HLTH 634

BRIEF MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE

There are many variations in marketing plans. This abbreviated version
captures the main ideas of most. Fill in the outline with information that best
describes the approach you would use in marketing your health
communication intervention.
I. Executive Overview
A.
The reader should come away from this section with knowledge
of what you are proposing and why your plan will work.
1.
Introduce your company/agency Sleep Smarts was
created by F.W. Health Inc. in partnership with the
National Sleep Foundation.
2.
Explain how your company / agency is qualified for this
task Although a newly developed program, F. W.
Health Inc. has completed years of research in the
area of sleep health, specifically focusing on
insufficient sleep and its effect on the resulting
overall quality of life of Young Adults (ages 18-24)
over the past 5 years.
B.
Briefly describe the need for your intervention. More than
25% of the United States population reports not getting
enough sleep, at least 15 out of every 30 nights. 1 Sleep
plays a key role in our overall mental and physical health
by helping our brains work properly, contributing to our
quality of life, as well as safety. Insufficient sleep is
associated with multiple chronic diseases and conditions
such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and
depression. It is also responsible for a number of motor
vehicle accidents, injuries, and disabilities.
1.
Overview the priority population at risk - The audience
for my health communication plan, Sleep Smarts,
will consist of college students in the Young
Adults age-range category (18-24 years old), both
male and female, from all ethnic backgrounds. As
many as 50% of college students report daytime
sleepiness and as many as 70% attain insufficient
sleep.2 This can result in the development of certain
health conditions and chronic disease, decline in our
immunologic function, negatively affect ones
mental health, and also negatively impact a
students academic performance.
2.
Describe the problem facing the priority population
Possibly due to the irregularity of their schedules
and sleeping habits, college students are among the
most sleep-deprived people in the country. Full-time
college students are studying as well as working for
Page 1 of 11

HLTH 634

C.

long hours and may not get enough sleep during the
night. In addition to the risk of insufficient sleep
stated above, students may have sleepy and
sluggish behavior in classes, have difficulty
concentrating, taking test, or even making
decisions.
Provide an explanation of your intended intervention.
1.
Provide goals and objectives (Use the BEHAVE form.) Upon
completion of this semester long course students
will be able to develop healthier sleep habits:
a. Upon completion of this semester long course,
85% of students will have developed healthier
sleeping habits, as measured by an end of the
semester survey.
b. By the end of the semester, 75% of students
will be able to discuss the importance of sleep
and it's role in our health as measured by a
written exam.
c. At the end of Week 3 lecture, 50% of students
will recognize if they are at risk for a sleep
disorder as measured by a 7-night sleep
journal.
d. At the conclusion of the health communication
program, 80% of students will be able to
explain good sleep hygiene tips, as measured
by an in-class presentation.
2.
Overview the project that will contain your intervention
Sleep Smarts is a required semester-long course,
that all incoming freshman will take in either the
Fall or Spring semester. Sleep Smarts will focus on
educating this vulnerable population on why sleep
health is important, the effects of insufficient sleep
on ones physical and mental health, academic
performance, and common sleep disorders, explore
commonly used sleep aids among college students,
as well as discuss tips for good sleep hygiene.
3.
Describe the project outcome of your intervention.
a. Short term (less than one year) Students will
gain knowledge about healthy sleep hygiene,
including the physical, mental, and academic
effects insufficient sleep has on college
students which will lead to a consistent sleep
schedule (going to sleep and waking-up).
b. Long term (one year or greater) Students who
have completed this course will have a higher
final GPA upon graduation (4-years
Page 2 of 11

HLTH 634

II.

