The Shield: Stay Connected

A
PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN
Presented in Partial Fulfillment
of Course Requirements of
PRL 468: Public Relations Campaigns
Director: Dr. Gael L. Cooper

By:
Ethan B. Englert

Department of Communications
University of Southern Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
December 9, 2014
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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Client Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Situational Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Internal Public Relations Audit .................................................................................................................... 8
Public Perception.......................................................................................................................................... 9
External Environment ................................................................................................................................ 10
Analysis of Publics ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Benefit Statement ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Goals and Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 13
Action and Response Strategies ................................................................................................................ 14
Effective Communication ........................................................................................................................... 15
Tactics ......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Program Implementation........................................................................................................................... 18
Gantt chart (in landscape view) ................................................................................................................. 20
Evaluation Methods ................................................................................................................................... 22
Appendices ................................................................................................................................................. 23

Executive Summary
The Shield is the newspaper publication that is ran under the University of Southern
Indiana. It is a designated public forum, which means it is free from administrative control. It
has been published every year since 1968. The Shield has an impressive background of using
their social media accounts, rate card, and the articles being featured in their publication. In
the year 2013, the Shield was a winner of over 40 ICPA awards, and has been named ICPAs
Division II Newspaper of the Year for the past two consecutive years.
The Shield would like to increase the number of page visits and the number of students
that are signed up for their e-mail blast, which would send the latest and breaking news alerts
directly to the students e-mail. With technology rapidly changing the way the general public
receives their news, they would like to capitalize on this opportunity. By increasing their
readership online, they are reaching more of the public rather than just the consumers who
pick up a copy of the Shield at one of their newspaper holders on campus.
Increasing the Shields readership is beneficial to all parties involved. First, if the Shield
attains more readership, they will look more credible as a publication to the surrounding
businesses. The businesses that advertise through the Shield will be able to send the message
of their services to more people, and hopefully will cause other businesses to want to buy the
Shields ad space as well. The Shield sells more ad space, which means their budget can
increase, either allowing for more positions to be filled, or for a larger budget to fund special
events to promote their business.
In order to increase their online readership, the Shield would like to use a public
relations campaign to inform the student of their website and signing up for the free e-mail
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alerts. Ultimate goals for this public relations campaign would be to increase the knowledge of
the website and e-mail alerts among the students. The Shield would also like to change the
students attitude towards using a newspaper and its website for obtaining their daily news.
Finally, the Shield would like to change the students behavior and get them to visit the website
to get their news about what is happening on campus and to sign up for the e-mail blasts to
stay connected with the campus.
Special events will take place in order to spread the word of the Shields website and the
benefits of signing up for their e-mail alerts. Word being spread of these special events will
happen via social media outlets to reach their current followers, who will in turn provide a small
amount of word-of-mouth circulation about the special events. The last event to take place will
be a mail chimp sent out to all current USI students and alumni. This will be the best way to
reach the largest number of the publics at once.
Results for the campaign will be analyzed using Google Analytics, which the Shield is
currently using to track the success of their website. Google Analytics will allow easy tracking of
the success of the campaign. It will allow the Shield to track the number of page visits the
website gets per week, and the number of new users it receives.

Client Analysis
The Shield is a student publication that was established in 1968 at the University of
Southern Indiana. It has received 40 ICPA awards, including newspaper of the year for the past
two consecutive years. Some of these awards include first place for Best Use of Twitter, second
place for Best Rate Card and Best Use of Facebook, and third place for Best Ad Design and Best
Electronic Ad. The Shield is a designated public forum that is free from the universitys
administrative control. It is published once a week and distributed every Thursday to over 20
locations on campus with the most student traffic.
The Shield is comprised of mainly student-held positions within the company. These
positions include an editor-in-chief; visual, copy, news, features, opinion, and sports editors;
also sales and marketing director, business and marketing managers, and sales consultants. A
paid supervisor, Erin Gibson, overlooks the operation as a whole and guides the students to be
the best at their positions. Most of these positions are paid, however some are not. These
positions give the students a tangible, first-hand experience of working within the journalism
field. A majority of the funding comes from the sales consultants that work for the Shield. The
rest of the Shields funding comes from the University of Southern Indiana.
The Shields rate card is also very specific and informative to give to their clients who
would like to place an advertisement in the newspaper. It includes prices of all the
advertisements. It also includes specific information about the students who read the Shield,
and the types of businesses they visit and how often; this gives the client reassurance that their
money being spent on advertising with the Shield is a useful investment. The rate card also

