This was my senior project, planned and created by myself and three other group members. I did much of the book design and shared in research and concepts with the other talented members of my group. Our assignment was to create a communications plan for Box Tops for Education that would run the 2009-2010 school year.

1. Box Tops for Education
’09-’10 Communications Recommendation
Quad Communications

2. Kirsten Lesak-Greenberg,

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Quad Communications found that the Box Tops For Education program is well known, but there is low awareness of the program Web site among target
audiences.
Our primary research indicated that our target moms are interested in raising money for schools, saving money on name brands, and new recipes and
ideas. 90 Percent did not know about the Marketplace and 100 percent of those surveyed did not know about the Reading Room. However, 73% of moms
surveyed are occasional online shoppers. Parents are easily motivated by classroom contests and their Box Tops clipping behavior reflects this.
Our objectives in this campaign are to increase awareness of the Marketplace and Reading room by 20 percent and to increase Web traffic and e-mail
subscriptions by 20 percent by 2010. Quad Communications intends to position boxtops4education.com as a parent community that provides new ways
to raise money for schools and delivers helpful resources for parents.
We identified two target audiences who interact with social media and the Internet in distinctly different ways. Their lifestyles are separate, yet they
are both moms with important interests that connect well with the Box Tops For Education brand.
Quad Communications will use information from boxtops4education.com -- such as recipes, coupons and family ideas -- to reach larger audiences through
social media mediums, subsequently directing them back to the Web site for more information and ideas. A large portion of our campaign outreach will
take place online, driving traffic to boxtops4education.com from other Web sites of interest to our target audiences.
For moms who are not yet digitally savvy, we will introduce them to the Box Tops Web site offline through the use of a Mini Mag that will include
coupons, recipes and information from the Web site and will refer readers back to the site for more tips, tools and ideas. We will also host a contest to
find the "Box Tops For Education All-Star Mom." This contest will get moms to engage with the Box Tops brand on- and offline through online
voting for the best mom, Webisodes of the final offline competition and subsequent post-competition media coverage and advertisements.
Quad Communications has also incorporated recommendations for improving the use of coordinators and for improving the usability of the Web site,
including translating the Web site into Spanish and hosting both Spanish and English versions of the Parent Community forums for the growing Hispanic
family market.
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4. Company History
In 1995, General Mills launched the Box Tops for Education loyalty program
in California. The program was created in response to a decrease in
couponing effectiveness. Individual box tops, worth 10 cents each, could be
cut off the products and delivered to a participating school of choice. When
turned in, General Mills would send the school a check for the amount
earned, to be used at its discretion. In 2000, the BTFE program earned 10
million dollars for schools nationwide. In 2003, the loyalty program expanded
to include a wider range of products such as, Pillsbury, and Ole El Paso, with
box tops on over 4 billion packages. Currently the loyalty program includes
800+ products, and has earned over $250 million for schools nationwide.
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2

5. RESEARCH
We conducted secondary and primary research to familiarize ourselves with the task at hand, and to find key opportunities for Box Tops for Education. The following methods were used
to gain insights into creating a successful campaign.
SECONDARY RESEARCH:
Our secondary research consisted of the initial client presentation, research about the Box Tops for Education program, and research about today’s parents of children in grades K-4. To
do this, we poured ourselves into searching resources, both online and in print. We found a previously conducted research report1 about a group called Digital Moms, to be the most
helpful in narrowing our focus. These moms are exactly the group who will be interested in learning about Box Tops for Education, especially its online components.
PRIMARY RESEARCH:
Surveys: Using the information we gathered about Digital Moms as a focal point, we created two online surveys that we distributed to a national audience on Café Mom a social network
for Digital Moms. Our surveys gave us insight into Digital Moms and their interactions with online shopping and school fundraising, and their familiarity with the Box Tops for Education
program.
Focus Group: In addition to our surveys, we conducted a focus group of mothers who are active in their child or children’s school through volunteer work. We asked them to discuss
the Box Tops for Education program, as well as school fundraising in general.
Some important morsels of information we heard from our focus group participants were as follows:
“We get a lot of
“A great fundraiser is
“We tend to save our information from our
easy to participate in, and
Box Tops for submission school. It’s easy for
isn’t extremely time
months. That’s when it’s Box Tops info to get
consuming.”
at the top of our minds.” lost in the clutter.”
1
Digital Moms, Razorfish
3

6. INSIGHTS
Quad Comm’s secondary and primary research was used to delve deeper into the communications opportunities for Box Tops for Education. We wanted to find out more about Digital
Moms’ associations with the Internet, social media, traditional media, and the Box Tops for Education program. Through this research, we learned the importance of an online presence,
and what mothers are looking for in a school fundraiser.
We conducted two national surveys, which we distributed on mom online networks. The following results led to our key insights for creating our campaign.
73% of mothers were occasional online
shoppers
80% shop for apparel and accessories meaning…
60% shop for books Digital Moms ARE shopping online
60% shop for music and movies
60% shop for electronics
So why aren’t Digital Moms using BTFE’s online fundraising resources?
The good news is, 82% of mothers recognized the name Box Tops for Education.
However, an astounding 90% of mothers surveyed were unfamiliar with the Marketplace,
and 100% of mothers surveyed were unfamiliar with the Reading Room.
In our recently conducted focus group of active volunteer mothers, we found similar insights: active mothers are simply NOT aware of BTFE’s online components.
From our research, we found that we have an opportunity to engage Digital Moms by utilizing a habit they already have (online shopping) and applying it to Box Tops for Education by
promoting the Marketplace and Reading Room. This led us to our two key objectives.
Our marketing objective: Increase usage of the Marketplace and Reading Room by 15%.
Our communications objective: Increase awareness of Box Tops for Education’s online components.
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7. OBSTACLES
Quad Comm does not perceive other programs, such as Campbell’s Labels for Education, as competitors. Instead, we believe the true competitors are the obstacles
facing the program.
In order to plan the best approach to this campaign, we have identified two key obstacles facing Box Tops for Education:
Digitally Unaware- Mothers are unaware of the online components (Marketplace and Reading Room) and therefore do
not participate in these components of the program. They visit participating online shopping sites, unaware they could be
using the Box Tops program to buy the same products and also raise money for their school. !
Response: create awareness and increased usage of the online components!!
Questionable Benefits- Some mothers are unable to perceive the total benefits of the program, and in
turn do not take the time to participate. They see the program in terms of “a few dimes” rather than the
thousands of dollars that could be raised. This creates a mindset in which the mothers do not see the value in
taking the time to clip the Box Tops, therefore decreasing the likelihood for them to buy products participating
the program. !
Response: create a program that is not only beneficial, but engaging to consumers!!
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8. SWOT
Strengths Weakness
• Well-known program • Low awareness of the website and online resources.
• Teachers are willing to provide incentives for getting children involved • The name of the program does not correlate with the movement toward the
• Wide variety of brands, besides General Mills, participating online program.
• Well-organized website • Difficult to keep parents clipping throughout the year.
• Awareness of the program does not directly correlate with participation.
Opportunities Threats
• The online program allows parents the chance to help out the school while • There are other fundraisers for parents to partake in.
doing their shopping online. It is an alternative to physically clipping the Box • Parents have busy schedules
Tops. With more and more moms moving online, there is a great opportunity • Studies have shown that parents would rather write out a check for their child’s
for growth through the marketplace school than physically participate in a fundraiser.
• The marketplace offers coupons, recipes and activities to get the whole family • With more online use, the current program risks looking outdated.
involved. This should be highlighted, especially during a recession. • Competition based on obstacles rather than other similar programs.
• People are buying food to prepare at home rather than going out to eat because • Overload of information from schools
it's less expensive.
• Coordinators at every school that can be utilized for online program growth.
• With more people going online, there is a blooming market for the online
components of BTFE.
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9. Audience - Cathy
Our two targeted segments are derived from the overall audience group of Digital Moms, moms who are technology savvy, and spend good amounts of time using digital media in
their daily lives.
Confident Cathy
• Early thirties
• Young school age children
• Easily influenced by brand programs
• Enjoys social networking
• Believes her online friends are an important resource for parenting advice
• Enjoys one on one communication
Cathy is a young mother with two or three children in K-4. Her family is financially stable, so many of her purchasing decisions are not based solely on price. She is a confident mom
online and off, and considers herself a go-to person for personal advice. She enjoys spending time online and on social networking sites where she is able to express herself and connect
with others. She trusts the parenting advice of moms like her, whether she knows them or not, and is highly influenced by their attitudes toward social causes and purchasing
information. She is good at articulating her beliefs and product experiences, and would make a great brand advocate if it were a product or cause she felt strongly about. Cathy prefers
to chat with her friends and other online moms 1:1, so even though she has a wide circle of online acquaintances, she sends a lot of private messages. Although, this does not deter her
from joining groups forums, and asking and answering questions on blogs.
Cathy is drawn to the Box Top’s Marketplace for the online forums. She is interested in what other moms are participating in, and gets excited and influenced by the ideas they have and
share.
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10. Audience- Sarah
Stay-at-home Sarah
• Early to late thirties
• 1 child in preschool
• Outgoing
• Educated, attended college
• Constrained household income
• Gets advice from her friends first, online moms second
Sarah is a mother of one young child, looking to have another soon. She is an educated woman who made the decision to stay at home after her first child was
born. Regardless of her decision to stay at home, her household’s income has always been a bit constrained, so she looks for high quality and value when she
shops. She is eager to chat with other mothers when it comes to parenting or shopping, although she is not a blogger. She has a large number of online friends,
and is always looking to expand it further. She is a visually artistic woman who enjoys decorating her profile page and uploading photos of her family and
friends. She likes uploading interactive games and options for her friends to enjoy when they visit her page as well.
The Box Top’s website would be appealing to Sarah for the coupon offers, recipe ideas, and online shopping. She sees real value in giving back to her child’s
school, therefore she would benefit from the online shopping she already does by using the website. Sarah would keep track of Box Top's monthly deals and
discounts, and would be drawn to the downloadable activities to do with her child.
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11. THE BIG PICTURE
Through our research, insights, audience and obstacle analysis we have come to understand the ideal audience for Box Tops for Education and constructed a cohesive brand promise.
Box Tops for Education is a functional fundraiser - it's fundraising parents can use. Consumer insight has shown us that moms are already utilizing resources that BTFE offers - parent
blogs, online shopping, money saving techniques, etc. Understanding this, we propose this brand promise:
The Box Tops for Education website is a parent community that provides new ways to
raise money for schools and delivers helpful resources for parents.
Positioning BTFE as such will help increase awareness among moms and engage parents with the Box Tops brand.
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12. Objectives and Strategy
Campaign Objectives
• Establish a 20% increase in awareness for the Box Tops Online Marketplace and Reading Room by January 2010
• Advertise and network on mom blogs and social networking sites to increase Web site traffic and e-mail subscriptions 20% by January
2010
Creative Strategy
The creative strategies within the campaign are designed to promote the program’s online components. They will aid in increasing Web
site traffic, overall awareness, and e-mail subscriptions.
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13. SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a vital tool to communicate messaging in today's digital world. This venue is especially important to the Digital Mom audience. Much of the content on the Box
Tops for Education site is valuable information for Digital Moms, but is lost to a small amount of viewers. Below, we compared the traffic of Facebook and Twitter, to the web
traffic of the BTFE website.
We will utilize the already generated information of BTFE’s site (recipes, coupons, family ideas) and use it to reach larger audiences through Facebook and Twitter. We will give
teasers of the BTFE website through these media and help drive traffic for the site above its current state through links from each social medium.
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14. FACEBOOK
.
Facebook
Facebook used to be a networking site for college students, but has since grown to be the largest social network Web site available. The demographics have since changed, and
currently the average age of users are 25-34 years old, with over 30% of users being parents of children K-4 age.
Currently there are 38 Facebook groups with the theme “Box Tops for Education.”
We feel there is an opportunity here to create a branded Fan Page, and round up the members of these groups into one definitive group. The members of the Fan Page will have
access to information on the program, be able to view the top competing schools’ information, post information about their school, and share in discussions about Box Tops for
Education.
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15. TWITTER
Twitter
Twitter is the newest social media trend, and has grown to over six million users in the past year. With user demographics in the range of our target audience, it would be a
mistake to ignore this free way to relay the Box Tops for Education message.
By creating the @BoxTops4Edu user name, we would utilize Twitter to reach out to members of our demographic, and users already talking about Box Tops for Education.
Each day of the week would be a different theme, conveying messaging from the Web site, and adding a link to drive Web site traffic.
Monday- Dinner Recipe
Tuesday- Craft
Wednesday- Featured school
Thursday- Book of the week (Reading
Room)
Friday- Shopping deals (Marketplace)
Saturday- Dessert Recipe
Sunday- Coupon link OR Dinner Recipe
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16. BTFE ALL-STAR MOM COMPETITION
Quad Communications wants to get moms involved in the Box Tops brand and put a face to the Box Tops for Education name so that the brand will feel more personal and relatable to a
target set of moms who are active online. We want to find our participants through digital outreach to ensure that we attract digitally savvy moms. We would continue our campaign and
the search for the BTFE All-Star Mom on YouTube.com and BoxTops4Education.com. Our primary research suggests that moms are interested in new recipes and helping out their child's
school. Because of this interest in new recipes, we settled on the idea of a cook-off to determine the final winning BTFE All-Star Mom. To qualify for the contest, moms have to have at
least one child in kindergarten through fourth grade.
BTFE ALL-STAR MOM SEARCH TIMELINE
August 2009: Announce the competition September – October 2009: Contest entrants create profiles & begin
• Include an advertisement in the Box Tops Parent Mini Mag, voting
• Include an advertisement in Parenting School Years Magazine (national circulation of • Moms can begin creating their profiles on the BTFE contest page through
500,000), Parents Magazine (national circulation of 2,233,313), Scholastic Parent and BoxTops4Education.com (for the purposes of this campaign, the Web site will tentatively
Child Magazine (national circulation of 1,220,312) and Working Mother Magazine be called BoxTops4Education.com/BoxTopsMom). Each profile will contain the entrant's
(national circulation of 829,723). name, number of kids and grades, why she thinks she is a BTFE All-Star Mom, her
• Pitch to mom blogs and Twitter groups, favorite recipe and her favorite thing to do with her kids.
• Tweet about the contest from @boxtops4edu (Twitter account), • Other digital moms, friends and family members will be able to vote for their favorite
• Post information about the contest and how to participate on BoxTops4Education.com, BTFE All-Star Mom based on their profile. The voting will be automated through the
• Send out an announcement to coordinators and asking them to spread the word through Web site.
their schools, and • Entrants will campaign to gain the most votes to move on to the next stage in the
• Send out an announcement in the BTFE e-newsletter. competition.
November 1, 2009: Semifinalists and finalists chosen November 15, 2009: Information to finalists
• The 15 moms with the most votes will be notified that they are semifinalists. • The five finalists will be announced.
• Notify semifinalists that a BTFE representative will interview them within the next two • Video cameras will be sent to the five finalists to be used for creating a "day in the life"
weeks. video. This will be done before December 1 and will be posted on YouTube from the
• In the next two weeks, a BTFE representative from General Mills will do phone BTFE YouTube account, and will be posted on BoxTops4Education.com/BoxTopsMom.
interviews with the moms to make sure they will feel comfortable talking with media if
they are chosen to be the BTFE All-Star Mom.
• Of the initial 15 semifinalists, General Mills will chose a final five.
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17. BTFE ALL-STAR MOM COMPETITION
BTFE ALL-STAR MOM SEARCH TIMELINE
February 1: Announce the winner and distribute prizes
December 3, 2009: Top five compete in cook-off • Announcement in the Box Tops Parent Mini Mag,
• Finalists will fly in to Minneapolis/St. Paul on Thursday, December 3 for the cook-off. • Announcement advertisement in Parenting School Years Magazine (national circulation
• Film the cookoff in "episodes" as the finalists are narrowed down to one winner. of 500,000), Parents Magazine (national circulation of 2,233,313), Scholastic Parent and
• The cook-off will include recipes created using Box Tops for Education brand products, Child Magazine (national circulation of 1,220,312) and Working Mother Magazine
and kids from various schools in the Twin Cities will test the final meals. The recipes (national circulation of 829,723).
from each episode will be posted on BoxTops4Education.com, as well as the number of • Pitch to mom blogs and Twitter groups,
Box Tops that would have been earned by creating each recipe with BTFE products. • Tweet about the contest from @boxtops4edu (Twitter account),
• The space for the cook-off would be rented from a venue, such as Cooks of Crocus • Posting information about the winner and her "Meal of the Month" on
Hill, that already has a space set up for seating and cooking in the same location. BoxTops4Education.com,
• All video footage will be edited during the month of January • Send out an announcement to coordinators,
• Send out an announcement in the BTFE e-newsletter, including the BTFE All-Star Mom's
"Meal of the Month",
• Putt out news releases with the BTFE All-Star Mom's story to target parenting and
family publications,
• Set up TV spots and interviews for the winner.
• Physically bring the $5,000 check to the BTFE All-Star Mom's child's school. Invite the
media and make a speech congratulating the school and the winning mom. Get a photo
with the mom, principal, General Mills representative and the check. Send a photo news
release to local newspapers that were unable to attend the event.
• Send coupons/redeemable cash to the mom for free Box Tops products for the year.
• Space out the episodes and post one each week or two weeks on both
BoxTops4Education.com and YouTube.com through the BTFE YouTube account. Tweet
from @boxtops4edu each time an episode is uploaded.
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18. Print Advertising: Parenting School Years Magazine (national circulation of
500,000), Parents Magazine (national circulation of 2,233,313), Scholastic Parent and
Child Magazine (national circulation of 1,220,312) and Working Mother Magazine
(national circulation of 829,723).

19. CREATIVE
BOX TOPS PARENT MINI MAG
• Coupons
• Recipes
The Box Tops Parent Mini Mag will help us reach numerous parents – those that have not yet made the transition to being affluent online, • Articles about parenting
those that are unaware of the online benefits on BTFE, and those who need extra reminders of what the online site can offer; it will be
electronic content in physical form. It will also give parents a point-of-purchase reminder of the Box Tops brand and its many uses.
Distribution of these Mini Mags will be in grocery stores around the country, and will be put with BTFE endcaps at back to school times. They will also be distributed to waiting
rooms in places such as doctors’ offices, dentists’ offices and hair salons. It will also be the duty of the coordinators to promote the Mini Mags, and there will be a special reminder in
BTFE e-mails to look for the Mini Mags at the designated distribution times.
Timing of distribution will be at two different times of the year, mostly centered around back to school and months of submission. The first will be during the month of
September, as this is back to school time and October is a submission time. The second publication will be during the month of February, which is also another submission time.
Content of the Mini Mag will be cohesive with the overall Box Tops brand and campaign strategy. For example, the first publication will have articles about kids going back to
school and recipes for Halloween treats. The first publication will also have an advertisement for the "Box Tops for Education All Star Mom Search", and the second publication will
have an article about the winner as well as her exclusive recipes. The Mini Mag will tie in all of the Box Tops benefits like extra online materials, money saving techniques
and parent-relevant articles. To appeal to the Hispanic market, there will be a mention of the ability to chat with other Spanish-speaking parents online with the Parent Community
message boards.
Since the Mini Mag could potentially take up much of the campaign's budget, it is
recommended that the first cycle is done in "test cities". We would like to see how these
locations respond to the Mini Mag to determine if it is an investment that is worth
See Appendix
## expanding. Select cities in California such as Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San
Francisco could be the "test cities" where the first cycle of the Mini Mag is distributed. If
these areas seem to respond well to the Mini Mag and help achieve the campaign objectives,
it can be further implemented in other areas around the country.
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20. BANNER ADVERTISING
At the rate Digital Moms visit Web sites, they are exposed to more advertising than when watching a television show . This is why we propose using banner ads on popular Web
sites for moms as a way to extend the budget in a cost effective way.
Each banner ad will be “click through” so that the viewer may click to get to the BTFE site, thus driving more traffic to our intended destination.
We will run two sets of banner ads on the popular women’s site iVillage.com to test the effectiveness of this method. The ads will run the month of February in our campaign,
to coincide with the launch of our contest. Two sets of banner ads will run 5 days each that month. One example is below, and the other (promoting the Reading Room) is
pictured on the opposite page.
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21. Examples of Flash banner ads for Reading Room, placed for 5 days on iVillage.com.
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22. MOM BLOG TOUR
Mommy bloggers are some of the most influential bloggers on the Web today. A 2008 study showed that a staggering 96% of mothers surveyed value the product
recommendations of mom bloggers. This is why we propose the Box Tops Mom Blog Tour.
The Mom Bloggers Club is a social network specifically for mommy bloggers. With over 3,500 members, this social network reached 31,449 unique visitors in the month of April
2009. A feature the site offers for media and advertising is a sponsored blog tour. In the past, General Mills has successfully used this feature in promoting breakfast cereals and
their healthy features.
For the tour, the Mom Bloggers Club will match Box Tops up with 100 mom bloggers and ensure that they post within the period of August to October 2009. With mom bloggers
in niche markets, and some general mom bloggers with over 90,000 unique visitors, the reviews will be sure to reach our audience. Our blog tour info will include the following key
messaging:
The Reading Room is easy to The online Marketplace is a
use, has a huge selection of quick and easy way to earn
your favorite books, and will money for your child's school
earn money for your child's while doing what you already
school. do, shopping online!
We will ask the mom bloggers to review each of the sites and comment on the program. In addition they will get talking points about the program as a whole.
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23. RECOMMENDATIONS
WEBSITE RECOMMENDATIONS
Currently the entire BTFE website is not fully translated into Spanish which is very limited for the Hispanic market. We recommend that the entire website should be able to be
translated into Spanish and that the Parent Community forums are separated into English and Spanish, i.e. when someone chooses to view the website in Spanish, the forums will be
with other Spanish-speaking parents. This will make the online aspects of BTFE more accessible for this market, therefore draw more parents to the BTFE site.
We also recommend that the BTFE website be re-designed to become more catered to the strategic plan of creating a parent community with an emphasis on the Box Tops Marketplace.
The website is currently difficult to navigate and has many different tabs segments with numerous options for each tab. We recommend that these tabs are condensed to the following
sections:
Parent Community
Special Offers • Message Board
• Bonus Offers • Articles (put content from the “Family Matters” section here
Marketplace and Reading Room • Deals and Discounts (currently in the “Marketplace” section) • Recipes
• Coupons • Collection Projects
These three segments are the main focus of this campaign: to promote fund-raising techniques online, to create a parent community, and to draw people to the money-saving aspects of
BTFE. By having only 3 sections instead of 7, these benefits are not lost in the clutter and are more emphasized.
To enhance the social aspect of the site, when new members choose to COORDINATOR RECOMMENDATIONS
register for the bi-monthly e-newsletter, they will have the option to Consumer insight through surveys and our focus group has shown us that coordinators are doing little to
send an invitation to a friend to also sign up. As the parent community push the online fund-raising aspects of BTFE, as parents are generally unaware of the Marketplace and
continues to grow, an instant messenger application could be added. Reading Room. Coordinators should be brand ambassadors for BTFE and promote the All Star
Moms can choose to install an instant message profile to their homepage, Mom Search and Parent Mini Mag, but it is also in their best interest to promote these online components
and search for other mothers at their child’s school, or schools within since it raises money for their school. Promotional materials should be sent to coordinators including
their state. This would encourage communication and enhance the parent templates for their school's newsletter or email that helps them to inform parents about the online benefits
community. of BTFE.
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24. Media Flow Chart
Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June July
Paid Media Advertising
iVillage Banner Ads
Parents Magazine
Parenting School Years Magazine
Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine
Working Mother
Social Media
Facebook Fan Page
Twitter - @BoxTops4Edu
Mom Blog Tour
Pitching Blogs about the BTFE All-Star Mom contest
YouTube Account - posting BTFE All-Star Mom Webisodes
Public Relations
BoxTops4Education.com/BoxTopsMom
Box Tops E-newsletter
Box Tops Parent Mini Mag.
Pitching contest news releases nationally
Pitching contest news release to BTFE All-Star Mom's hometown
Pitching BTFE All-Star Mom for TV and radio spots
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25. BUDGET
Projects/Events Cost Per Component # Of Components Total Cost
Paid Advertising
Ivillage.com $15 CPM 15 $240,000
Social Media Promotions
YouTube account $0.00 1 $0.00
Facebook fan page $0.00 1 $0.00
Twitter account (@BoxTops4Edu) $0.00 1 $0.00
Mom Blog Tour $4,000.00 1 $4,000.00
SUBTOTAL $4,000.00
Adding to/Editing BoxTops4Education.com n/a n/a $0.00
SUBTOTAL $0.00
Mini Mags
Printing $1.00 400,000 $400,000.00
Distribution n/a 29640 $29,640
SUBTOTAL $429,640.00
DiContest
Two full-page, color advertisements (before & after) in Parents Magazine $59,810.00 2 $119,620.00
Two full-page, color advertisements (before & after) in Working Mother Magazine $67,935.00 2 $135,870.00
Two full-page, color advertisements (before & after) in Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine $93,378.00 2 $186,756.00
Two full-page, color advertisements (before & after) in Parenting School Years $147,105.00 2 $294,210.00
Flip cameras $247.00 5 $1,235.00
Minneapolis round-trip flights for contestants + 1 guest $400.00 10 $4,000.00
Three nights in hotel x 5 $300.00 5 $1,500.00
Production n/a n/a $5,000.00
Products/Food n/a n/a $800.00
Location $6,000.00 1 $6,000.00
Giant check $50.00 1 $50.00
Prize money $5,000.00 1 $5,000.00
Year of BT4E products $900.00 1 $900.00
SUBTOTAL $760,941.00
TOTAL $1,434,581
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26. EVALUATION TOOLS
Social Media:
To evaluate the effectiveness of the following social media tactics; mom blog tour, Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts and Youtube videos, we will pre-test and post-test Web
site traffic, and track the number of e-mail registrations. We will keep track of the number of views to our Youtube videos, member participation on social networking sites, and
comments generated on the mom blog tour. We will sign up for Google Alerts, which will notify us every time an article regarding Box Tops is posted. Blog monitoring will be
done to test for interest or any dissatisfaction. To gauge whether general awareness of the program’s online components has increased, we will hire an agency to poll parents. If
the social media tactics are successful, the number of site registrations and awareness should increase.
Promotion/Public Relations
Our promotional strategies and public relations efforts coincide throughout the campaign. The Parent Mini Mag is a promotional item designed to increase awareness of the Online
Marketplace and Reading Room while driving traffic to the site. The All-Star Mom Competition is promotional, but will hopefully expand through viral marketing into a successful
public relations campaign.
To gauge the success of the Parent Mini Mag, we will pre-test and post-test e-mail subscriptions, and online activity. We will also track coupon redemption. The research generated
from the agency’s polling will inform of us of whether more moms are aware of the Web site and other components of Box Tops besides clipping. It is important that the Mini
Mag’s be evaluated thoroughly because the results will determine whether it is expanded to other states and cities.
To gauge the success of the All-Star Mom Competition, we will first monitor general interest in the competition by looking at the number of moms who sign-up to compete,
Google Alerts, Youtube video views and comments, mom blog monitoring, and any free publicity generated through the viral nature of the competition. Once the mom is chosen,
and she begins her reign as the year’s “Face of Box Tops,” we will poll moms regarding their view of the mom. We can also measure the number of new e-mail subscriptions.
Advertising
Evaluation of the magazine advertisement’s effectiveness in communicating with our target audience will be to gauge interest in the All-Star Mom Competition. We will again look
at the number of moms who sign up to participate, Youtube video views and comments, Google Alerts, mom blog monitoring, and free publicity generated. We will also measure
public opinion on the years “face of Box Tops.”
Banner ads about the Reading Room and the All-Star Contest will be evaluated through click rate.
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4

27. CONCLUSION
Box Tops for Education asked Quad Communications to come up with a campaign to drive awareness about the brand, especially its highly ignored
online components. Through research, we came to better understand the program, the audience, and the obstacles facing the program.
By gaining key insights, we developed a brand promise to serve as the focal point to our campaign.
Our main objective became finding creative and relevant ways to drive awareness and
traffic toward BTFE’s online components. Utilizing advertising, marketing,
and public relations techniques, we developed a comprehensive
campaign that will bring awareness to
Box Tops for Education,
and drive our target audience to the BTFE Web site.
This campaign will serve BTFE through the 2009-2010 school year, and essentially can be reapplied for years to come.
Digital Moms will soon be brand champions for Box Tops for Education.
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