visit jacksonville proposal

8/10/2019 Visit Jacksonville Proposal

1/18

Where everything is ideal!

Prepared for: Visit Jacksonville

Prepared by: Anthony Evans, Dorothee Kohler, Erin Keith, Leslie Priddy


2/18

Executive Summary

D.E.A.L. Agency created a campaign proposal for Visit Jacksonville. The intention of the campaign is to

make Jacksonville Beach a destination stop on the I-95 corridor heading south to Orlando. The target

audience includes the age group 25 to 44 years old and 45 to 64 years old. For this campaign the D.E.A.L.

Agency is focusing on the 25 to 44 years old age group. Jacksonville Beach, more than just a one-day

stop. The slogan directly relates to the campaign goal by targeting I-95 drivers to stop and visit

Jacksonville Beach for more than just a day.

D.E.A.L. Agency has generated a three-part campaign which will run from the beginning of March 2015

to the end of May 2015. One of the components of the campaign is to increase the number of visitors at

Jacksonville Beach during the month of May in 2015. This will be achieved by creating a two-day

musical festival called Jax Fin Fest partnered with and sponsored by Landshark Lager. This event will

take place Memorial Weekend, starting May 23 rdand ending May 24th. D.E.A.L. Agency will utilize

materials such as fliers and radio broadcasts.

The second components of the campaign is to start an informational and promotional print and social

media campaign to reach the target audience and promote the event to 100,000 people. D.E.A.L. Agency

will be partnering with Landshark Lager to wrap a large van in graphics promoting Jax Fin Fest and

attaching a model shark fin to the top of the van. To travel along I-95 to key cities. A shark mascot will

appear in the key cities and hand-out fliers for the event. Three billboards along I-95 will also be made to

promote Jax Fin Fest A social media campaign will be made through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

with the name #FollowTheFin and #JaxFinFest.

The last component of the campaign is to increase overnight hotel stays during the month of May by 10

percent. This will be done by partnering with hotels in Jacksonville Beach and offering a vacation

package for the event. Included in the vacation package, a discounted ticket to the event with at least a

one-night stay the participating hotel. The purchase of the vacation package enters the individual into a

drawing for a hotel stay for the following year. Promotion for hotel package will be done by utilizing the

social media sites and the #FollowTheFin.

D.E.A.L. Agency plans to continuously evaluate the campaign with a final review through social media

likes and ratings. D.E.A.L. Agency will also use aerial photos to determine the success of the event, as

well as the ticket sells. D.E.A.L. Agency also plans to continuously check hotel figures for the month of

June following the event to see the increase in stays in Jacksonville Beach.


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D.E.A.L. AgencyAgency Mission Statement

We strive to provide excellent outreach and mediation services to create ideal relationships with

business partners and their publics.

With D.E.A.L. Agency, everything is ideal.

Agency Staff

Leslie Priddy:

Leslie Priddy is a PRSA Accredited Public Relations Practitioner. Leslie graduated from the University ofNorth Florida in 2012 with a bachelors degree in communication with a specialization in public relations

as well as a minor in entrepreneurship. She had an internship at the Florida Theater and then pursued an

internship at HGTV. After her internship with HGTV, she became the social media director for the

company and researched all the current and future trends from party planning to home decorating. She

acquired an extensive background with social media and tourism at both internships.

Leslie is now currently working at the D.E.A.L. Agency where she hopes to bring a creative and social

aspect to the company. She plans to help Jacksonville and the surrounding areas to grow and become a

premier vacation destination for travelers.

Anthony Evans:

Anthony Evans joined D.E.A.L. Agency in January 2012. Prior to joining the agency he worked with the

Occupational Health and Safety Administration for the United States Department of Labor, Wildlife

Conservation Society and the National Forest Foundation. At D.E.A.L. Agency he specializes in the

development of localized community outreach programs, communication analytics and non-profit

organization campaign strategies. He plays an essential role in the planning and deployment of

community-based public relations campaigns. He mainly works with non-profit organizations, youth

groups and charitable/religious organizations.

Anthony graduated cum laude with an A.S. in Public Relations from Hesser College in his hometown of

Manchester, NH in 2002. Shortly following graduation he obtained his APR accreditation from the PublicRelation Society of America. He worked with O.H.S.A. at the U.S. Department of Labor for several years

before deciding to attend the University of North Florida. He graduated, again cum laude, from University

of North Florida and holds a B.S. in Communications concentrating on Public Relations. He worked with

both the Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Forest Foundation after his graduation.