gives a schedule of the time each publication will be released, along with the special
publications that will be distributed on a day other than the normal Thursday.
Situational Analysis
The USI Shield currently releases its weekly publication every Thursday to over thirty of
campuss busiest locations. Students are free to take a copy of the newspaper at their
convenience. The Shield also has a fully functional website that students can visit to read news
earlier rather than wait for the newspaper. Breaking news is also published on the website so
students are able to stay up-to-date with the latest events happening on the universitys
campus. Students can also sign up to be a part of the USI Shields e-mail blast. Being a part of
this e-mail blast would have breaking news sent directly to the students e-mail. This would
take out the time spent on the website looking for an article the student would want to read, or
searching for a breaking news article they have heard about and want to read for themselves.
The USI Shield would like to increase traffic and page views on their website, as well as
increase the number of students who are receiving their e-mail blasts for the breaking news
stories. By increasing traffic to their website and having students sign up for the e-mail blast,
the Shield can increase their readership and continue to build their reputation as a publication.
Since the ways the public receives its news is ever changing with the development of
technology, students will be able to keep up with the Shield and their stories by signing up for
the e-mail blast and visiting the website regularly. Increasing traffic to their website and the
number of students signed up for the e-mail blast will maintain their reputation as a reliable
and truthful news source for students and faculty. Increasing the traffic to their website will
also in turn help their clients by spreading word of their business and the services that the
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companies offer. Companies who advertise with the Shield will have an increase in business
from the universitys students, and in turn will continue to purchase ad space from the Shield in
their future publications.

Strengths

Weakness

Opportunities

Threats

Published every year

since 1968
Winner of 40 ICPA
awards in 2013-2014
Distributes to more
than 20 of the most
populated areas on
campus
Online news everyday
Great utilization of
Twitter and Facebook
Indiana Press
Associations Division 2
Newspaper of the year
for 2 consecutive years
Google Logistics to
measure results of
campaign

No information on
school website
Not distributed year
round
Shield website not well
known among students

Deliver paper to
student apartments
USIs TV and radio
stations
Public access to all
current/past students
USI e-mail addresses

University of Evansvilles
newspaper
WFIE

Little traffic to website

FOX44

CBS

THE SHIELD SWOT ANALYSIS

The USI Shield is a student publication that was founded in 1968 at the University of
Southern Indiana. The Shield has many strengths about them, such as it has been published
ever since being founded in 1968. The Shield also distributes to more than 20 of the most
populated on campus every week. They also greatly utilize their social media accounts via
Facebook and Twitter and posts online news every day. The Shield has been named Indiana

Press Associations Division 2 Newspaper of the Year for two consecutive years. The Shield also
won 40 ICPA awards for the years 2013-2014.
The weaknesses of the USI Shield are the absence of information about the Shield on
the universitys website. The Shields website is also not well known among the universitys
students either, and there is low traffic to their website because of this. Some opportunities to
raise awareness of the website and the Shield are to deliver the Shield to the campus
dormitories and apartments on the day of publication. Utilizing the universitys radio and
television stations are also a great opportunity for the Shield. Threats to the business would be
the University of Evansvilles newspaper and the local news stations, such as WFIE, FOX44, and
CBS.
Internal Public Relations Audit
The Shield is the campus newspaper of the University of Southern Indiana that is
completely ran by the students with a professor for the director of the whole newspaper.
Current student positions are the marketing director, sales and marketing director, business
manager; sports, opinion, features, and news editors, as well as sales consultants. Everything
from the ads featured in the newspaper to the layout of the newspaper is completely decided
by the students. The Shield is published and distributed to over 20 locations on campus every
Thursday.
The Shield is not specifically for journalism students. If a student has a passion for
writing but is not a journalism major, they too can apply for a job with the Shield. The positions
that are within the Shield are mainly held by students with the prospective majors; i.e. the

