Escape to

America

The Center for Human

Rights of Children at
Loyola University Chicago

Joniece Bayan, Kelsey Scheffer, Elisabeth Lenhart, Lauren Meyer & Adam Rini

Content
Executive Summary
4
Market Research
Target Market
Situational Analysis
IMC Strategy & Objectives
Creative Brief
IMC Deliverables
Social Media Initiatives
Media Plan
Budget

Content
2

IMC Deliverables 16

Market Research 4

Social Media Initiatives 18

Target Market 6

Media Plan 20

Situational Analysis 8

Budget 20

IMC Strategy & Objectives 10

Evaluation Methods 21

Proposed Game

Work Cited 22

Executive Summary

12

Creative Brief

14

Executive
Summary

The following integrated marketing plan was designed

with the intent to increase awareness among 18-25 year
olds about the issue of unaccompanied Central American
child immigrants as well as encourage advocacy among
the target market on behalf of child migrants. This campaign has been created at the request of the Center for Human Rights of Children at Loyola University.

The Center for the Human Rights of Children, or CHRC, addresses critical issues affecting children and youth on a local and global scale. The Centers main goal is to promote
the economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights of children by educating and encouraging activism among students, faculty, and the Loyola community at large. Specific
to the issue of unaccompanied Central American child immigrants, the Center for the
Human Rights of Children is seeking to make an impact among the Chicago community
and beyond. In order to do so, the Center has elected our creative agency to launch an
integrated marketing campaign.

This campaign has been designed around the central idea of using an
interactive choose-your-own-adventure game to educate Chicagoland
18-25 year olds about the issue. The game, Escape to America, provides an escape to the target markets hectic lives while also educating
them about the dangers Central American children face as they attempt to escape from their violent home countries as well as the injustices taking place at the U.S. border. We believe that the target market
is more apt to become involved in social justice issues if it is presented
to them in a unique and impactful way. By creating an experience
that allows a user to see first-hand the struggles Central American minors experience while seeking refuge in the United States, in a virtual
world, we hope to do just that.

Market
Research

According to a Mintel report created by Ika Erwina, mobile gaming

is changing traditional gaming today, as more and more non-gamers are beginning to play mobile gaming applications. Female engagement has grown considerably as has participation from aging
demographics. Erwina notes that gamers prefer to download free
applications, supported by in-app purchases. In terms of marketing mobile apps, prominent placement in the app store and word of
mouth are two key factors in success.

Primary data collection methods were designed with the intent

to gain a greater understanding of how 18-25 year old Chicagoans prefer to receive advertisements and measure their
current knowledge of the Central American Child Migrant social justice issue. A 10 question survey was launched with the
goal of discovering how apt the target market would be to play
an interactive online/mobile game. While 5 in-depth interviews
were conducted to offer insight into the opinions target consumers have regarding Central American Child Migration.

Additional secondary research was collected to provide information regarding the popularity of online/mobile gaming among the target market as well as to identify user preferences. This knowledge
was then utilized in game design and platform distribution.
Primary and secondary research conducted
has greatly influenced campaign decisions as
we have elected to create a free mobile gaming application targeted towards 18-25 year
old casual gamers in the Chicagoland area.

Target
Market
Our target market includes 18-25 year olds that have
positive feelings towards human rights issues but are unknowledgeable about child immigration processing procedures. More specifically we are targeting casual gamers
in the Chicagoland area to ideally expand nationwide as
the game becomes more popular. Chicago will serve as
a test market for the campaign. The target market currently knows little about unaccompanied Central American minors seeking refuge in the United States.

Our aim is to expose the target market to

the issue through an interactive game environment. 18-25 year olds often utilize
mobile, online, or console video games
as a way to escape their everyday stresses.
Instead of educating an already stressed
target market to a heavy social justice issue directly, we aim to use an interactive,
choose-your-own-adventure game to educate the target audience.

22 year old
busy
student

He rides the L
to class and
works at night
and on the
weekends and
volunteers at
a local soup
kitchen.

Casual
Gamer

Male
balancing
school,
work, and
a social life

apps on his phone

include twitter,
facebook, instagram, espn, fantasy
football, trivia
crack, uber, groupon, 2048, angry
birds, and spotify.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

IMC STRATEGY AND

OBJECTIVES

The overarching purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness about the

struggles Central American Migrant
children face when seeking safety
to the United States and to inspire
young people to take action in order to
change the current processing system.
Strategic objectives are listed below
and seek to be achieved through the
launch of an interactive online and mobile, choose-your-own-adventure game.
10

GAME CONCEPT

Play To Get Away...

The game is intended to raise awareness about the

flaws in the legal processing system of child immigrants by depicting the misconduct by CBP officials and lack of legal representation from the eyes
of a child.

The game will take users through

scenarios similar to those Central
American immigrant children face
when immigrating to the United
States to seek safety from the violence in their home countries. Users will quickly discover that regardless of their choices they will
face immense struggles resulting
in a game over. This result is representative of the real-life situations
children find themselves in on the
border without legal aid or child
welfare professionals.

Escape to America can be accessed

by users through their mobile device, Facebook, or a unique link
sending users to the app store.

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Story through the eyes of the character

START HERE

My name is Carlos. I am escaping to America

with my older sister, Natasha. We le?
Guatemala so that we wouldnt be forced to
join the gangs down there. We have been
walking for days. Im hungry, my feet hurt,
and we only have a liFle water le?.

3 HOURS LATER!

SCENE ONE

I can see a fence! I think we are here!

inside an interrogaIon room

We went under the fence and were

immediately picked up by ocers with
a uniform that said CBP. They took us
to a building and separated me and my
sister. I dont know what is going on.