undergraduate complete) when compared to

alumni from the same university.
The Customers (Market Review)
A.
Provide a detailed description of your intended primary target
audience (See NCIs Making Health Communication Programs
Work, Stage 1.) - The primary target audience of my Health
Communication Program Plan will be on full-time college
students, in the age category of Young Adults 18-24
years of age, from all ethnic backgrounds, who are
unaware of the effects of insufficient sleep and the affect
it has on their health. Most college students get an
inadequate amount of sleep because they go to bed late
and getting up early, which occurs for multiple reasons
both physiologic and behavioral.2 For instance; frequent
use of technology before bed is associated with difficulty
sleeping at night, resulting in sleepiness during the day
time. Generation Yers uses technology frequently
before bed 67% use cell phones, 43% use music devices,
60% use computers, and 18% play video games.2. The
light for these technological sources plays an impact on
the secretion of Melatonin which helps regulate the
circadian rhythm to the environment. Melatonin is
suppressed by many sources of light and therefore
results in the delay of sleep onset.2
1.
Behavioral---health-related activities or choices, degree of
readiness to change a behavior, information-seeking
behavior, media use, and lifestyle characteristics go to
bed late/wake early, which occurs for multiple
reasons both behavioral and physiological
2.
Culturallanguage proficiency and language preferences,
religion, ethnicity, generational status, family structure,
degree of acculturation, and lifestyle factors (e.g., special
foods, activities) all ethnic backgrounds
3.
Demographicoccupation, income, educational
attainment, family situation, and places of residence and
work current full-time college students
4.
Physicalsex, age, type and degree of exposure to health
risks, medical condition, disorders and illnesses, and family
health history Young Adults, ages 18-24 years,
both male and female
5.
Psychographicattitudes, outlook on life and health, selfimage, opinions, beliefs, values, self-efficacy, life stage,
and personality traits - unaware of the effects of
insufficient sleep has on their health and academic
performance.
Page 3 of 11

HLTH 634

Briefly describe your intended secondary target audience. The

secondary target audience for the Sleep Smarts
program is the board of supervisors at the university. The
board of supervisors will approve or disapprove this
health education program to be implemented as a
permanent course at the university as well as a required
course for all first-year students to take in the Fall or
Spring semester of their freshman year.
The Product (Product Review)
A.
Describe your product or service
1.
What it is Sleep Smarts is a required, semester
long course, that will provide education in the
classroom and at other local universities on the
importance of sleep for college students and its
contribution to our overall health, well-being, and
academic success.
2.
What it offers As a semester long course, the Sleep
Smarts program will educate through a series of
lectures, presentations, and interactive activities
presented both inside the classroom as well as
outside. Students will gain knowledge about the
effects sleep health on ones physical and mental
health, academic performance, and common sleep
disorders. This program will also discuss the
common sleep aids college students use, and will
explore healthy sleep hygiene habits, tailored to
each individual students schedule.
B.

III.

At other local universities and colleges who wish to

experiment with a crash course in Sleep Smarts,
a condensed version of the semester-long program
will be presented in a lecture/question and answer
type presentation. Only highlighted points of each
section in the program will be presented at this
shortened version of the program.
3.

How it compares to similar products or services of

competitors School-based preventative health
education is considered a critical step to improve
the sleep health of the Young Adult population.
Therefore, when comparing the Sleep Smarts
program with similar health communication
programs in a school-based setting all are fairly
successful. By making this a mandatory instead of
voluntary course, all students will be receiving the
critical information about their sleep health which
Page 4 of 11

HLTH 634

will in turn result in greater improvement in

students overall health and academic success.
When comparing the Sleep Smarts program to
other products such as sleep tracking devices, our
health communication program provides education
and the foundation for which those devices are
working on. Sleep tracking devices such as Beddit
Smart 2.0 and Apples sleep app for the Apple Watch
are costly and although they provide the
information consumers are seeking, when am I
getting my best sleep, it is not providing the
information on WHY they are getting their best
sleep or worst sleep. The information the Sleep
Smarts program will provide the answers
consumers are looking for, both the when and why.
Suggest any unique characteristics of your product or service
that make it particularly effective. The Sleep Smarts
program will also have a social media account across
multiple social media platforms including, Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, and Periscope. Each will provide at
least daily updates on certain sleep topics pertaining to
college-aged students (ages 18-24 years old). An account
will be created and tailored for each university that
implements the program full-time and will be run by the
developers at F.W. Health Inc. and the professor of the
specific university with contributions from the students
enrolled in the course.
Strategies
A.
Position
1.
Imaging: What image would you like to portray? The
image we would like to portray is relaxed.
Relaxation is not only key to healthy sleep hygiene
but it is all essential when interacting with collegeaged students and educating them about this
subject. Sleep Smarts does not want students to
feel anxious about this course or feel that
information is being hammered into their brains, but
by making it a relaxing environment students will
gain knowledge through interactive and creative
activities and will genuinely be interested in the
topic of sleep health.
2.
Distinctiveness: What do you perceive to be your unique
selling points? Two unique selling points of Sleep
Smarts is the continuous training that is offered to
B.

