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TargetMarketAnalysis
ProductValidation
PlanDevelopment
PEAKFOCUS
MARKETINGPLAN
2015
IsamuddinIsmail,JennyNgo,PhilanaWang,UmarHakimMohdHasri
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Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 2
Findings........................................................................................................................................... 4
Target Market Analysis............................................................................................................... 4
Marketing to Millennials......................................................................................................... 4
Marketing to College Students................................................................................................ 6
Marketing Through Online Platform or Social Media............................................................ 8
Evaluation ............................................................................................................................. 11
Product Validation ........................................................................................................................ 12
Method...................................................................................................................................... 12
First Survey Results.................................................................................................................. 14
Second Survey Results.............................................................................................................. 22
The Greatest Strength Report................................................................................................ 22
Career Navigation System .................................................................................................... 26
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 29
The Marketing Campaign ............................................................................................................. 30
Campaign Part 1: Field Marketing............................................................................................ 32
Campaign Part 2: Social Media Marketing............................................................................... 35
Provide freebies while waiting for 24 hour time................................................................... 35
Create Social-Network-Friendly-Result ............................................................................... 37
Create incentive to share....................................................................................................... 44
References..................................................................................................................................... 45
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Executive Summary
This report will cover the product validation of Peak Focus’ Greatest Strengths Report
and Career Navigation System in relations to the college student population, as well as the
marketing of the validated product and raising brand awareness overall. The development of the
marketing plan is based on secondary market research in addition to primary data collected from
survey results. The primary objective of this project is to develop a multi-channel, executable
marketing strategy targeted towards college students.
The plan is separated into three categories:
Target Market Analysis that focuses on the purchasing behavior, opportunities to
interact, post-purchase behavior, and specific messaging style that will resonate with students. In
terms of messaging style, with focus in cross-media, viral marketing, hashtags, and content
creation that will drive traffic and increase sales.
Product Validation of the Greatest Strengths Report and Career Navigation System to
determine if one or both products will resonate with students.
Plan Development which was developed based on previous steps that focus on
appropriate convention of social media/netiquette to reach students (traditional, digital, and
social), increasing the likelihood of students buying the product, and increasing revenue while
limiting expenses.
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Before going even further, we want to clarify the scope of the project. Although we
would love to go more in-depth about the cost of the marketing, time constraint prevent us to do
so. Therefore, the marketing plan proposal that we have does not include cost analysis. Another
important aspect of this project that we want to clarify in this project is the focus point of the
marketing plan. After handful of discussion, we agreed to focus on improving brand awareness
toward student population rather than increasing sales. In our perspective, this goal is more
realistic and doable.
The One Page Project Manager (OPPM) was used to track the project’s progress as well
other factors such as restrictions, resources, etc. The only constraints for this project was the time
frame, which was about 7 weeks. Prior to conducting the primary research, the following
resources were provided: 20 free coupon codes for the Greatest Strengths Report (total of $360)
and 5 free coupon codes for the Career Navigation System (total of $625). Shauna Newcomb,
who is a Career Service Coordinator at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), provided
assistance with reaching potential respondents for this project in combination with guidance from
Professor Christopher Bondy.
The initial hypothesis was that either freshmen or seniors would be the most interested in
the Greatest Strengths Report, however this has been proven wrong after surveying students on
their interest in the product. Due to the small population size that the research conducted was
based on, the results may not be highly accurate. However, secondary research provides support
to areas of uncertainty.
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Findings
Target Market Analysis
When planning an advertising strategy, the primary goal is to obtain top of mind
awareness (TOMA), the position of being the first brand that appears in consumers’ minds when
they think of a particular industry. With the right kind of repetitive media exposure, Peak Focus
can obtain TOMA among consumers. To effectively obtain TOMA a company must differentiate
their brand and promote brand awareness. With so many brands in any particular industry, it is
crucial to stand out. There are many various strategies and tactics that a company can use to
build its brand: packaging, sales promotion, attractive offers, and etc. However, all it requires is a
simple repetition of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) to ensure it is easily picked up
by consumers.
Marketing to Millennials
Marketing to college students would requires the use of “inside-out” strategy, where
marketer focuses on the consumer’s unmet needs or problems and refines the existing brand to
meet the perceived needs. Millennials grew up being on the receiving side of traditional
advertising and it is becoming obsolete as college students do not respond to traditional
advertising. However, with an understanding of the student market and the right innovative IMC,
Peak Focus will be able to capture students’ attention. Currently, one of the effective ways to
capture attention is experiences. Millennials values experiences, therefore marketers can provide
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a new and innovative experience. It can be traditional with a twist, usual quality that will pique
students’ curiosity, or a variety of assortment for experience seeking demographic.
Millennials are also considered the largest and most diverse generation in the U.S.
population. College enrollment rates are increasing as minority groups are attending colleges to
secure financial security and a successful career. Millennials were affected by the financial
collapse in 2008 as well the slow recovery afterwards in addition to other expenses and debt
accumulation. As a result, it is believed that good health and financial security are critical to have
successful life. Currently millennials are in the life stage that is full of first and significant
changes such as living independently, first jobs, serious relationship, marriage, and other
changes. Each change can significantly influence what one considers important to success and
for younger millennials, their current main focus is career.
Not only do they have a shift in priorities, but millennials are also the first generation to
grow up in an electronically and digitally connected world. They use technology to get the best
deals, especially in exchange for their personal information. More than 60% will provide
information about their lifestyle, even their age and email address. However, they are more
protective of their mobile phone number, social media profiles, and credit scores. Incentives are
moderately effective for encouraging millennials to share their lifestyle as long the perceived
benefits outweigh the risks. In addition to this, consumers expect companies to communicate
electronically and have presence on social media sites.
With the information gathered, Peak Focus can use the following data to create
compelling offers that consumers cannot resist. However, it is crucial to be cautious as breach of
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trust with information such as misusing it or not protecting it from hacker could backfire and
damage any possible established brand loyalty.
However, compelling offer may not be enough as wide variety of factors influence
millennials’ purchasing decisions: a product that makes them feel good about themselves, help
them stand out, product that receives positive reviews or based on a recommendation from others
(O’Donnell, 2014). They are more likely to make an effort to buy from companies that support
issues they believe in, take an active role in their community, or donate to charities and non-
profit organizations. While it is not their primary decision-making factor, corporate altruism is
meaningful to millennials and can boost the emotional connection that influences their brand
loyalty. However, millennial should not be viewed a one uniform group as today millennials’
ages range between 15 and 33.
Marketing to College Students
The target market is college students with an age range of 18-24. The college experience
is full of firsts and is the period of identity exploration, making college students the perfect
consumers. Marketing to college students is considered cost-effective as they respond more
favourably to grassroots messaging rather than flashy ad. They are open to new ideas and have
yet to develop a brand affiliation, making them susceptible to possible strong brand loyalty as it
is developed during this time period. 72% are receptive to brand sample, resulting in 55%
purchase therefore becoming an educated and brand loyal consumers.
The main focus of advertising is reach and frequency and the best way to advertise to
college student is ambient advertising by using their campus as a medium. Several available
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advertising mediums on campus would be sidewalk chalk, flyers, campus media, and billboard.
Ambient advertising is becoming innovative as mediums include stunt and interactive tactics that
involves and surprise the audience who may spread the new of promotion to others. The
advantage of this advertising is that passerby cannot zap message unlike current television
commercials. With frequent brief moments of exposure, this requires the messages to be simple
and eye-catching. Listed is several type of advertising that capture students’ attention the most,
ranked from first to last: humor, creatively unique, relevant/meaningful, provide information,
and promote new product.
To advertise directly to student, it would be effective to hire several students to be the
Peak Focus’ brand ambassador. The goal of ambassador is to get students’ attention and provide
giveaway, which usually obligates them to give up 10-15 seconds of their time. Giveaway
provides frequent exposure and advertises the company’s image, products, and services. This
allows student to develop a certain feeling about the company and its product, therefore building
goodwill. In addition to this, students using the products are essentially advertising, making it
great for word of the mouth strategy. Students are always looking for cheap and free items as
well peer endorsement. In term of peer endorsement, supported by Henri Tajfel’s social identity
theory, consumer pay attention to trends, new different brand, and using same brand as friends.
Not all college student is the same as they have different demographic and lifestyle, therefore it
would be the best to keep open mind by focusing on students’ other attributes.
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Marketing Through Online Platform or Social Media
To ensure maximum brand awareness, it is crucial for Peak Focus to be easily found
online. This means having a presence on websites, social media, and search engines. With
students growing up in digital world, the average student spends 125 hours per week on
technology. It is crucial for companies to develop and focus on building relationships with
consumers as they can help with social media profiles to gain visibility by liking or sharing
content. In addition to this, it is crucial to provide an interactive experience by creating an
experience that millennials could participate in such as sharing content, living the story and
aligning themselves with the brand that has a cause, embracing the trend and joining in the fun,
or customizable to consumers’ personal preferences. For customization to be effective, it is
crucial to use personal language that focus on using the word, “you.”