marketing director is a marketing and advertising major. The Shield welcomes students of all
majors and interest to apply within if they have an interest in working for their publication.
The USI Shield has performed greatly in its most recent year of publication. The Shield
won 40 ICPA Awards for 2013-14. Some of these awards include first place for Best Use of
Twitter, and second place for Best Use of Facebook and Best Rate Card. The Shield also
received third place for Best Ad Design and Best Electronic Ad. Most importantly, for the past
two consecutive years the Shield has been named the Division 2 School Newspaper of the Year
by the Indiana Collegiate Press Association.
The Shield has the opportunity to inform the majority of the student body of trending
and the latest news that is happening on campus. The USI Shield is a designated public forum
that is free from administrative control, meaning the university cannot audit what the Shield
decides to publish. Students can also sign up for an e-mail blast that will send them e-mails of
the latest news happening on campus without having to find it on the Shields website.
Public Perception
The Shield has a great visibility among the students at the universitys campus. All
students have heard of the Shield while attending the University and have many opportunities
to pick up a newspaper at any of the locations the newspapers are administered. Many
students are also aware that the Shield is a designated public forum and the information
published in the newspapers is breaking and quite relevant to the student body. Reading the
Shield is a great way for students to stay educated on the most recent events that are taking
place on campus.

The Shield has a great reputation among students as well. Students that have read the
Shield have read accurate stories about different events happening at the university and about
the faculty at USI and what USI is planning to do or has done throughout the past week. Since
the Shield is free from administrative control, the Shield does publish an Opinions section in
each publication, which potentially damages its reputation with the staff and faculty at the
university. Even though the Shield is free from administrative control, it also publishes the bad
aspects about the university, which sometimes causes some animosity with the faculty.
However, the facts and the honesty with their articles keeps a good reputation with the
students.
External Environment
Supporters of the USI Shield include the employees of this publication and the students
of the university. It is the most complete news source of the happenings on the universitys
campus. Another group of supporters would be the businesses that advertise through the
newspaper. The businesses advertise with the Shield in order to boost their business and turn
bigger profits while they are financially supporting the Shield to keep publishing newspapers
and giving the students a hands-on experience.
The only competitors of the Shield would be other newspaper publications such as the
Evansville Courier and Press, and other television stations perhaps where students could find
out the news. However, none of these news outlets are exclusive to the University of Southern
Indiana like the Shield. The Shield would provide the most in-depth information about the
university and its most recent events. Ironically, the only opponent to the Shield would be the
University of Southern Indiana. The only oppose the Shield when it publishes a negative article
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about the university that puts them in a bad spot with the students who currently read the
Shield.
External impediments include a lot with the Shield. Greek life, language clubs, student
businesses, and different contests and events are all social impediments that would affect the
success of a public relations campaign. Economic factors are also a huge impediment for the
Shield. With a tight budget, it will be difficult to implement a public relations audit with an
extremely small budget to spread word of the Shield and its e-mail blast. Homework and class
will be external impediments due to the fact that students home and class work will include a
lot of reading. Some students may not feel like they have the time to read the Shield and being
able to put in the appropriate amount of time for homework.
Analysis of Publics
Target publics for the Shield are as follows:

Local companies-businesses such as the surrounding restaurants, convenience

stores, gas stations, clothing stores, and service-based companies want to invest
their money with the Shield in order to raise awareness of their company and
the benefits they have to offer to the students who attend the university. The
local companies might also pick up a copy of the Shield to ensure their
advertisement has been placed correctly, and the articles might affect their
future decisions to buy the Shields ad space.

Students-the students of the university are the source of the publications

readership. The students at the University of Southern Indiana will read the
stories in the Shield and be kept educated about different events and news that
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are happening on campus. The students will also see the companies
advertisements and will possibly use their services in a time of need.

University of Southern Indiana-Since the Shield is free from administrative

control, it has the ability to publish anything about the university whether it be
good or bad to the universitys reputation. If the Shield would publish something
harmful to the universitys reputation, they would want to know about it to try
and make a reactive public relations strategy to maintain their good reputation
among its prospective and current students.

USI Alumni-the universitys alumni would also be interested in what the Shield is
publishing so they can stay up-to-date with what has been happening on campus
since they have graduated. If alumni locally own a business, they might be
interested in advertising with the Shield in order to increase their revenues.

