laurel highlands adventure fest

2015

Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest

Greater Johnstown Convention and Visitor’s Bureau

Presented by:

Flood City Consultation

Executive SummaryThis marketing plan is broken down into six separate sections including an introduction, situation analysis, objectives, and positioning section, strategies, tactics, and a control section.

Strategic Objectives• “We want you to make our mountains your mountains

in your life and the life of your friends and family. Come join one of the tribes and find out that you have a clan waiting to show you the way in this rich kingdom of adventure in the Alleghenies.”

 • “Allegheny Adventure X-Fest is about creating and

sharing the great treasure trove of information and stories that will help you find your great trail, vista or tale.  We share so others can also share in the adventure found in the Allegheny Kingdom.”Source: Olivia Bragdon, Lisa Rager,

Greater Johnstown Convention and Visitors Bureau

Source: http://www.alleghenyx.org

Brand Focus• Utilize all the natural resources and

destinations the Johnstown area has to offer by reaching out to individuals within the greater community and encouraging them to come together and participate in outdoor exploration.

Source: Olivia Bragdon, Lisa Rager, Greater Johnstown Convention and Visitors Bureau

Industry sales and profit: Sources: IBIS World: Concert & Event Promotion in the

U.S. (NAICS: 71133)

Revenues ($m) Profits ($m) 2010 $22,057.7 $7,428.9 2011 $22,645.2 $7,871.6 2012 $23,425.5 $8,308.7 2013 $23,916.7 $8,568.4 2014 $24,897.5 $9,125.5

Brand sales and profit:

Source: Greater Johnstown Convention and Visitors Bureau Revenue: Sponsorships - $27,350.00

Program Book Advertising - $1,180.00 Vendor Revenue - $625.00 Beer/Wine Sales - $1,413.00 Merchandise Sales - $729.00 Raffles/50-50 - $663.00

Revenues Profits

2014 $31,960.00 $2,658.00

Estimated number of attendees for past Johnstown events

Thunder in the Valley: 200,000 Cambria County Fair 37,500 Polka Fest: 7,000 X-Fest: 750 Estimated total: 245,250

X-Fest Market Share: .03% (http://www.ibisworld.com/)

Situation Analysis: Research Findings

Qualitative• A total of ten interviews were initially

conducted with individuals contained within each segment of the target age range.

• Three individuals were interviewed within the 18-24-age range, two individuals were interviewed within the 25-34-age range, three individuals were interviewed within the 35-44-age range, and two individuals were interviewed within the age range of 45+.

• Individuals were gathered on the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown campus and also within the community.

Quantitative• A total of 105 questionnaires were

provided to individuals within the community for data to be analyzed.

• 43% of the individuals utilized for the surveys were females and 57% of the individuals were males.

• 66% of the individuals were in the age range of 18-24, 24% of the individuals were in the age range of 25-34, 6% of the individuals were in the age range of 35-44, and 7% of the individuals were 45+ in age.

Thunder in the Valley

Ethnic Fest

Polka Fest

Flood City Music

Festival

Cambria County

Fair

Jazz on the River

Brews and Blues

Xfest0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

62%

21% 19% 18%13%

9%5%

1%

Unaided Awareness

• Allegheny Adventure X-Fest received a very low percentage of 1% unaided awareness.

• Even with aided awareness Allegheny Adventure X-Fest received low percentage results in our survey results with only 12%.

Affordable Price and Quality of Food.

Affordable Price Rating = 2.64/5

Quality of Food = 2.24/5

Objectives

• Increase unaided awareness to 10% of 100 respondents by January 2016

• Double aided awareness to a minimum of 25% of 100 respondents in 2016.

• We highly advise changing the name to Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest

• The Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest had the lowest rating in our survey for Quality of Food, with a 2.24/5, as a group we would like to raise this value to 3/5, this is a 34% increase.

• We would also like to increase the Affordability Rating from 2.64/5 to 2.90/5, this is an increase of 10%.

Proposed Positioning Statement

Target Audience: • Demographic: Anyone from the ages of 18 to 44

• Geographic: This festival is mainly focused on people in the Greater Johnstown Area and surrounding areas.

• Psychographic: People who enjoy nature and outdoor activities such as hiking, canoeing, biking, running, and more. Also, people who enjoy a friendly community atmosphere with the presence of good food, craft beer, and musical entertainment.

Frame of Reference:• The frame of reference includes: Other events in

Johnstown, Ex- Thunder in the Valley

Point of Difference:• The multitude of outdoor events that allow for each of

the tribes to participate in the festival while learning and experiencing new hobbies and activities with a friendly community.

• The presence of local sporting vendors, local food vendors, and craft beer.

Changes:• Younger demographic

• The new age demographic will consist of 18-44 year olds. The current average age is over 40.

• We are still targeting the same geographic and psychographic groups.

Old Positioning Map

New Positioning Map

Strategies

Product Strategies

• Old strategy - diversification • New strategy - market penetration and market

development

Price Strategies

• The price strategy will remain Competitor Oriented

Distribution Strategies• Exclusive Distribution

Marketing Communication Strategies

• Awareness• Interest • Desire

Push and Pull

Tactics

Name Change

Our consulting group strongly suggests that your organization change the name of the event. Allegheny Adventure X Fest comes across as an extreme outdoor event.

Tee-Shirt Design

Fright HikeFor a fee of $5.00, individuals can experience a fun and thrilling hike between 8:30 and 11:30 p.m. each night of the Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest.

All participants will walk with groups of 5-10 people, led by a staff member familiar with the trail, and face ghouls, ghosts, and goblins throughout the eerie woods.

Participants can walk a portion of the James Wolfe Sculpture Trail which expands from the Inclined Plane to the Stone Bridge near the Peoples Natural Gas Park in downtown Johnstown.

Celtic GamesThis will be a new event that is similar to the well-known Highland Games from the country of Scotland. These games revolve specifically around brute strength and Celtic pride.

Celtic Game Events

• Caber Toss• Weight throw (“Keg Toss”) • Weight for Height• The Lazy Stick

New Tribe Logo

Tails and TrailsThe event would include a trail specifically used for participants and their dogs.

Stackhouse Park

Half of the proceeds benefit the Cambria County Humane Society.

Dog Bandanas

New Tribe Logo

Radio AdvertisementWe recommend a radio commercial that would promote the event while attracting a younger demographic.

Script

Man (1): Between classes and work, I just feel like there’s no time to do anything fun anymore. Woman (1): Yeah, and with all the expenses we have, who has the money for anything fun? Woman (2): And, let’s face it, we’d probably have to travel pretty far to do anything really exciting. Announcer: Not anymore! October 2-4, the Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest offers fun for everyone in the trails of the Allegheny Mountains in Johnstown. Join an adventure tribe for cycling, water activities, trail exploration, or snow expedition. Come together with your community for delicious food, live music, and craft beer. It’s a fun outdoor experience, and it’s free to enter! For more information, go to alleghenyx.org or call 814-269-2967. The Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest, experience nature, love the adventure.

Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest Length: 30 Hot 92.1 Agency: Flood City Consulting Froggy 95.5 To Run July 2-October 2 Aired 21 times per week

Flyers

• We intend to mail out these flyers to 1,000 people within the target area.

• The flyer includes detailed information about the Laurel Highlands Adventure Fest but also includes a detailed agenda.

• These flyers will be sent out during the month of September.

Billboard • Place - Ebensburg,

Somerset, Johnstown, and Windber.

• Dates - July-September.

• Size 10’5” X 22’8.”

Newspaper Ad

Social Media

• We wish to maintain the Facebook and Twitter pages which the Allegheny X Fest has created, but update them with the redesigned name, logo, and slogan.

• We also wish to create an Instagram page for the event.

Control

Marketing BudgetExpense Frequency Cost

Event T-Shirts 1000 (150 small, 350 medium, 350 large, 150 X-large)

$20,000 ($20 per T-Shirt From

American Eagle Screen Printing)

Radio Advertisement (Froggy 95.5 and Hot

92.1) 21 per week for 3 months prior to the

event (252 total) on each station

$18,900 ($50/:30 spot on Froggy 95.5)

($25/:30 on Hot 92.1)

Billboard (Lamar Advertising)

4 for 3 months (Johnstown, Windber, Somerset, and Ebensburg) $11,880 ($792/board/month)

Fright Hike 20 actors $2,175, 3 makeup artists

$7.25 per hour for 6 hrs. $130.50, 40 flashlights $99.40, decorations $2,000

$4,404.90

Interns 2 (one in the summer, one in the fall) $2,000 ($1,000 per intern)

Strength Games Equipment $507.52

Tails and Trails 200 personalized bandanas, 5-21oz buckets of dog treats

$758 (Dog treats from Petco,

Bandanas from spreadshirt.com)

Flyers 1000 (Staples) mailing list $750, stamps $500

$1,980 (Staples)

Domain Name $100/year $100

Total $60,530.42

Payoff Target• The total amount spent by customers at last year’s

event: $2,805• Additional revenue from implemented tactics:

– Dog bandanas: $700 – Fright Hike event $2,500– 1,000 event T-Shirts:$5,000

• If you assume each attendant will spend $3.74 at the event, attendance numbers will need to be 6,197 to break even.

• This is a 726% increase from last year’s attendance of 750

Organizational Chart

Timetable

Event May2015

June 2015

July2015

Aug. 2015

Sept. 2015

Oct.2015

Nov. 2015

Radio Advertisements         

Billboards        

Interns        

Direct Marketing (flyers)             

Tails and Trails              

T-Shirts              

Fright Hike              

Celtic Games              

Evaluation Systems•Name Change •Fright Hike •Highland Strength Games •Tails and Trails •Advertising

Questions?