A proposed one year IMC campaign for the150th anniversary of the American University of Beirut (AUB).

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AUB’s 150th Anniversary
Marketing 225
Ms. Leila Khauli
By: Samir Akkaoui, Sarah Ayoub, Ghadeer Hamati,
Amani Khadhraoui, & Imad Mawlawi

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Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................4
Brand Personality..........................................................................................................................................4
Situation Analysis..........................................................................................................................................4
Positioning Strategy..................................................................................................................................5
Message Strategy......................................................................................................................................6
Media Strategy..........................................................................................................................................6
Direct Marketing.......................................................................................................................................6
Public Relations and Buzz Marketing........................................................................................................7
Budget.......................................................................................................................................................7
Target Market Analysis .................................................................................................................................8
L E A R N E R ................................................................................................................................8
E A R N E R ................................................................................................................................9
R E T U R N E R ...........................................................................................................................9
Social Media Strategy: ................................................................................................................................10
Social Media presence analysis:..............................................................................................................10
Content Ideas:.........................................................................................................................................10
Plan of Action..............................................................................................................................................13
Grand festivities for the 150th....................................................................................................................14
AUB In The Sky- Teaser campaign for the carnival .................................................................................14
Light Show event.....................................................................................................................................15
Light the skies Festival ............................................................................................................................15
Gala Dinner .............................................................................................................................................17
KPI: ......................................................................................................................................................17
Budgeting:...........................................................................................................................................17
AUB Day of Giving...................................................................................................................................18
Connect AUB Students and Alumni ............................................................................................................19

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Campus Love .................................................................................................................................19
International Students day .....................................................................................................................20
AUB talks “What’s your story?”..............................................................................................................21
Reunion Weekend...................................................................................................................................21
Event Details: ......................................................................................................................................22
Cost: ....................................................................................................................................................23
KPI: ......................................................................................................................................................23
AUB networking series- Catch the series in a city near you ...................................................................24
6 tips for surviving at Networking Events:..............................................................................................24
WOAUB – Women of AUB ......................................................................................................................25
Objectives: ..........................................................................................................................................26
Global Opportunities...............................................................................................................................26
Leave your mark at AUB..........................................................................................................................28
Integrated Marketing Communications......................................................................................................29
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................29
Mobile App..............................................................................................................................................29
Video 1 - AUB stories ..............................................................................................................................30
Video 2 “We Make History”....................................................................................................................30
Branding Items........................................................................................................................................32
AUB commemorative calendar:..........................................................................................................32
BLISS joins the celebrations ........................................................................................................................33
Timeline of Events.......................................................................................................................................34
How do our Ideas match project objectives...............................................................................................35
Works Cited.................................................................................................................................................37
Appendix .....................................................................................................................................................38
Appendix 1- Overall summary of the surveys (research)........................................................................38
Appendix 2 - Findings from our Primary Research (snapshots of all answers from survey) ..................39
Students Survey ..................................................................................................................................39
Alumni Survey:....................................................................................................................................40
Appendix 3: Social media analysis ..........................................................................................................43
Appendix 4 - Detailed budget sheets......................................................................................................44

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Appendix 5: Cumulative Budget Sheets..................................................................................................45
Introduction
As one of the most prestigious and prominent universities in the middle-east, AUB has
become more than a simple educational institution. It is looked at as one of the most iconic
foundations in the Beirut as well as a heavenly spot in the smoke-filled city. AUB was founded
on December 3rd
, 1866 by the American Protestant missionary Daniel Bliss. And since then, it
was dedicated towards providing excellence and development to the education and research
along with creating a positive social impact on the region. With the beginning of 2016, AUB will
be celebrating its 150 years of great achievements and transformative impact. That is why; we
were approached by the Worldwide Alumni Association AUB to work on creating a full
marketing campaign dedicated to the anniversary. While we believe that this campaign
presents a great opportunity for us as marketers, we are fully aware of the challenges we are
facing due to the budget restrictions and the time limitation.
Brand Personality
Our brand; the 150th anniversary of AUB must reflect a certain personality that relates
to our target audience. Our audience is characterized with a high intellectual level and a
significant influence on the society. Hence, our brand is perceived as influential, prestigious,
innovative and distinguished.
Situation Analysis
The upcoming AUB’s 150th
anniversary is looked at as one of the most iconic events in
the history of the university. The 150th
campaign has an ultimate goal to highlight AUB’s role in
the region as a leader in quality education and degree innovation in comparison to
competitors. Hence, in order for us to achieve a successful campaign, we need to build a deep
understanding of AUB’s internal structure along with the external factors that will have an