IV.

Page 5 of 11

HLTH 634

B.

education professionals and the social media aspect

of the program. Updated information about the field
of sleep health and its relationship to young adults
will be sent to universities enrolled in the Sleep
Smarts program, which will allow all information
being taught in the classroom to be up to date and
based on the latest scientific research. In addition,
training sessions are offered each year during the
summer months, for educational professional who
will be teaching the course the following school
year. This training is covered under the $350 annual
fee for the program and allows up to 5 university
employed professors to attend. The social media
aspect of our program at F.W. Health Inc. is unique
when compared to most educational
programs/college courses, but it is also what the
population of interest is interested in. The majority
of students have an account with one or all of the
major social media sites. This unique addition to our
program will allow students to receive daily updates
-including journal articles, as well as access sleep
health professional in their area. Students will also
have the opportunity to contribute to our social
media sites with interactive in-class activities plus
outside assignments.
Product
1.
Features: What features and customer services will you
emphasize? Features and customer services we will
improvise are our programs unique selling points
mentioned above. Continuous training in any health
field is vital to the success of educating the
population of interest. In addition, customer service
representatives will be available by phone on
weekdays 7AM 9PM and over chat through our
website 24/7.
Emphasizing our social media component is a great
way to get and keep students interested in the
subject of sleep health and reach other audiences at
the click of a button. For instance, a journal article
discussing 5 steps to do for a bed nights rest is
published on the universities Sleep Smarts
Facebook page, it gets 350 views and 180 shares.
When students view the information they are
retaining it and so it can be applied to later
situation (similar to McGuires Communications for
Page 6 of 11

HLTH 634

Persuasion Model remembering the message and

being able to think of it, then making a decision
based on bringing the message to mind). By sharing
the post publicly, their social media friends will have
the opportunity to read and utilize that information.
Sharing the information will also allow a broader
audience to receive that information much quicker
than we could with our company and program alone.
2.

C.

Necessity: What is the importance to your target audience?

How does it meet a need? Immediate results are what
is important to our target audience. Students are
required to take this course before the end of their
freshman year, and many may not see the
importance of this subject and probably dread
taking it. By applying the material learned in Sleep
Smarts students, with the help of the professor, will
be able to tailor a sleep schedule that fits their
individual lifestyle, and with that they will need to
have immediate satisfaction with the lifestyle
change they are implementing to continue the
behavior. Once there is a positive association
between healthy sleep hygiene and their overall
health, well-being, and academic performance,
students will have adopted this lifestyle and it will
aid them in reaching a long-term goal of academic
success.

Price
1.

2.

Price: What prices will you will charge?

a. For universities that are implementing the
Sleep Smarts program full time the total cost
would be $5,000 for the first year the course is
implemented and $350 per year thereafter.
b. For universities that are presenting the crash
course or condensed version of Sleep
Smarts that total cost would be $500 per
session.
Value: Why is it worth the price?
a. Universities implementing the Sleep Smarts
program full time as a required course the
total price includes ALL lecture material (both
print and online) including presentations and
printed materials, training for up to 5
professors employed at the university to teach
the Sleep Smarts course, social media
account set-up and maintenance, and
Page 7 of 11

HLTH 634

unlimited access to our website which includes

daily updates about studies being conducted in
the field of sleep health, an up to date
collection of research and journal articles, and
a link to our direct help line. The additional
$350 after completing the first year of the
Sleep Smarts course will be an annual fee if
the university decides to continue it. This will
include immediate delivery of new and
updated materials as well as training for up to
5 current professors employed at the
university.
Average college tuition (not including roomand-board and other fees) in the state of
Virginia is $11,819 per student per year.3 The
price of our Sleep Smarts program is minute
when compared to the benefits students will
be receiving.

