2013-3e-1a

Promotional Plan 2012

TOMA-Top of Mind Awareness. In this new era of social media and mobile apps, nothing has been more important. Especially to a campus newspaper. Trends and devices change quickly, and we must always be at the top of our consumers’ minds if we are to stay competitive. Central Michigan Life’s Public Relations plan AND staff continues to grow each year to address these changes, and to create TOMA for our product.

How can we influence where our market will get their information? How can we make sure it will still be the campus newspaper/website/app? And how do we create enough TOMA that when they are looking for that information they REMEMBER us? While many papers may focus on just one or two prime events, we believe it takes a daily and aggressive marketing plan to create effective top of mind. Our overall goal is to promote awareness of our print product, Central Michigan Life, build traffic to our online product, www.cm-life.com, promote downloads of our App and create awareness of our niche products and their websites.

To accomplish this, in 2012 we aggressively turned to social media to build our Twitter and Facebook audiences and then created activities and events that would put us face to face with our core readers. We hired one Public Relation Manager (300 hr. intern) per semester to oversee the completion of all our projects. The PR interns each had the assistance of 5-6 other interns (40 hours), volunteers and draft members of the advertising and editorial departments. Our Facebook fan base has grown to more than 8,900 followers making us #2 in the rankings of college newspapers with a Facebook presence. CM LIFE’s Twitter followers have increased to more than 6,300 during this past year, and our new App continues to show great promise, exceeding more than 1,200 downloads in our first semester.

→

Promotional Plan

→1. CMU basketball fans LOVE to express themselves with CM LIFE’s “WHO CARES!” pages. 2. CMU Rowdies Facebook gallery. 3. GET ROWDIE ads run before and after each home game. 4. CM LIFE representatives at the Welcome Back Ride Along!

CMU BASKETBALLROWDIES WHO CARES!

PROMOTION:A long standing tradition with our CMU men’s

basketball team is the CM LIFE “Who Cares!” paper. This gives CM LIFE visibility at every home

game. Fans provide a warm welcome to the opposing team, while reading ad messages from

supporting businesses on the other side. The advertisers also provide the prizes given

to the “rowdiest” fans. CM LIFE PR members attend each game and photograph several

Rowdies. The fans know why our staff is there, and are reminded at the game to check the next

CM LIFE to see if they are the “Rowdiest” fan. The winners are featured in ads after each home

game. Reminder posts to Facebook and Twitter encourage followers to pick up a CM LIFE.

After the winner of each game picks up their prize, we post their picture to CM LIFE ‘s

facebook page, in the special “Rowdies” album. CM LIFE fans can tag and share their photos, too,

increasing CM LIFE’s awareness.

WELCOME BACK RIDE ALONG:On the first day of classes for the Spring Semes-

ter, we publish a large Back To School edition. To welcome students back to campus after

Christmas break, we partner with the local transit company to ride buses back and forth between

campus and the apartment complexes. Our smiling faces greet each passenger with a cup of

coffee or hot chocolate, a donut hole and a CM LIFE BTS paper. (This year’s coffee sponsor was

Biggby Coffee). CM LIFE had four riders on each of the four routes. Our teams also tweeted and

posted to their Facebook walls during the ride to create fun and interest. This is a happy promo-

tion that puts a smile on everyone’s face and creates awareness of our brand. We had great

feedback from the riders on our Facebook page.

JAN. - DEC. DAILY EFFORTS:FACEBOOK & TWITTER

PR Manager promotes interesting articles, pho-tos and advertisements to CM LIFE Facebook

page and Twitter feed. These posts will alternate between links to website, or teaser to pick up the

paper. Staff members use their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote CM LIFE. This creates an opportunity to show the diversity of

information in CM LIFE on any given day.

JAN. - DEC. MONTHLY EFFORTS:ADVERTISER NEWSLETTERS

Twice a month, the PR staff communicates to our advertisers all the promotions and special

sections CM LIFE is working on, so our local businesses can be part of the action. In addition,

each newsletter features an article, reinforc-ing the advertiser’sdecision to promote in the

student newspaper or the student market. This newsletter is sent to our advertiser email list, plus

posted on our advertising website.

JANUARY 1

2 3

4

Promotional Plan

→

1. Valentine’s Day personals ad, flyer and poster. Event table. 2. Polar Plunge Crew - before, during and after. 3. 500 beach balls and leis...and the happy Luau fans. 4. Tags on leis encouraging students to visit businesses after game, and next CM LIFE promotion.

VALENTINE’S DAY PERSONALS AND DINNER/MOVIE GIVEAWAY:Ah, love on a college campus. What could be better? CM LIFE partnered with two localbusinesses to provide a romantic evening for two in observance of Valentine’s Day. Promotional ads began in the paper one month prior to publishing. We also promoted via our Facebook and Twitter accounts as well. CM LIFE PR staff created an event page on Facebook to reach out to non CM-LIFE readers/fans. Invites are sent out via each member’s (Public Relations and Advertising staffs) personal Facebook account. Increasing awareness of event and CM LIFE. For loved ones away from campus, a rectangle ad ran on cm-life.com. This ad linked to a PDF form that parents, alumni and significant others were able to fill out and send in. Also about four weeks prior, CM LIFE PR staff puts up Bus Shelter posters, rack posters and flyers around campus promoting event. A QR code was used this year to encourage readers to submit their valentine message via mobile devices. The PR team also chalks classroom boards. In addition, PR teams set up tables at high-traffic locations and events signing lovers up for the special day. That gave us the extra push we needed to generate double the liners from previous years, and drive readers to the paper that day.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF MICHIGANPOLAR PLUNGE:CM Life is a local, media sponsor for the annual Special Olympics Polar Plunge. Since CMU is home to the state headquarters, and 70% of the plungers are CMU students - it was a natural fit for us. In exchange for the sponsorship CM LIFE gets to field a team of 8 plungers. This is a feel good PR effort, with loads of visibility for us, all for a great cause. We donate 1/4 page ads and a rectangle ad on our website. We also put up posters around campus and on available bus shelters. For fun we also ran a contest on our website for readers to vote for their favorite plunge and their favorite costumes. Winners received Buffalo Wild Wings certificates.

CMU BASKETBALL SPONSORSHIPSPRING BREAK LUAU:In February, we partnered with CMU Athletics to sponsor a Luau night at the men’s basketball game just prior to Spring Break. This was a fun opportunity to do some giveaways and create some fun visibility for CM LIFE. We provided, and BLEW UP 500 beach balls and also found some colorful leis for the event.To help support the costs of these items, we partnered with United Apartments and Papa John’s Pizza for the event. Each business contributed toward the cost of the beach balls and leis. In exchange, their names were on the beach balls and a coupon for their business was attached to the leis, encouraging students to frequent their business after the game.CM LIFE also created a tag on the leis for our next promotional event, encouraging folks to pack CM LIFE in their bags for Spring Break and inviting them to read the following Monday’s paper for more information on winning $100 in B-Dubs gift certificates. (B-Dubs is like gold here in Central Michigan!)

FEBRUARY

1

2

4

3

Promotional Plan

→1. Spring Break promo results ad; 2. Examples of Spring Break entries; 3. The newsroom really liked this spring break entry. Our FB current timeline photo. 4 & 5. Examples of “Who Reads” testimonial ads.

TAKE US ON SPRING BREAK:This promotion encouraged readers to take CM LIFE with them on Spring Break, snap a picture with CM LIFE in that destination, and then post it to our Facebook wall. This entered the reader in a contest to win Buffalo Wild Wings gift cer-tificates. B-dubs is like gold on our campus, so

everyone was enthusiastic. Top 3 faces with the most likes won certificates. Buffalo Wild Wings

donated prizes in exchange for color on their ads. Win-win for everyone. Our 2012 contest had

double the entries from the previous years and 1146 total facebook “like” votes .


PR Manager promotes interesting articles, photos and advertisements to CM LIFE Facebook

page and Twitter feed. These posts will alternate between links to website, or teaser to pick up the

paper. Staff members use their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote CM LIFE. This creates an opportunity to show the diversity of

information in CM LIFE on any given day.



sections CM LIFE is working on, so our local busi-nesses can be part of the action. In addition, each

newsletter features an article, reinforcing the advertiser’s decision to promote in the student

newspaper or the student market. This newslet-ter is sent to our advertiser email list, plus posted

on our advertising website.

JAN. - DEC. WEEKLY EFFORTS:WHO READS PROMOTION.

As newspapers continue to struggle for reader-ship and relevance, and headlines continue to promote the gloom and doom of the printed

word, we wanted to tell a different story. In our small market, the story is different. Not only is our readership among students still high, but

our readership within the community of Mt. Pleasant continues to remain high. We wanted to

showcase, not only to our readers, but primarily to our advertisers, who reads CM LIFE and the

diversity of our readers. The PR staff coordinates the photo shoots and testimonials and creates

the ads. The testimonials were used in other promotional materials as well. We included

the testimonials on our advertising website for future advertisers to read; we added them to

our bi-monthly email newsletter to our existing advertisers; we used them as rack posters around

campus; and we added them as a photo album on CM LIFE’s Facebook page. The promotion has

been very successful. It has a graphic element that is recognizable; when people are asked to

do a testimonial, they remember previous ones that have run; and advertisers have commented

about the diversity of our readership. It has been a great way to tell our story.

MARCH

We asked our fans to grab a CM Life before they left and

pack it in their suitcase,take a picture

with CM Life from their Spring break location.

To see where we went,visit CM Life’s facebook page and

vote for your favorite Spring Break picture!

Hey CM Life Fans

Voting closes 5PM on Friday, March 16. Limit one entry per person.

The entry with the most “likes” wins

$100 in gifT cerTificaTes!Second place wins $75 and third wins $50 in certificates.

facebook.com/cmlife

check ouT where cm life wenT on spring break!

who readscm life?

The better question may be...

Who Doesn’t?

436 MOORE HALLCMU • MT. PLEASANT(989) 774-3493 o U r r E A d E r S h i P

g r o w S d A i L y !

Follow us on: acebook and

i N P r i N T • o N L i N E

CM Life reader for 2 years.

“I like CM Life because almost all of the articles relate directly to me as a student. I also like how I learn something new every time I read it.”

Mitch ReetzMember, CMU Club Baseball,Business Major and Mt. Pleasant Sophmore

1

5

3

2

who reads

cm life?

“We read CM Life because it provides us with different perspectives on life at CMU and in the Mt. Pleasant area. CM Life keeps Sigma Tau Delta informed and connected not only with the academic community here at CMU but also with the surrounding community outside of the university.”

Sigma Tau Delta Keith GuyotCM Life readers for 72 years (since 1940) President of Sigma Tau Delta

Front Row (Left to Right): Marquise Sitkowski, Ariana Jordan, Ashley Budzol, Bridie MacDonald, Jacqui Northrup, Ian Wolf Middle Row (Left to Right): Bethany Wohlfeil, Samantha Randolph, Keith Guyot, Chelcy Pine, Alyssa Chrisman, August Orlow Back Row (Left to Right): Andrew Rodriguez, Justin Wigard, Rachell Weeks, Taylor McCarrick, Jennifer Ziolkowski

The better question may be... Who Doesn’t?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 3 6 M O O R E H A L L • C M U • M T . P L E A S A N T • ( 9 8 9 ) 7 7 4 - 3 4 9 3

O U R R E A d E R S H i P

g R O w S d A i L y !

i N P R i N T • O N L i N E

Follow us on: acebook and

4

Promotional Plan

→

1. Best of Central Michigan website; 2. Bus shelter poster; 3. Facebook voting sample page; 4. Best of Central Michigan Twitter page; 5. Best of Bribe to Vote page; 6.Online rules pages;

BEST OF CENTRAL MICHIGAN BRIBE/VOTING PROMOTION:

CM LIFE produces a special section every fall dedicated to readers choice votes for the BEST OF CENTRAL MICHIGAN.

During the voting period (APRIL) for this section, we offer a bribe event to encourage more print ballots for the participating businesses who LOVE TO WIN!

Businesses participating in the bribe promotion get special boxes for their customers to vote, along with special ballots.

Facebook: The Facebook promotion to increases awareness and adds another layer of voting. Each day our PR staff would post a new “category” to vote in. We would post the top 5 vote getters from the previous year, and if a business wanted to be added to the category, they just simply had to post a photo to our wall, and we would move it to the category. Then it was up to them to get their fans to our page to vote.

Twitter: Daily reminders were tweeted for the Facebook category of the day and for friendly reminders to vote, especially in the very competitive categories. Daily reminders with links to the voting and the promotional video would also be posted.

QR Codes in our printed products: newspaper ads, bus shelter posters, and fliers; offer readers a quick gateway via phones to vote on our Facebook page and online at cm-life.com. Print and online ballots and Facebook voting, plus the bribe boxes added up to more than 3,400 ballots cast.

APRIL

1

3

4

Vote for your favorites...

Now thru May 4th

BEST OF

CENTRAL

MICHIGAN

2012

VOTE IN PRINT...

OR VOTE ONLINE!

Pick up a CM Life!

–––––> @ cm-life.com

–––––> @ facebook.com/cmlife

–––––> @ bestofcentralmichigan.com

2

Vote for your favorites...Now thru May 4th

BEST OF CENTRAL MICHIGAN 2012 IN PRINT OR ONLINE!

Michael Love(989) 773-73004585 E. Pickard Street, Suite J, Mt. [email protected]

© 2011 Allstate Insurance Company

Vote us the Best Insurance Agency!




Vote Lil’ Chef forBEST BREAKFAST!

OPEN 24 HOURS

1720 S. Mission Rd. • Mount Pleasant, MI • (989)773-5678

Dragon ExpressRestaurant

314 W. Broomfield, next to 7-11 • Mt. Pleasant • 989-779-2727

Dine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take OutDine In or Take Out

1O% OffEntire Bill

Not valid with any other offer.Expires 9/30/12

Vote us for Best Chinese Restaurant!

Within walking distance from campus!

Hurry! Only a few

4-bedrOOms left!

we're #1!witH tHe wHOle crew, Of cOurse

VOte cOpper beecH fOr

best apartment!

cbeecH.cOm (989) 779-8300

TOP 100 IN THE USA!Vote Us #1 in Mount Pleasant!

We Deliver! Dine in or Carry Out!2328 S. Mission ∙ Stadium Mall ∙ 989-773-9858

China Garden1805 S. Mission St. Mt. Pleasant • (989) 773-9000

We have... •Discount pricing •Largest selection of elegant rings •Sterling Silver •and more...

VOTE Silverberg #1

Stadium Mall • 772-1722

Voting

box in the

salon!

Central Michigan Best Of VOTE ON FACEBOOK

A Great Tan at a Great Price!

to Vote by “liking” our picture scan here:

Voted #1 Tanning Salon in Mt .Pleasant!

Stop in the office and vote

for us today!

Vote Us The BestAPARTMENT COMPLEX!

3300 E. Deerfield Road 773-3300

HUNGRY HOWIES

VOTE US BEST!The Original Flavored Cru

st!

1 large 1 topping pizzawith howie bread & dipping saucenot valid with any other offers. expires 4/30/12

989-772-0044 • 111 south mission

$1000

The best place to volunteer, donate or shop! Lots of items that you need or want!

Stop in Tues - Fri 9 a.m.-5 p.m. • Sat 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

201 E. Pickard • Mt. Pleasant • (989) 773-0043

Vote us #1 for Best Non-Profit!

“Like”us on

–––––> @ cm-life.com

–––––> @ facebook.com/cmlife

–––––> @ bestofcentralmichigan.com

REMEMBER US WHEN YOU VOTE!INCLUDE THESE MT. PLEASANT BUSINESSES IN YOUR FAVORITES!

Vote

for Best Bookstore and Best Gift Shop!

209 E. BELLOWS ST. • www.sbxcentral.com • (989) 772-9411

6A || Monday, Apr. 16, 2012 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com







312 W. Broomfield(next to Dragon Express)Mt. Pleasant

(989) 317-3385

Vote for us in the salon and recieve 10% off!

989-773-2826 - 1620 S. Mission Street - Campus Court Mall, Mt. Pleasant

Best Service! Best Value!Best Tan in Town!

Facebook Btan Mt. Pleasant

100 MINUTES

$15Must present coupon.

UV FREE My Myst

$15Must present coupon.

www.forum-apartments.com - 989.772.5252

Vote for The Forum.Best location and lowest rent around.

Shoes •Apparel • Accessories • Supplements

Spend $25.00 &get a free gift!www.runnerperformancestore.com

Midland • Bay City • Mt. Pleasant • Saginaw

2316 South Mission StreetMt. Pleasant • (989) 779-0317

Follow Us!@weRun989

Like Us! Runners Performance Store

Vote Runners Performance #1 Store for best shoes and athletic gear in town!

Student ID Required • Offer Expires May 31, 2012

989•775•8288www.evolvedartforms.com

$10 Off Any Piercing Find us on Facebook!

