Natasha Smith Public Relations Consultant Address City, Province Postal Code Date Kenton Smith Public Relations

Instructor Address City, Province Postal Code Dear Mr. Smith Attached is a proposal outlining my plans to make Neat the most talked about beverage magazine in Manitoba. The proposal, titled That Sure is Neat, will fully explain the steps we can take to successfully promote the release of the first issue of the magazine, build readership among our target audiences, and sustain popularity built before the magazine's debut. The proposal explains how we can gain a fan base of over 150 potential readers during the promotion period, appeal to potential advertisers, and create a fun and interesting booth for the upcoming magazine trade fair. The proposal also touches on how you can create awareness among the magazine's target audience, and build relationships with the magazine's future readers. Before Neat's writers have even finished writing their stories, we will promote the magazine's new and exciting content with the use of social media sites and eye-catching posters. When the first issue is complete and ready to be released, we will get Neat into the hands of our target audience by taking advantage of free booth space at a popular magazine trade fair. After the trade fair, we will make sure our new readers remain interested in the magazine and its subject by holding events and contests. All ideas and plans described in the proposal are simple and low-cost, focusing on inexpensive promotional tools and events. Thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any questions regarding the proposal or would like more information, please call me at (555) 123-4567. Sincerely Natasha Smith

That Sure is Neat

A proposal to promote Neat magazine Submitted to: Kenton Smith Submitted by: Natasha Smith Date: __________

Executive Summary
The Magazine Neat magazine is directed at a mature drinking audience. Its focus is to appeal to those with an interest in brewing, distilling, and mixing drinks by writing interesting content, local stories, and new and exciting drink recipes. Neat aims to be the luxury item drink-lovers can revel in once a month, and the perfect gift item for the men who have everything else. Challenges The magazine is new and unknown to many people. The magazine launch is our chance to reach our target audience and tell them about the magazine, but we have no sponsors or advertisers, so we dont have a large budget for our booth. There is limited time to create readership before the release and inform people about the magazine launch, however, this proposal contains several ideas on how to successfully navigate these obstacles and make use of what resources we have. That sure is Neat Our goal is to make Neat's many features known to Manitobans, to build readership before the magazine's first issue has been published, and ensure Neat's continued success after the launch event. Neat is new and there are few magazines in Manitoba focusing on the brewing, distilling, and mixing culture in Manitoba. The magazine also covers the increasingly popular subjects of organic ingredients and making beverages from scratch at home. These are subjects we can focus on when marketing the magazine. Here's how we will reach our target audience and promote the magazine: Before we release the first issue, we will create short video advertisements to publish on YouTube. We will also set up a Facebook account, a Twitter account, and an Instagram account. Using each of these sites, we will keep our followers updated on the production of the magazine and hold contests for our followers. We will provide more information regarding social media and contests later in the proposal. During the magazine trade fair the Neat booth will feature games and treats and the musical group, The Neat Freaks. After the magazine's launch, we will continue to build our relationships with readers by continuing to engage our audience using the social media sites mentioned above. We will do this asking them for feedback on the magazine and our launch event, encouraging discussion and debate about topics related to our magazine, and updating our pages with future magazine content.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary Purpose Statement Situation Analysis Target Audience Analysis, and Desired Outcomes Strategy: Action and Communication Rationale Preliminary Budget Evaluation i 1 2 4 7 9 10 11

Purpose Statement
To generate as much publicity, notoriety, and momentum as possible for Neat magazine, leading up to and including a successful magazine trade fair. Goals 1. Have a combined total of 150 followers on Facebook and Twitter by the date of the launch event. 2. Have a fun and interesting booth at the magazine trade fair. 3. Have over 200 individuals visit the Neat booth at the magazine trade fair. 4. Hold a small draw prize at the booth during the magazine trade fair. 5. Have 10 per cent of individuals who come to the booth sign up for email updates from Neat. 6. Maintain interest in our target audience after the magazine launch.

Situation Analysis
Introduction: Neat is a monthly magazine about the brewing, distilling, and mixing culture in Manitoba, with an emphasis on local ingredients. The magazine provides informative and entertaining stories and articles about those who create alcoholic beverages and the art of mixology. In order to launch successfully, the magazine and its creators must first consider the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats they currently face. Strengths: The magazine's main subject, alcohol, has a wide range of topics to discuss and study, providing a long list of potential story ideas. New alcoholic products are released in liquor stores everyday, providing the magazine's writers with new products to experiment with or review. Mixology is becoming increasingly popular, partly because of the influx of new alcoholic products. As the activity becomes more common and popular, so does the subject. Home-brewing and distilling is an old art that has continued through the years and is still common in many homes today. Home brewers would be very interested in the magazine and its stories because they can relate to the subject. The target audience is males between 30 and 40. This group is large and the majority of them have regular incomes. The magazine is created and designed in a program called InDesign. The program has the tools to create an appealing appearance for the magazine and is easy to work with. It is likely the magazine would only need to hire one person to do the layout and design for each issue of the magazine. The majority of the magazine's current writers are well educated in the magazines major topic, alcohol. The writers will use their knowledge and past experiences to write interesting and informative content using terms the magazine's readers will recognize and appreciate seeing. There is the opportunity to have as many advertisers as there are drinks in a liquor store. The magazine's subject matter does not depend on a season, such as winter or spring, unlike other magazines that write about seasonal activities like snowboarding or surfing. Weaknesses: The magazine's promotional budget is only $500, limiting promotional activities to free social media sites, posters, and other low-cost activities. The magazine's writers are in their twenties while the target audience is between 30 and 40, so there

is the potential for the writers to use a writing style the older audience won't connect with. The magazines theme, alcohol, is inappropriate for an underage audience. While Neat has a broad subject, alcohol, its success could be threatened by other magazines with more niche markets such as wine magazines and beer magazines. Potential readers may feel as though similar content can be found online through personal blogs. The Liquor Mart has free magazines. These magazines heavily promote the Liquor Mart's products, however, people may prefer to pick up those magazines because they are free. Opportunities: The Roblin Centre, where the magazine trade fair will take place, is a beautiful facility. Neat has free access to a booth at The Roblin Centre during the trade fair. The Roblin Centre is located in the heart of downtown next to The Exchange District. By holding the launch at The Roblin Centre, Neat has the potential to reach a large audience including students, teachers, staff, workers from the neighbourhood. The launch will take place during the day when most students are in the building. Threats: The hallway where the trade fair will take place is a small space. The hallway is short and there will be a number of other booths at the fair, so the event may feel cramped. Red River College is concerned about alcohol and does not like its consumption on college property, so the magazine will not have the chance to feature any alcoholic drinks at the booth. Some people living in Winnipeg's suburbs may not come downtown because they feel the area is unsafe. Because of this, Neat may not have the opportunity to reach as many potential readers at the launch event as it would have if downtown had a more pleasant and safe image. Many Winnipeggers believe there is limited parking around the area, so they may decide to not come to the event for fear of not finding parking. The majority of the people attending the trade fair are not in the magazine's target audience. The magazine targets males between 30 and 40, but many of the colleges students are between 18 and 25.

Target Audience and Analysis, and Desired Outcomes

Yummies (Young Urban Mixers) Yummies are male young urban professionals between 30 and 40 who love to experiment with mixing drinks. Yummies enjoy hosting small parties at their simple but stylish apartments, and love to treat their friends to home-made mixed drinks. They are single and looking for a partner to start a family, but at the same time they are taking advantage of their last few childless years. They have modest day jobs and may also have a part-time job on the side. These Yummies live for the weekends when they can relax with their friends over a few delicious drinks. Name: Michael Age: 31

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Description: Michael works during the day as a clerk for the province and makes $45,000. He has a small part-time job teaching badminton every Monday and Wednesday evening, bringing in some extra cash to spend on vacations and the latest technologies. As a university student, Michael drank mostly beer and sometimes champagne for special occasions, but since growing older, his palate has matured. He spends his weekends doing laundry, playing Dungeons and Dragons with his buddies, and mixing cocktails for the friends he invites to his studio near Osborne Village. Likes: Women, sci-fi movies, and cheesecake. Loves: Dry martinis, lobster, and tri-lights. Drinks: A nice dry martini with one olive. Drives: Toyota Camry. Lives: One-room studio near Osborne Village. Desired Outcomes: Our mission is to appeal to this group and have them buy our magazine on a regular basis. This group will be our main source of sales, so we will work hard to find stories that interest them and recipes that are easy, flavourful, and ones they have never seen before. During the trade fair, we will seek individuals between 30 and 35 and will heavily promote the parts of the magazine they would be interested in, such as how to brew at home and new drink recipes. This group may also submit story ideas or articles of their own, providing the magazine with some additional content. Another possible outcome is for them to pass on their old magazines to friends, creating secondary readers who may later become part of our target audience.

Target Audience and Analysis, and Desired Outcomes cont.

Lives of the Parties Lives of the Parties are outgoing male individuals who get along with everyone and attend their friends house parties every weekend. They work in trade positions as mechanics, construction workers, and electricians and make between $30-$40,000 a year. They have down-to-earth personalities and overwhelming senses of humour, two qualities that make them so loveable. Theyre married to their high school/college sweetheart and possibly already have a child. Their hobbies include attending sporting events, playing sports with some friends a few nights a week, and trying new foods. Name: Andrew Age: 32

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Description: Andrew is an independent contractor during the warmer months and electrician during the winter. He makes a little over $35,000 and is saving for his young daughter to go to university. He frequently receives calls from customers needing assistance, so makes the best of his time off. Most days he works and then spends time with his wife and daughter in the evenings, but when Saturday night comes, hes with his boys on their 'guys night out'. Andrew doesnt know much about mixing drinks, but he knows a lot of folks who do and enjoys tasting their creations. Likes: Sports, jeans, and mahogany wood. Loves: His wife and daughter, bonuses, and catching up with friends. Drinks: Old Fashions. Drives: Mini van. Lives: Two bedroom condo in St. Boniface. Desired Outcomes: We want to make the Lives of the Parties aware of the magazine so they can recommend it to friends who are interested in mixology (ie. Yummies). On rare occasions, we may pique the interest of some of the people from this group and may even turn them into mixologists. This group may also see this magazine as a great gift for people they know due to its classy design and interesting content, resulting in more monthly subscriptions. Because of this, we will heavily promote the idea of the magazine as a gift to these Lives of the Parties during the trade fair.

Target Audience and Analysis, and Desired Outcomes cont.

Frugal Students Frugal Students are university and college students between 22 and 26 who have either stretched out their university career to six or more years, or are returning to school for a second round. These students are equally male and female. They enjoyed their days of plenty when they lived at home and rent was a distant idea, but now theyve made the leap and are living alone or with a roommate. Suddenly things cost money! Theyve realized its time to tighten their belts and the latest addition to their vocabulary is the word budget. Frugal Students are partiers at heart, but cant afford to pay ridiculous prices for drinks at the clubs. So instead theyre making their own! Name: Lisa Age: 24

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Description: Lisa is a University of Winnipeg student taking four classes per term while working part-time at the Boston Pizza down the street. Since moving out from her moms house a few months ago, shes been working hard to earn those tips and help pay her half of the rent. Her student loans keep her up at night and shes cut out most entertainment from her life, but she and her roommate still manage to have a good time by inviting friends over to have some drinks. The fancy drinks dont really matter to Lisa, but shed be interested in learning more about them if it doesnt cost her too much. Likes: To party, her friends and family, and Forever 21. Loves: Bangles, Starbucks, and her red heels. Drinks: Any kind of shot that is colourful. Drives: Monthly bus pass. Lives: Two bedroom apartment on Pembina Hwy. Desired Outcomes: Neat will become the small pleasure the Frugal Students decide to splurge on every month because it provides them with interesting stories and new ideas on how to improve their mixology at home. They may also feel compelled to write in to ask questions or write about their new experiences as they learn how to make their own drinks at home. This group of university and college students uses social media regularly and will tweet about their favourite articles in each issue and which recipes they tried and liked. During the trade fair we will appeal to their need to save money and will explain to them how buying the magazine will help them create better drinks at home.

Strategy: Action and Communication

Strategy
Action: The theme for Neat's launch is That Sure is Neat. The magazine is all about having a good time with friends while having a few drinks, and about providing readers with interesting articles theyll want to tell their friends about, so in an effort to create the same atmosphere the magazine represents, the launch will include music, food, virginized drinks, and cool draw prizes people will be excited to enter. The launch event will take place at the magazine trade fair inside The Roblin Centre, Red River College of Applied Arts, Science and Technologys (RRC) downtown campus at 160 Princess St. A display table will be located inside the atrium. The individuals involved in the launch will be the staff members manning the table and the a cappella group The Neat Freaks1. At the trade fair, the audience will be the students of RRC, the instructors of RRC, and previous Creative Communication students. Before the event: Before the event Neat will hold a drink sale fundraiser in the atrium of The Roblin Centre. Drinks will be virginized versions of popular cocktails like pia coladas, strawberry daiquiris, and long island iceteas. Our goal is to raise $100 at the drink sale so there will be money to design posters and print magazines for the magazine trade fair. Neat will also create a short video advertisement, a 30-second radio advertisement, and social media accounts. The Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages will help inform people about the magazine's production and the launch event. Before the launch event, Neat will use the Facebook and Twitter pages to search for potential readers and will hold a contest for a free PDF of the first issue of the magazine. The pages will also be updated during the launch event with photos of people who stop at the booth to participate in the booth's contests. Staff members will make the virgin drinks for the blind sample challenge and will cut out the cards for the memory card game before the launch.

During the event:

1

*The Neat Freaks The Neat Freaks are an a cappella group specializing in singing simple and happy songs about drinking and having fun with their friends. The members of The Neat Freaks are Natasha Smith, Luke Smith, Riele Smith, and Jared Smith. Most of their songs are covers of popular songs, but with different lyrics relating to drinking games and beverages.

12:00-1:00 p.m. Set-up table and display, and provide free Timbits to people walking by 1:00-4:00p.m. Memory card game activity (to be played between contests and performances) 1:00-1:30p.m. Performances by The Neat Freaks 1:30-2:00p.m. Blind sample challenge activity 1 2:00-2:30p.m. Performances by The Neat Freaks 2:30-3:00p.m. Blind sample challenge activity 2 3:00-3:30p.m. Performances by The Neat Freaks 3:30-4:00p.m. Tear-down

Throughout the day, a laptop computer sitting on the table will show the PDF images of the magazine, and the posters designed for the launch event, on a loop. After the event: We will award the Twitter and Facebook contest winners with free PDF versions of the first issue of the magazine. One of the booth's staff members will donate any leftover food and drinks from the launch event to Siloam Mission. Communication: Some of the communication tools Neat will use to increase awareness of the magazine and draw a large crowd to the launch event at the magazine trade fair include advertisements and social media activities. Before the event, Neat will release a one-page news release to a newswire in order to gain media attention. After the news release, we will compose a request for sponsorship letter and send it to major stores, local wineries and breweries, and large companies. We will also design and print a series of 11x17 posters advertising the launch event. These posters will be creative and eye-catching and encourage students to seek out the magazines table. The posters will mention the blind sample challenges and highlight the a cappella group, The Neat Freaks. Neat will also create a short, 15 to 30-second video of The Neat Freaks singing and inviting viewers to come to the launch event and see what Neat is all about. This video will be created using the camera and editing equipment Natasha Smith owns, and then we will upload it onto YouTube. From there we will post the link on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Neat will create a 30-second radio advertisement and submit it to Red River Radio to play whenever time is available. In addition to those advertisements, Neat will use its Facebook page and Twitter account to hold a week-long contest with one free Neat magazine as the prize. To enter to win the prize, people will need to like or follow Neat. The staff needed for the launch event are the writers of Neat, Natasha Smith, Luke Smith, Riele Smith, and Jared Smith. They will set up the table before the event, answer questions, participate in the sampling and singing activities, and then tear down the table after the event.

