Media Plan Final Assignment

Downtown Kingston! BIA

St. Lawrence College

MCOM06
Professor Brown
Group 5: Carolina Quinete, Maria Lopes, Thomas Fox
 Introduction
The Downtown Kingston! BIA is an association with more than 700 participant
businesses within the core commercial area of Downtown Kingston. Their goal is
to promote it as a vibrant and healthy area by attracting more people to live, shop,
work and gather there.
Currently, Downtown Kingston faces multiple competitors. From physical
locations such as the Cataraqui Town Centre Mall and other smaller malls and
business centres (i.e. RioCan, Kingston Centre, Frontenac Mall), and also online
stores such as Amazon that can offer more convenience so that shoppers can
make a purchase anywhere at any time.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are struggling with
their performance because of the decreasing demand for their products and
services and the volume of clients in Downtown.
Fortunately, DK has a strong differentiation factor that none of its competitors
have: they are a hip and authentic area made from local businesses that support
and strengthen the community. And our goal with the following campaign is to
advertise its uniqueness, present all the benefits of buying local from a Downtown
Kingston business and educate the public to show that it's possible to safely
support them. By doing an innovative and strategic plan we intend to overcome
those challenges, increase business sales and customer loyalty so that Downtown
Kingston can not only survive, but thrive.

Target Profile
The target audience for our campaign would ideally live in midsize cities such
as Kingston. They would be very busy with their kids being in school and participating
in organized sports outside of school. The parents would be working full time and
their time is limited, so they avoid time-consuming chores such as cooking at home
and they are not used to wait for sales and discounts, they value the limited time they
have available so their priority is to rest and enjoy other activities such as going out
and practicing sports as a family. They are not too attached to the need for lower
prices, and helping the community is a huge factor during the purchase decision
process.
The reason we've chosen this amongst the several different target audiences
that Downtown Kingston has is that they are not only one of the audiences with
bigger spending power, but they also share the same values and beliefs from
Downtown Kingston. They want to live authentic experiences and unique moments
while supporting and making their community a better place for them and their family.
And there's no other place other than downtown that can offer them all of that.
 Demographics:
● Age: Born in 1970 to 1990
● Employment: Blue-collar or government jobs
● Education: College/University
● Household Income: 100k
● Geographics: Suburban areas of Kingston.

Psychographics:
● Beliefs: National Pride, Need for escape, Personal Control
● Lifestyle: Cultural activities (theatres and museums), go camping and
practice sports like hiking, biking and kayaking as a family, staying
healthy
● Attitude: Pay more for better quality products, enjoy showing off what
they own, time off is important
● Interests: Family, Like home improvement projects so big fans of Home
Depot, Winners, etc

Preferred Digital Media Choices:

● LinkedIn
● Reddit
● Twitter
● Facebook

Persona:

David Peterson is a 46-year-old man married to his wife, Laura Peterson who is
43 years old. Both of them are born and raised in Canada and now live in the west
end of Kingston near Bayridge Secondary School. Their annual income is a little
above 100k a year and they both have a college education. David and Laura are both
elementary school teachers and have a boy and a girl, ages 7 & 12.

Family is the most important thing to them and they would do anything for
them. Rarely anyone in the family has free time with David and Laura working full time
and the kids going to school and playing sports outside of school. They enjoy
watching Tv and sports as a family and being social. David and Laura are always
looking for time to escape from their daily lives. Always looking for an excuse to go
out and enjoy the evening. They love to use Facebook to stay in touch with friends
and family. As a family, they love streaming music and video and exploring online
options for items such as food and clothes.
Customer Journey Map

● Awareness/Discovery - See ads on social media/web, click to visit the website;

