Presented by: Andrea Decamp | Linda Ferelle | Paige McNeilly | Dakota Wilson

Objective:

The purpose of HU Be Local is to bring Harding University students to the city
of Searcy and all that it offers. We want to provide a catalyst between the students and
the local places in Searcy that are lesser known. While other university towns already
have a name for themselves, Searcy is in need of a little recognition from the students
and we plan to help create that.

Contents
3 | Research
4 | Planning
5 | Communication/Action
6 | Evaluation

Research
Think advertising

As a group, we communicated with Think Advertising through Erica
Goodwin and Will Krech. The goal of this conversation was to connect and
find out what they were doing to give Searcy a new brand and discuss any
ideas they had that we could work on. We wanted to open a conversation
that would lead to a possible partnership.

searcy businesses

We researched the businesses and organizations in Searcy that would
be possible candidates to promote through this rebrand. The qualifications
of the organizations needed:
-
Little known/Unknown to either the Searcy community or the
Harding community
-
Good rapport with the community
- Unique
-
Local (no need for large franchises)

The goal of our research was to find the places in Searcy that add to
the unknown character of the city. It also was vital to find avenues by which
we may create a campaign to change the image of the city.

Hardings Campus Activities Board

Two of the team met with Logan Light from CAB to discuss possible ways they could get involved with the rebrand from the Harding side.
It was a productive meeting that led to more ideas that would narrow our
approach down. Logan loved the idea of having an event that would mesh
the two worlds of Harding and Searcy. There was a discussion of a possible
Welcome Back week event held in the fall at Harding depending on the
success of the kick-off event held this spring.

Research Cont.
HU Square 1

Paige met with Kevin Kehl about implementing the program
into Impact at the beginning of the Fall semesters. This included an idea
of creating a community tour as part of the time spent in the Energy
Groups. This is meant to pull new students to areas of Searcy that they
may not have known about otherwise.

Planning

Our team consists of four people, two who focus on Public Relations and two who focus on Electronic Media Production. Over the course of six weeks, we have our team has met
several times to discuss what we know and conceptual ideas
about how we want to express the image of Searcy.

Our Team

Linda Ferelle: Electronic Media Production

Dakota Wilson: Electronic Media Production
Andrea Decamp: Public Relations
Paige McNeilly: Public Relations


The two who focus on EMP meet to shoot film to create a video that will highlight parts of the city that will portray
what the new brand is.

The two who focus on Public Relations meet various
times and communicate with outlets to find the best way to
implement the rebrand. They focus on the copy and content
that will eventually create the brand.

Communication / Action
Social Media

HU Be Local will make social media a main focus of the campaign. We will
maintain a Twitter account and Email where students can submit pictures, information
and questions to HU Be Local. The twitter account is @HUbelocal and the email is
hubelocal@gmail.com. Depending on involvement, HU Be Local may eventually
create an Instagram account.
Example photos:

Video

The video will highlight areas of Searcy that are iconic as well as lesser known.
The goal is to show a new side of the community to the residents of Searcy and the
students of Harding. The footage will come from concerts, restaurants and parks.

Evaluation

We plan to evaluate the success through social media by analyzing the
amount of followers and likes. We also are going to keep track of views on the video
created and people who comment and share.

In summary
As four students who care deeply about Searcy and the community it provides,
we want you to choose to Be Local. We want to create a community image that
showcases the charm that is sometimes hidden from those who are unfamiliar
with our town. We plan to use our unique skills and talents to produce this image.
We want to draw Harding students into this incredible community and show both
residents and students the community that could be.

2015