D.

b. Universities presenting the crash course in

Sleep Smarts The total price includes a F. W.
Health Inc. employee to present the lecture
material and conduct the Question and Answer
session (total time: 2-hour program)
computer/projection system, and all printed
materials that will be distributed (handouts,
surveys, etc.). The university will be
responsible for the area in which the session is
held as well as promoting the Sleep Smarts
session.
Promotion
1.
Selling points: What will you say about your business and
product or service? Sleep deprivation is a massive
public health burden that often goes unrecognized
in both public health and clinical settings. Evidence
has found strong correlation that insufficient sleep
has an enormous effect on multiple health
conditions and chronic diseases, including obesity,
diabetes, heart disease, and
hypertension.4 Inadequate sleep also affects our
immunologic function and development of mood
disorders resulting in difficulty concentrating,
remembering, and executing daily activities.
Insufficient sleep can also reduce a persons
alertness, causing accidents in the workplace or on
Page 8 of 11

HLTH 634

the roads drowsy driving contributed to 100,000

motor vehicle accidents and 15,000 deaths in 2005
alone.4 Sleepiness throughout the day, suffering
from sleep deprivation, and irregular sleep
schedules are common among college students as
many as 50% report being sleepy throughout the
day and 70% do not get sufficient sleep.2 Insufficient
sleep not only increases our risk for illness, leads to
weight gain/obesity, and increases the risk of
developing mental health issues; for college
students it can also lower GPA and decrease
academic performance.5
Most college students are unaware of the
importance of healthy sleep and the risks they are
subjecting themselves to. In partnership with the
National Sleep Foundation, F.W. Health Inc. is
dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of
young adults through education and advocacy.
2.

V.

Promotional places (Channels): Where will you promote

your product or service? Include names of specific
publications, call letters for radio stations, etc.
a. Local television stations (WSET), local radio
stations (K92, WYYD, WJJS), and local
education fairs. We will also promote our
product by scheduling direct face-to-face
meetings with local universities (Lynchburg
College, Central Virginia Community College,
Sweet Briar College, and Liberty University.

Budget
A.
Suggest a one-year projection on costs associated with the
advertising and promotion of your product or service.
1.
Itemize with unit costs
a. Printing cost (includes business cards and
samples of the educational material
guides/handouts) $1500
b. Local television advertisement cost $300
c. Newspaper advertisement cost - $200
d. Education fair cost (will attend at least 3)
$50-100/fair
e. Employee salary (1 employee from F. W. Health
Inc. will be promoted to be in charge of
directing advertising and promotion of Sleep
Smarts) = $15/hour (their current salary) +
commission bonuses
Page 9 of 11

HLTH 634

Offer subtotals and total costs total cost/1 year for

advertising ~$2,150
Justify your budget with explanations for the need of projected
items and costs. Despite insomnia being recognized as the
most common sleep disorder, it still goes underrecognized and under-treated.6 On average chronic
insomnia alone cost the United States an estimated $3035 billion per year to as much as $92.5-107.5 billion per
year.6 This astronomical cost includes physician
encounters and prescriptions, consumption of medical
service, increased accident risk, and lost workplace
activity. F. W. Health Inc.s Sleep Smarts health
communication program only cost $2,150 per year to
advertise and promote its service.
2.

B.

Page 10 of 11

HLTH 634

1.Sleep Health. Healthy People 2020. http://healthypeople.gov/2020.topicsobjectives/topic/sleep-health. Updated October 2015. Accessed October
2015.
2.Hershner S, D, Chervin R, D. Causes and consequences of sleepiness
among college students. Nature and Science of Sleep.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4075951/. Published June 2014.
Accessed November 2015.
3.Trends in High Education: Tutition and Fees by Sector and State Over Time.
CollegeBoard.org. http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figurestables/tuition-and-fees-sector-and-state-over-time-1. Accessed December
2015.
4. Perry, S. G., Susheel, P. P., Presley-Cantrell, L. R. Raising Awareness of
Sleep as a Health Behavior. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2013/13_0081.htm. Updated September 2013.
Accessed November 2015.
5. University Health Center. University of Georgia.
https://www.uhs.uga.edu/sleep/. Accessed November 2015.
6. Wickwire, E. M. Financial Costs of Insomnia. Sleep Review: The Journal for
Sleep Specialist. http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2014/12/financial-costsinsomnia/. Published December 2014. Accessed December 2015.

Page 11 of 11