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impact on the campaign. December 3rd
, 1866 AUB held its first classes with 16 students and
since then it had held itself responsible for “providing excellence in education, to participate in
the advancement of knowledge through research, and to serve the peoples of the Middle East
and beyond”. And indeed after 150 years, AUB has managed to build itself a strong competitive
brand name in the market and a quiet respectful reputation. It is widely recognized as a market
leader in Lebanon in specific and in the Mena region in general as it is ranked among the top 5
universities of the region (“AUB maintains”,2013). AUB has also a significant proprietary
technology that contributes to the education and the research of it students and faculty. And
let’s not forget to mention its important accreditations along with its iconic campus that is
considered as a national asset for Lebanon. However, during the last couple of years, AUB
became characterized with a narrow service line that contradicts with its innovative vision,
especially that competitors such as LAU, are penetrating new markets with new services like
the Elie Saab School of Fashion. Hence, in order for AUB to regain its leader position in the
market, certain opportunities had to be created or taken advantage of. Perhaps, the most
significant one is the importance of AUB’s alumni base. One of AUB’s greatest external
resources is its network of worldwide alumni. AUB graduates are influential leaders in all sorts
of fields and in more than 100 countries around the world. These men and women present an
instrumental legacy to the University both as an institution and a community. That is why;
World Wide Alumni Association AUB (WAAAUB) was created. This invaluable opportunity will
be an important part in our 150th
campaign. After some research we noticed that WAAAUB is
quite weak in terms of reaching Alumni and pulling them towards donating to AUB and
interacting with its alumni. Hence, our campaign will take part in enhancing the communication
and marketing strategy of WAAAUB in order to attract more Alumni to join the association and
engage more actively. New technologies and social media will be heavily exploited to
resourcefully manage between the worldwide chapters and AUB’s alumni outside of Lebanon.
Positioning Strategy
In order for us to have a successful campaign, a better understanding of our positioning
strategy had to be set. Positioning will be based on setting AUB’s brand apart on the basis of
attributes and benefits sought by the target market. The celebration of the 150th
anniversary

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will be positioned in the consumer’s mind as a reflection of the notable history of AUB, its
prestigious educational quality, its remarkable achievements through the 150 years, its rich
pool of global human resources ( Students, Alumni and Faculty) and finally its futuristic and
innovative visions. Basically our Positioning statement would be that Indeed AUB makes
history.
Message Strategy
The message communicated to the audience will emphasize on the positioning
statement and hence on the benefits and the attributes that the brand offers. It will be a two
sided message that will address the difficulties AUB faced and how it dealt with them to reach
its distinguished achievements. This structure will be used since we are addressing a highly
educated audience that will be better convinced through a two sided message structure. We
also believe that in order for this message to communicate effectively both a rational and an
emotional appeal should be used. The informational appeal will focus on communicating the
benefits sought and it will emphasize on logics and facts. On the other hand, the emotional
appeal will work on stimulating feelings such as pride, joy and nostalgia.
Media Strategy
The media strategy will be executed according to the target audience and which media
channel it will respond to and engage with more effectively. Hence, we will use a diverse pool
of media starting from Radio ads, to collateral media and Social media. These media means,
must work in a synergic way to correspond to our general IMC strategy.
Direct Marketing
A direct Marketing strategy will be a critical part of our campaign, considering that AUB
has an extensive database of students, Alumni and relevant parties related to them. Traditional
tools such as direct mail and emails will be used. Also with the rapid growth of the internet
access and the ease of instantaneous communication, direct marketing will be used in order to
generate immediate responses from our target audience. This will allow us to track and
measure the responses of the audience more efficiently.

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Public Relations and Buzz Marketing
Marketing the 150th
anniversary of AUB is mainly based on Public relations. Our
campaign includes multiple events that aim at attracting attention to our brand and hence gain
free publicity. The AUB community has a rich pool of publicizing resources starting with outlook
to student bloggers. The essence of our campaign along with the quality and the originality of
our events is quite relevant to the Lebanese community in general, which will have external
sources of publicity such as magazines and TV shows covering our activities. While this will
generate controlled and uncontrolled content, the objectives of our PR strategy are first
informal. We are providing information about our brand to the target audience. Second, we are
trying to attract alumni and the general public to attend our events and take part of our
campaign. And third, it has a purpose of building the brand’s equity of AUB and enhancing its
reputation. This will also be linked to creating a buzz marketing strategy.PR and then publicity
will help us create a viral campaign. We estimate a large Publicity cover and hence a large
exposure. Previously mentioned strategies will also contribute to creating this buzz. For
instance, We will be heavily using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
creating #AUBGoes150 Hasthag in order to build a common ground between these social media
platforms.
Budget
It is critical for us to understand that neither of these communication strategies will
have a successful outcome unless we manage to allocate our budget efficiently. We understand
that our budget is very limited for a yearlong campaign. That is why most of our events will
generate their own revenues in order to cover their costs through selling entrance tickets, or
AUB related products. Sponsors will also be approached. The rest of the budget will be
allocated to the IMC elements according to their costs and importance.

