market, other restaurants, and event spaces. It is important to understand the reception of
Armature Works, how it is fitting into the Tampa food scene, and what it means for Tampa.
Campaign goal: The goal of the public relations campaign is to position Armature Works as an
exciting newcomer to Tampa Bay.
PR Campaign Objectives:
● To gain favorable news media coverage of Armature Works in local and national news
sources.
● To gain news media coverage of key messages about Armature Works in local and
national news sources.
ResearchObjectives: The purpose of this study is to assess media coverage of Armature Works
after its opening using quantitative content analysis to understand the extent and nature of news
media coverage.
ResearchQuestions:
● What was the prominence of placement for Armature Works in media coverage?
● What was the dominance of placement for Armature Works in media coverage?
● To what extent were the three key messages of the campaign covered in news media
coverage of Armature Works?
● Which publication was most effective in terms of reach?
Key messages:
● Armature works is an exciting addition to the Tampa Bay area.
● Armature Works offers a variety of food options.
● Armature Works is a place for social gathering, networking, and social events.
3. Method
Meltwater, a popular media intelligence and social monitoring software, was used to collect
news items for Armature Works. The search included the search term "Armature Works" and
excluded mentions of D.C., aquamelon, Lularoe, Casper, Gillum, USF, Florida Community Loan
Fund, awardees, mining applications, and Houston. A total of 20 items were analyzed from
February 2, 2018 until February 23.
Results
1. What was the prominence of placement for Armature Works in media coverage?
Armature works has a 25% headline prominence. Their prominence being in the top 20% of
the article is at 55%. Their prominence being in the the bottom 80% of the article is at 20%.
2. What was the dominance of placement for Armature Works in media coverage?
5% of the articles are exclusively about Armature Works. 30% of the articles are dominantly
about Armature Works. 35% of the articles mentioned Armature Works equally (averagely)
to other companies. 30% of the articles mentioned Armature Works minimally.
3. To what extent were the three key messages of the campaign covered in news media
coverage of Armature Works?
Key message number one is present in 45% of the articles, and absent in 55%. Key message
number two is present in 75% of the articles, and absent in 25%.. Key message number three
is present in 60% of the articles, and absent in 40%.
4. In what way did the publications with the highest reach correlate with the
prominence and dominance areas?
The two articles with the highest reach are both from The Business Journals publication.
Although their reach is far superior than other publications, the prominence for one article is
2 (Top 20% of the article) and 3 (Bottom 80% of the article). Also, they both mentioned
Armature Works minimally.
4. Discussion
Armature works has received their fair share of media placement. Through their public relations
campaigning, they have been successful at staying relevant in the news and reaching people
through a multitude of media outlets and sources. Not only have they been present in the media,
they also have kept a positive tone about the establishment and have received overwhelming
positive feedback. One of their key selling points throughout this campaign has been that they
offer a variety of food options. This led us to believe that key message number two was best
communicated effectively. Whereas, key message number one fell short of that success but still
had presence and effectiveness. A little less than half of the articles mentioned that Armature
Works is a place that has added to or transformed the Tampa community. In terms of local and
national coverage, Armature Works did meet their objectives at a local and regional level.
However, they did not gain national coverage. To some extent, the additional co-working spaces
were also written about in a few of the articles. Overall, the campaign achieved the desired goals
and objectives through media placement.
5. Appendix A
Coding Sheet for Media Placement Project
Each student will code 10 articles.
Coder’s Name
_________________________________
Article Details
Headline:
Byline/Author:
Date:
Publication:
Reach:
Local/Regional/National 1) Local 2) Regional (Florida) 3) National
Prominence
The term “ArmatureWorks” appeared in the:
1) Headline 2) Top 20% of article 3) Bottom80% of article
(Circle where thefirst mention occurred.)
Dominance
Classify each mention as:
1) Exclusive (Only Armature Works mentioned)
2) Dominant (AW was themain focus of the item but not the only company mentioned)
3) Average (AW was mentioned equally to other companies)
4) Minimal (brief mention where other companies were more dominant)
Key Messages
#1 Armature Works is an exciting addition to theTampa Bay area.
1) Present 2) Absent
#2 Armature Works offers a variety of food options.
1) Present 2) Absent
#3 (The key message that you developed in class.)
1) Present 2) Absent
Provide one great quotefrom this article:
