Intro to Social Media In recent years, social media has proved to be an important communication vehicle.

Most companies and brands use Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and many even YouTube. The benefits of social media are numerous. First, the cost to reach large audiences is significantly less than any other media vehicle. Even a company with a small marketing budget can use social media in some capacity. The company may not be able to afford advertising space but if human capital can be dedicated to the social media activities, the company may garner a significant amount of attention. Second, social media allows an organization to interact with consumers. The interaction can lead to stronger relationships and more intimate knowledge of consumers. However, there are also many challenges with social media. A company cannot always control the communication as closely as through other vehicles. Specifically, a consumer may be posting negative or slightly untrue messages about an organization. In addition, consumers may have different expectations of the messages in a social media vehicle. For instance, they may expect the message to be more personalized or more transparent. Another challenge pertains to the effectiveness of the vehicle versus the resources dedicated to it. What are the chances that a given communication will be seen, much less acted on? How does an organization stay active on the radar screens of users while having limited resources to dedicate? How does an organization justify putting already stretched resources towards something with limited potential for payoff? Even though many consumers have used Facebook and Twitter to communicate with friends, many companies are still trying to understand how to use social media the most effectively. A Google search for social media best practices for business yields 96,200,000 results. The same search on YouTube returns 1,790 videos. This makes it clear that there are many people who are writing or providing expertise in this area. Which of these best practices should an organization adopt? Weatherhead Marketing and Communications Organization: Currently, the Weatherhead Marketing and Communications department is made up of 3 fulltime staff members and a part-time graduate student worker. The full time staff members include the Director of Marketing and Communications, Assistant Director of Publications and the Assistant Directer of Interactive Marketing. Generally speaking, the Assistant Director of Publications is responsible for any printed materials that are created for Weatherhead while the Assistant Director of Interactive is responsible for all digital materials that are created. The two assistant directors report directly to the director, who reports to the Assistant Dean of Marketing, Recruitment and Student Services. The Weatherhead Marketing and Communications department works on virtually all communications for Weatherhead School of Management. A working calendar of larger projects is shown in Appendix 1. This calendar only shows larger projects and projects that require attention from the department on a regular basis. The dates are working dates and are therefore subject to change.

The Weatherhead Marketing and Communications department is responsible for maintaining the brand identity of Weatherhead AND Case Western Reserve University. There are specific guidelines that have been dictated by the university including brand colors, fonts and logos. The university also provides editorial standards. Each school within the university must adhere to these guidelines but are still given freedom to create their own marketing and communications pieces. Additional information regarding university standards can be found at case.edu/umc. In addition to the branding guidelines set forth by University Marketing and Communications, Weatherhead focuses on building the brand identity of the school. The last few years, the identity of Weatherhead has been based on two curricular initiatives, Manage by Designing and Sustainable Enterprise. The articulation of these initiatives is critical to all branding initiatives by the school. Objectives: The Marketing and Communications department has identified the following marketing and communications objectives for 2012-2013: 1. Connect Weatherheads brand with stakeholders in a more personal way, ultimately leading to more intimate relationships and higher engagement 2. Increase Weatherheads influence in a. Management-related degree programs b. Sustainability and management c. Design and management 3. Create a distinct brand identity that ties together all Weatherhead departments and programs but still allows each to have its own identity Stakeholders: The Marketing and Communications department must address a wide variety of audiences and is therefore challenged with multiple communications messages. The external audiences that are most frequently addressed include: Prospective students Current students Alumni Donors Employers and prospective employers Peer schools (other business school professors, business school deans, etc.) Often, there are multiple messages to the different audiences. For instance, marketing messages to prospective students of the full-time MBA are dramatically different than marketing messages to prospective students of the Doctor of Management program.

Challenge As of January 2012, the Marketing and Communications department manages or acts as an administrator to the following: Weatherhead Facebook group Fowler Center Facebook page

Weatherhead LinkedIn group Fowler Center LinkedIn group @caseweatherhead Twitter account

The Marketing and Communications department would like to have a social media strategy and action plan created that facilitates the schools goals and priorities. It is important that the plan be realistic and truly executable. In creating this plan, please address the following questions: Which social media services should Weatherheads Marketing and Communications department leverage? Does the list above cover all the right services? Are there emerging services to be considered (ie. Google+, Pinterest, YouTube)? How should each of these services be used? What vehicles should be used with what message? Be sure to state how this messaging contributes to Weatherheads brand identity. Also be specific about audience, frequency, type of content and who will be responsible for creating and maintaining content on the vehicle. What partnerships and relationships will need to be established or built for the success of the proposed plan? How will the Marketing and Communications department go about building these relationships? What will the measures of success be for each vehicle and the whole social media plan?

Deliverables Social media plan- The plan should address all of the questions stated above and clearly express your thoughts about the current Weatherhead brand, what the Weatherhead brand should be in the future and what role social media plays in shaping the future brand. Visualization of key plan elements- For example, if your strategy includes a YouTube channel, please create a sample video. If your plan includes a Facebook page, show what that page would look like so the judges can better understand what elements should be included on this page. Budget- A hypothetical budget is included in Appendix 2. Please be sure to account for costs to execute your plan. Would additional funding be required or can the plan be executed within the current budget?

Appendices Appendix 1: Marketing And Communications Working Project Calendar Appendix 2: Hypothetical Budget Other Things to Read for Reference Burson-Marsteller 2011 Global Social Media Check Up: A look at how the Fortune Global 100 are using social media. http://www.slideshare.net/BMGlobalNews/bursonmarsteller-2011-global-social-mediacheckup Facebook Demographics: http://www.slideshare.net/amover/facebook-demographics2011 Measuring the impact of Facebook: http://www.slideshare.net/tthompson/measuring-theimpact-of-facebook LinkedIn Demographics: http://www.slideshare.net/amover/linked-in-demographics-andstatistics-2011 16 social media statistics that might surprise you: http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/01/31/16-social-media-statistics-that-might-surpriseyou/ The Dragonfly Effect http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_dragonfly_effect

Appendix 1: 2012-2013 Marketing and Communications Working Calendar January VEHICLE Planning and Strategy Marketing Plan Brand Identity and Ad Campaign Ad Plan Contract Renewals and POs Holiday e-Card Newsletters CMO/GSS Weatherheadlines Faculty Accolades Fowler Center Exec Ed Employer Newsletter Website Changes and Refresh Intranet Update Special Web Updates: OR/SC, Undergrad Annual Program and Department Updates Undergrad Site Image/Banner Changes Alumni On-line Donor List SEO Email Template Refresh Student Services Admissions and Recruitment External Relations Exec Ed Print Publications Collection Admissions collateral DM Brochure EMBA Brochure CMO Brochure Faculty Profile Book Exec Ed Catalog SPECIAL EVENTS MBA Showcase Email Program Website Weatherhead Weekend Invitation Email Collateral Website Bowers Luncheon Website Resfresh Banner Design Video Project Commencement Information packet Work period Important dates Work period Important dates Work period Important dates Approximate work period

February March April May June July August September October November December January February March April May June 2 9 16 23 30 6 13 20 27 5 12 19 26 2 9 16 23 30 7 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 6 13 20 27 3 10 17 24 1 8 15 22 29 5 12 19 26 3 10 17 24 31 7 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29 6 13 20 27 3 10 17 24

Hypothetical Budget July 2011-June 2012 Fiscal Year Total Budget Budget Item Copy Charges Office Supplies Telephone Postage Shipping Professional Development List Purchases Promotional Items Email Service Mail House Media Buying Media Relations Design Graphic Design- Print Graphic Design- Digital Graphic Design- Advertising Photography and Video Printing Advertising $1,000,000.00

Budget Amount Detail $113 $1,132 $1,857 $11,322 $2,830 $9,171 $2,264 $2,830 $2,830 $5,661 $22,644 $110,955 $142,543 $85,526 $9,978 $32,785 $14,254 $202,663 $481,183