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Target Market Analysis
We have segmented the market into three main segments based on life stages. We
believe that people spend their first stage in life learning, their second stage earning, and their
third stage in life returning.
L E A R N E R
This segment includes the students who are prospective alumni, and fresh graduates. This
segment accommodates to the dreamers, the ambitious, those who strive for success, and
aspire to change the world. They are energetic, and usually driven by their passions.
Characteristics
● Age between 16 and 23 years old
● Do not face major life responsibilities
● Prone to Spontaneous behaviour
● Active on social media and technology oriented
● Engaged and enjoy interactive events
● Do not have a strong financial standing

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Needs/wants: This segment is constantly looking for opportunities to grow, to learn, and to
experience with what’s new and exciting. They need effective guidance in pursuing different
career paths.
E A R N E R
This segment includes alumni that are working and pursuing their careers.
Characteristics: They age between 23 and 50 years old. Begin earning, consider saving and
planning for the future and start taking up more responsibility.
Needs/wants: They are looking for brighter career opportunities, anticipate for success, and
long for security.
R E T U R N E R
The returners include alumni above the age of 55. They are individuals that have reached their
peak in career and life events and goes through the process of life reflection. After people reach
a satisfying stage of achievements, family, love, and well-being, they realize that they would like
to give back to community. They become eager to reinvest in future generations and support a
cause.
We need to capture this opportunity and satisfy their need of making a positive change in the
community. We aim to provide the returners with a platform that does not solely serve as
donation generator but much more than that! Provide them with the opportunity to benefit
those who are in need monetary by giving donations. Moreover, given that this segment has
the time and the money, we would like to benefit from their time and wisdom! Connect them
as mentors to the future generation, focus on sharing their wisdom with future generations
through teaching, mentoring, coaching, and donating towards education. Finally we would like
to recognize their great achievements and appreciate their gracious contribution.

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Social Media Strategy:
Based on the two surveys we conducted, we found out that most alumni respondents chose
Facebook and emails as their favorite media platform followed by Instagram. However,
students chose Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp as their channels to connect with their
family and friends.
Social Media presence analysis:
Presence:
· Facebook: 5,166 likes
· Twitter: 2,945 followers
· LinkedIn (as a user): 500+ connections
· Instagram: No presence
WAAAUB Facebook and twitter pages have relatively the same content. On LinkedIn, their last
post was on October 2, 2015. Each platform should have its own tailored objectives to cater
each audience’s preferences and to optimize the required return on investment.
Content Ideas:
Facebook: WAAUB could start by investing in its page in order to increase its reach and fan
base. It could also share facts about AUB’s history and accomplishments or even post questions
to encourage the followers to engage. For instance, it could ask, “Why AUB?” in order to
collect data on how the community perceives AUB. Facebook will serve as a channel to publish
the main events and teasers for the upcoming 150th
Anniversary.
Instagram: On Instagram, WAAUB would be connecting with the youth generation. Content
should be interactive and relevant to the targeted segment. It could also create competitions
that include on-campus activities and award the winners. Instagram will also serve as a channel
to promote teasers and events on campus.

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Twitter: According to our survey, only 28% of our alumni respondents chose Twitter as their
media platform whereas 17% of students selected Twitter. Thus, the channel could be used to
share WAAAUB and AUB news as well as live event coverage for the upcoming anniversary and
make #aubgoes150 trend.
LinkedIn: WAAAUB is currently present as a user on LinkedIn. Its last post was on October 2,
2015. We propose that the association create a page to bridge current and potential alumni and
empower them. It will help students find better internship opportunities and job vacancies. In
return, it will allow old alumni attract new talents to their organization. Additionally, it could
create a group where AUB’s community could interact with one another. The purpose of this
group is to collect key insights which will allow it to improve it services. LinkedIn could be an
added value for WAAAUB.
We took the initiative to compare AUB’s and WAAAUB’s platforms as well as
engagement rate. On Facebook, AUB has more than 100,000 likes whereas WAAAUB has less
than 6,000. On the other hand, on Twitter, AUB has around 44,000 followers however,
WAAAUB has only 2,945. Moreover, according to FanpageKarma.com, more than 50% of the
WAAAUB fans are from Lebanon however, the rest of the fans are from a wide range of
countries around the world such as Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia and USA. The numbers show
that WAAUB has a diverse fan base who is interested in its news, yet, the engagement is
relatively low. Based on the analytical tool used, the most liked post (52 likes) was related to
the mourning of AUB staff members who died during the latest Beirut explosion. The shared
post “What’s your favorite spot on campus” for instance, was also posted on AUB’s official
Facebook page. If we equate the post on both pages, we would deduce that AUB’s post had a
good rate of engagement whereas WAAAUB had zero comments and only one like. The facts
shed light that AUB’s community is not interested in the association. Thus, the main purpose of
our strategy is to promote its added value and the importance of such organizations.

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Additional ideas:
 “Why AUB?” The objective is to collect insights on how students perceive AUB and highlight
its value.
 “Share your favorite AUB memory”. The purpose is to engage with the community and get
insights on their experience. It could be posted on Facebook and Instagram along with the
#AUBmemory. The shared images will be re-posted on WAAAUB’s pages to increase
followers’ engagements.
 Events would also be communicated on platforms according to their type along with their
details. For instance, AUB talks would be communicated on LinkedIn, Instagram and
Facebook. The content will be about speakers’ background information and the event’s
theme.
 “Did you know facts” are posts about AUB’s history, accomplishments and stories. The aim
here is to familiarize students to AUB’s culture.