As advertising industry is constantly changing, it is crucial for the Peak Focus to be
prepared. With social media, it is crucial to focus on three keys part: content, timing, and
frequency. See figure # for the tips on posting various social media as well the best and worst
time to post.
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Figure 1 (http://vope.net/social-media-channels-tips-posting-times/)
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking website that makes it easy for users to connect and share.
It may be losing traction with its younger audience, causing its demographic to be skewed a bit
older. However, its youth base (18-29) remains strong as is the biggest demographic using their
website.
Twitter
Twitter is a content website that allows user to tweet information. It also contains a tool
that allow user to play with audience data to find trend and statistic. Trending topics provide an
easy way to identify popular streams of conversation that may be relevant to company’s goals
and offer a way for companies to insert themselves into the conversation and expand their social
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network. Tweets containing hashtags show 12% more engagement, proving that hashtags,
especially those with links, are important in driving engagement. The use of hashtags is an
efficient method for finding content related to specific topics and the people talking about them.
Twitter users has chance to share and retweet in the noon. It is recommended to tweet 3 times per
day before engagement start to decrease slightly.
Pinterest
According to Pew Research Center, Pinterest was 21% more popular than Twitter (May
2014). By using Pinterest, company can attract consumers when using the board right. Boards
can be developed to solve a problem, tell a story, what make you, or provide value. (“Using
Pinterest,” 2014). Pinterest is frequently used on the weekend as it is only time available for user
to start their projects. It is recommended to post at least 5 per day.
RSS or Blog
With blogging, it is best to have post made consistent and regularly. The content does not
necessarily have to be text only as it can be used as an opportunity to implement web series on
Peak Focus’ blog or YouTube platform. Web series provides a tool to build a branded and
original entertainment program. Keep in mind that one cannot make video becomes viral as it is
a desired outcome. Communication tactic is the primary purpose, therefore it need to surprise
and delight the viewers and give them reason to share, comment, and highlight it, in hope of viral
content. By increasing post from 3-5 per month to 6-8 posts can double company’s lead.
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With each social media platform, hashtag can be used as an identifier that allows the
brand to use cross-media campaign. However, each social media use hashtag differently. Twitter
use hashtag to allow user search for tweets that has common topic. Facebook use hashtag to lead
users to a new page with all of the posts containing the selected hashtag. Same goes for
Instagram with photos, Kickstarter with projects, Vine with gifs, and YouTube with videos.
Hashtags
Hashtags were originally created for one basic reason, to organize data and make it easier
for user consumption. To reach users to increase exposure of the company’s brand and helping
people to easily search as well inform the user of latest product, event, and campaign. Keeping in
mind, the goal of hashtags is to get users to use it as much as possible, allowing it to pick up
momentum, and peaking interest. It is extremely powerful if one knows how to use it, especially
when one creates its own hashtag. Creating your own hashtag to guide the conversation can
control the content that fan may submit. It is ideal to pick hashtag that will resonate the best with
audience as well. To prevent user from smearing the Peak Focus’ brand, it is crucial to create
hashtag that is completely free of ambiguity as well ensuring the chosen hashtag isn’t
controversial and taken by other well-known organization. Always remember that hashtag
belongs to the community including Peak Focus’ created hashtag, the company cannot censor or
control how others use it.
Evaluation
Organization always need publicity, however work must be evaluated in order to justify
budget and effort/focus. Evaluation is often uncomplicated and inexpensive process that is used
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from the start, middle, and end of a project. The crucial information to keep in mind is that the
objective is measurable and achievable. In addition to this, having articulated strategy and tactic
as well understanding the difference between both. This provide Peak Focus chance to evaluate
campaign and to learn what went right, wrong, how much progress was made, and how
something can be done better.
Product Validation
Method
In order to know if the products are viable to students, we conducted three different
online surveys. The first survey is a general survey with a brief description about the products
My Greatest Strength and Career Navigation System. The second survey is a post-survey for
students who already try the product My Greatest Strengths. The third survey is also a post-
survey for students who tried the product, Career Navigation System. Our population for this
primary research are the students majoring in Industrial Design, Media Arts & Technology, and
Packaging Science with total of 550 students.
Our methods to collect data through surveys are as follows:
1. Distribute first survey to our population via email. In the email, we stated that 20 lucky
students will get to try the product My Greatest Strength for free.
2. We then select 20 students from the respondents and send them another email containing
the coupon code for My Greatest Strength. We also include the link to the second survey
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and inform them that there will be 5 lucky students selected at random to try the product
Career Navigation System for free.
3. From the respondents of the second survey, we select 5 students and send them another
email containing the coupon code for Career Navigation System. In the email also
included the link to third survey.
The first survey emphasizes on getting general information about students. Questions
included such as follows:
1. What year are you?”
2. How important is it for you to understand your personality strengths?
3. Have you taken a personality/strength assessment before?
4. How useful do you find personality/strength assessments in general?
5. How important is it for you to explore career options?
6. Have you taken a career assessment before?
7. How useful do you find career assessments in general?
These questions helped us to understand students’ perception of strength/personality
assessments in general. In the first survey, we also included a brief description about the Greatest
Strengths Report and Career Navigation System. We then asked if the products are relevant to
students and included a question about the price that they would willing to spend. We also ask if
students have work experience since the product’s goal is to help students find a job that is
suitable for them. We include survey question about the way students use social media, such as
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“How much time do you spend on social media per day?” and “Please rank the social networking
sites you use based on time spent.”
First Survey Results
On the first survey, there were total of 23 respondents. We found that most of the
respondents are senior (30.4%) and junior (21.7%). Considering the fact that we mentioned both
products in the email that were sent to the population, the data shows seniors and juniors are
more interested in participating in career-related programs.
Figure 02 – Pie chart showing the distribution of students who took the survey based on year of study.
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We also found that out of 23 respondents, 47.8% believe that it is ‘very important’ to
understand self-personality strength while 43.5% believe that it is ‘somewhat important.’ From
the respondents who answered ‘Very Important’, 3 of them are seniors, 2 graduate students, 1
freshmen, 1 sophomore, and 4 juniors. From the respondents who answered ‘Somewhat
Important’, 5 of them are sophomore, 1 junior, 1 freshmen, and 3 seniors. From this data, we can
see that out of 23 respondents, the total number of students who believe that it is important to
understand self-personality strength based on year of study are 6 seniors, 5 juniors, 6 sophomore,
2 freshmen, and 2 graduate students. From this data, we can conclude that students who are more
interested in knowing about their personality strength are mostly seniors and juniors.
Figure 03 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer on the importance of knowing personality strength.
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In the survey, we also asked about the usefulness of a personality/strength assessment in
general. From the data, out of 23 respondents, 13.6% believe that it is ‘very useful,’ 36.4%
believe that it is ‘somewhat useful,’ 36.4% answered ‘neutral,’ and 13.6% answered ‘not very
useful.’ From the students who answered ‘Very Useful,’ 2 of them are graduate student and 1 of
them is junior. From the students who answered ‘Not Very Useful,’ 2 of them are seniors and 1
of them is sophomore.
Figure 04 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer on the usefulness of personality/strength assessment in
general
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In the survey, we included a brief description about the product Greatest Strength Report
and asked whether the product is relevant to students. Based on the data that we have, out of 23
respondents, 21.7% answered ‘Very Relevant,’ 47.8% answered ‘Somewhat Relevant,’ 21.7%
answered ‘Neutral,’ and 13% answered ‘Not Very Relevant.’ From the data, most of the students
who answered ‘Very Relevant’ and ‘Somewhat Relevant’ are seniors and juniors.
We also included a brief description about the product Career Navigation System and
asked whether the product is relevant to students. 17.4% answered ‘Very Relevant,’ 52.2%
Figure 05 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer regarding the relevancy of the Greatest Strength Report
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answered ‘Somewhat Relevant,’ 21.7% answered ‘Neutral,’ and 13% answered ‘Not Very
Relevant.’
We also included question about the price students are willing to pay for either products.
Based on the data obtained, for the Greatest Strength Report, 87% are willing to pay less than
$25 for the product and 13% are willing to pay at the range of $25-$50. For the Career
Navigation system, 69.6% are willing to pay less than $25, 17.4% are willing to pay $25-$50,
and 13% are willing to pay $50-$75.
Figure 06 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer regarding the relevancy of the Career Navigation System
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Figure 07 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Greatest Strength Report
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Figure 08 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Greatest Strength Report
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From the data, we can see that students are concern about the substantial amount of
money being taken out of their wallet. Most students chose the lowest price for both products
just by reading the description of the products. We also asked about the price students willing to
pay after they tried both products and it seems that students are not willing to spend more money
for either products, especially for Career Navigation System. Most of the student think that $125
is considerably expensive for the Career Navigation System.
Figure 09 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Greatest Strength Report after trying
the product.
Figure 10 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Career Navigation System after trying
the product.
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Second Survey Results
The Greatest Strength Report
From the second survey, out of 15 students who tried out the Greatest Strength Report,
13.3% felt ‘very satisfied,’ 46.7% felt ‘somewhat satisfied,’ 33.3% felt ‘neutral,’ and 6.7% felt
‘not at all satisfied.’ Some of the feedbacks we got was that the Greatest Strength Report was not
very conclusive.
Figure 11 – Bar chart showing how satisfied are student after trying the Greatest Strength Report.
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The survey also asked those 15 students if they would be interested in trying out the
Career Navigation System after receiving the Greatest Strength Report. 20% answered ‘Very
interested,’ 40% answered ‘Somewhat interested,’ 13.3% answered ‘Neutral,’ 20% answered
‘Not very interested,’ and 6.7% answered ‘Not at all interested.’
Figure 12 – Bar chart showing how interested are students to try Career Navigation System after trying the Greatest
Strength Report.
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Then, the survey asked if those 15 students would recommend the product to other
students and 13.3% answered ‘Very likely.’ 20% answered ‘Somewhat likely,’ 26.7% answered
‘Neutral,’ 26.7% answered ‘Not very likely,’ and 13.3% answered ‘Not at all likely.’ In addition
to the percentage, one student provided feedback stating that “This isn't something I would
recommend unless the person is struggling with a job hunt.”
Figure 13 – Bar chart showing the likeliness of students to recommend Greatest Strength Report to other
students after trying the product.
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In the survey, we also provided a comment box for students to share their experience after
trying the Greatest Strength Report or to suggestions about possible improvements that could be
made. Listed below are the several responses submitted:
1. “Maybe some possible recommendations on how to improve upon your strengths and
weaknesses”
2. “I think this was done very well. I just am iffy on the cost, because I try not to spend
anything extra because the debt I'm currently incurring going to be with me for so long. I
know eighteen dollars isn’t a lot, but it could possibly be a couple solid meals if it came
down to it.”
3. “I don't think the report provided enough depth as far as content and answers. I feel like I
could take a free online personality test that would give me more information that it more
or less accurate as well.”
4. “The report was really helpful in identifying my strengths for working with people. It
helped me understand how to better describe my strengths to people in a way that
includes all aspects of my personality.”
5. “The questions needed to be more varied I felt that the majority of them were along the
same line, very few allowed me to really pick which would best describe me to lest they
were too broad.”
6. “I feel that the report basically just restates the answer choices that I selected while taking
the Greatest Strengths Questionnaire. I didn't really feel like there was much deeper
analysis.”
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Career Navigation System
Three students tried the Career Navigation System and filled out the third survey. Out of
those 3 students, 1 student feels ‘very satisfied’ and 2 students feel ‘somewhat satisfied.’ “The
top career results reflect things that I have not a skill set for so it is pretty irrelevant to me,” said
by one student.
Figure 14 – Bar chart showing how satisfied are students after trying the Career Navigation System.
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The survey then asked if those 3 students would recommend Career Navigation System
to other students and 1 students answered ‘Very likely’ while other 2 students answered ‘Not
very likely.’
Figure 15 – Bar chart showing the likeliness of the students to recommend Career Navigation System to other students
after trying the product.
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Based on the survey, we also discovered that out of the 3 students, 1 students feels that
the Greatest Strength Report is more useful, 1 student feels that the Career Navigation System is
more useful, and 1 student feels that both products are useful.
Figure 16 – Pie chart showing which product is most useful between Greatest Strength Report and Career Navigation System.
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Additional feedbacks that we got from the third survey were as follows:
1. “125 dollars is too high”
2. “I think that the report should be generated on what a person's skill set is, rather than just
personalities that fit various careers. The careers that I got were not related to what my skill
set is so it wasn't too relevant to me. Also I think that it is unnecessary to have people
download these PDF's every time they want their career navigation or greatest strength.
However the PDF's are very informative.”
3. “Both helped me to define my strengths and careers interest more specifically. I knew I had
an interest in the areas it generate but was never sure how to word it exactly. This really
helped me describe myself and is something I can refer back to when apply for jobs.”
Conclusion
Based on the answers obtained from surveys, it seems that the Greatest Strength Report
is more viable than Career Navigation System. When conducting method to collect data from the
students, we found that it was easier to get students to try the Greatest Strength Report compared
to the Career Navigation System. We provided 5 free Career Navigation System coupons to 5
students who tried the Greatest Strength Report and it took them more than a week to try the
product. This is mainly due to the fact that most of students in college already have a career in
mind that they want to pursue. Plus, the feedbacks we received from students who tried the
Career Navigation System show concerns about the price and some find that the Career
Navigation System irrelevant. However, some students agree that the Career Navigation System
is a good product in determining career choice. This would means that it is not a good strategy to
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advertise Career Navigation System toward students without them trying the Greatest Strengths
Report first. The Greatest Strengths Report is like a door that open to Career Navigation System.
Thus, we believe that the marketing plan should focus more on getting students familiar with the
product Greatest Strength Report and from there, convert them into buyer. We also found that
students at junior level is the best consumers to market the product, Greatest Strength Report.
The Marketing Campaign
Responses from the initial survey reveal that none of the participating students had ever
heard of Peak Focus, the Greatest Strengths Report, or the Career Navigation System prior to the
study. Since brand equity, which is essential to the perception of product quality and sales
growth, is lacking among college students, the goal of the marketing campaign will be to
increase brand awareness with a focus on the Greatest Strengths Report (Mason, 2003). The first
phase of the campaign will be aimed at forming direct relationships with the student population
through event based campus field marketing. With the use of campaign hashtags, efforts from the
field marketing phase will then be tied into the social media initiatives of the second phase where
relationships will be further solidified and expanded. Before continuing on to the development of
the campaign, the student population should be analyzed for a possibly narrower target that the
campaign can concentrate on.
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As seen in Figure 17 taken from the initial survey where participants were asked to rate
how relevant the Greatest Strengths Report was to them, juniors and non-traditional
upperclassmen (i.e. other) were the groups that reported the highest relevance with answers
falling mainly towards the positive end of the scale. This result is inconsistent with the initial
hypothesis made that either freshmen or seniors would hold the most interest for the report as a
result of their close proximity to making course of study or career decisions. However,
considering the evolution of the student mindset as it progresses through the various academic
year levels, it can be assumed that the results are due to juniors and non-traditional
upperclassmen being at a stage in their academic careers where, as they grow closer to
graduating, are just beginning to feel the pressures of landing a job, yet have not had the chance
to develop a strategy for self-promotion with which they are confident. In contrast, freshmen
most likely have not yet reached a point where future career decisions are deemed as urgent,
while seniors most likely already have created a firmer stance in their approach. Considering the
Figure 17 – Bar Graph showing the relevance of the Greatest Strength Report based on year level.
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increase of interest in the Greatest Strengths Report towards the later years of the undergraduate
spectrum with the exception of the senior year, the marketing campaign will be focused on
targeting upperclassmen who are just beginning their job search.
Campaign Part 1: Field Marketing
For the field marketing phase of the campaign, booths promoting Peak Focus and the
Greatest Strengths Report will be set up at on-campus locations. Concentrating on
upperclassmen who are just beginning their job search in mind, freshmen centered events such as
first-year orientations and club fairs can be ruled out as possible event venues. Boasting a high
concentration of participating upperclassmen and a connection to the goals of self-improvement
and promotion that the Greatest Strengths Report strives to help consumers reach, career fairs
would be the most ideal events in which to initiate the marketing campaign. However, from
interviews with Shauna Newcomb, Career Services Coordinator, and Hannah Abele, College
Activities Board Events Coordinator, both advised that neither career fairs nor general college
activity events are the easiest options for the campaign since career fairs are meant for
companies looking to hire rather than to advertise and college activity events are generally meant
only for college organizations. With the tight regulations that colleges place on influence from
for-profit organizations, the easiest option for setting up an on-campus event would be at the
specific locations and times designated for advertising and vending. It should be noted that
policies for advertising and vending vary across different colleges and should be considered
accordingly to avoid possible event planning complications.
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Students from the student ambassador program already in place at Peak Focus will be
employed to set up and manage the booths at college authorized locations. Students tend to be
extremely weary of traditional marketing tactics, but are more likely to be open to the opinions
of their peers. Therefore, the use of student ambassadors would have a higher chance of gaining
students’ trust than if company executives were to act as the face of the campaign (O’Donnell,
2011). The use of student ambassadors will not only be an opportunity for Peak Focus to raise
brand awareness on multiple campuses at the same time, but also offer ambassadors a chance to
increase their commissions, incentivizing them to attract more students to the event.
Although participation in career fairs is not the most viable option for the campaign,
booths can be set up during the period of time in which they occur to take advantage of the job
seeking mindset that students will have. Since the goal of the Greatest Strengths Report is to help
consumers promote their strengths, it is safe to assume that students looking to promote
themselves to employers will be more receptive of the campaign’s message. Since most colleges
already have a free career counseling program in place that includes the availability of
personality and career assessments in addition to one-on-one counseling, it is especially
important to emphasize what Peak Focus can offer through the Greatest Strengths Report that
college counseling programs cannot: a thorough report that can be presented to potential
employers in person or displayed on LinkedIn profile pages. Marketing materials should make
sure that students understand that the report is not only able to help them explain their strengths
to potential employers, but also that a copy of the report can be provided to backs up their
claims. Besides providing examples of reports, testimonials from individuals who benefited from
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the report and statistics of job offers to those who did and did not use it can help prove the
product’s effectiveness.
The booths should be set up in a creative way that will attract students and encourage
them to use the campaign hashtag to spread the word about the event. Considering the financial
concerns that college students have, they are more likely than non-students to seek out coupons
and discounts, and more readily lower their skepticism when offered free things (O’Donnell,
2011). Students are not only attracted to the free items themselves, although practical and unique
items are especially useful in making a lasting impression, but to the experience involved in
receiving the item (H. Abele, personal communication, 2015). Thus, combining freebies with a
unique and fun experience is extremely important to attracting students to the event and creating
a positive and lasting image of the brand that will lead them to try the Greatest Strengths Report
and share their experience with others. One idea for attracting students to the booth would be to
create photo-worthy opportunities using mascots, cardboard cutouts, or backdrops that
participants can take pictures with. Games can also be set up where students are able to randomly
win prizes that include free coupon codes for the report. An expiration date for the codes should
be set to create a sense of urgency and ensure a higher rate of code usage. To encourage the use
of the campaign hashtag, participants will be given a prize (e.g. t-shirts, pens, candy, etc.) in
addition to a discount on the report, if they did not already win a coupon code, when they post a
picture taken at the booth and use the assigned hashtag.
The event will be announced through flyers as well as advertisements in college
newspapers posted by the student ambassadors. Although the readership of printed newspapers
overall is on the decline, it was found in a research by the marketing agency, Refuel, that college
35
newspapers are still relevant among the college student population. Of the 600 students
surveyed, 65% indicated that they took action after viewing an advertisement in their college
newspaper, 33% of which relayed the advertisement to a friend, with another 33% going to the
mentioned website, and 28% attending the advertised event (“College Newspaper Readership,”
2013). To catch the attention of readers, the advertisement should be simple, straightforward, and
in color. If possible, posting several times before the event begins will allow readers to become
familiarized with the company and the information presented in the advertisement (Bakker,
2010).
Campaign Part 2: Social Media Marketing
Provide freebies while waiting for 24 hour time
The goal of this strategy is to maintain healthy relationship to customer through
increasing value proposition of the product (The Greatest Strength). Not only that, this strategy
can also strengthen Peak Focus’s brand name (how it is possible will be explain later). Last and
importantly, through this strategy, we can maintain our customer attention towards our company
in which could help generating more sales.
In our research, we find that student are generally price conscious in regards to academic
products although they know that this type of product is important to them. When buying this
type of product, they are more likely to choose things with lower price or even free. They spent
time online searching for free option before they purchase for it.
36
As for that, we were thinking of utilizing this findings by providing freebies alongside
with The Greatest Strength Report. Those freebies should be related to the product. As for now,
we suggest that those freebies should be in any forms of content like videos, audio, article or
book. This content can be used to emphasize product’s functionality to our customer. Because of
this, they will be able to use the Greatest Strength Report effectively. We want them to feel high
satisfaction towards the report. This could lead to natural word of mouth marketing in which
have the potential increase sales due to word of mouth marketing. Apart from that, content
(provided that it is valuable) can increase our audience attention towards our company at the
same time providing more opportunity to advertise other product.
After handful of discussion, we have a suggestion in regards to acquiring the freebies.
Type of freebies: Private Label Right E-book or article.
Private label rights or PLR are a special type of right or license which you purchase where you
are legally allowed to edit and publish the article as your own.
Topics or Title: Related to career advancement, resume building, self-motivation, work in a
group or success in getting first job
Acquiring asset: There are numerous of site that sell PLR asset in a very low price. for an
example, you can go to this link http://www.plrarticlesale.com/self-improvement-plr-articles/
For only 9 dollars, you have acquired 4000 plus article that can be edit, tailored and published as
your own.
37
Create Social-Network-Friendly-Result
Ultimately, the goal of this strategy is to motivate our customer (student) to share their
result to their friend. Utilizing the concept of viral marketing, we expect that through this
strategy our brand awareness can be increased among the targeted community (student).
In our findings, we realize that student spent huge amount of time in social media. The
social networking industry have influence their behavior especially in regards to their purchasing
habits. They are more likely to trust review online rather than a company advertisement. As for
that, specific to student, we expect to increase our sales by making the result shareable so that it
can be more social. Again this would increase our brand awareness among the community.
Same as before we have suggestion as to how the result can be social friendly. Peak focus
should create a mechanism for the customer to share their result online same as the one that is
built for LinkedIn. The difference is that this time it include more graphics and colors to grab
attention.
Figure 18 is the example of sharable result page that can be implemented. This is a result
page from a free online test developed by Play buzz companies. Basically audience would
answer some questionnaires and the result of that questionnaire is given like the one below.
38
Figure 18 – Examples of shareable results.
39
Messaging suggestion
In the sharable result
Title: Your Greatest Strength
Image: Create visually appealing sharable result
Some of the best example for this are given in Figure 18.
40
Description of result: -
The Harrison Assessments™ Greatest Strengths Report describes your greatest strengths. If you
are currently a job seeker, being able to clearly verbalize your strengths can help you to get the
job you are seeking. If you are currently employed, understanding your greatest strengths can
help you further apply these strengths in your current job, resulting in personal satisfaction and
career success.
Click Here to download your in-depth analysis of your greatest strength
Incentive to share: -
Share your result now and include #YourGreatestStrength and #PeakFocusCoach in your post
status to WIN OUR 10% REBATES
In the shared post
Image: use the FB post-optimized image based on the sharable result image
Example of this is given below
41
Text:-
Want to know your character’s strength?
Take our test NOW and you will be blown away by our high-detailed result
www.peakfocuscoach.com | Your Greatest Strength
42
Mockup Documentation
Figure 19 – Mock-up of shareable results
43
Facebook Mockup Documentation
Figure 20 – Mock-up of sharable results on Facebook
44
Create incentive to share
Social sharing element can be very advantageous to Peak Focus in grabbing market share
in the student segment. Therefore, we need to have some sort of incentive for our customer
(student) to share their result.
Our suggestion for those incentives are as follows
1. Discount on Career Navigation System
2. Rebate of The Greatest Strength Create Brand Loyalty by interacting with consumer or
user by maintaining communication through email for birthday, holiday, etc.
45
References
Alderton, Matt. (2010, December 22). Marketing to College Students. Find future customers
when you get schooled on student trends and targets. Retrieved from
http://www.business.com/market-research/marketing-to-college-students/
Bakker, J. (2010). How to advertise in college newspapers [Web log post]. Retrieved
from https://campusmediagroup.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/how-to-advertise-in-college-
newspapers/
Bar-Joseph, Uri. (2014, February 10). 5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media
Marketing. Retrieved from http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2327748/5-
brilliant-ways-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing
College Newspaper Readership. (2013). Retrieved from http://iheartnewspapers.com/wp-
content/uploads/College-Newspaper-Readership-IHeartNewspaper-070313.pdf
Larson, Charles U. (2013). Persuasion. Reception and Responsibility. Boston, MA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
Mason, K. (2003). The benefits of higher brand equity. Journal of Business
Administration Online, 2(1). Retrieved from
https://www.atu.edu/jbao/spring2003/mason.pdf
(n.d). (2014, May 13). Using Pinterest in Higher Education Marketing to Engage a
Student Audience. Retrieved from http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-
marketing/social-media-platforms/hillary-frazier/
46
(n.d). (2014, April 29). Social Media Channel Tips and Posting Times. Retrieved from
http://vope.net/social-media-channels-tips-posting-times/
O’Donnell, F. (2011). Marketing to College Students - US - July 2011. Retrieved from
Mintel Reports database
O’Donnell, F. (2014). Marketing to Millennials. Retrieved from Mintel Reports database
Patterson, Michael. (2015, May 4). Social Media Demographics to Inform a Better Segmentation
Strategy. Retrieved from http://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-
demographics/
Patterson, Michael. (2015, August 10). 7 Examples of Successful Hashtag Campaigns. Retrieved
from http://www.tintup.com/blog/7-examples-of-successful-hashtag-campaigns/
Refuel Agency. (2014, August 7). Top Reasons Why College Students Are Such an Attractive
Demographic to Brands. Retrieved from http://www.refuelagency.com/news/top-reasons-
why-college-students-are-such-an-attractive-demographic-to-brands/
Weinstein, Mindy. (2015, July 23). A Trillion-Dollar Demographic: 10 Brands That Got
Millennial Marketing Right. Retrieved from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/trillion-
dollar-demographic-10-brands-got-millennial-marketing-right/135969/
Workman, Jane E. & Freeburg, Beth Winfrey. (2008). Promotional Product Marketing, College
Students, and Social Identity. Journal of Family and Consumer Services, 43-49.