See ads on digital boards, magazines or listen to ads on the radio and visit
DK's website or social media.
○ Thoughts: "Wow, I didn't know they had so many different restaurant
options"; "Let me see if there's something new to do".
● Research - Explore the website, explore social media posts and captions, visit
the participating business website, gather a list of restaurants and shops they
are interested in visiting.
○ Thoughts: "I didn't know they had X cuisine in Kingston"; "This place
looks nice", "I've never tried any typical dish from that country, maybe
we can visit this restaurant on the weekend"
● Decision - Visit Downtown Kingston; Make an online purchase; Go out to
dinner at a restaurant; bring the family to breakfast; Order takeout by phone or
website.
○ Thoughts: "I'm hungry", "I'm excited to taste that, I've never eaten that
before"
● Use - Enjoy meal; test the new product; Pickup order; Eat inside the restaurant;
Contact customer service in case they have questions;
○ Thoughts: "This is amazing, I'm definitely ordering again"; "I don't think
the tables have proper social distancing"; "Why isn't my order ready for
pickup yet?"; "What a cozy and unique place to have dinner"
● Advocacy - Invite a friend to come back with them; Invite someone for a date;
Give online reviews based on experience; Recommend restaurant for friends
and family; Order or purchase again;
○ "You should eat there, the food was delicious"; "Did you know that
Chinese restaurant by Barrie street?"; "That's a great place for a takeout
dinner during weekdays"; "The employees were respectful of social
distancing and cleaning protocols, I felt very safe going there"

Media Objectives
With the strategy outlined below, our goal is to:

● Increase traffic on the DK BIA's website by 10% during the campaign months;
 ● Increase customer satisfaction by sending a post-purchase survey by email to
analyze where there's room for improvement and the areas where they are
succeeding;
● Increase engagement on social media by 10% in April and May, and by 15% in
June, by measuring the number of impressions, mentions, views, interactions
and reach on Instagram and Facebook;
● Increase website and social media traffic to local stores’ accounts by 10%.

SWOT Analysis

Media Channels
Considering our target market and the campaign objectives, we plan on
advertising it through the following channels:
● Broadcast (radio): even though a big part of our target audience is
working from home, most of them have a car that is being used frequently and
radio is what they choose to listen to while they're driving. By choosing strategic
times of the day we believe that it is still an effective and very used medium.
● Print (magazines): since our target audience is heavily based on location
(Kingston suburbs), local magazines are key to advertise the campaign to them.
With a visually appealing design, it will stand out and certainly catch their attention.
● Out of Home (digital billboards): To reach those who are already passing
through downtown and visiting the businesses, we will have digital billboard spots
close to the city hall. Those who are already there are likely to come back again.
Digital billboards are also very interactive and catchy, so it would be a good way to
reach them, captivate their attention with something memorable and encourage
them to return.
● Social media (Facebook and Instagram ads): Social media ads are going
to be the main element to advertise the campaign. A research1 revealed that "Gen
X is the most connected generation" and that they use social media 40 minutes a
week more than millennials. Downtown Kingston already has a good audience and
engagement on Instagram and Facebook, so our goal is to enhance this
relationship advertising for those who follow DK BIA, and also reach those who
don't follow them yet but that can potentially fit into our target audience. Those
platforms have extremely useful filters that allow us to provide demographic,
geographic and psychographic characteristics to narrow down our focus and
reach only the target we want to. We are also using Twitter since it is a heavily
used platform by Gen X'ers and influencers from Kingston; and LinkedIn ads as
well, after all, our target audience is well educated and most have leadership
positions, so this is a platform heavily used by them.
● Web (Google ads): Lastly, we will be also implementing retargeted
Google Ads based on keywords and the website's visits. Some of the keywords
we are targeting are: Kingston Ontario; Tourism Kingston; Southeastern Ontario
Tourism; what to do in Kingston ON; and What to do in Kingston ON. We believe
that those searching for those queries on Google will certainly benefit from our
campaign and be attracted by it. We will also display retargeted ads from those
who visit DK BIA's website because the users who visit it will be possibly
interested in Downtown Kingston businesses and entertaining options.