Parents of Students-the parents play a part in the Shield because they are a small
part of their readership. Even if they do not attend or visit campus regularly they
can still visit the Shields website and stay caught up on the events that take
place during the weeks, and also know the different opportunities that are
available to their children possibly before even attending or applying to the
university.

High School Seniors-although these students are not an indirect public for the
business, the Shield can reach out to prospective journalism majors who are still
in high school. When these seniors read the Shield, it can have a positive impact
for the University of Southern Indiana by potentially increasing their enrollment
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when the high school students read about what all the campus and the
university has to offer.
Benefit Statement
The Shield is a student publication that offers students and their parents the
opportunity to stay educated on the latest events, breaking news, and opportunities that are
available to the students of the University of Southern Indiana.
Goals and Objectives
From the week of September 1, 2014 to September 7, 2014, the Shields website had
received 4,274 page views for that week. Goals and objectives for a public relations campaign
for the Shield are as follows:
1. To increase readership and traffic to the USI Shields website
a. To increase the awareness of the Shield and their website among the student
body at the University of Southern Indiana; more specifically to raise awareness
of the breaking news alerts and top stories for the students who do not have
time to read or pick up a newspaper.
b. To increase acceptance of the USI Shield among students and recognizing the
Shield as a reliable and great source to receive the news that happening on the
Universitys campus.
c. To increase the number of page hits the USI Shields website receives in a month
by 2% within the duration of the semester-long campaign.
2. To increase the number of registered users signed up for the Shields e-mail
blast/breaking news alerts
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a. To increase the awareness among the students of the USI Shields e-mail blast
and what kind of information it has to offer the student body.
b. To increase the interest among the student body to sign up for the Shields email blast and to have a positive change on the students attitude among
keeping up with the news that is happening on campus
c. To increase the number of students signed up for the Shields e-mail blast by 3%
and to have a positive impact on the students opinion of the news he or she will
receive by signing up within the duration of the semester-long campaign.
Output objectives include writing flyers to accompany newspapers to be personally
handed out to the students on campus. Approximately 200 additional papers along with flyers
will be handed out to students personally on campus. A mail chimp will also be utilized and
sent to all current students and USI alumni informing them of the e-mail blast and the benefits
of following the Shield in this fashion.
Action and Response Strategies
The Shield currently makes great use of their time and actions with the name they want
to establish for their business. The Shield promotes having fresh news on its website every day
and having a print version of the newspaper available to students at over 20 of the busiest
locations on campus. The USI Shield is completely run by students, from the editor-in-chief to
the ad sales positions with a professor as an advisor to the students to keep the newspaper
strong. They have weekly sales goals in order to properly function and keep operations running
smoothly. The audience engages by following the Shield on their social media accounts. Some