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Team Peak Focus_Final Report

  • 2. 1 Contents Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 2 Findings........................................................................................................................................... 4 Target Market Analysis............................................................................................................... 4 Marketing to Millennials......................................................................................................... 4 Marketing to College Students................................................................................................ 6 Marketing Through Online Platform or Social Media............................................................ 8 Evaluation ............................................................................................................................. 11 Product Validation ........................................................................................................................ 12 Method...................................................................................................................................... 12 First Survey Results.................................................................................................................. 14 Second Survey Results.............................................................................................................. 22 The Greatest Strength Report................................................................................................ 22 Career Navigation System .................................................................................................... 26 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 29 The Marketing Campaign ............................................................................................................. 30 Campaign Part 1: Field Marketing............................................................................................ 32 Campaign Part 2: Social Media Marketing............................................................................... 35 Provide freebies while waiting for 24 hour time................................................................... 35 Create Social-Network-Friendly-Result ............................................................................... 37 Create incentive to share....................................................................................................... 44 References..................................................................................................................................... 45
  • 3. 2 Executive Summary This report will cover the product validation of Peak Focus’ Greatest Strengths Report and Career Navigation System in relations to the college student population, as well as the marketing of the validated product and raising brand awareness overall. The development of the marketing plan is based on secondary market research in addition to primary data collected from survey results. The primary objective of this project is to develop a multi-channel, executable marketing strategy targeted towards college students. The plan is separated into three categories: Target Market Analysis that focuses on the purchasing behavior, opportunities to interact, post-purchase behavior, and specific messaging style that will resonate with students. In terms of messaging style, with focus in cross-media, viral marketing, hashtags, and content creation that will drive traffic and increase sales. Product Validation of the Greatest Strengths Report and Career Navigation System to determine if one or both products will resonate with students. Plan Development which was developed based on previous steps that focus on appropriate convention of social media/netiquette to reach students (traditional, digital, and social), increasing the likelihood of students buying the product, and increasing revenue while limiting expenses.
  • 4. 3 Before going even further, we want to clarify the scope of the project. Although we would love to go more in-depth about the cost of the marketing, time constraint prevent us to do so. Therefore, the marketing plan proposal that we have does not include cost analysis. Another important aspect of this project that we want to clarify in this project is the focus point of the marketing plan. After handful of discussion, we agreed to focus on improving brand awareness toward student population rather than increasing sales. In our perspective, this goal is more realistic and doable. The One Page Project Manager (OPPM) was used to track the project’s progress as well other factors such as restrictions, resources, etc. The only constraints for this project was the time frame, which was about 7 weeks. Prior to conducting the primary research, the following resources were provided: 20 free coupon codes for the Greatest Strengths Report (total of $360) and 5 free coupon codes for the Career Navigation System (total of $625). Shauna Newcomb, who is a Career Service Coordinator at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), provided assistance with reaching potential respondents for this project in combination with guidance from Professor Christopher Bondy. The initial hypothesis was that either freshmen or seniors would be the most interested in the Greatest Strengths Report, however this has been proven wrong after surveying students on their interest in the product. Due to the small population size that the research conducted was based on, the results may not be highly accurate. However, secondary research provides support to areas of uncertainty.
  • 5. 4 Findings Target Market Analysis When planning an advertising strategy, the primary goal is to obtain top of mind awareness (TOMA), the position of being the first brand that appears in consumers’ minds when they think of a particular industry. With the right kind of repetitive media exposure, Peak Focus can obtain TOMA among consumers. To effectively obtain TOMA a company must differentiate their brand and promote brand awareness. With so many brands in any particular industry, it is crucial to stand out. There are many various strategies and tactics that a company can use to build its brand: packaging, sales promotion, attractive offers, and etc. However, all it requires is a simple repetition of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) to ensure it is easily picked up by consumers. Marketing to Millennials Marketing to college students would requires the use of “inside-out” strategy, where marketer focuses on the consumer’s unmet needs or problems and refines the existing brand to meet the perceived needs. Millennials grew up being on the receiving side of traditional advertising and it is becoming obsolete as college students do not respond to traditional advertising. However, with an understanding of the student market and the right innovative IMC, Peak Focus will be able to capture students’ attention. Currently, one of the effective ways to capture attention is experiences. Millennials values experiences, therefore marketers can provide
  • 6. 5 a new and innovative experience. It can be traditional with a twist, usual quality that will pique students’ curiosity, or a variety of assortment for experience seeking demographic. Millennials are also considered the largest and most diverse generation in the U.S. population. College enrollment rates are increasing as minority groups are attending colleges to secure financial security and a successful career. Millennials were affected by the financial collapse in 2008 as well the slow recovery afterwards in addition to other expenses and debt accumulation. As a result, it is believed that good health and financial security are critical to have successful life. Currently millennials are in the life stage that is full of first and significant changes such as living independently, first jobs, serious relationship, marriage, and other changes. Each change can significantly influence what one considers important to success and for younger millennials, their current main focus is career. Not only do they have a shift in priorities, but millennials are also the first generation to grow up in an electronically and digitally connected world. They use technology to get the best deals, especially in exchange for their personal information. More than 60% will provide information about their lifestyle, even their age and email address. However, they are more protective of their mobile phone number, social media profiles, and credit scores. Incentives are moderately effective for encouraging millennials to share their lifestyle as long the perceived benefits outweigh the risks. In addition to this, consumers expect companies to communicate electronically and have presence on social media sites. With the information gathered, Peak Focus can use the following data to create compelling offers that consumers cannot resist. However, it is crucial to be cautious as breach of
  • 7. 6 trust with information such as misusing it or not protecting it from hacker could backfire and damage any possible established brand loyalty. However, compelling offer may not be enough as wide variety of factors influence millennials’ purchasing decisions: a product that makes them feel good about themselves, help them stand out, product that receives positive reviews or based on a recommendation from others (O’Donnell, 2014). They are more likely to make an effort to buy from companies that support issues they believe in, take an active role in their community, or donate to charities and non- profit organizations. While it is not their primary decision-making factor, corporate altruism is meaningful to millennials and can boost the emotional connection that influences their brand loyalty. However, millennial should not be viewed a one uniform group as today millennials’ ages range between 15 and 33. Marketing to College Students The target market is college students with an age range of 18-24. The college experience is full of firsts and is the period of identity exploration, making college students the perfect consumers. Marketing to college students is considered cost-effective as they respond more favourably to grassroots messaging rather than flashy ad. They are open to new ideas and have yet to develop a brand affiliation, making them susceptible to possible strong brand loyalty as it is developed during this time period. 72% are receptive to brand sample, resulting in 55% purchase therefore becoming an educated and brand loyal consumers. The main focus of advertising is reach and frequency and the best way to advertise to college student is ambient advertising by using their campus as a medium. Several available
  • 8. 7 advertising mediums on campus would be sidewalk chalk, flyers, campus media, and billboard. Ambient advertising is becoming innovative as mediums include stunt and interactive tactics that involves and surprise the audience who may spread the new of promotion to others. The advantage of this advertising is that passerby cannot zap message unlike current television commercials. With frequent brief moments of exposure, this requires the messages to be simple and eye-catching. Listed is several type of advertising that capture students’ attention the most, ranked from first to last: humor, creatively unique, relevant/meaningful, provide information, and promote new product. To advertise directly to student, it would be effective to hire several students to be the Peak Focus’ brand ambassador. The goal of ambassador is to get students’ attention and provide giveaway, which usually obligates them to give up 10-15 seconds of their time. Giveaway provides frequent exposure and advertises the company’s image, products, and services. This allows student to develop a certain feeling about the company and its product, therefore building goodwill. In addition to this, students using the products are essentially advertising, making it great for word of the mouth strategy. Students are always looking for cheap and free items as well peer endorsement. In term of peer endorsement, supported by Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory, consumer pay attention to trends, new different brand, and using same brand as friends. Not all college student is the same as they have different demographic and lifestyle, therefore it would be the best to keep open mind by focusing on students’ other attributes.
  • 9. 8 Marketing Through Online Platform or Social Media To ensure maximum brand awareness, it is crucial for Peak Focus to be easily found online. This means having a presence on websites, social media, and search engines. With students growing up in digital world, the average student spends 125 hours per week on technology. It is crucial for companies to develop and focus on building relationships with consumers as they can help with social media profiles to gain visibility by liking or sharing content. In addition to this, it is crucial to provide an interactive experience by creating an experience that millennials could participate in such as sharing content, living the story and aligning themselves with the brand that has a cause, embracing the trend and joining in the fun, or customizable to consumers’ personal preferences. For customization to be effective, it is crucial to use personal language that focus on using the word, “you.” As advertising industry is constantly changing, it is crucial for the Peak Focus to be prepared. With social media, it is crucial to focus on three keys part: content, timing, and frequency. See figure # for the tips on posting various social media as well the best and worst time to post.