Implementation
● Radio
○ 104.3 Fresh FM and 98.3 Fly FM: We’ve decided to advertise on both
of those radio stations because their music genre is the same and
therefore they attract a similar audience. Which is mostly female, in their

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 30s to 40s living in Kingston, and those demographics also fit into our
target market. Fly FM already has partnerships with a competitor
(Cataraqui Mall) so we believe that we can take advantage of that and
attract customers from the mall to Downtown Kingston. Fly FM already
participates in several Downtown Kingston events and they are deeply
involved with the community. They are constantly emphasizing the
importance of shopping locally and they have a strong online presence.
○ 93.5 Country FM: We are also running ads on 93.5 Country FM
because of its target audience. They are frequently present on social
media and their audience is mainly men and women in the ages of 30+,
which also fits into our target market. We believe it would potentially
increase our reach in Kingston by targeting those who aren't listening to
adult contemporary music and are fans of country music instead. The
station is involved with the community, supporting local charities and
also schools.
○ During weeks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 the ads will be displayed on a high
frequency with 7-10x 30s ads during the weekdays and medium
frequency during the weekend (5x 30s ads). We wanted to make sure
that we had peaks of frequency during the entire campaign to build
awareness and make sure that the audience is being reminded of the
campaign. During weekdays the frequency is higher because it's when
our target audience is mostly listening to it in the car. During the
morning (6 to 10 AM) they are probably commuting or taking kids to
school. And in the afternoon (10 AM to 3 PM) because they are running
errands or driving kids to extracurricular activities. We are still
advertising during the weekends because that's when they are going to
do something fun and entertaining as a family, doing an outside activity
or having a meal.
○ During weeks 3, 6 and 9 we will lower the frequency so it doesn't get
too overwhelming and annoying for listeners.
● Print
○ Refined and Kingston Life Magazines: These are upper-level and
lifestyle magazines, which also targets females from 30 to 45 based on
social media background. They are seasonal magazines, which means
that for the duration of the campaign we will only get the chance to
advertise in only one issue. We will implement a full page in both of
them to catch their attention and build trust. We believe that those
magazines will efficiently reach our desired target market and since they
have a longer "shelf life" than digital mediums, it will continue to reach
potential customers over the months and years. Even if the campaign is
 over, it will continue building awareness and trust for Downtown
Kingston.
● Digital
○ Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram: Close to half of our budget
will be dedicated to social media paid ads. The data and artificial
intelligence used on those platforms allow us to easily find and reach
the desired target market. Since a lot of people are now working from
home, the use of online media has grown so combining online with
other broadcast platforms will be crucial for the campaign success
○ We dedicated $8,000 each week for Facebook ads because it's the
main social media used by our target audience to keep in touch with
friends and family, and Downtown Kingston already has a good follower
base and engagement rate there. Instagram is also a big part of DK's
communications, so we will dedicate $3,150 for each week to promote
posts and Instagram stories throughout the entire campaign. We will
also advertise on Twitter with a budget of $2,200 from week 1 to 9
because a lot of local influencers and other relevant people in the
community (such as professors, community leaders, journalists, etc)
have a high presence there. Since our target audience has high paying
jobs and is in leadership positions, LinkedIn is another platform
frequently used by them. The budget will be $1,700/week for the entire
length of the campaign.
○ The demographics filters for targeting the campaign will be the same as
our target market outlined at the beginning of this report. But we will
add other geographic locations such as Toronto, Ottawa, Cornwall, and
others from Southern Ontario, that are close to Kingston and can easily
come to the city for a weekend getaway.
○ $5,000 a week from week 1 to 9 is dedicated to Google display ads
using Google Display Network. We will reach our audience through
targeted display ads while they are browsing other websites they are
interested in. Google Display Network allows us to find new prospective
customers with "Similar Audiences", a feature that based on machine
learning can target those who are similar to our current customers and
are more likely to like DK's offerings. That will ensure that only new
clients get the ad, exponentially increasing the reach and optimizing the
campaign. We will also use data to re-engage with those who have
previously visited Downtown Kingston BIA's website.
○ We will use responsive display ads in order to show as "native" ads.
They will have the same look and feel from the publisher's site, blending
the visual style and in the end, don't look like actual ads –avoiding the
"ad fatigue" that makes a lot of people avoid and don't pay attention to
 something if they know they are ads. According to a research2,
"consumers look at native ads 53% more than display ads, and native
ads create an 18% increase in purchase intent", which makes it more
effective and increases the chances of success in the campaign.
● Television
○ Using Television to advertise our campaign gives us a great opportunity
to target our specific audience. We are able to purchase ad spots during
shows that we believe will be watched by our demographic. We can
choose to advertise locally as well for a more narrow focus.
○ We consider television as another means of promoting the Downtown
Kingston BIA campaign because, at certain times, such as 6:00 pm from
Monday-Friday, there is a greater chance of reaching not only the target
audience but also a broader audience.
○ TV advertising results can also be tracked.
○ The channels which are going to be used are CKWS Kingston -
Newswatch@6 and CTV Ottawa.

