Marketing 4380 Project Proposal

November 28, 2017

Andrea Cabral
Represented by Parallax Marketing Agency
 Executive Summary

More and more often, news articles expose fraudulent behavior and corruption in large
corporations. A top FEMA official was recently accused of committing hurricane claims
insurance fraud. In 2016, Wells Fargo employees opened 2 million phony credit card and
deposit accounts without customers’ knowledge in order to raise sales figures. This year,
Wells Fargo was under public scrutiny once again after foreign exchange bankers from
the company overcharged 265 business clients in order to receive bonuses based on
revenue. CitiGroup was responsible for the financial crisis of 2008 after selling bad
subprime mortgages. Richard Bowen blew the whistle on CitiGroup, but attention did not
come over night.

Richard Bowen is now an accounting professor at The University of Texas at Dallas, He

is also a public speaker on ethical leadership. The goal of this marketing plan is to
increase brand awareness, increase website traffic, expand social media presence,
reallocate social media funds for more effective paid promotions, and to increase
awareness on the importance of ethical leadership in order to emphasize morale.

The target markets include community bankers in rural cities in the Southern and
Midwestern regions of the US, and university finance and accounting students in
metropolitan cities in the US. This marketing plan analyzes target market characteristics,
demographics, and traits.

Mr. Bowen’s experience in corporate corruption inspired him to speak to bankers and
university students all over the world in order to inspire ethical practices. Thus, we will
position Mr. Richard Bowen to represent upstanding values, morals, and ethics as a
public speaker in order to make the world a better place.

In order to achieve increased brand awareness and social media presence, Mr. Bowen
will redesign the current website, personally post on his social media and engage with
fans, set up a Public Figure profile on Facebook instead of a personal profile in order to
run ads and view analytics, encourage user-generated content, be featured on podcasts
about ethics in business, schedule his own speeches instead of solely relying on interested
parties to approach him, and invest in promoted paid ads on social media.
Current Marketing Situation and Objectives

Our client, Richard M. Bowen, is best known as the Citigroup Whistleblower. In 2008,
Bowen blew the whistle on fraudulent mortgages issued by Citigroup, and was gradually
ousted by the company. Since then, Richard Bowen has secured a position as a professor
of accounting at The University of Texas at Dallas. Additionally, Bowen is a professional
speaker, specializing on auditing and ethical leadership. However, because being an
accounting professor requires full-time hours, his public speaking engagements are
limited. Despite this, Bowen’s goal is to give 1-2 speeches per month.

Presently, Bowen spends $3,000 monthly on a team to update his social media. The
current social media strategy consists of posting a blog weekly (so four blogs total per
month) on his website, and then sharing that blog on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
That being said, there is no unique content posted on different social media platforms.
Bowen takes a passive approach to marketing, so he doesn’t make a conscious effort to
raise brand awareness. Similarly, he does not pursue speaking engagements, but rather,
he is approached by parties interested in booking him. His speaking engagement fee is
$15,000, but the Speakers Bureau takes a 25 – 30% commission.

The primary objectives of this marketing plan all revolve around raising brand awareness.
This includes rebranding Richard Bowen, including updating his website and logo,
reviewing current social media strategy in order to pursue a more tactical approach
(rather than a passive one), and reallocating social media funds more efficiently in order
to produce better marketing results.

Industry Overview and Market Trends

1. More Money Is Spent On Hiring More Professional Speakers

According to the 2013 Speaker Report, organizations are recruiting more speakers, as
well as spending more. In 2011, the average number of professional speakers hired per
year was 11.2. In 2013, that number rose to 14.6 speakers hired per year. As far as
budgets are concerned, in 2011, 45.7% of organizations had annual speaker budgets of
over $30,000. In 2013, 53.5% of organizations had annual speaker budgets of over
$30,000.

2. Speaker Bureaus Are No Longer Mandatory

In 2013, 7.3% of respondents surveyed by the Speaker Report admitted that they always
rely on a speaker’s bureau for recommending and hiring professional speakers. 74.2% of
respondents using speaker bureaus occasionally. Currently, a blended approach has
become the norm. Meeting professionals, in recent years, rely on networking,
independent research, and professional sources and recommendations from peers,
colleagues, and staff members to hire speakers. This trend eliminates a barrier-to-entry
for DIY speakers.

3. Maximize The Value of Speeches and Lectures

66.1% of survey respondents who hire professional speakers want more than just a
speech. Audiences are becoming more interactive and engaging. Assign an allotted slot
Q&A, and collect questions from clients in advance (for those who may be
uncomfortable with asking questions live), and collect questions during the program
through notecards or by handing a microphone to an audience member.

Other forms of interaction include storytelling, which give the audience an opportunity to
compare their past or present experiences with the topic at hand. Videos, images, and
demonstrations are also forms of interactivity to maximize the value of a speaker’s
content.

Additionally, text-intensive slides mean audience members focus their attention on words
on a screen rather than spoken words from the host. Replace text with visual elements,
including photos, videos, charts, graphs, or illustrations instead, but keep the presentation
simple.

4. Big Name Speakers Don’t Impact Attendance Rates

Only a third (or 33.3%) of respondents from the 2013 Speakers Report survey said that
having a “big name” speaker is vital when booking lecturers. Audience members are
more attracted to specific topics and experiences that relate to them personally.

5. Speeches Are Getting Shorter

TED Talks are responsible for shorter speech lengths. TED Talks are exactly 18 minutes
in length because audience members retain more information during sessions or lectures
in short amounts of times. A student is more likely to remember information from
attending a 50-minute class three times a week, as opposed to a three-hour class taught
once a week. The 18-minute rule also disciplines speakers to get to the point and
incorporate the most important ideas into each speech.

Target Markets and Customer Analysis

1. Independent community bankers located in the Southern and Midwestern micropolitan

regions of the US.
2. Finance and accounting students studying in universities in metro areas in the US.
A. Community Bankers Segment

As of 2011, 92% of FDIC-insured (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) banks

comprise of community banks. The FDIC completed a study that surmised that the
majority of banking deposits in the U.S are made to community banks in rural and
micropolitan counties. Almost 1/5th of US counties solely have banking offices operated
by community banks. Additionally, the study also concluded that community banks are
three times more likely to have physical offices outside of a metropolitan area than non-
community banks.

Community banker roles include the following:

•   Mortgage Specialists
•   Consumer Specialists
•   Credit Specialists
•   Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Specialists
•   Agricultural Specialists
Percent of Institutions in Each Business Specialty Group Year-End 2010 (Source: FDIC
Community Banking Research Project)

Community Banks Other Banks

Mortgage Specialists: 16%
Consumer Specialists: 1%
Credit Specialists: 26%
C&I Specialists: 2%
Agricultural Specialists: 15%
Mortgage Specialists: 9%
Consumer Specialists: 6%
Credit Specialists: 31%
C&I Specialists: 6%
Agricultural Specialists: 2%

Community banker characteristics:

•   Invested in their community because they tend to live in the same community
they work in
•   Knowledgeable in the local economy and familiar with local economic trends
•   Small-town values (frugality, responsibility)
•   Relationship-oriented. Community bankers prioritize trust over tricks.

Community banker demographics:

•   Middle-aged (approximately 30-50 years of age)
•   Rural residents and micropolitan residents in the Southern and Midwestern
regions of the US
•   Higher level of education
•   Middle-class income

The foundation of community banks is based on trust, loyalty, and community.

Community bankers form relationships with local small business owners to work together
towards common goals. They’re familiar with the local economy so they can make
educated financial decisions to steer you in the right direction. They tend to know many
people within the community so service is personalized and unique from customer to
customer. Community bankers believe in transparency. Community banks make 60% of
all small business loans.

B. University Finance and Accounting Students

University finance and accounting students in metropolitan cities were chosen because
those students are more likely to work for non-community banks, and other major
financial institutions. Following the aftermath of the Citigroup case, major finance
companies decided they would not like Richard Bowen speaking to their employees.
However, Mr. Bowen has spoken at universities across the country, including Colorado
State University and the University of Nebraska. By speaking to young, inexperienced,
yet ambitious finance and accounting students in major cities, Mr. Bowen is able to make
a positive impact in spreading the message of ethical leadership.

List of potential metropolitan cities and their prospective universities:

•   The University of North Carolina – Charlotte: Major financial hub along the East
Coast, and is home to the Bank of America and Wells Fargo headquarters. The
city of Charlotte boasts 810,000 residents, while the metropolitan area has a
population of 2.4 million people. Charlotte has the second-largest banking center
in the country.
•   The University of Pittsburgh: The economy is centered around a number of
industries, but banking and finance are strong contributors. PNC Financial
Services is headquartered in Pittsburgh. 306,500 people live within city limits,
while the metro population is 2.36 million people.
•   Loyola University – Chicago, DePaul University, and University of Illinois of
Chicago: Chicago is a major epicenter for business and finance, and is one of the
top finance cities in the world. 2.7 million people live within the city of Chicago,
while the metropolitan area has a population of 9.5 million.

Finance and accounting roles include:

•   Investment bankers
•   Mortgage brokers
•   Financial analysts
•   Internal and external auditors
•   Forensic accountants

Undergraduate finance and accounting student characteristics:

•   Able to adapt to changes quickly; tend to leave jobs after 2-3 years
•   Millennials are very visual, and thrive on stories and interaction
•   More educated than previous generations
•   More technologically advanced than previous generations
•   Value transparency, ethics, and sustainable initiatives

Undergraduate finance and accounting student demographics:

•   Millennials (ages 19 – 24)
•   Urban residents in metropolitan areas
•   Higher level of education (most pursue a master’s or certification)
•   Middle- to upper-class

Millennials are ambitious, driven people always looking for the next opportunity.
Millennials tend to leave jobs after 2-3 years in order to seek career growth and upward
mobility. This generation of university students seeks a challenge, and strives towards
making meaningful contributions to their company. Similarly, millennials value honesty,
transparency, and ethical behaviors from their favorite brands and companies.
Millennials are more likely to be early adopters of technology compared to other
generations. This makes them more equipped to identify and jump on trends as they
emerge.

Positioning

We, at Parallax Marketing Agency, want to spread Richard Bowen’s message of ethical
leadership and corporate responsibility. Mr. Bowen’s experience in corporate corruption
inspired him to speak to bankers and university students all over the world in order to
advocate for ethical practices. Thus, we will position Mr. Richard Bowen to represent
upstanding values, morals, and ethics as a public speaker in order to make the world a
better place.

Strengths
1.   Has credibility through his
experience with CitiGroup,
authoring a book on ethics, and
previous speaking engagements.
2.   Blog posts are informative, thought
provoking, and consistently
published.
3.   Ethics is becoming increasingly
important among young
professionals
Opportunities
1.   Explore the world of podcasting.
2.   Rebuild website for a more modern
look.
3.   Rely less on social media team to
create authenticity.
4.   Increase brand awareness through
updated marketing strategy.
Weaknesses
1.   Little social media presence.
2.   Lacks unique content for varying
social media platforms.
3.   Website and logos are outdated.
4.   Lacks engagement with fans online.
Threats
1.   Decreased barrier-to-entry in
speaking industry means increased
competition.
2.   Other social media savvy speakers
may be quicker to adapt to online
trends
3.   Expense of running unsuccessful
social media ads (promoted posts,
Google Adwords, etc).

Critical Issues

Major issues regarding the current marketing strategy include the following:
•   Mr. Bowen is very passive in terms of marketing. He generally doesn’t seek
speaking engagements, but instead, lets interested parties approach him.
•   He relies too much on his social media team rather than tweeting or posting
on Facebook personally. A current trend on social media is brand-to-
consumer engagement. Consumers like to be recognized online, and are
more likely to become brand loyalists if acknowledged.
 •   He doesn’t respond to comments on Facebook and LinkedIn posts, or
tweets. He could use comments as an opportunity to engage in conversation
and invite other people to join in.
•   The current website has a 1990’s infomercial feel. It should be updated to
reflect modern website standards.
•   He uses his personal Facebook page instead of creating a Public Figure
account. He can’t run ads from his personal account.
•   Social media posts consist of one blog written per week, and that blog is
scheduled via Buffer to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well,
rather than creating unique content on Facebook and Twitter respectively.

Mission and Objectives

Richard Bowen’s mission is to teach the importance of ethics over profits to help shape
community bankers, as well as finance and accounting university students, to be moral
and honest in their careers.

Marketing Objectives: Gain 35% brand awareness, increase Twitter followers to 2,000
from 1,113, set up a Facebook page as a Public Figure rather than using his personal page
and acquire 1,000 likes, and increase web traffic to website and blogs by 30%.