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Plan of Action
There are many ways to celebrate, to bring together the students and alumni, and
finally reach out to the community. In order to achieve our goals and touch upon all celebration
opportunities we decided to classify the celebrations ideas into three main categories:

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Grand festivities for the 150th
AUB In The Sky- Teaser campaign for the carnival
Marketing relies on two main aspects: Advertising and Publicity. With this idea we are focusing
on the intensive free (stimulated) publicity we would receive as we are trying to attract as much
attention as possible from the public and letting them form a slingshot effect.
In order to start our celebration BIG and motivating attendance to our opening festival, we will
launch a teaser campaign. We will launch an airplane to fly by the airport to Jbeil Strip with a
banner attached to the back saying: “AUB goes/grows 150 years”.
We would be grabbing the attention of many bored drivers stuck in a killer traffic on their way
home. We want to ensure that the public talks about the campaign and stimulate Buzz
Marketing.
In order to measure the success of the initiative we will have to look at the reach of the idea.
We want the idea to go viral on social media to the point that it is featured on local news. This
will then help us earn free publicity for AUB’s 150th
anniversary.

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This initiative targets all of Lebanon, students and alumni inclusive. We would be creating a
sense of pride for students and alumni who will hear about it and engaging them on our social
media platforms.
The budget paid for this initiative is recovered from the Festival profits.
Light Show event
The closing ceremony of AUB’s 150 year anniversary will be marked by a lightshow. The
light show will be projected on AUB’s college hall, and reflect iconic images from the history of
the University throughout time such as main achievements, iconic people etc.
The whole community may attend, to watch the event. In terms of budget, AUB can seek
sponsors for the event, such as HSBC to finance the designers for the lightshow and equipment
needed to project it.
The main objective of this event is to mark the grand finale and conclude all events that went
on during the year in celebration of AUB’s 150, to showcase a final visual element to AUB’s
history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6jLEl7b_8U
Light the skies Festival
In order to start the celebrations for the 150th, we want to go big with our first event.
We will pick a night where most Lebanese are free (a national holiday for example). This event
aims to gather around 15K Lebanese for a new celebration. We would invite the press,
celebrities who graduated from AUB, influencers to attend the opening of the event.

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The launch of the event will be marked by small speeches given by the Presidents of AUB and
WAAAUB by the main gate. At the center we would have the flying lanterns tied together in the
shape of 150. While the speeches are made, we would give out LED helium balloons to the
crowd. Once the speeches are done we will release the 150 lanterns followed by the balloons.
We want to light up the sky.
The launch will be followed by a food carnival. We would invite the street food festival
to set up their stands along West Hall. For that we would use AUB resources, the same stands
used for Outdoors. The Beirut street festivals have been a great attraction for many people.
Such an event would be a great opportunity for the creators of the food festival as well as AUB
who would benefit from their fan base.
Upper campus would be decorated with dim ambient lights, soft music, and flower bouquets
for people to enjoy.
In order to finance this event first we will set a 5000L.L entrance fee. Second we would
look for sponsors to cover the rest of the expenses, we can find sponsors for each activity. For
example if BankMed decides to sponsor the Balloon lanterns we can print the logo on the
balloons given to the public.
This event is the opening celebration for the 150th
, a celebration that aims to bring
together students, alumni, the community and the public all together to celebrate the presence
of AUB since 1886.
This Public Relations activity aims to reinforce the image
of AUB in the community, AUB as a pioneer in innovation
and creativity. We want Lebanon to interact with AUB as
a brand, and remember the importance of the university
in the community as well as the economy.

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Gala Dinner
The Gala Dinner will be one of the last events of the year. Its aim is to highlight AUB’s
accomplishments throughout history. It will also re connect AUB’s community together. During
the Gala Dinner, AUB’s donors will be recognized for their contribution and belief in AUB’s
future, high distinction students will be rewarded for their hard work and distinguished
pioneers will be honored. An auction on many historical, archeological and artistic pieces will be
held. All the proceeds will go to the Financial Aid funds.
KPI:
The main objectives of this dinner are to raise donations and connect with Alumni. Thus, we will
measure the number of attendees in order to analyze alumni’s interest on WAAAUB.
Budgeting:
The Gala Dinner’s expenses will be covered by AUB who will oversee the entire
preparation. However, it will also hire students as part of the plan for promoting WAAAUB and
integrating students in AUB’s activities. A group of 10 people will take part in this Gala Dinner.
They will be responsible for promoting the dinner and help organize the dinner. They will be
paid according to AUB’s regulations, 5000 L.L per hour. We estimate that they will work during
week days for 3 hours each day for a period of 5 weeks. Also, they will work for four additional
hours during the day of the dinner. Therefore, the students will work for a total of 79 hours.
Promoting the event will be part of our budget, thus we will allocate around 1,250$ to promote
it on all WAAAUB and AUB social media platforms and through emails.