  • 10. 9 Figure 1 (http://vope.net/social-media-channels-tips-posting-times/) Facebook Facebook is a social networking website that makes it easy for users to connect and share. It may be losing traction with its younger audience, causing its demographic to be skewed a bit older. However, its youth base (18-29) remains strong as is the biggest demographic using their website. Twitter Twitter is a content website that allows user to tweet information. It also contains a tool that allow user to play with audience data to find trend and statistic. Trending topics provide an easy way to identify popular streams of conversation that may be relevant to company’s goals and offer a way for companies to insert themselves into the conversation and expand their social
  • 11. 10 network. Tweets containing hashtags show 12% more engagement, proving that hashtags, especially those with links, are important in driving engagement. The use of hashtags is an efficient method for finding content related to specific topics and the people talking about them. Twitter users has chance to share and retweet in the noon. It is recommended to tweet 3 times per day before engagement start to decrease slightly. Pinterest According to Pew Research Center, Pinterest was 21% more popular than Twitter (May 2014). By using Pinterest, company can attract consumers when using the board right. Boards can be developed to solve a problem, tell a story, what make you, or provide value. (“Using Pinterest,” 2014). Pinterest is frequently used on the weekend as it is only time available for user to start their projects. It is recommended to post at least 5 per day. RSS or Blog With blogging, it is best to have post made consistent and regularly. The content does not necessarily have to be text only as it can be used as an opportunity to implement web series on Peak Focus’ blog or YouTube platform. Web series provides a tool to build a branded and original entertainment program. Keep in mind that one cannot make video becomes viral as it is a desired outcome. Communication tactic is the primary purpose, therefore it need to surprise and delight the viewers and give them reason to share, comment, and highlight it, in hope of viral content. By increasing post from 3-5 per month to 6-8 posts can double company’s lead.
  • 12. 11 With each social media platform, hashtag can be used as an identifier that allows the brand to use cross-media campaign. However, each social media use hashtag differently. Twitter use hashtag to allow user search for tweets that has common topic. Facebook use hashtag to lead users to a new page with all of the posts containing the selected hashtag. Same goes for Instagram with photos, Kickstarter with projects, Vine with gifs, and YouTube with videos. Hashtags Hashtags were originally created for one basic reason, to organize data and make it easier for user consumption. To reach users to increase exposure of the company’s brand and helping people to easily search as well inform the user of latest product, event, and campaign. Keeping in mind, the goal of hashtags is to get users to use it as much as possible, allowing it to pick up momentum, and peaking interest. It is extremely powerful if one knows how to use it, especially when one creates its own hashtag. Creating your own hashtag to guide the conversation can control the content that fan may submit. It is ideal to pick hashtag that will resonate the best with audience as well. To prevent user from smearing the Peak Focus’ brand, it is crucial to create hashtag that is completely free of ambiguity as well ensuring the chosen hashtag isn’t controversial and taken by other well-known organization. Always remember that hashtag belongs to the community including Peak Focus’ created hashtag, the company cannot censor or control how others use it. Evaluation Organization always need publicity, however work must be evaluated in order to justify budget and effort/focus. Evaluation is often uncomplicated and inexpensive process that is used
  • 13. 12 from the start, middle, and end of a project. The crucial information to keep in mind is that the objective is measurable and achievable. In addition to this, having articulated strategy and tactic as well understanding the difference between both. This provide Peak Focus chance to evaluate campaign and to learn what went right, wrong, how much progress was made, and how something can be done better. Product Validation Method In order to know if the products are viable to students, we conducted three different online surveys. The first survey is a general survey with a brief description about the products My Greatest Strength and Career Navigation System. The second survey is a post-survey for students who already try the product My Greatest Strengths. The third survey is also a post- survey for students who tried the product, Career Navigation System. Our population for this primary research are the students majoring in Industrial Design, Media Arts & Technology, and Packaging Science with total of 550 students. Our methods to collect data through surveys are as follows: 1. Distribute first survey to our population via email. In the email, we stated that 20 lucky students will get to try the product My Greatest Strength for free. 2. We then select 20 students from the respondents and send them another email containing the coupon code for My Greatest Strength. We also include the link to the second survey
  • 14. 13 and inform them that there will be 5 lucky students selected at random to try the product Career Navigation System for free. 3. From the respondents of the second survey, we select 5 students and send them another email containing the coupon code for Career Navigation System. In the email also included the link to third survey. The first survey emphasizes on getting general information about students. Questions included such as follows: 1. What year are you?” 2. How important is it for you to understand your personality strengths? 3. Have you taken a personality/strength assessment before? 4. How useful do you find personality/strength assessments in general? 5. How important is it for you to explore career options? 6. Have you taken a career assessment before? 7. How useful do you find career assessments in general? These questions helped us to understand students’ perception of strength/personality assessments in general. In the first survey, we also included a brief description about the Greatest Strengths Report and Career Navigation System. We then asked if the products are relevant to students and included a question about the price that they would willing to spend. We also ask if students have work experience since the product’s goal is to help students find a job that is suitable for them. We include survey question about the way students use social media, such as
  • 15. 14 “How much time do you spend on social media per day?” and “Please rank the social networking sites you use based on time spent.” First Survey Results On the first survey, there were total of 23 respondents. We found that most of the respondents are senior (30.4%) and junior (21.7%). Considering the fact that we mentioned both products in the email that were sent to the population, the data shows seniors and juniors are more interested in participating in career-related programs. Figure 02 – Pie chart showing the distribution of students who took the survey based on year of study.
  • 16. 15 We also found that out of 23 respondents, 47.8% believe that it is ‘very important’ to understand self-personality strength while 43.5% believe that it is ‘somewhat important.’ From the respondents who answered ‘Very Important’, 3 of them are seniors, 2 graduate students, 1 freshmen, 1 sophomore, and 4 juniors. From the respondents who answered ‘Somewhat Important’, 5 of them are sophomore, 1 junior, 1 freshmen, and 3 seniors. From this data, we can see that out of 23 respondents, the total number of students who believe that it is important to understand self-personality strength based on year of study are 6 seniors, 5 juniors, 6 sophomore, 2 freshmen, and 2 graduate students. From this data, we can conclude that students who are more interested in knowing about their personality strength are mostly seniors and juniors. Figure 03 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer on the importance of knowing personality strength.
  • 17. 16 In the survey, we also asked about the usefulness of a personality/strength assessment in general. From the data, out of 23 respondents, 13.6% believe that it is ‘very useful,’ 36.4% believe that it is ‘somewhat useful,’ 36.4% answered ‘neutral,’ and 13.6% answered ‘not very useful.’ From the students who answered ‘Very Useful,’ 2 of them are graduate student and 1 of them is junior. From the students who answered ‘Not Very Useful,’ 2 of them are seniors and 1 of them is sophomore. Figure 04 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer on the usefulness of personality/strength assessment in general
  • 18. 17 In the survey, we included a brief description about the product Greatest Strength Report and asked whether the product is relevant to students. Based on the data that we have, out of 23 respondents, 21.7% answered ‘Very Relevant,’ 47.8% answered ‘Somewhat Relevant,’ 21.7% answered ‘Neutral,’ and 13% answered ‘Not Very Relevant.’ From the data, most of the students who answered ‘Very Relevant’ and ‘Somewhat Relevant’ are seniors and juniors. We also included a brief description about the product Career Navigation System and asked whether the product is relevant to students. 17.4% answered ‘Very Relevant,’ 52.2% Figure 05 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer regarding the relevancy of the Greatest Strength Report
  • 19. 18 answered ‘Somewhat Relevant,’ 21.7% answered ‘Neutral,’ and 13% answered ‘Not Very Relevant.’ We also included question about the price students are willing to pay for either products. Based on the data obtained, for the Greatest Strength Report, 87% are willing to pay less than $25 for the product and 13% are willing to pay at the range of $25-$50. For the Career Navigation system, 69.6% are willing to pay less than $25, 17.4% are willing to pay $25-$50, and 13% are willing to pay $50-$75. Figure 06 – Bar chart showing the student’s answer regarding the relevancy of the Career Navigation System
  • 20. 19 Figure 07 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Greatest Strength Report
  • 21. 20 Figure 08 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Greatest Strength Report
  • 22. 21 From the data, we can see that students are concern about the substantial amount of money being taken out of their wallet. Most students chose the lowest price for both products just by reading the description of the products. We also asked about the price students willing to pay after they tried both products and it seems that students are not willing to spend more money for either products, especially for Career Navigation System. Most of the student think that $125 is considerably expensive for the Career Navigation System. Figure 09 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Greatest Strength Report after trying the product. Figure 10 – Bar chart showing how much students are willing to pay for the Career Navigation System after trying the product.
