Marketing plan

Quality
Quality
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Publicity Plan Outline and Timeline
I. Brand Identity Assessment/Problem and Needs January - March, 2004
a. Staff
b. Community advisory board
c. African American focus group
d. Hispanic focus group
e. Marketing, demographics and media audit
f. Meetings with other agencies
i. City PR and community liaison
ii. Park District (new field house) (publicity in newsletter) (result)
iii. Boys and Girls Club
iv. Rotary
v. Township (buses for concerts, publicity in newsletter)
vi. Park Place Senior Center
vii. Main Street
viii. YMCA
ix. Schools
II. Brand Aspiration (Planning) January - March, 2004
a. Budget Analysis / use Contrarian Thinking
b. Goals
i. Get more media coverage
ii. All city mailings
iii. Get more photos in papers
iv. Email newsletter
v. Update website
vi. Drop newsletter/mail postcards
vii. Change programming model
viii. New identity

ix. Increase staff in PR department
III. Brand Strategy/Implementation April - December, 2004
a. Quality Campaign (brand promise)
b. School flyers (outreach/publicity)
c. Print materials to coordinate with identity such as brochures on library services
d. Articles in newspapers/radio/tv
e. Paid advertising
f. More photographs in paper
g. City wide mailings
i. Township
ii. Park District
iii. Postcard mailing on power of library cards
h. Expanded staff
i. Interns
ii. Graphic Artist
IV. Operations
a. Programming
b. Landscaping
c. Slat wall
d. Change in bookmobile schedule
V. Training
a. Dress for Success
b. Customer Service Training
c. Merchandising
d. All staff day training (second one)
VI. Fundraising and Sponsorships
a. Local businesses and agencies for promotions
i. WDA for Winter Concerts
ii. City for Summer Concerts
b. Interns

VII. Budget
a. Increase publicity budget
b. Create budget for Quality campaign merchandise
VIII. Brand Effectiveness/Evaluation December, 2004
a. School flyers
b. E-newsletters
c. All city mailings
d. Follow up to focus groups/survey
e. Exit surveys
f. Program successes
g. Statistics
h. Correct information in papers
i. Letters and public comments
j. More photos and articles
k. Website/Intranet
l. School outreach
“A brand is a product from a known source (organization). The name of the organization can also serve as a
brand. The brand value reflects how a product’s name, or company name, is perceived by the marketplace,
whether that is a target audience for a product or the marketplace in general (clearly these can have differ-
ent meanings and therefore different values). It is important to understand the meaning and the value of the
brand (for each target audience) in order to develop an effective marketing mix, for each target audience.”
-- Learnthat.com
External Quality Campaign
Putting “quality” in the lives of our patrons is inherent to library service. Even when we make minimum effort, the qual-
ity of the patron’s life still improves by what they check out/attend as we are not writing the books, playing the music
etc. By providing excellent customer service, information about services and programs, a clean and friendly facility and
easy access to information, we enhance the quality experience.
Goal: In 2004 the Waukegan Public Library will implement a public awareness campaign with the goal of updating the
library’s image and identity within the community.
Objectives: In addition to a public awareness plan, the current strategic plan needs to be reviewed to align its objec-

tives with the goals of this publicity effort. To that end, many of the projects listed in the plan would support the
“Quality of Life” campaign. We need to concentrate only on those that move us towards the goal of greater public
awareness during 2004.
• Invite the community advisory/strategic planning board back to the library to review new streamlined plan.
• Create new logo to go with tagline. Implement new logo on all materials. This logo should tie to the library’s identity
to its website creating a more uniform approach to “branding” the organization. The logo will support the chosen
tagline that clearly identifies to the patron the mission of the organization “to put quality in their life.” This campaign
will be introduced to the public during National Library Week 2004.
• Update the library’s website to reflect its purpose as a public relations tool.
• Purchase shirts, hats etc. and other merchandise with the library’s new logo.
Quality Service/Internal Campaign
Quality is first and foremost about meeting the needs and expectations of customers. It is important to understand
that quality is about more than a product simply “working properly”. Think about your needs and expectations as a
customer when you buy a product or service. These may include performance, appearance, availability, delivery, reli-
ability, maintainability, cost effectiveness and price.
Goal: Quality training must be provided to staff in order for them to produce a quality product. The library will develop
and present customer service and other training programs to support the quality theme.
Objectives: Training programs on Focus Group results, Dress for Success, Merchandising and Customer Service
Quality Programming
Focus group results show that we are not reaching our target audiences with publications or programs. It is time to tie
the programs directly to the marketing instead of vice versa.
Analysis of local agency promotions show that the most effective promotions in the City of Waukegan (for the lowest
cost) are bilingual school flyers directly tied to specific events. Previously the library was producing quarterly newslet-
ters that were not showing a return on the investment i.e. low program attendance.
Goal: Increase program attendance.
Objective: Develop a calendar of programs that emphasizes improving the quality of our patrons lives while high-
lighting events such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, National Library Week, El dia de los ninos,
Summer Reading, Library Card Sign Up month, Hispanic Heritage Month and others. All professional staff should be
submitting articles for media, links for the web, bibliographies and displays all tied to the theme of the month.
New criteria for programming: If the goal of the public awareness program is to increase market awareness then per-

haps we should not offer any additional programming for the rest of the year unless:
a) It is tied to the Quality of Life Campaign or
b) There is a partnership with another agency that can produce the clientele or
c) It is tied to a national/local effort such as Hispanic Heritage Month, National Library Week, Library Card Sign Up
Month.
Focus group results also show that our Hispanic audience is in need of service information rather than programs at
this time. We need to establish the library as a place of trust in the community. We need to build awareness of quality
services, get them hooked and then provide quality programming. We also learned that the need to educate this com-
munity about services is ongoing as the immigration to the community is constant. This goes for children’s and adults.
Quality Publications
Budget analysis shows that a one color/one page monthly school flyer can be produced for virtually the same cost as
the current two color four page children’s newsletter.
Goal: Develop more successful, bilingual promotional tools that promote services as well as programs.
Objectives: Develop a monthly bilingual flyer to be handed out at schools, daycare centers and preschools. Develop
a theme of programming or services for each month to be promoted in the flyer. Ideas to include: El dia de los ninos,
Summer Reading Club, Smartest Card campaign, Hispanic Heritage Month and Computing at the Library. Drop cur-
rent children’s newsletter.
• Create uniform publications that reflect the library’s new identity i.e. service brochures.
• Update library cards to reflect new campaign called “Q” cards.
• Develop handout on library rules called “Q Tips”
Publications audit reveals that only 3,500 or 10% of all households in Waukegan receive regular mailings with infor-
mation about the library in the form of an 8 page newsletter--and even then they must know about it to ask for it. It
is also not bilingual even though the 2004 Census reveals that over 45% of the community is Hispanic and 40% of
residents speak Spanish at home.
Because the library’s budget is extremely limited at this time we must use contrarian thinking. What does that mean?
A publications audit of public libraries in the North Surburban Library System show that 100% of the libraries surveyed
produce and mail a newsletter. We cannot afford to mail a newsletter to each home and business in Waukegan (over
35,000) and contrary to popular belief our newsletter was not producing results i.e. it was not bringing people to the
library. We must take chances and try to use the same budget to produce new promotions and get increased results.
Budget analysis shows that a four color, bilingual, oversized, glossy postcard can be printed for the same cost as the

printing and mailing the 3,500 newsletters (two color). If a sponsor can be found to offset the mailing costs ($2,000) we
can reach 100% of the households in Waukegan versus. 10%.