Baby Animal Days American West Heritage Center April 3-5, 2014 Public Relations Plan DRAFT ONLY

- Revised March 1, 2014

Key Information VIP event is April 2 (Wed) Open to public April 3-5 (Thur-Sat) (Spring Break for most k-12) (Also, LDS GC weekend) Hours: 10-5 In the event of bad weather, most of the event can be moved inside Plan to hold scaled-back event on 2 following weekends Prices: $8 for adults, $6 for children 3-11, Free for 2 and under, $1 off for students Annual AWHC membership includes admission to Baby Animal Days Annual AWHC membership price: (ADD detail) Animals include: calves, lambs, goats, chicks, rabbits, ducks, quail, piglets, foals, bears Other activities include: vendors, trout fishing, cow milking, mechanical bull, pony and horse rides, wagon rides, demonstrations, little buckaroo radio, candy cannon, live music, gunfighters, train rides, miniature ponies and burros Ticket lines have been shortened Walmart is now primary sponsor Address: American West Heritage Center 4025 S. Hwy 89-91 Wellsville, UT 84339 Phone: (435) 245-6050 URL: www.awhc.org AWHC is on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube AWHC is a non-profit organization. Recently, up to 60% of visitors have come from outside Cache County. Goal is to increase that.

USU PR Team Parker Jeppesen Dominic Bohne Aaron Griffiths Betsy Jorgensen Scott Hall Kelsey Richardson

Business Goals 1. Attract 20,000 visitors 2. Attract more visitors from outside Cache Valley (Goal: 10,000) 3. Sell more annual memberships (Goal: ??) PR Objectives 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Achieve total visitor goal Achieve out-of-Cache Valley visitor goal Achieve 500 student visitors Help visitors to understand value of memberships (sell more?) Increase awareness, understanding and interest in the event (SURVEY?) Achieve pickup by at least 4 major media outlets Achieve pickup by at least 20 minor media

Audiences 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cache Valley kids Cache Valley parents and grandparents of kids ages 3-14 Parents and grandparents in Northern Utah: Salt Lake to Bear Lake Parents and grandparents in Southern Idaho USU students

Key Messages ADD

Strategies and Tactics

STRATEGY 1: Conduct aggressive media relations campaign Promote to media in Cache, Box Elder, Weber, Davis and Salt Lake Counties in Utah, and in Bannock, Franklin, Oneida and Bear Lake Counties in Idaho. Contact media 4 weeks before event, then timely media again just before event. Followup after event. Personally contact major media outlets 4 weeks before event to do on-site feature stories. Contact minor media. Get local media to cover animal visits to Walmart and USU STRATEGY 2: Conduct robust social media campaign Use multiple channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Create calendar of social media posts 4 weeks prior to the event Post frequently (create and use editorial calendar) Post using photo and video assets (create plan and grab existing assets) Take extensive video and photos for future PR efforts Create contest or other incentive that results in more active followers STRATEGY 3: Create comprehensive USU campus campaign Use multiple channels: Statesman, UPR, ATV, closed circuit TV, posters and flyers, TSC banner, yard signs Start on-campus promotion campaign by March 15 Sell tickets on campus Coordinate day to bring animals to campus STRATEGY 4: Create communications support to promote annual memberships Drive traffic to membership section on AWHC website (energize content?) Use social media to promote memberships Create effective visual communications for use at Baby Animal Days Create handout for visitors at Baby Animal Days STRATEGY 5: Create local community campaign Sell advance tickets at both Wal-Mart and USU Coordinate day to bring animals to Wal-Mart? Create elementary school coloring page with detailed information and $1 off coupon? Hand out coloring page to classes and local businesses possibly just a few pilot classes scattered around the valley PSAs Other TBD

Key Action Steps

ITEM 1: Finish creating Baby Animal Days team contact list, and send email addresses to Becca @ AWHC. Date Due: Friday, Feb 21 Responsibility: Parker ITEM 2: Get updated key information from Becca Date Due: Monday, Feb 24 Responsibility: Parker ITEM 3: Create list of key messages. Segment by audiences as needed. Date Due: Thursday, March 6 Responsibility: Team ITEM 4: Create list of major (Salt Lake TV news programs and Salt Lake and Ogden newspapers) and minor media with contact info and requirements. Date Due: Tuesday, March 4 Responsibility: Parker ITEM 5: Create news media plan. Date Due: Responsibility: Team ITEM 6: Create news release #1. Date Due: Tuesday, March 4 Responsibility: Betsy ITEM 7: Create news advisory/calendar information Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 8: Distribute first news advisory. Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 9: Begin distributing information to minor media. Date Due: Responsibility:

ITEM 10: Contact targeted TV news shows. Date Due: Responsibility: Mic and Becca ITEM 11: Create social media editorial calendar for FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Date Due: Thursday, March 6 Responsibility: Team ITEM 12: Identify visual assets in-place and needed. Create plan to acquire them. Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 13: Identify contest or other compelling viral tactic to use to drive social media activity. Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 14: Set up USU campus ticket-selling process. Have tickets available by March 15. Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 15: Set up USU permission to allow animals to come on campus. Get ATV coverage? Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 16: Create on campus promotional materials: TSC banner, yard signs, TV, posters and flyers. Date Due: Responsibility: ITEM 17: Finalize plans for membership promotion at Baby Animal Days. Date Due: Responsibility: