Division A - Public Relations Programs
Category 3 - Institutional
Rollins College Saves its Specialty License Plate
Jeni Hatter, Ann Marie Varga
Golden Image Award
Research/Situation Analysis:
In 2005, Rollins College learned it was in danger of losing its
specialty license plate. The state of Florida announced it would
discontinue any tags that did not reach a total of 1,000 new and/or
renewal annual registrations by June 30, 2006. As of April 2005, there
were only 396 valid Rollins tag registrations. The Office of Public
Relations launched an advocacy campaign to save the Rollins tag. The
campaign was outlined in a Promotional Plan (see attachment 1) and it
was decided the target audiences would be Florida alumni, as well as
current students, faculty and staff at Rollins. We saw many challenges
with this effort. In the state of Florida, there are 104 specialty
tags, so the competition is fierce. In addition, Rollins College is a
small liberal arts college without the employment, students or alumni
base of large universities. For example, we have 1,700 students versus
the University of Florida with 43,000. Also, our alumni and students
come from all over the nation, but only registered drivers in Florida
can purchase the Rollins specialty plate.
Objectives: Our objectives were: 1) to save the
plate by meeting the 1,000 mark by June 30, 2006, 2) to raise at least
a $5,000 profit (proceeds benefit the Rollins Fund for Students, which
provides scholarships, funds, programs and services for students) and
3) to secure at least one media story on the effort.
Implementation: It was a phased communications
and marketing effort. We launched a nine-month campaign, which included
direct mail (two postcards in a series), advertisements in our alumni
magazine, a dedicated Web page for all constituents (located at
www.rollins.edu/tag), as well as targeted messages to employees,
students and alumni. We realized that many alumni were probably unaware
that we even had a specialty license tag, so the first round of
communications (which began in the fall of 2005) was of an
informational nature. Once we completed that round of communications
(postcard, e-newsletter, Web, magazine – see attachments 2-6), we moved
forward with the theme to save the “Endangered Species” (see attachment
7-11). At key events (such as Homecoming, Reunion and Commencement), we
also distributed license tag key chains to encourage people to “Get
Tagged” (see attachment 12). As a result of these efforts, we saw a
monthly increase in the number of tags purchased. We were, however,
still far from reaching our goal. The College also decided to reimburse
all current students, faculty and staff the $25 annual tag fee for the
first year. This helped, but had minimal impact (only 200 of our 650
employees took advantage of this offering). In April 2006, we launched
a “grassroots” marketing campaign targeting current students, employees
and local alumni. We walked the campus putting fliers on all cars with
Florida tags that did not have a specialty plate to emphasize “time was
running out.” Realizing that people did not want to wait in line at the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), we literally brought the DMV to
campus for “Save the Rollins Tag Day.” Elements of this event, our most
successful of the nine-month campaign, included one-stop shopping with
onsite registration and renewals, immediate $25 reimbursement from the
College, free car washes and free lunch for tag holders. Tag holders
also registered to win one of three Apple® iPod™ nanos. That day alone
– in just four hours – we sold 100 specialty Rollins tags. We continued
to promote the tag heavily in May 2006, including e-mails to parents
suggesting the tag as a graduation gift, distributing promotional
postcards to graduating seniors and we also held a subsequent onsite
registration effort (which resulted in 40 additional registrations and
renewals).
Evaluation: With regard to our original objectives:
1)
In May 2006, we were notified that we had met the mark with 1,001
Rollins specialty tags purchased (see attachment 13). We met the goal
six weeks early. Prior to our efforts, we averaged 40 plates a month.
As a result of this effort, we secured 604 plates in eight months.
2)
Over a one-year span, the specialty tags brought in a $16,000 profit
(to the Rollins Fund for Students). This was more than triple our
original goal of $5,000.
3) In the process of communicating with
our various constituents, the media did several print and electronic
stories on our efforts (see attachments 14-19). We distributed a photo
opportunity on “Save the Rollins Tag Day,” (see attachment 20) which
resulted in coverage on two local television stations (including local
NBC affiliate WESH Channel 2 and Brighthouse Networks 24-hour station
Central Florida News 13), as well as local NPR affiliate WMFE 90.7FM.
When we reached the goal, we distributed a news release (see attachment
21), which resulted in coverage in the Orlando Sentinel and on Central
Florida News 13. According to PR TRAK, a news clip measurement program,
our nine stories garnered a publicity value of $46,345, circulation of
859,124 and 2,689,465 impressions (see attachment 22). This far
exceeded our original goal of one media story on the campaign and
helped spread the word and save the plate.
Budget:
The campaign to save the Rollins license plate cost $12,000 (printing,
postage, specialty items, incentive gifts, etc.). With the purchase of
each specialty tag, the state of Florida returns $25 to the Rollins
Fund, so the cost of the campaign was not only recovered, but we
realized a profit of more than $16,000 (from June 1, 2005 to May 31,
2006). The return on the investment continues because annual renewals
will bring in a projected $25,000 per year to the Rollins Fund for
Students. Name recognition and pride enhancements are immeasurable and
invaluable.