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special events include passing out papers on campus for Halloween, and also passing out the
USI Shield gear at the universitys basketball games.
The Shield does an excellent job of having to use minimal reactive strategies as far as
public relations is concerned. They maintain a great reputation among their readers by
reporting completely accurate stories in their news sections. The only questionable material
the Shield would publish would be in their Opinions section. When anyone becomes upset
with a story or a column the Shield has published, they exhibit defensive responses such as
excuse and justification. The Shield will respectfully apologize and reiterate that every story
they publish is newsworthy to the students and their other readers and they should be made
aware of what is happening; that they are simply a business that is doing their best to report
the news with 100% accuracy.
Effective Communication
The most effective way of communicating to the students on campus are through the
radio and television stations, picket signs next to the walkways, and by reaching out to students
personally. Spokespersons would be every employee of the Shield, especially the marketing
director and the supervisor. These employees would be the most versed in how to deal with a
situation that would require any type of public relations work. They would also know how to
effectively market the benefits of staying connected with the USI Shield and how to get the
website and e-mail blast to appeal to the students.
The emotional appeals for this campaign would be to those students who want to
remain educated about everything that is happening around them. By being signed up for the
e-mail blast, they would be informed immediately of any breaking news that is happening on
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campus, whether it be good or bad news. It would also appeal to those who want to feel safe
and would know what to watch out for if something nerve-wracking would happen to someone
on campus. The students would know what to watch out for and maybe have a better idea of
what to do if faced in a dire situation. One negative appeal of this campaign would be fear.
Fear would be instilled to those students who have no idea what terrible things are happening
on campus, and would be educated if they had been signed up for the e-mail blast and received
breaking news alerts.
The message frame of this campaign would be primary educational. The Shield wants to
inform all students of what has been happening on campus. Students will stay informed of
everything happening good and bad on campus, and will be aware of breaking news that is
happening on campus in order for them to stay and feel safe.
Tactics
The theme of the campaign is to keep the USI students connected with the campus
through the Shields online website and e-mail blast. The public relations campaign will focus
on the benefits of signing up for the Shields e-mail blast and reiterate the importance of the
website along with the e-mail blast with staying up-to-date on breaking news that is happening
on campus. Students should be informed of what is happening on campus so they can stay safe
and up-to-date on special events to make the most out of their college experience.
Actions and special events for the campaign will include organizing and setting up two
extra tables outside of their regular schedule to pass out newspapers and flyers. The Shields
social media accounts will also be utilized in order to spread awareness of the tables being set
up on campus. Last, the Shield will utilize a mail-chimp, which will be sent to all current
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students and USI alumnis university e-mail address. The mail chimp will inform them of the
Shields website and directions on signing up for the e-mail blast.
Controlled media for the public relations campaign are flyers and the mail chimp. These
forms of media will come directly from the marketing and public relations sectors of the
Shields corporate structures. Content will be strategically written to target the students to
change their behavior and follow the Shields breaking news alerts and stay educated with the
happenings of the campus. The Shield itself could also be considered a form of controlled
media because they can advertise about the Shield in their newspaper.
Uncontrolled media for the public relations campaign include the Edge Radio and SETV
12 (University of Southern Indianas television station). Billboards and posters on campus are
other forms of uncontrolled external media. Other forms of uncontrolled media are the
television screens advertising on campus, social media outlets, and the other campaign signs
supporting different organizations on campus.
Communication principles to be most effective for the campaign are interpersonal
communication, organizational media, news media, and advertising and promotional media.
Interpersonal communication will occur when the Shield staff personally hands out copies of
the Shield and a flyer to the students on campus. Organizational media used for the campaign
would be the Shields social media outlets, which would reach the followers through Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram. News and promotional media used for the campaign would include the
Edge radio and SETV 12. The Shield trades ad space for free air time with the radio and
television stations.

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Program Implementation
The events for the campaign will be implemented throughout the semester. Starting off,
the Shield will set up a booth during National Newspaper Week in order to gain support for the
publication. The table will have 200 copies of the Shield and flyer. A table will be set up on
October 7 during lunch hours outside of the University Center to personally hand out copies of
the Shield along with flyers to the students who are interested in picking up a copy. A pen and
a free pair of sunglasses will also be handed out to the students who pick up a copy of the
Shield (see Appendix B).
Another table will be set up on October 30 to pass out Halloween candy and a copy of
the Shield along with the flyer as well. The table will be located in the east wing of the
University Center during lunch hours as well in order to reach the maximum amount of
students who will be in this part of campus during the day. This booth will be equipped with
300 copies of the Shield and the flyer, along with seven bags of Halloween Candy.
Last, the mail chimp will be utilized in order to reach the students with the message to
sign up for the e-mail blast and visit the website again. The mail chimp will include information
similar to that of the flyer along with additional information regarding the website and social
media accounts. The mail chimp will be sent to every current student at the University of
Southern Indiana, along with the universitys alumni. This will be very effective in getting the
message of the Shield to the students because the students must check their e-mail on a
regular basis.

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19

Gantt chart (in landscape view)

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The following Gantt chart is the schedule the Stay Connected campaign will follow.
Meetings with the marketing director will be to discuss final plans to event ideas and to finalize
changes needed to be made. Additional meetings with the marketing director may be
scheduled as needed in case of unexpected events occurring. After all elements of the
campaign has been executed, total results of the implemented campaign will be analyzed on
December 3, 2014.