Anthony enjoys participating in environmental conservation projects and working with local youth

groups. Although, he enjoys being a seasoned traveler, he claims he was drawn to Florida by the weather


4/18


5/18

Client Background

Visit Jacksonville is funded by a six percent bed tax placed on all hotel rooms in Duval County. Two

percent of the bed tax is dedicated to the Duval County Tourist Development Council, TDC. TDC

allocates 70 percent of its funds for Visit Jacksonville. Visit Jacksonville has around 500 partner

attractions, hotels and service companies that they work with every year. Visit Jacksonville assists and

helps over 400 different groups set up annual convention meetings, sports tournaments and trades shows

in Jacksonville. Visit Jacksonville is the marketing partner for the city outside the local area. It works

with media all over the world to help bring people to the Jacksonville, Florida area.

The mission statement of Visit Jacksonville is to create and globally market, sell and promote an

exceptional visitor experience resulting in greater community prosperity, pride and vitality.

The organization has 22 full time employees and a vast amount of hospitality experience. They seek to

share all Jacksonville has to offer visitors traveling to the area. Jacksonville seeks to promote all the local

businesses, service companies, attractions, convention centers, airports, and local hot spots local to

Jacksonville. Visit Jacksonville uses its online site, annually printed Jacksonville Visitor Magazine,and

direct marketing to reach its target market, with a focus on Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas.

The target market for digital campaigns age demographics are men and women 25-34 and 35-54 who

have a household income of $75,000 or more.

Visit Jacksonville competes directly with Visit Orlando, Visit Tallahassee and Visit Florida in Florida,

but competes with similar organizations globally. Many states have state funded programs that complete

similar marketing campaigns that are also in direct competition with Visit Jacksonville.
http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdchttp://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdchttp://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdchttp://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdchttp://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdc


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SWOT

Strengths

500 partner attractions

Global marketing reach as the

marketing partner for the city

outside the local area

Has both printed (Jacksonville

Visitor Magazine) and online

(www.visitjacksonville.com)

information sources Has already identified an audience

in their business plan as, Leisure

Visitors consider Jacksonville a

beach destination or an arts and

culture destination. Most leisure

visitors came to the city for the first

time to attend a major festival or

sporting event. The majority of

visitation comes from the 5-6 hour

drive market, but we have seengrowth from the eastern seaboard.

Weaknesses

Limited budget of $25,000

Limited run-time for campaign (3-6

weeks)

Just 22 employees run the

organization

High volumes of visitors can make

beach access scarce

Maintaining visitors overnight

Opportunities

A target market of both men and

women ranging from 25- 55 years

old provides a broad audience

May appeal to Jacksonville residents

or those nearby without beach

access

Can promote Jacksonville as thelargest city in the United States with

many different opportunities.

Threats

Competitors: Visit Orlando, Visit

Tallahassee, Visit Florida

Potential for visitors to overlook

Jacksonville in favor of other

Florida beach cities

Funding comes from six percent

bed tax from hotel rooms.Overnight visitors become crucial


7/18

Situation Analysis

Visit Jacksonville is interested in attracting travelers coming through Florida from the northeast,

particularly who are traveling through the area to spend time at Jacksonville Beaches, on their way to

Orlando or going to other theme parks in central Florida. Visit Jacksonville has a limited budget for this

project, so they are looking for traditional and social media relations strategies to promote the area to

travelers. Visit Jacksonville is seeking creative and strategic ideas that can be implemented to reach large

groups of travelers passing through the area. A sponsorship given to Visit Jacksonville awarded $25,000

to launch a public relations campaign to reach consumers and give them a reason to stay and visit in

Jacksonville, Fla. on their trip.

Secondary Research

Visit Jacksonville is the official travel information resource for the Jacksonville area. Visit Jacksonville

puts all the information travelers need about Jacksonville and the beaches together and offers concierge

services for Jacksonville, Fla. Their mission is to create and globally market, sell, and promote an

exceptional visitor experience in Jacksonville.

Visit Jacksonville is funded by bed tax dollars. The six percent bed tax is placed on all hotel rooms in

Duval County. Of the six percent tax collected, two percent is allocated to the Prime Osborn Convention

Center, two percent to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, and two percent to the TDC. Of the TDC's

portion, 80 percent is used to fund Visit Jacksonville. The organization's funding is supplemented through

Partnership dues.

Visit Jacksonville communicates frequently via their website. They put online different types of

information such as up-to-date information that we can find on blogs from local experts, information on a

calendar so all events appear daily and by category, and few videos that show the latest interesting

destination in Jacksonville. Anyone can either download or share a video so they can easily spread

information about Jacksonville. There is also the possibility to ask and receive the complimentary visitor

magazine guide and the newsletter by email. News releases and leisure media releases can be found

updated on the website.

Visit Jacksonville also uses social media in order to spread information about Jacksonville. Since 2008

they have on Twitter: 6,102 tweets, 466 photos and videos, 1,560 following and 18,000 followers.

Since 2010 they have been on Facebook with 51,957 likes and 884 visits. On Instagram, they have 232

posts, 1,340 followers and 120 following.


8/18

Audience Analysis

Useful information and statistics were compiled by the research firms Longwoods International and

Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company, about the visitor profile and the economic impact

of tourism in 2013 in Duval County.

10.5 million person trips generated $2.2 billion in revenue: 5.3 million are overnight visits and 5.2 million

are visiting only for the day. It is important to notice that more overnight stays along with higher prices

pushed spending up 5.1 percent in 2013.

The profile of the overnight Duval county visitor is 51 percent female and 49 percent male. 41 percent of

them are between 25 and 44 years old and 29 percent of them are between 45 and 64 years old.

It is also important to notice that 47 percent of the visitors stayed in hotel and 33 percent stayed with

friends or family. They prefer to use Internet because 57 percent of them booked their trip on Internet.

33 percent of visitors come from Florida and 15 percent come from Georgia. They prefer to travel with

their own car, 67 percent of travelers used their own vehicle and 23 percent used a rental car. When they

traveled to Jacksonville in 2013, 47 percent of visitors came to do shopping and 32 percent came for the

beaches.


9/18

Primary Research

We asked our surveyors if they resided in jacksonville and what their gender is.

We asked our surveyors their age group and if they believed Jacksonville is a major destination.

The survey asked what brings a person to the beach and what would make them stay at the beach.


10/18

We ended the survey with the question what can be improved at the beach.

Proposed Additional Research

Should D.E.A.L. Agency be chosen for this account, additional research would be conducted by sending

trained focus group mediators in teams of five to the 10 key cities identified in the objectives of this

proposal. Each mediator would hold 10 focus group sessions over a period of one month with a focus

group size of 12 people, resulting in a 6,000 person sample stretching over eight states along I-95. The

focus group mediators will ask open ended questions and lead a group discussion on the Jacksonville

area, how it is perceived, and how that perception can be changed or manipulated to fit this agencys

campaign and the objective to benefit Visit Jacksonville. The participants would be given a survey, before

and after each focus group, to see how perceptions of Jacksonville can be changed.


11/18

Objectives

Goal

To increase the number of people who visit and stay overnight in Jacksonville while traveling down

I-95 to other areas in Florida.

Objective One: To increase the number of visitors at Jacksonville Beach during the month of May

in 2015 by 10 percent.

Strategy: According to the Visit Jacksonville website, most leisure visitors came to the city for the first

time to attend a major festival or sporting event. A festival event appeals to a majority of the target

audience as evidenced by our primary research, that shows a two-day music festival is most likely to

cause an overnight stay at Jacksonville Beach.

Tactics:

Create a two-day music festival, Jax Fin Fest, partnered with and sponsored by Landshark Lager.

The event will take place over Memorial Day Weekend, starting on Saturday May 23rd, and

ending Sunday May 24th.

Rent three barges to place along the beachfront to hold the vendors.

Hire or develop sponsors with two other vendors, Captain Morgan and a local distillery in

Jacksonville called Burlock and Barrel Whiskey Distillery, to occupy the other two barges.

Rent staging and sound equipment for one large stage and one smaller stage.

Acquire legal permissions needed to hold the event on Jacksonville Beach.

Hire musicians, both local and feature artists to perform live on the beach.

Open the festival to local vendors including but not limited to food, craft, and informationalbooths to increase the native Jacksonville experience.

Objective Two: To start an informational and promotional print and social media campaign to

reach the target audience and promote the event to 100,000 people.

Strategy: To get information to potential visitors outside of Florida and along I-95 about Jacksonville

Beach and the upcoming Jax Fin Fest to encourage attendance and create buzz for the event. Utilizing

both print and digital media will allow the agency to reach the wide age range of the targeted audience.

Tactics:

Partner with Landshark Lager to wrap a large van in graphics promoting Jax Fin Fest and attach a

model shark fin to the top of the van. The van will travel to 10 key cities along I-95 including

Savannah, Georgia; Florence, South Carolina; Charlotte, South Carolina; Fayetteville, North

Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Petersburg, Virginia; Washington D.C.; Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania; New York, New York; and finally Boston, Massachusetts.


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Create a shark mascot with Landshark Lager to attract attention. The mascot will also travel with

the wrapped van that will hold set up equipment for an informational booth that can be set up in

the key cities, when permitted.

Print 50,000 fliers to pass out at the booth.

Print promotional signage, banners and any other promotional materials.

Print three billboard advertisements to be placed on I-95 in high traffic areas. Begin a social media campaign, #FollowTheFin, by creating Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

accounts to document and promote the event as the van travels I-95 and stops at the key cities.

Make 100 posts to each social media account leading up to the event.

To expand on Visit Jacksonvilles existing social media presence by creating 5,000 new media

impressions about Jacksonville Beach, using the hashtags #JaxFinFest and #FollowTheFin.

Promote the use of social media by staging photo-ready scenes with the Landshark logo, shark

mascot, props, and other Jacksonville-promoting visuals.

Objective Three: To increase overnight hotel stays during the month of May in 2015 by 10 percent.

Strategy: Increasing overnight hotel stays increases the funds allocated to Visit Jacksonville through the

six percent bed tax on all hotel rooms, making the client better funded and promoting future possibilities

for future Visit Jacksonville projects.

Tactics:

Partner with hotels in Jacksonville Beach to participate in offering a vacation package for the

event

Include in the vacation package, a discounted ticket to the event with the purchase of at least a

one-night stay at the participating hotel.

The purchase of a vacation package enters the individual into a drawing for a three night hotelstay at the same hotel next year, further progressing the overall goal into the next calendar year.

Promotion of the vacation package over the Internet utilizing existing Visit Jacksonville social

media platforms and website.

Promotion of the vacation package on theFollow the Fintour.

Creative Element

.E.A.L. Agency campaign slogan is Jacksonville Beach, more than just a one-day stop. The reason for

this specific tagline is to let people become aware that Jacksonville Beach is more than just a quick stop

heading further south on I-95. It gets drivers to start realizing that Jacksonville Beach can be a destinationfor their next vacation spot.

The overall branding of Jax Fin Fest will be a compilation of both Visit Jacksonville and Landshark

Lager. All social media usage will be done through Visit Jacksonville since it is an established company

already. Using the same platform and look will let visitors know that Jacksonville is a destination

vacation.


13/18

Calendar

March April May June

COMMUNICATION

Billboard

Promotional signage

Banners

Promotional materials

50,000 fliers

Create a shark mascot

Create Twitter,Facebook, andInstagram accounts#FollowTheFin

COMMUNICATION

Promotion of the use of

social media by staging

photo-ready scenes with the

Landshark logo, shark

mascot, props, and other

Jacksonville-promoting

visuals.

Promotion of the vacation

package

EVENT

05/23/2015 - 05/24/2015

Jax Fin Fest

COMMUNICATION

Promotion of the use ofsocial media by stagingphoto-ready scenes withthe Landshark logo, sharkmascot, props, and otherJacksonville-promotingvisuals.

Promotion of the vacationpackage

EVALUATION


14/18

Recommended Budget

Item

Description and Units

Cost

Beach Permit

Permit for music-fest on the

beach

$50.00

Security

$15.00 per person for

15people @ 22 hours

$4,950.00

Billboard

Three billboards along I-95

corridor

@ $350.00 each

$1,050.00

Van Wrap

Driving Advertisement along

I-95

$1,050.00

Radio Ad

11 cities for three months @

$65.00 a month

$2,145.00

Fliers

50,000 @ $0.05

$2,500

First Aid

$70.00 an hour for 22hrs for

one vehicle.

$40.00 an hour for 22hrs for

two people

$3,300

Barge Rental

Three Party Barges @

$200.00 per barge

$600.00

Banners

Two banners @ $200.00

$400.00

Photo Cutout

Three Photo Center Cutout

@50.00

$150.00

Vacation Packages

Two prize Giveaway

$2,000

Total Budget

$18,195.00

Agency Fee

Standard Rate

$8,000.00

Grand Total

Including Agency Fee

$26,195.00


15/18

Evaluation

Objective one was to increase the number of visitors at Jacksonville Beach during the month of May 2015

by ten percent. To calculate what is already a large number we will be analyzing this statistic by utilizing

Tourism Economics Data provided by an Oxford Economics Company already working with Visit

Jacksonville. We can also collect immediate data for May, by gathering information from VisitJacksonvilles network of over 500 partner businesses. We will compare this data with data from 2014 to

determine if we were able to increase the number of visitors to Jacksonville Beach by a percentage of ten

or more. We will use aerial photos of the Jax Fin Fest to determine the success and overall turnout of the

specific event. Additionally, ticket sales will provide a good idea of the turnout, but given that it is on a

public beach, we understand that all who attend may not have purchased a ticket.

Objective two was to start an informational and promotional print and social media campaign to reach the

target audience and promote the event to 100,00 people. To determine if the target audience was reached

and that 100,000 people or more were informed about the Jax Fin Fest we will primarily be using social

media analytics to monitor the number of new media impressions. We will be analyzing the activity of#FollowTheFin and #JaxFinFest to ensure that we exceed 5,000 impressions and reach and audience

greater than 100,000 people. Additionally, we have 50,000 fliers that will be physically distributed to the

targeted audience in the 10 key cities noted in the objective. The number of distributed fliers will be

another indicator to determine the number of target audience members that were notified about the Jax

Fin Fest.

Objective three was to increase overnight hotel stays during the month of May 2015 by ten percent.

Tourism Economics data will again prove useful in determining the overall increase of hotel stays. The

majority of hotels in Jacksonville are partners with Visit Jacksonville, which will aid in obtaining

immediate data for analysis. The number of promotional vacation packages sold will be another indicator

on how many people stayed overnight at hotels.


16/18

Appendix

Visit Jacksonville Website (2014). [ONLINE]. Available at:

http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/

Visit Jacksonville Website: Board of Directors. (2014). [ONLINE]. Available at:

http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/board-of-directors/

Visit Jacksonville Website: The Tourist Development Council. (2014). Available at:

http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdc/

2014-2015 Visit Jacksonville Strategic Plan. (2014). [ONLINE].

2014-2015 Visit Jacksonville Business Plan. (2014). [ONLINE].

2013 Economic Impact of Tourism on Jacksonville. (2014). [ONLINE].

2013 Visitor Profile. (2014). [ONLINE]. Available at:

http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/research-information/

Survey

1) Are you currently living in Jacksonville?

a) Yes

b) No

2) What is your gender?

a) Male

b) Female

c) Other

3) What is your age range?

a) 18-24 years

b) 25-44 years

c) 45-64 years

d) 65+ years
http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/board-of-directors/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/board-of-directors/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdc/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdc/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/research-information/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/research-information/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/research-information/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/tdc/http://www.visitjacksonville.com/about-us/board-of-directors/


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4) Rate how strongly you agree or disagree with this statement: Jacksonville is a major destination in

Florida

(1) Strongly agree (2) Somewhat agree (3) Neither agree nor Disagree

(4) Somewhat disagree (5) Strongly Disagree

5) List the regions of Jacksonville in order of most likely to visit (1) and (6) least likely to visit

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

e) 5

f) 6

http://www.nlcurve.com/brierwoodassoc/cpac.gif

6) When you visit the Beaches, what brings you?

a) Sun/ ocean

b) Bars/ restaurants

c) Sports/ water sports

d) Visiting a Friend or Family

e) Community events

f) Music venue

g) Other_______________


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7) Which event would be most likely to get you to stay overnight at the Beaches?

a) 2- Day Music Venue

b) Food Festival

c) Bar Hopping

d) Sporting Event

e) A Luxury Hotel or Resort

8) How could Jacksonville Improve its Beaches

a) Cleanliness

b) Parking

c) Security

d) Family Friendly Activities

e) Entertainment Venues

visit jacksonville proposal

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