Rationale
By including cool games, interesting draw prizes, free food, free drink samples, and live music at the launch event, we will communicate our theme of That Sure is Neat to people who attend the magazine trade fair. The displays will also help communicate the fun and entertaining atmosphere of the magazine with its bright and flashy colours and catchy phrases. It is important to hold the blind sample challenges between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. and between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. because there will be lots of foot traffic passing by the tables at those times. Between these times, students and staff will be leaving the school, having finished all of their classes. The Neat Freaks will be a huge draw to the table at the trade fair. People who see the first performance may also make plans to see the second performance or tell their friends about it. At the very least, most people who see the performances will remember them. Many of the advertisements suggested earlier are free or low cost. The drink sale will cover the cost of posters, the staff can shoot and edit the video for free because the staff have access to cameras and editing software, and by using RRCs audio suites, the radio advertisement can also be created for free. Jared Smith will also design a simple advertisement to submit to the Projector. The Facebook and Twitter accounts that Neat creates will allow people to learn more about the magazine before the trade fair takes place. By holding a contest, Neat can generate some excitement in its readers, and encourage people to follow or like the pages. The memory card game is an inexpensive way of encouraging people to engage with the Neat display by playing a simple game. Participants can play the game over and over and, unlike the drink sample activity, the staff can encourage participation without fear of running out of supplies.

Preliminary Budget
Drink supplies for fundraiser Sample drink ingredients Sample drink cups 80 Timbits Posters Memory card game supplies 10 magazines for display 4 staff salaries Other (gas, courier, etc.) Total $30.00 $50.00 $5.00 $15.00 $10.00 $2.00 $70.00 $300.00 $18.00 $500.00

Evaluation
Preparation: Prior to the magazine trade fair, our goal is to increase awareness of Neat magazine within our target audiences. By the date of the launch event, we will have a combined total of 150 followers on Facebook and Twitter. The majority of followers we gain on Twitter and Facebook will be individuals we have sought out based on their age, gender, and interests, therefore, we will know we have reached our target audience. We will know we have raised excitement in our audience about the launch of Neat if we see 10 per cent or more of our tweets announcing the launch event retweeted, and at least five comments on our Facebook status announcing the launch event. Our contest to win a free PDF of the magazine is designed to raise excitement in our future readers, so we will know the contest has been successful if we have 150 people enter the contest. In the social media world, more is always better. Therefore, we will know we have promoted Neat magazine better than our competition if we have tweeted and updated our Facebook statuses 20 per cent more than our competition during the month before the launch event. If we have at least one person tweet us each day during the month before the launch event and receive no clarification questions from individuals asking about the date and time of the launch event, we will know our online promotions have been clear and exciting. Implementation: We will know our efforts to encourage potential readers to the fair have been a success if we have over 200 individuals visit the Neat booth at the magazine trade fair. We will know our news release was successful in alerting the media of our trade fair if two journalists visit our booth and later publish an article about Neats launch at the trade fair. During the launch, we will hold a small draw prize contest at the booth. To enter, people will fill out their names and email addresses, and will be given the option of receiving email updates and news from Neat magazine. If 10 per cent of the people who enter the contest ask for email updates, in addition to having 150 total followers on Twitter and Facebook, our efforts in creating an audience database will have been successful. We will gauge our booth's success based on how many people stop at our booth, how many people enter our contest, and how much free food and drink is left. If 200 individuals have come to the booth, half of those people have entered the contest, and five per cent or less of the food and drink are left at the end of the event, our booth will have been a success. If the hashtag tradefair has become a trend on Twitter, the trade fair will have been a success.

Impact: After the launch event, we hope to receive requests to buy the magazine. If we are able to sell 10 copies of the printed magazine at the trade fair and receive 50 email requests to purchase a print copy of the magazine after the trade fair, we will know our launch was successful in turning potential readers into actual readers. The amount of magazines we sell at and after the trade fair will be an indicator of how successful we were in reaching our target audience. We will know our magazine has become popular after the event if the name Neat appears in an article after the trade fair or Neat gains 100 or more Twitter and Facebook followers in the week after the event. We will know we have gotten people talking about Neat if the articles about Neats launch that are published by the Projector and other newspapers receive at least 10 online comments. Once the magazines have been delivered to their purchasers, we will know they have enjoyed the articles and like Neat's style and content if they buy a subscription to the magazine.