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Evaluation Methods
The success of the campaign will be evaluated by using Google Analytics related to the
Shields website. Through Google Analytics the amount of page views and registered users are
given in a numerical format. The number of registered users can further be broken down in to
more specific demographics, such as if the user is a male or female and the age range of the
registrar. By closely monitoring the increase in page visits and registered users throughout the
duration of the campaign, the events that were the most successful will become apparent, and
will be able to help the Shield get new students registered for the e-mail blast and regular visits
to their website.
Informational and output objectives for the spread of the message will be measured by
the number of newspapers and flyers passed out at the tables, and will be determined by the
number of USI e-mail addresses that can be accessed through the website. Attitudinal and
behavioral objectives can be determined by observing if there was an increase in the average
number of page visits after the campaign has been implemented.

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Appendices
Appendix A
At the booth on October 7, 2014, 75 out of 200 papers and flyers were passed out to the
students.
At the booth on October 30, 2014, 60 out of 300 papers and flyers were passed out to students.

Page visits for the month of September 8-October 8: 2,816

Page visits for the month of October 8-November 8: 2,728

Page visits for the month of November 8-December 8: 3,522

The campaign did not see an increase in the registered number of users who signed up for
the e-mail blasts through the USI Shield.
Results from the mail chimp will be fully analyzed after the winter break. Projected results
from the mail chimp will be an increase in the number of page visits by 1%.

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Appendix B
Flyer used to hand out with the newspapers on campus:

Find out the latest news on campus by signing up for FREE

USI Shield e-mail alerts!

Go to USIShield.com
Click on SIGN UP FOR FREE E-MAIL UPDATES
Enter your e-mail address
Stay connected

Its THAT easy!

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Bundle handed out at the booth on October 7, 2014

25

Mail Chimp to be distributed to current students and alumni

Join the rest of the students at USI and stay connected by signing for
e-mail blasts from the USI Shield. Breaking news alerts happening at
the university will be sent straight to your USI e-mail address. Signing
up is free and easy!
Go to http://www.usishield.com
Scroll to the bottom, click on SIGN UP FOR FREE EMAIL
UPDATES

Enter your e-mail address

Stay connected
Dont forget to follow the USI Shield on your social media outlets!
Facebook (The Shield at USI), Twitter (@usishield), and Instagram
(USISHIELD)

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Appendix C
This campaign was done without cutting into the budget of the USI Shield. The only cost was
the cost of printing the flyers on paper to pass out with the newspapers. The total cost of
printing the flyers was $12.50.
Appendix D
By the Shield giving me this opportunity to run a public relations campaign with them, I
have learned that it is very hard work to get your results that you set in your goals. It takes a lot
of work and time measurement to make sure your campaign is truly running successfully. I
have also learned how much hands-on work is required for running a public relations campaign.
After goals and objectives are set, one must work really hard to ensure the objectives are being
carried out to meet the goals, and thus to have a successful campaign. One unfortunate thing I
learned was how disinterested the students were in reading a copy of the paper. It was a very
difficult task to get the students to take a copy of the paper and a flyer and actually sit down
and read it.
Strengths of the campaign include the campaign stuck with the brand the Shield is
continuing to work very hard on: providing accurate news and keeping their readership up-todate with the latest and breaking news stories that are happening at the University of Southern
Indiana. Another strength was the approach of how to reach a great number of students. The
tables in the University Center during the lunch hours was a prime time to see the most number
of students, whether they be going to lunch or passing through to go to their next class.

27

Weaknesses for the campaign are message consistency. Information about the e-mail
blast and the Shields website should have been repeated many more times to the students
rather than just the two times before the mail chimp was sent out. Another weakness in the
campaign was changing the attitudes about students towards a newspaper publication as a
means of receiving their news. More work should have been put in to changing the students
attitudes before the informational flyers and the mail chimp was sent out. The campaign
should have taken advantage of the fact the Shield gets free air time at the radio and television
stations on campus and used those as means for advertisement as well. Looking on these
weaknesses, I would have definitely worked on these areas of the campaign and made them a
little stronger rather than just trying to get students to hear a specific message.
One thing the Shield could use for future campaigns is to take advantage of the fact
their business gets free air time with the radio and television stations. I also think different
means could be taken to spread word about their business rather than just distributing
newspapers to the locations on campus where they always get distributed. I believe more
students would get involved with the Shield if a more hands-on approach was taken to get their
message circulating about the news and alerts they have to offer through their website.

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