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AUB Day of Giving
Set a day of giving to stimulate donations from AUB community, globally
and locally. On this day of giving, every alumni chapter will be hosting a gathering to celebrate
the AUB’s values and garnish donations from Alumni for AUB’s. The event will be covered under
one main hashtag #AUBDayofGiving where aubites from all around the world will share their
moments as they reunite with old friends and give back to their beloved institution. This will
generate positive donations, buzz marketing, good word of mouth, and brand recovery in the
audience. We will hype the donations by setting a target amount to reach and creating a
countdown on AUB’s website which will excite people to donate and fill the tab (See example in
figure below). Finally, since it is our 150th Anniversary, nudge people into donating this special
number of $150. This idea will target all segments: the learners, the earners, and the returners.
We expect the returners to be more engaged with raising donations, however by making a buzz
and appealing to the whole AUB community, the learners and earners will be encouraged to
give back even with less significant amounts, every dollar counts.

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Connect AUB Students and Alumni
Campus Love
One of our objectives is to increase the sense of pride for current students. Many students
graduate on yearly basis, and in order to develop WAAAUB’s alumni database we might as well
start working on the current students. We noticed that AUB as a university doesn’t directly
interact with its students often. According to our survey to students, 36% of the respondents
feel that AUB doesn’t offer enough on campus activities.
In order to increase interactions between WAAAUB and the students, we suggest organizing
small low cost on campus entertainments for students. The aim of these entertainments is
create a certain pride for students, and reinforce the 72% attachment rate of students to AUB.
Based on the responses we got on the survey, 50% of the respondents prefer small on campus
events to celebrate the 150th anniversary.
We want to create Entertainment Thursdays, whereby every first Thursday of the month will
feature a new form of entertainment. The first event could be installing AUB music instruments
by the ZOO smoking area for people to enjoy listening to the music club members. Although the
initiative has almost no cost, we would be building a sense of belonging amongst students and
encouraging students to stay on campus/enjoy their time instead of getting bored and leaving
home.
The zoo can be branded with WAAAUB banners and flyers, in order for students to make the
connection, and understand what WAAAUB aims to accomplish.
The following months can feature: Salsa show, a small play, Hip Hop show, Dabke show… And
the rest of the months can be suggested by our students on social media to get user generated
content.
This type of event can be considered as a direct marketing strategy where we go to our target
market and advertise our services.

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In order to measure the success of this idea, we would monitor the rate of interaction with our
social media and compare it to pre-implementation figures.
International Students day
Other than AUB’s distinguished academics, the university highly values the sense of
diversity and cultural differences. With more than 75 nationalities present on campus, AUB is
one of the most diverse institutions in the region. Hence as a part of its 150th
anniversary, AUB
wants to celebrate the presence of its international students and the importance of
implementing a sense of multiculturalism. The idea is to dedicate a whole day, where every
AUB club or organization is encouraged to represent a country. For instance, Dabkeh Club will
represent Lebanon, Salsa Club will represent and will take part of a small on campus event.
Music and traditional shows will be exhibited to Students and visitors throughout the day by
each Club. And Traditional food will be sold to cover each club’s expenses.
The event will be targeting all of the AUB community. Hence, Mass media strategies will
be our main focus to reach our target audience. Flyers and posters should be hang or
distributed around campus prior to the event. Social media will also be a very significant mean.
This event will mainly serve communication objectives, as it will highlight how AUB is
differentiated from other universities and how its position as a market leader is attracting a
diverse student body. It will also serve as an incentive to encourage international prospective
students to consider AUB for their studies. And it will push AUB alumni from foreign countries
to get in touch again with AUB, as they will feel personally associated with such an event.
Our KPIS will be measured through the database collected by the clubs of the people
who stopped by their stands and interacted with the event. The number of internet users who
engaged with the event will also be measured through comments, pictures and hashtags.

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AUB talks “What’s your story?”
The AUB Stories project will be launched over the year and include a talk once a month
to offers all members of the AUB community the opportunity to record, share, and preserve
personal stories relating to their experience with the University. The idea behind this is to allow
alumni to help and give advice to current students in their future paths. Each month one
inspirational talk will occur under a specific theme; such as: “Why some failures can lead to
success,” “What to do after graduation”, “How to make the most of your college experience”,
“How we started our companies”
The talks can be either individual presenter giving a talk or a panel of old alumni
discussing ideas together where the audience can ask questions and interact as well.
How can we reach out to the alumni?
An email can be sent at the beginning of the month to all alumni, including the titles of
the talks, asking them to sign up to the one they are interested in. A maximum of 5 speakers
will be assigned for each talk. AUB can also reach out to a few notable alumni members inviting
them to participate in the event.
Outside the auditorium a stand can be there selling AUB sweaters, caps, or t-shirts with
the money to go to the scholarship funds.
Reunion Weekend
The Reunion Weekend will be an initiative from the WAAUB to connect on a personal
level with AUB’s community. The occasion is aimed at joining staffs, alumni and current
students together in order to strengthen the relationship between all stakeholders, to allow
students to build a network that will aid them in their professional careers and promote the
WAAAUB organization.

