How We Did It - Mini case study
Woodstock Transit Summer Promotions
Graphic Designers: Stephanie Webb, Andrew Norris 
and Lori McLuskie
Client: City of Woodstock, Transit Department
The City of Woodstock’s Transit department had a goal
for the summer of 2009 – increase public awareness of
its transit services in order to increase ridership. A “Family
Day Pass” was created as a way to allow whole families to
travel throughout Woodstock for an entire day for just $5.
A “Summer Student Pass” (eventually deemed the “STride
Pass” – Student Transit Ride) was also created to allow
students unlimited travel on Woodstock Transit for all of
July and August.
Oxford Media Group was hired to brand each of the passes
and subsequent marketing materials and to create a contest
for the students. The contest – entitled The Amazing STride
– was run as a scavenger-hunt style challenge. Each week a
clue was posted to a Facebook group page and participants
had to hunt out a clue for the chance to win fabulous weekly
prizes.
Design Spotlight
Woodstock Ingersoll & District Real Estate Board Website
http://www.widreb.ca
Glossary - "Term of the Day"
Copyright
Copyright gives a creator such as a designer, illustrator or photographer the exclusive right to "copy" his or her own work or authorize others to do so. Copyright is meant to protect the expressionof an idea, but not he idea in and of itself. If you create something tangible (physical or electronic), you get to control who can make copies and how they make the copies, or who can make works derived from the original work.
Most of copyright concerns commerce. Copyright can be sold or licensed, or it can be bought in advance. This encourages the creation and productive exploitation of creative works for the gain of the creator and the benefit of the end user.
Marketing Techniques
Communications Audit Best Way To Start Marketing Strategy
When Oxford Media Group makes contact with a new client, we need to assess their marketing needs. Often, the client can't tell us precisely what they require and why. When a client asks us to develop a brochure, for example, this prompts a number of questions: Is this a product-specific or service-specific brochure? Who is the target audience? How will the brochure be distributed? How many do you need? What is the call-to-action (i.e. what does the reader do if he responds to the brochure)? Have you done a similar brochure in the past? Did you obtain value from that brochure? If not, why not?
Generally, the answers to these questions lead to other questions.
Almost all businesses have thought about their USP - Unique Selling Proposition. And that's important. But it's also important to determine who your target audience is, and if your USP appeals to them. If it does, you then have to describe how you reach that target audience. What do they read? Where do they go for information? Who do they trust? Can you reach them best through a direct sales approach, a traditional sales team, an agent or a retail outlet? The answers to these questions will determine what kind of marketing approach you need.
To this end, Oxford Media Group has developed what we call a "Communications Audit." The audit asks clients to describe their product or service, their business and business goals, their growth targets, their existing clients and their competition. A client's sales structure is very important. How do their clients buy their product? The answer to that question will tell you whether you need the brochure you are planning, or a web site, or an advertising campaign, or any other marketing material. And speaking of marketing material, our audit asks what kind of existing material you have. Does it work? How do you know it works?
Normally, the Oxford Media Group Communications Audit takes about an hour to complete, but we have developed a short version and posted it on our website so prospective clients can at least begin a marketing plan that makes sense for them. Try it. You might be surprised at the answers!
Ad Spot
If you mess up, fess up, and dress up
That’s the new model for crisis communication management. We were reminded of this once again in August, when the President of Maple Leaf Foods ran full-page ads in major Canadian newspapers, reminding people of the Listeria disaster that struck the company a year ago, and reiterating Maple Leaf’s commitment to constantly improving food safety. The recent ads further demonstrate how unusual the Maple Leaf approach has been — traditional wisdom says you never remind people of a mistake.
The Maple Leaf communications approach following the deadly bacterium outbreak has been hailed as “brilliant.” Just a few years ago, no expert anywhere would have recommended this approach. Even today, the Maple Leaf Foods approach isn’t typical.
Here’s what they did:
- They told people what happened.
- They took responsibility and said they were sorry.
- They acknowledged they didn’t know all the facts, but were going
to find out.
- They outlined what they were doing to remedy the situation and
regain people’s confidence.
Most so-called experts will recommend that you never say you are sorry. The fear is this is an admission of guilt and invites lawsuits. Guess what? The lawsuits are going to happen no matter what you say. If there’s a public perception you are covering something up, even if you are exonerated in a court of law, there’s always going to be a cloud over your head, and you won’t recover.
Maple Leaf has paid out in excess of $20 million in damages. But the job of repairing their public image is well underway. Plus, “fessing up” was the right thing to do.
Mess up, fess up,
and dress up
CLICK HERE to view video
Fun Stuff
COUNT ME IN! Community Challenge
On August14th, OMG staff teamed up with Woodstock Hydro, WEAC and the City of Woodstock at Cowapalooza 8 for a “pledge drive” to help Woodstock win the Count Me In Community Challenge. Out of 83 participating communities, Woodstock placed 3rd with a total of 1,409 pledges. This was the 2nd highest number of individual pledges in all of Ontario!
OMG staff hit Cowapalooza with a vengeance and we were able to bring in enough pledges to cover the entire side of a Woodstock Hydro truck.
We would like to thank everyone who took time to pledge and remind everyone that you can still visit www.countmeinontario.ca to get great conservation ideas!
Specials