● Out Of Home (OOH)

○ One of the best reasons to invest in OOH advertising is that it is an
incredibly affordable way to reach a wide audience and build brand
awareness. Even though the pandemic is still occurring, we believe that
using more than 10% of our budget ($39.180,00) will be effective
enough. This is due to the fact that the targeted audience when
travelling from their homes to their children's schools or to
restaurants/bars would be likely to view other types of media, such as
digital boards and transit shelters.
○ OOH advertising is an incredibly affordable way to reach a wide
audience and build brand awareness. We would reach not only the main
target audience but also a broader sector of the public.
○ An opportunity for Downtown Kingston BIA to reach more potential
customers since there is a widespread use of ad blockers on social
media.
○ It can also be a key driver of engagement. People who would have
previously been exposed to DK BIA's OOH advertising have a higher
chance to engage. The OOH can also be used to direct customers to
the DK BIA website or to use a specific hashtag on social media.

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 Creative Strategy

1. RADIO AD
Campaign Name: ‘’Staycation Around The World’’
Theme: Diversity
Script type: Straight Announcer (This radio strategy will be based on a
conversation with the potential consumer)
Narrator: Can't you wait to travel as soon as COVID-19 ends? Have you ever
imagined that it is possible to travel the world inside Kingston? Yes, it’s
possible! It is safe, close to you and extremely diverse. You will be able to
experience different cultures through diverse gastronomies and local products.
Come and get your passport with us now! No plane ticket needed!
Music/Sounds: Airplane sounds taking off and music that awakens surprise.
Call to action: Come support your local businesses and get your passport with
us! No plane ticket needed!

2. PRINT AD - Magazine
Campaign Name: Staycation Around the World
Theme: Travel and Diversity
Concept: The print ad will have the name of the campaign bigger on the top of
the page, and in the middle, we would have pictures of places, restaurants,
foods and products from DK's businesses but that reflects other cultures as if
they were polaroids on a "travel scrapbook".
Below, we will have the ad copy explaining the campaign, the discounts and
participating business.
Call to action: Get your ticket on any participating business and collect your
points for a chance to win draws and weekly prizes!

3. SOCIAL MEDIA AD - Facebook

Campaign Name: Staycation Around the World
Theme: Travel
Concept: The background image for the ad will be half of the earth at the
bottom of the page with a plane flying over it. The heading will be the name of
the Campaign at the top of the ad. The text will introduce the campaign and
how it works and encourage our target audience to participate and shop
locally.
Call to action: Get to Downtown Kingston and get ready to take an amazing
trip! Opportunities to win prizes!
 Blocking Chart
Click here to access our Media Blocking Chart

Conclusion
Our team is confident that our campaign will have a strong impact on the
chosen target audience and will grow the amount of attention that Downtown
deserves. After defining the problems and difficulties you encounter we have
developed a strong campaign plan that will help you reach out to our chosen
target audience. We believe that the target audience we chose is the bigger
spender in Downtown Kingston, they have a huge sense of community and they
value all that Downtown Kingston has to offer. Our media channels and
placements were thought thoroughly based on research and were strategized in
the most effective way in order to reach the audience and truly speak to them. It
will encourage them to participate in our new campaign and we strongly believe
that your media objectives will be met, if not surpassed. The campaign will
improve the foot traffic and sales during the campaign period and encourage more
to shop locally to help your community grow.