Financial Objectives: Reallocate social media funds in order to increase awareness and
book 1-2 speaking engagements a month and not rely on a speaker’s bureau. Speaker
bureaus typically take approximately 30% in commission. If Mr. Bowen’s speaking fee is
$15,000 and he speaks once a month, that’s a savings of $4,500 a month, or $54,000 a
year. If Mr. Bowen speaks twice a month, monthly savings would amount to $9,000, and
yearly savings would be $108,000, which could all be invested back into more efficient
social media practices.

Societal Objectives: Promote the importance of ethical practices in the financial sector to
community bankers and current finance and accounting students to work with integrity
and not fall victim to corporate greed.

Marketing Strategy and Programs

1. Undergo a Website Makeover

The first objective that needs to be accomplished is redesigning the website.

Aesthetically, it needs to be improved to meet modern website standards. His phone
number currently takes up too much space on the homepage. Blogs should be featured on
the homepage, and not buried in the back. The social media icons on the left-hand side of
the page don’t direct visitors to the actual page, but rather, it prompts visitors to share a
link to Mr. Bowen’s book. Parallax Marketing Agency has taken the liberty of
redesigning Richard Bowen’s logo. We took a minimalistic approach, a graphic design
trend that’s extremely popular. The new logo is simplistic and straight to the point. The
compass represents a guide, and as stated previously, Mr. Bowen’s mission is to guide
our target market towards ethical practices in the business setting.

2. Be Personally Active On Social Media

Next, Mr. Bowen needs to take an active approach on social media, and rely less on his
social media team. The current strategy consists of pre-writing blog posts and scheduling
them on Buffer so that they post automatically to his blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and
personal Facebook page. There needs to be unique content on every social media
platform, rather than merely sharing one piece of content to three other platforms. Twitter
is a micro-blogging site, so it would be best to engage in shorter, conversational posts
instead of long blogs. Social media sites are active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s not
enough to pre-schedule content. It’s crucial to go above and beyond and create organic
posts unique to each platform. On Twitter, Mr. Bowen can touch on current events and
give opinions on trending topics. On Facebook, he can go more in-depth on those same
topics, since he isn’t restricted by character limits. If Mr. Bowen posts the same exact
content on each social media platform, there’s no incentive for fans to like him on
Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Fans only need to like or follow Mr. Bowen on one
platform and be set.

Furthermore, it’s vital for Mr. Bowen to respond to most of the tweets and comments his
receives, as well as “liking” or “favoriting” those comments. Creating engagement with
followers creates brand loyalty, and builds buzz in online communities (otherwise known
as electronic word-of-mouth marketing, or eWOM). By responding to comments, Mr.
Bowen is demonstrating that he treasures commentary from his peers and followers. This
also gives him an opportunity to get to know his audience and better cater his content.
Additionally, personal responses from Mr. Bowen make him seem more personable and
authentic, which are important characteristics millennials look for in brands on social
media.

Of course, social media should also be employed to promote upcoming keynotes and
speaking engagements regularly. Promote upcoming speaking engagements with bullet
points of topics being mentioned ahead of time. Personalize titles of speeches to cater to
specific audiences, and have very specific workshops or talks with engaging titles, such
as “How To Be Ethical And Still Keep Your Job.”

3. Set Up a Public Figure Profile On Facebook

Currently, Mr. Bowen’s Facebook presence is through his personal profile. This truly
limits his reach on the platform. It’s in his best interest to create a Public Figure profile
on Facebook instead, which can garner him page “likes”, thus granting him authority and
credibility. Something one can do on a Public Figure page and not a personal account is
run ads to extend audience reach. Plus, Public Figure profiles grant access to detailed
insights on page performance and generate reports based on current page trends.