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Event Details:
1/ Duration: 3 days
2/ Time: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
3/ Location: Faraya
A committee composed of students and alumni would be responsible for organizing the whole
event. An example of how the reunion could go: Each day would start off by a breakfast in the
hotel. On Friday, the participants would hike Lebanon’s mountains and have lunch afterwards.
There will be a workshop on each day so that students or fresh graduates could learn from the
alumni experiences and skills. On Saturday, the participants will go on a road trip touring from
Farayah to Erneh el Sawda. As for Sunday, the guests will form groups and will compete in
various sports activities. The dinner on Friday and Saturday will be a casual diner at a local
Lebanese restaurant. On Sunday however, there will be a Gala Dinner, in which speakers and
all interested parties would attend. Furthermore, an auction or tombola will be held. All the
proceeds will go to the scholarship and Financial Aids funds
Friday Saturday Sunday
Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast
Hiking Road Trip Sports Activities
Lunch Lunch RIKKY’Z
Workshop: Public Speaking Workshop: Body Language Workshop: Building Your Personal Brand
Dinner Dinner Gala Dinner

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Cost:
The Organizing committee will consist of 4 students and 2 alumni. They will be in charge of
getting sponsors, promoting the event, choosing the hotel, setting the up the activities, finding
key speakers for the workshops and the Gala Dinner as well as organizing the dinners. Thus, all
students involved in the event will be paid 200 $ each. The two way transportation will cost
500$. For the workshops, we allocated 900$ for all three workshops. The costs for
accommodation, lunch, dinners, hiking and road trip will be paid by the interested participants.
The sports activities should be covered by the sponsors.
P.S- The entire event may not cost anything for WAAAUB if the committee found sponsors
willing to endorse the occasion
KPI:
Our KPI for the Getaway Weekend will be to measure the number of participants in addition to
the donations collected during the Gala Dinner on Sunday.

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AUB networking series- Catch the series in a city near you
The AUB Networking Series is a chance for all alumni to reconnect with old friends, meet new
people, explore different networking opportunities and make new contacts within the AUB
Community. We believe that the AUB community is diversified and well-connected, so these
events bring our community members together to make the most of our diversity.
6 tips for surviving at Networking Events:
1) Bring your business cards
2) Connect with everyone
3) Have a mindset of contributing to the event
4) Make an effective introduction
5) Listen first then speak
6) Follow up
The events will take place in different countries over the year, and this will be promoted on
AUB’s social media pages, for example on the AUB main alumni page, WAAUB page and pages
for each chapter depending on the country the event is hosted in.

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WOAUB – Women of AUB
As AUB celebrates 150 years of exceptional prosperity, AUB continues to disrupt the
negative discrimination and oppression against women ‘justified’ under social norms in our
region. Empowering women with equal rights to gain quality education, prosper, succeed, and
grow in our competitive world. We want to take it further and take an official stand against
women discrimination. It is our time to magnify the impact and to raise this cause. Not only talk
the talk but also walk the walk.
In the Middle East Women are challenged every day with inequality especially in the
workplace, women are offered less career opportunities. Women suffer from unreasonable
income gaps compared to men; according to Arab News, women in the Middle East and Africa
are earning 67% less income than men. (Jiffry,2013). Moreover, women face difficulty balancing
family and rising in their careers.
Women are in need of support; physical, mental, and emotional support: they need
each other! They need to be able to reach out to other women that are going through the same
struggle in society. Additionally, young women need guidance and mentorship from older
women that can act as role models and share their wisdom from past experiences etc.
Allow WOAUB (Women of AUB) to bridge the gap and build an initiative exclusive for
Women at AUB that include alumni and students. This initiative is dedicated to empower
women in the region, recognize their achievements, and value their talent and capabilities.
WOAUB will build a powerful network of women that will involve various women ranging from
a powerful pool of alumni, to aspiring students, and hardworking staff. They will focus on
sharing concerns, limitations, and trying to solve issues in our problematic society suppressing
women. WOAUB will serve the community as the empowered women will empower others and
lend a helping hand to future generations.

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Objectives:
 Select a board that represents all segments: Alumni, Students, Administrative Staff, and
Blue collar staff.
 Conduct focus groups that aim to identify current challenges, and work on finding solutions.
 Match established women mentors with group of women students for guidance and
direction.
 Develop a special fund to support women education
Global Opportunities
After 150 years of success and innovation, we truly believe that our students are the
heart of this institution. AUB achieves its goals when its students achieve their dreams. So what
happens when the students start dreaming big? How do we adapt to their evolving needs and
yearnings?