  • 23. 22 Second Survey Results The Greatest Strength Report From the second survey, out of 15 students who tried out the Greatest Strength Report, 13.3% felt ‘very satisfied,’ 46.7% felt ‘somewhat satisfied,’ 33.3% felt ‘neutral,’ and 6.7% felt ‘not at all satisfied.’ Some of the feedbacks we got was that the Greatest Strength Report was not very conclusive. Figure 11 – Bar chart showing how satisfied are student after trying the Greatest Strength Report.
  • 24. 23 The survey also asked those 15 students if they would be interested in trying out the Career Navigation System after receiving the Greatest Strength Report. 20% answered ‘Very interested,’ 40% answered ‘Somewhat interested,’ 13.3% answered ‘Neutral,’ 20% answered ‘Not very interested,’ and 6.7% answered ‘Not at all interested.’ Figure 12 – Bar chart showing how interested are students to try Career Navigation System after trying the Greatest Strength Report.
  • 25. 24 Then, the survey asked if those 15 students would recommend the product to other students and 13.3% answered ‘Very likely.’ 20% answered ‘Somewhat likely,’ 26.7% answered ‘Neutral,’ 26.7% answered ‘Not very likely,’ and 13.3% answered ‘Not at all likely.’ In addition to the percentage, one student provided feedback stating that “This isn't something I would recommend unless the person is struggling with a job hunt.” Figure 13 – Bar chart showing the likeliness of students to recommend Greatest Strength Report to other students after trying the product.
  • 26. 25 In the survey, we also provided a comment box for students to share their experience after trying the Greatest Strength Report or to suggestions about possible improvements that could be made. Listed below are the several responses submitted: 1. “Maybe some possible recommendations on how to improve upon your strengths and weaknesses” 2. “I think this was done very well. I just am iffy on the cost, because I try not to spend anything extra because the debt I'm currently incurring going to be with me for so long. I know eighteen dollars isn’t a lot, but it could possibly be a couple solid meals if it came down to it.” 3. “I don't think the report provided enough depth as far as content and answers. I feel like I could take a free online personality test that would give me more information that it more or less accurate as well.” 4. “The report was really helpful in identifying my strengths for working with people. It helped me understand how to better describe my strengths to people in a way that includes all aspects of my personality.” 5. “The questions needed to be more varied I felt that the majority of them were along the same line, very few allowed me to really pick which would best describe me to lest they were too broad.” 6. “I feel that the report basically just restates the answer choices that I selected while taking the Greatest Strengths Questionnaire. I didn't really feel like there was much deeper analysis.”
  • 27. 26 Career Navigation System Three students tried the Career Navigation System and filled out the third survey. Out of those 3 students, 1 student feels ‘very satisfied’ and 2 students feel ‘somewhat satisfied.’ “The top career results reflect things that I have not a skill set for so it is pretty irrelevant to me,” said by one student. Figure 14 – Bar chart showing how satisfied are students after trying the Career Navigation System.
  • 28. 27 The survey then asked if those 3 students would recommend Career Navigation System to other students and 1 students answered ‘Very likely’ while other 2 students answered ‘Not very likely.’ Figure 15 – Bar chart showing the likeliness of the students to recommend Career Navigation System to other students after trying the product.
  • 29. 28 Based on the survey, we also discovered that out of the 3 students, 1 students feels that the Greatest Strength Report is more useful, 1 student feels that the Career Navigation System is more useful, and 1 student feels that both products are useful. Figure 16 – Pie chart showing which product is most useful between Greatest Strength Report and Career Navigation System.
  • 30. 29 Additional feedbacks that we got from the third survey were as follows: 1. “125 dollars is too high” 2. “I think that the report should be generated on what a person's skill set is, rather than just personalities that fit various careers. The careers that I got were not related to what my skill set is so it wasn't too relevant to me. Also I think that it is unnecessary to have people download these PDF's every time they want their career navigation or greatest strength. However the PDF's are very informative.” 3. “Both helped me to define my strengths and careers interest more specifically. I knew I had an interest in the areas it generate but was never sure how to word it exactly. This really helped me describe myself and is something I can refer back to when apply for jobs.” Conclusion Based on the answers obtained from surveys, it seems that the Greatest Strength Report is more viable than Career Navigation System. When conducting method to collect data from the students, we found that it was easier to get students to try the Greatest Strength Report compared to the Career Navigation System. We provided 5 free Career Navigation System coupons to 5 students who tried the Greatest Strength Report and it took them more than a week to try the product. This is mainly due to the fact that most of students in college already have a career in mind that they want to pursue. Plus, the feedbacks we received from students who tried the Career Navigation System show concerns about the price and some find that the Career Navigation System irrelevant. However, some students agree that the Career Navigation System is a good product in determining career choice. This would means that it is not a good strategy to
  • 31. 30 advertise Career Navigation System toward students without them trying the Greatest Strengths Report first. The Greatest Strengths Report is like a door that open to Career Navigation System. Thus, we believe that the marketing plan should focus more on getting students familiar with the product Greatest Strength Report and from there, convert them into buyer. We also found that students at junior level is the best consumers to market the product, Greatest Strength Report. The Marketing Campaign Responses from the initial survey reveal that none of the participating students had ever heard of Peak Focus, the Greatest Strengths Report, or the Career Navigation System prior to the study. Since brand equity, which is essential to the perception of product quality and sales growth, is lacking among college students, the goal of the marketing campaign will be to increase brand awareness with a focus on the Greatest Strengths Report (Mason, 2003). The first phase of the campaign will be aimed at forming direct relationships with the student population through event based campus field marketing. With the use of campaign hashtags, efforts from the field marketing phase will then be tied into the social media initiatives of the second phase where relationships will be further solidified and expanded. Before continuing on to the development of the campaign, the student population should be analyzed for a possibly narrower target that the campaign can concentrate on.
  • 32. 31 As seen in Figure 17 taken from the initial survey where participants were asked to rate how relevant the Greatest Strengths Report was to them, juniors and non-traditional upperclassmen (i.e. other) were the groups that reported the highest relevance with answers falling mainly towards the positive end of the scale. This result is inconsistent with the initial hypothesis made that either freshmen or seniors would hold the most interest for the report as a result of their close proximity to making course of study or career decisions. However, considering the evolution of the student mindset as it progresses through the various academic year levels, it can be assumed that the results are due to juniors and non-traditional upperclassmen being at a stage in their academic careers where, as they grow closer to graduating, are just beginning to feel the pressures of landing a job, yet have not had the chance to develop a strategy for self-promotion with which they are confident. In contrast, freshmen most likely have not yet reached a point where future career decisions are deemed as urgent, while seniors most likely already have created a firmer stance in their approach. Considering the Figure 17 – Bar Graph showing the relevance of the Greatest Strength Report based on year level.
  • 33. 32 increase of interest in the Greatest Strengths Report towards the later years of the undergraduate spectrum with the exception of the senior year, the marketing campaign will be focused on targeting upperclassmen who are just beginning their job search. Campaign Part 1: Field Marketing For the field marketing phase of the campaign, booths promoting Peak Focus and the Greatest Strengths Report will be set up at on-campus locations. Concentrating on upperclassmen who are just beginning their job search in mind, freshmen centered events such as first-year orientations and club fairs can be ruled out as possible event venues. Boasting a high concentration of participating upperclassmen and a connection to the goals of self-improvement and promotion that the Greatest Strengths Report strives to help consumers reach, career fairs would be the most ideal events in which to initiate the marketing campaign. However, from interviews with Shauna Newcomb, Career Services Coordinator, and Hannah Abele, College Activities Board Events Coordinator, both advised that neither career fairs nor general college activity events are the easiest options for the campaign since career fairs are meant for companies looking to hire rather than to advertise and college activity events are generally meant only for college organizations. With the tight regulations that colleges place on influence from for-profit organizations, the easiest option for setting up an on-campus event would be at the specific locations and times designated for advertising and vending. It should be noted that policies for advertising and vending vary across different colleges and should be considered accordingly to avoid possible event planning complications.