4. Encourage User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) is a method of electronic word-of-mouth marketing that

specifically refers to original material created by the non-media (or regular every-day
consumers and not agencies or brands) that is then uploaded to the Internet as a way to
generate interest and buzz among an online community. UGC creates and sustains
engagement on social media. One way to do so is to gather Amazon reviews of Mr.
Bowen’s published book and incorporate them into his website and social media
platforms, either as text reviews or graphics. He can also implement a unique hashtag and
ask users to take pictures of their copy of his book, and in exchange, participants will be
retweeted or shared. As mentioned earlier, social media users crave recognition from
their favorite bands.
Another way to encourage engagement and UGC is to utilize Facebook Live and host a
live stream. Live streams provide the bridge from brand to consumers in real-time for
one-on-one conversations. Facebook Live can be used to host Q&A’s, behind-the-scenes
at speaking engagements, or just general thoughts on current events that can’t be
articulated into text. Live streams are automatically archived by Facebook so users who
weren’t available then and there have access to the video for future viewing. Effective
user-generated content, or UGC, can generate 6.9x higher engagement than regular brand
content.

5. Guest-Spot On Ethics Podcasts

As a full-time university professor, traveling for speaking engagements can be tight. One
way to remedy this is to be featured on popular ethics podcasts. The best part is this can
be done from the comfort of one’s home. All that’s required is excellent Internet, a
professional microphone (Blue Yeti is a popular model that sells for $100), and a quiet
space. There usually isn’t money involved. However, collaborations can generate new
visitors, followers, and audiences.

The following includes a list of suitable podcasts:

•   Everyday Ethics – This podcast is hosted on NPR and examines common
unethical situations and breaks them down in order to do what’s right.
•   The Ethical Business Podcast – Produced by The Fair Marketeers, “leading
business minds” are interviewed weekly on how they’re utilizing ethics in their
specialty to change the world.

6. Schedule Your Own Keynote Speeches

This goes back to being active, rather than passive. Mr. Bowen has interested parties
approach him, but in order to meet that 1-2 monthly speaking engagements objective, he
has to be aggressive and pursue opportunities. Be in the know regarding upcoming
conventions and available guest-spots. The Texas Bankers Association has already
booked their annual conventions for 2018 and 2019 in Houston and Austin respectively.

7. Use Ad Services To Promote Social Media Posts

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google all have ad services to maximize audience
reach. All of these services allow you to set your own budget and pause or continue your
ads at anytime. However, for the purpose of this marketing plan, Google Adwords and
LinkedIn would be the most effective to utilize.

With Google Adwords, pay-per-click ads are available, which means that you don’t pay
for the ad unless the advertisement has been clicked. Keyword generators are available to
suggest keywords to create relevant ads and landing pages. You’re also able to optimize
your ad copy to fit your objective and brand voice. Google Adwords displays ads all over
the web and are displayed on both desktop and mobile devices.
LinkedIn would be a more suitable choice to test out promoted posts because of the 500
million active professionals on the site that can be targeted by job title, industry, and
more. The blogs that are currently posted have fared well on LinkedIn organically thus
far, and can be even more successful if promoted.

Financial and Operational Plans

Search Engine Marketing Campaigns (industry averages) - $500/month

Monthly Website Optimization - $500/month
LinkedIn Paid Ads - $250/month
PR campaign (press releases and share his media coverage, market himself as a subject
matter expert) - $1400 a month ($35/hour for freelance PR consultant for 40 hours a
month)
Total Monthly Expenditures: $2,650
Total Yearly Expenditures: $31,800

1 engagement per month = $15k 2 engagements per month = $30k

12 engagements per year = $180k 24 engagements per year = $360k

Metrics

•   Social Media Engagement – Buffer has individual analytics to analyze metrics

and stats from social media platform to social media platform. Facebook and
Twitter also have their own in-house analytics features known as Facebook
Insights and Twitter Analytics respectively. Constant Contact and Google
Analytics both offer reports for email distribution.
•   Number of website hits, overall traffic, referral traffic, bounce rate (percentage of
people who land on a web page and then leave without clicking anything else on
the site), conversion rates (percentage of visitors that converted to customers), and
mobile traffic are all metrics that matter.
•   Comparing attendance numbers from engagement to engagement and evaluate
how much marketing effort was initiated prior to each lecture.

Control

•   Strategic Control – Conduct monthly marketing audit to compare rates of

engagement, blog reads, site visits, etc on a month-to-month basis to adjust
marketing plan as needed.
•   Profitability Control – Analyze monthly spending versus monthly income from
speaking engagements.
•   Productivity Control – Analyze how many speaking engagements are booked on a
monthly basis in order to deduce any seasonal trends.
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