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We noticed a massive rise in entrepreneurship, becoming a megatrend in the 21st
century. Generation Y is growing up to aspire and become entrepreneurs due to high
unemployment rates among the youth, and a transformational change in work and lifestyle
preference. (Barkawi,2015).There is a strong desire among the youth to dream big and start
independent business ventures. They aspire to live and learn, they dare to fail and succeed.
These people feel constrained working under a hierarchal boss in a slow moving business
model.
After conducting primary research, we surveyed students and asked them what is most
important for your career in the first 5 years after graduation? Salary/compensation,
Challenging work, pursue a higher education, or Global opportunities (travel/work/study
abroad). Giving the above options, the majority, 39%, claimed that they cared most about
global opportunities that include travel, work, or study abroad.
We captured this insight and decided to introduce global opportunities to our alumni in
order to provide for their “needs”. Simply match local dreams with global opportunities.
The project aims to build an online platform that exclusively connects AUB Alumni to
others from international renowned institutions. This hub will offer ambitious alumni exposure
to global markets and allow them to pitch in new ideas, meet potential co-founders, employ
great talent, and maybe even find investors. The project will result in building meaningful
connections between people that share common ground of quality education and ambitious
spirit creating synergy. Moreover, this initiative will retrieve valuable data from our alumni.
The project will begin collaborating with our ‘sister’ universities such as AUS located in
Sharjah, UAE and AUC that is located in Cairo, Egypt. Moreover, we aim to reach out to leading
universities in every region such as Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.

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Leave your mark at AUB
AUB provides a naming program for big donors and offers them to name buildings,
faculties, or even a bench on campus depends on their donation offering. However this naming
program is limited to big donors, those with bulky bank accounts.
Insight: People love leaving a print anywhere they go to be remembered!
We would like to propose the idea of expanding the naming program into naming bricks
of main gate walls (See figure below). Since people love leaving a print anywhere they go, why
don’t we provide this offering for small donations in return. The bricks can be named with the
actual names of ‘donors’, initials, a quote, a hashtag, etc. The insight of this idea was driven by
the behavior of people in public areas such as coffee shops, sights, etc. (See examples in figures
below). People always carve their names, or initials and say, “I was here”. By implementing this
idea, we will capture the opportunity of raising donations from a simple desire to be
remembered.

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Integrated Marketing Communications
Introduction
We believe that the most effective and efficient way to achieve our campaign’s
objectives is through following an integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategy that will
serve our objectives. We understand that various communication strategies are critical for our
campaign; however the autonomous use of these strategies might harm our brand and send
mixed and confusing messages to our target audience. Hence, integrating the communication
functions will allow us to achieve synergy among our promotional tools and hence build and
maintain a stronger brand identity.
Mobile App
Given that WAAAUB is planning to launch an application for AUB Alumni, as marketeers
we would like to build a functional added value to give mobile users an incentive to download
and use the application.
This application can be used as a digital identification for AUB Alumni. Users of this
application will enjoy many benefits such as exclusive discounts on hotels and restaurants, and
promotion deals on AUB events. Given that AUB hosts a large community,
The application will send push notifications on news about AUB, news about Alumni,
upcoming events, and also build a digital network of Alumni and identify geographically
proximate alumni and provide a platform for Alumni to connect.

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Video 1 - AUB stories
We want to create a video that would document diverse AUB stories from current
students, to nostalgic alumni, and prospective students. This video aims to tell a story a story
about AUB and celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Given that we are limited on budget and we want to optimize our time, effort, and
money. We recognize that we have a rich pool of talents right here on campus. Students
pursuing Media and communication studies!
Instead of resorting to media production agencies, we propose to produce it ‘in house’
by collaborating with the Media Department and the Media Student Society to create a
university competition. Understanding students interests, and motivation; some are driven by
recognition, others by monetary rewards, and some are simply eager to learn and get the hands
on experience. Let’s overshadow with an umbrella of incentives to capture different segments
with distinct motivations.
Incentivize engagement by students by providing the winning team $1000 monetary
reward, moreover they will strong recognition by AUB by using the video and provide the
winning team the technical support and required resources to advance their video to a major
production. And lastly, this will be super beneficial to student participants who will have a
hands on experience, practice what they learn in the media school, and maybe proudly add this
to their portfolio of minor productions.
Video 2 “We Make History”
We aim to make a short film that documents the history of AUB and its achievements
through the 150 years’ timeline. This short movie comes as a celebration of AUB as an
educational and social icon in the middle-east region specifically and the world in general.
While we understand our budget constraints, we believe that this project will not require any
significant costs as it will mainly be directed by the media department of AUB. It will provide
the needed props. The Crew will also be constructed of the media students in AUB whether we