  • 34. 33 Students from the student ambassador program already in place at Peak Focus will be employed to set up and manage the booths at college authorized locations. Students tend to be extremely weary of traditional marketing tactics, but are more likely to be open to the opinions of their peers. Therefore, the use of student ambassadors would have a higher chance of gaining students’ trust than if company executives were to act as the face of the campaign (O’Donnell, 2011). The use of student ambassadors will not only be an opportunity for Peak Focus to raise brand awareness on multiple campuses at the same time, but also offer ambassadors a chance to increase their commissions, incentivizing them to attract more students to the event. Although participation in career fairs is not the most viable option for the campaign, booths can be set up during the period of time in which they occur to take advantage of the job seeking mindset that students will have. Since the goal of the Greatest Strengths Report is to help consumers promote their strengths, it is safe to assume that students looking to promote themselves to employers will be more receptive of the campaign’s message. Since most colleges already have a free career counseling program in place that includes the availability of personality and career assessments in addition to one-on-one counseling, it is especially important to emphasize what Peak Focus can offer through the Greatest Strengths Report that college counseling programs cannot: a thorough report that can be presented to potential employers in person or displayed on LinkedIn profile pages. Marketing materials should make sure that students understand that the report is not only able to help them explain their strengths to potential employers, but also that a copy of the report can be provided to backs up their claims. Besides providing examples of reports, testimonials from individuals who benefited from
  • 35. 34 the report and statistics of job offers to those who did and did not use it can help prove the product’s effectiveness. The booths should be set up in a creative way that will attract students and encourage them to use the campaign hashtag to spread the word about the event. Considering the financial concerns that college students have, they are more likely than non-students to seek out coupons and discounts, and more readily lower their skepticism when offered free things (O’Donnell, 2011). Students are not only attracted to the free items themselves, although practical and unique items are especially useful in making a lasting impression, but to the experience involved in receiving the item (H. Abele, personal communication, 2015). Thus, combining freebies with a unique and fun experience is extremely important to attracting students to the event and creating a positive and lasting image of the brand that will lead them to try the Greatest Strengths Report and share their experience with others. One idea for attracting students to the booth would be to create photo-worthy opportunities using mascots, cardboard cutouts, or backdrops that participants can take pictures with. Games can also be set up where students are able to randomly win prizes that include free coupon codes for the report. An expiration date for the codes should be set to create a sense of urgency and ensure a higher rate of code usage. To encourage the use of the campaign hashtag, participants will be given a prize (e.g. t-shirts, pens, candy, etc.) in addition to a discount on the report, if they did not already win a coupon code, when they post a picture taken at the booth and use the assigned hashtag. The event will be announced through flyers as well as advertisements in college newspapers posted by the student ambassadors. Although the readership of printed newspapers overall is on the decline, it was found in a research by the marketing agency, Refuel, that college
  • 36. 35 newspapers are still relevant among the college student population. Of the 600 students surveyed, 65% indicated that they took action after viewing an advertisement in their college newspaper, 33% of which relayed the advertisement to a friend, with another 33% going to the mentioned website, and 28% attending the advertised event (“College Newspaper Readership,” 2013). To catch the attention of readers, the advertisement should be simple, straightforward, and in color. If possible, posting several times before the event begins will allow readers to become familiarized with the company and the information presented in the advertisement (Bakker, 2010). Campaign Part 2: Social Media Marketing Provide freebies while waiting for 24 hour time The goal of this strategy is to maintain healthy relationship to customer through increasing value proposition of the product (The Greatest Strength). Not only that, this strategy can also strengthen Peak Focus’s brand name (how it is possible will be explain later). Last and importantly, through this strategy, we can maintain our customer attention towards our company in which could help generating more sales. In our research, we find that student are generally price conscious in regards to academic products although they know that this type of product is important to them. When buying this type of product, they are more likely to choose things with lower price or even free. They spent time online searching for free option before they purchase for it.
  • 37. 36 As for that, we were thinking of utilizing this findings by providing freebies alongside with The Greatest Strength Report. Those freebies should be related to the product. As for now, we suggest that those freebies should be in any forms of content like videos, audio, article or book. This content can be used to emphasize product’s functionality to our customer. Because of this, they will be able to use the Greatest Strength Report effectively. We want them to feel high satisfaction towards the report. This could lead to natural word of mouth marketing in which have the potential increase sales due to word of mouth marketing. Apart from that, content (provided that it is valuable) can increase our audience attention towards our company at the same time providing more opportunity to advertise other product. After handful of discussion, we have a suggestion in regards to acquiring the freebies. Type of freebies: Private Label Right E-book or article. Private label rights or PLR are a special type of right or license which you purchase where you are legally allowed to edit and publish the article as your own. Topics or Title: Related to career advancement, resume building, self-motivation, work in a group or success in getting first job Acquiring asset: There are numerous of site that sell PLR asset in a very low price. for an example, you can go to this link http://www.plrarticlesale.com/self-improvement-plr-articles/ For only 9 dollars, you have acquired 4000 plus article that can be edit, tailored and published as your own.
  • 38. 37 Create Social-Network-Friendly-Result Ultimately, the goal of this strategy is to motivate our customer (student) to share their result to their friend. Utilizing the concept of viral marketing, we expect that through this strategy our brand awareness can be increased among the targeted community (student). In our findings, we realize that student spent huge amount of time in social media. The social networking industry have influence their behavior especially in regards to their purchasing habits. They are more likely to trust review online rather than a company advertisement. As for that, specific to student, we expect to increase our sales by making the result shareable so that it can be more social. Again this would increase our brand awareness among the community. Same as before we have suggestion as to how the result can be social friendly. Peak focus should create a mechanism for the customer to share their result online same as the one that is built for LinkedIn. The difference is that this time it include more graphics and colors to grab attention. Figure 18 is the example of sharable result page that can be implemented. This is a result page from a free online test developed by Play buzz companies. Basically audience would answer some questionnaires and the result of that questionnaire is given like the one below.
  • 39. 38 Figure 18 – Examples of shareable results.
  • 40. 39 Messaging suggestion In the sharable result Title: Your Greatest Strength Image: Create visually appealing sharable result Some of the best example for this are given in Figure 18.
  • 41. 40 Description of result: - The Harrison Assessments™ Greatest Strengths Report describes your greatest strengths. If you are currently a job seeker, being able to clearly verbalize your strengths can help you to get the job you are seeking. If you are currently employed, understanding your greatest strengths can help you further apply these strengths in your current job, resulting in personal satisfaction and career success. Click Here to download your in-depth analysis of your greatest strength Incentive to share: - Share your result now and include #YourGreatestStrength and #PeakFocusCoach in your post status to WIN OUR 10% REBATES In the shared post Image: use the FB post-optimized image based on the sharable result image Example of this is given below
  • 42. 41 Text:- Want to know your character’s strength? Take our test NOW and you will be blown away by our high-detailed result www.peakfocuscoach.com | Your Greatest Strength
  • 43. 42 Mockup Documentation Figure 19 – Mock-up of shareable results
  • 44. 43 Facebook Mockup Documentation Figure 20 – Mock-up of sharable results on Facebook
  • 45. 44 Create incentive to share Social sharing element can be very advantageous to Peak Focus in grabbing market share in the student segment. Therefore, we need to have some sort of incentive for our customer (student) to share their result. Our suggestion for those incentives are as follows 1. Discount on Career Navigation System 2. Rebate of The Greatest Strength Create Brand Loyalty by interacting with consumer or user by maintaining communication through email for birthday, holiday, etc.
  • 46. 45 References Alderton, Matt. (2010, December 22). Marketing to College Students. Find future customers when you get schooled on student trends and targets. Retrieved from http://www.business.com/market-research/marketing-to-college-students/ Bakker, J. (2010). How to advertise in college newspapers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://campusmediagroup.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/how-to-advertise-in-college- newspapers/ Bar-Joseph, Uri. (2014, February 10). 5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing. Retrieved from http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2327748/5- brilliant-ways-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing College Newspaper Readership. (2013). Retrieved from http://iheartnewspapers.com/wp- content/uploads/College-Newspaper-Readership-IHeartNewspaper-070313.pdf Larson, Charles U. (2013). Persuasion. Reception and Responsibility. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Mason, K. (2003). The benefits of higher brand equity. Journal of Business Administration Online, 2(1). Retrieved from https://www.atu.edu/jbao/spring2003/mason.pdf (n.d). (2014, May 13). Using Pinterest in Higher Education Marketing to Engage a Student Audience. Retrieved from http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media- marketing/social-media-platforms/hillary-frazier/
  • 47. 46 (n.d). (2014, April 29). Social Media Channel Tips and Posting Times. Retrieved from http://vope.net/social-media-channels-tips-posting-times/ O’Donnell, F. (2011). Marketing to College Students - US - July 2011. Retrieved from Mintel Reports database O’Donnell, F. (2014). Marketing to Millennials. Retrieved from Mintel Reports database Patterson, Michael. (2015, May 4). Social Media Demographics to Inform a Better Segmentation Strategy. Retrieved from http://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media- demographics/ Patterson, Michael. (2015, August 10). 7 Examples of Successful Hashtag Campaigns. Retrieved from http://www.tintup.com/blog/7-examples-of-successful-hashtag-campaigns/ Refuel Agency. (2014, August 7). Top Reasons Why College Students Are Such an Attractive Demographic to Brands. Retrieved from http://www.refuelagency.com/news/top-reasons- why-college-students-are-such-an-attractive-demographic-to-brands/ Weinstein, Mindy. (2015, July 23). A Trillion-Dollar Demographic: 10 Brands That Got Millennial Marketing Right. Retrieved from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/trillion- dollar-demographic-10-brands-got-millennial-marketing-right/135969/ Workman, Jane E. & Freeburg, Beth Winfrey. (2008). Promotional Product Marketing, College Students, and Social Identity. Journal of Family and Consumer Services, 43-49.