(immediately caught by ocer)

First decision
CBP ocial: Alright kid, Im gonna ask you some
quesIons and your gonna answer them. We clear?
1st ques.on: Were you the vic.m of human

tracking?
OpIon 1

OpIon 2

I dont know
The man ask me a bunch of other quesIons, like Were
you in a gang? and Do you have drugs on you?. I didnt
know how to answer some quesIons and when I did I
lied. Mama told me never to trust the police when I was
in Guatemala. He then brought me to a room with a
bunch of other kids. Its geWng dark.

12

Where is my sister?

The ocer told me that if I didnt

want to cooperate thats my own
F***ing problem. I was so scared.
I froze up and couldnt say
anything. He dragged me to a
room with a bunch of other kids.
Its geWng dark.

Second decision
OpIon 1
Ok.. (give into the

(Hunger has set in)

CBP ocer: Hey kid, you hungry? I got some
food and water for you. But rst, we goFa have a

OpIon 2
No (get no food)

I froze up and couldnt say

anything. He dragged me to a
room with a bunch of other kids.
Its geWng dark.

bunch of other kids. Its geWng dark.

Second decision
(Hunger has set in)

OpIon 1
Ok.. (give into the
request and get some
food)

CBP ocer: Hey kid, you hungry? I got some

food and water for you. But rst, we goFa have a
liFle Fun.

The oce proceeded to.touch

me. I dont like to think about it. I
got some bread and water. The
water was warm and I think the
bread made me sick. I was up all
night throwing up.

OpIon 2
No (get no food)

I said no. He moved on to a kid

across the room. That kid said yes
and I think they had sex. I can sIll
here the kids screams. I was up all
night with hunger pains and the
sound of that kid throwing up
from moldy bread

Third/Final decision
(CUTSCENE) Im so Ired because I couldnt sleep. They are bringing me to court. They told me that I
have to represent myself, whatever that means. I have no idea what is going on. I have never been
more scared in my life. We arrive at the courthouse and I am brought into a small room. There arent
many people. The man in a black robe begins to speak

Judge: Please state your jus.ca.on as to why the

United States of America should allow you to abstain
from deporta.on.

OpIon 1

OpIon 2

Ill be in a gang! (if you are

forced to go back)

I dont want to go back!

OUTCOME
Carlos was deported. He had no idea how to defend himself in court.
This is not a game. This is what happens to real children every day. They are trying to escape
violence from Central America. The CBP is not cerIed to be quesIoning these kids as the tough
line of quesIoning is traumaIzing to young children. They are physically and verbally abused
and dont receive proper nourishment while they are held waiIng to have their fate decided.
Most kids are deported due to and inadequate screening process and accelerated legal
proceedings.

#playtogetaway

#supportborderkids

13

14

15

IMC
DELIVERABLES
IMC Deliverables

CTA Bus
Cta ads will be placed on the
floor of the buses. Through observation of the target market this
is the most seen place on the bus.
These ads will have a QR code in
order to make it easily accessible.
Coffee Sleeves

16

Coffee sleeves will help target the

casual gamer during school hours.
These will be distributed to coffee
shops on campus. They will have the
website, and QR code on them in order to make it easily accessible.

by jhon doe

incopy cs6

by jhon doe

Facebook Ad
In order to target the casual gamer
online we will implement facebook
ads. Since 62% of our target market play games on their computer or
phone. These ads will increase during the launch of the game to create
Buz.

Promotional Flyer
Promotional Flyers will be distributed during multiple occasions. These
will have the website, the name of the
game, and the tagline on them. They
will be distributed both before and
after the release of the game.

17

Social Media INITIATIVES

Pre launch: #PlaytoGetAway

The intent of this social

initiative is to actively
promote game downloads.
18

Target gamers at events

like ComicCon. Hand out
the promotional flyers to
gain interest in the game.

Post Launch:#SupportBorderKids

Contact YouTube famous gamers to

get them to post a videoblog about
the game. This will target 18-34 year
olds who engage with gaming content on youtube. Some gamers are
PewDiePie, Machinima, VanossGaming, and TheSyndicateProject.

Partner with monthly

box company for gamers, LootCrate to include a download card
in every box from May
through August.

After completing the

game users will be
prompted with option
to send a tweet to present Obama using the
#SupportBorderKids
19

MEDIA SCHEDULE & BUDGET

20

EVALUATION METHODS

21

Work Cited
FLAPPY BIRD - DONT PLAY THIS GAME! YouTube. YouTube, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQz6xhlOt18>
Google Trends - Web Search Interest - Worldwide, 2004 - Present. Google Trends. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
<https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=flappy+bird&geo=US>.
Harland, Bryant. Gamers and Gaming - US - September 2014. Gamers and Gaming - US - September 2014.
Mintel, Sept. 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2015. <http://academic.mintel.com/display/679771/>.
Mobile Gaming - US - October 2013. Mobile Gaming - US - October 2013. Mintel, Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Apr.
2015. <http://academic.mintel.com/display/637788/>.
Ramdurai, Guatam. Think Gaming Content Is Niche? Think Again Think with Google. Think with
Google. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2015. <https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/think-gaming-content-isniche-think-again.html>.
Loyola University Chicago - Center for the Human Rights of Children.Loyola University Chicago. Center
for Human Rights of Children, Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
Center for Human Rights of Children-Loyola University Chicago. CHRC Letter to Senator. Letter to Deputy Secretary Mayorkas. Jan. 2015. MS. United States, Chicago, Illinois.
Center for Human Rights of Children-Loyola University Chicago. Letter to the President. Letter to President Barack Obama. Jul. 23 2014. MS. United States, Chicago, Illinois.

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