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are talking about the camera men or the movie editors. The only exterior costs will mostly
include catering during the shooting along with additional consulting from professional talents
or extra props. We will also approach iconic Lebanese producers to see if they would volunteer
to take part in this project without any cost. They will have their name publicized within the
movie and their brand associated with AUB.
The movie will mainly target the AUB community, perspective or current students and
alumnus. Hence, we need to understand that we must segment our audience according to
which generation they belong to and target them through the means they tend to respond to
and engage with more effectively. This means that we will need to have an integrated
marketing Communication strategy that mixes all different types of marketing mix according to
the different responses they will get from the different segments. While the target audience
from Generation Y are shaped by technology and engage better with social media and online
events, Baby boomers tend to feel more comfortable dealing with traditional platforms such as
TV ads and personal invitations along with face to face marketing. This explains why following a
well-built IMC strategy will be the most efficient and effective way to target our audience.
In terms of objective, this movie will mainly serve to achieve communication objectives.
It will be implemented in order to build stronger brand equity for AUB by emphasizing on its
added value as an educational institution through its remarkable history and significant
achievements. It will build a stronger sense of belonging for current students and alumnus. And
it will attract more prospective students who would want to be associated with AUB. Both a
peripheral and a central route will be followed while marketing this movie. First, this short film
has creating a sense of pride and nostalgic emotions as an incentive. Watchers will relate more
to AUB on an emotional level as it will create in them a powerful thought of dignity and
gratification as a part of AUB. This can be perceived as an incentive for Alumnus to grow their
activities with WAAAUB and hence their donations. Second, in terms of the central route, this
movie will be based on well-studied and well organized historical facts and will be addressed to
an audience with an important intellectual level that will have a higher elaboration level when
responding to this video.

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Our KPIs will be measured according to the number of people who will be reached by
this short movie and the number of internet users who will engage positively with it through
social media.
Branding Items
AUB commemorative calendar:
AUB’s past comes alive in a commemorative 2016 wall calendar featuring archival
photographs and daily accounts of the university history. The calendar will delight history fans
and anyone interested in the dates and occurrences that have shaped AUB over the last 150
years. The calendar can be sold at the University bookstore as part of the anniversary
celebrations and donations will go to the scholarship fund. Libraries can be asked to finance this
project, for example Malek’s or Doculand and in return their logo would be displayed on the
calendar.

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BLISS joins the celebrations
Bliss Street has become an Icon for the AUB community. And with our main gate being
on Bliss Street, the street is a gateway to AUB and a trademark. Celebrating AUB’s 150th
without
joining Bliss Street to the celebrations would be a shame.
By collaborating with the restaurants/shops that extend from ZWZ all the way to LeSam
we would decorate and show the beauty of the street with lights and flowers.
We would help the shops decorate and package their window displays to match the
150th
celebrations. This event could spread over a week of celebrations where students can
receive extra discounts, we can even encourage shops to put some music at their stores and get
creative. This would help the shops communicate their brands to AUB students and create a
certain emotional connection while boosting their sales.
This initiative is a way for AUB to give back to its students, even the people who are
simply passing by Bliss Street. AUB would be communicated as a brand that goes beyond an
education, but rather a way of living.
This is part of our IMC plan to reach out to our target markets. We would be
encouraging students to stay on campus and enjoy the celebrations by the main gate.
Since we are collaborating with the shops, we would make sure to cover costs through
collaborations with our sponsors (mainly BankMed, ZWZ, Prime on Bliss, Roadster, Urbanista,
Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds). Each shop would be taking care of their window displays and
all together make the street more aesthetic.

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Timeline of Events

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How do our Ideas match project objectives

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Works Cited
 AUB maintains global rank, as other universities in region fall. (2013, September 10).
Retrieved November 30, 2015, from <http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-
News/2013/Sep-10/230648-aub-maintains-global-rank-as-other-universities-in-region-
fall.ashx>.
 Barkawi, W. (2015, June 14). The Dynamic New Trends Of Entrepreneurship. Retrieved
December 1, 2015, from <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247319>.
 Jiffry, F. (2013, June 20). Mideast women have 67.4% less disposable income than men.
Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.arabnews.com/news/455593>.

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Appendix
Appendix 1- Overall summary of the surveys (research)
Based on our survey posted for the current students of AUB, we were able to deduce that:
1/ Around 29% of students DO NOT feel attached to AUB
2/ Students mainly use Facebook and Instagram to stay connected with family and friends
3/ Almost 50% of students prefer small on campus events to celebrate the 150th anniversary
4/ 66% of students either have no expectations for the AUB celebration or not so sure what to
expect
5/ An amazing 39% of students (majority) pursue global opportunities after graduation
6/ Around 37% of students don’t think AUB offers enough on campus events
Based on our survey posted for AUB’s Alumni, we were able to deduce that:
1. 72% of the alumni are employed and 77% believe that the AUB diploma made them stand
out during job interviews
2. 40% of the Alumni ignore AUB’s emails
3. The majority of Alumni have Facebook, emails and then Instagram as their favorite social
media platform
4. 77% of them feel connected to AUB and 81% are informed of its history
5. The majority of Alumni’s achievements after graduation are related to their career and
graduate studies.

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Appendix 2 - Findings from our Primary Research (snapshots of all answers
from survey)
Students Survey

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Alumni Survey:

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Appendix 3: Social media analysis

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Appendix 4 - Detailed budget sheets

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Appendix 5: Cumulative Budget Sheets