56

Promotional Plan

→1. PR, Advertising & Editorial staffs package papers for door to door delivery; 2. Android and Apple QR Code shirts worn during Mainstage event.

BACK TO SCHOOL DELIVERY BLITZ: Distribution to apartment complexes and

residence halls. Our back to school issue comes out on move in day, the Thursday prior to school starting. This requires us to alter our

delivery method in order to get the product into more student hands. Our PR staff imple-

mented personal, door-to-door delivery to all of the major apartment complexes and the

residence halls. The staff, along with members of the advetising and editorial teams, hand-

stuffed more than 2,000 bags to hang on door knobs. Our remaining papers were delivered

to our racks in the community and on campus. The earlier delivery of our product to students

moving in helps our advertisers who rely on the surge of business during those critical

move in days. Additional papers are also distributed at the Main Stage/Welcome back event hosted by Residence Life and Student

Life. CM LIFE advertising, editorial and public relations staffed worked the CM LIFE table.

This is a great introduction to the thousands of new freshmen on campus.

APP DOWNLOAD PROMO:New this year is our CM LIFE App. So we hit the

ground running at the largest event each fall. Staff members walked around Mainstage with

“Scan Me” t-shirts encouraging downloads from festival attendees. The t-shirt were great conversation starters, and got us talking with

many new students about Central Michigan Life.


PR Manager promotes interesting articles, photos and advertisements to CM LIFE

Facebook page and Twitter feed. These posts will alternate between links to website, or

teaser to pick up the paper. Staff members use their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to

promote CM LIFE. This creates an opportunity to show the diversity of information in CM LIFE

on any given day.



sections CM LIFE is working on, so our local businesses can be part of the action. In addi-tion, each newsletter features an article, rein-

forcing the advertiser’s decision to promote in the student newspaper or the student market.

This newsletter is sent to our advertiser email list, plus posted on our advertising website.

AUGUST

1

2

Promotional Plan

→

1. How to Make A Newspaper Hat, and other useful information is shared during Residence Hall visits; 2. Campus Cash website and sample coupon page; 3. Campus Cash book; 4. Campus Cash Example FB post.

CAMPUS CASH:CM LIFE publishes a 50-60 page coupon book twice a year. Once at the beginning of the school year in August and another near the beginning of the Spring Semester in February. These books are distributed at events, activi-ties and rack locations on campus. Advertisers and readers LOVE them. This section is promoted in the newspaper, on the website, on CM LIFE’s facebook page and on bus shelters. The bus shelter poster includes a QR code that takes the user to our coupon book’s own dedicated website. The daily task of our PR interns is to Facebook and Tweet a different coupon each day, to encourage our readers to redeem. These Facebook posts give an advertiser 1,800-2,500 impressions on their coupon. The PR staff maintains the website.

RESIDENCE HALL & RSOPRESENTATIONS:In an effort to reach out to more freshmen and get them to start reading earlier, our PR interns coordinate with the 14 Residence Hall directors to make presentations at hall council meetings. The PR interns accompanied by a representative from the newsroom, usually the Editor In Chief, discuss the importance of CM LIFE on campus, introduce them to the sections in the paper, where to find the paper on campus, what days we publish and then answer any questions they might have. The PR intern will then do giveaways (CM LIFE t-shirts) by asking questions about what was presented to them. In addition, we provide a handout with contact information for each department on the paper. On the back of that sheet we also include instructions on how to make a newspaper hat, with an encouraging message to read, reuse and recycle. The PR interns have paper hats already premade to hand out as well.

SEPTEMBER

2

4

1

3

Promotional Plan

→1. The infamous CMU Medallion, and first clue on A2 of CM LIFE; 2. Example of Ad-vertiser Newsletters. These are shared with advertisers via email and/or sales calls; 3. The Golden Ticket promo: Actual tickets; Full page ad and 1/4 page ad sample.

HOMECOMING: The biggest event during Homecoming Week

at CMU is the Medallion Hunt. Each year the office of Student Life hides “The CMU Medal-

lion” somewhere on campus. RSO’s, Residence Halls, Student Organizations and other groups

try to find it. Each year carries a theme, and each year the teams get crazier in their sleuth-ing to find it. The Student Life office manages

a website and twitter account to give out clues...BUT the first clue is always published in CM LIFE. Papers fly off the racks that day

as frenzied Medallion hunters try to get that valuable first clue. This is one of our best read

days of the year.

THE GOLDEN TICKET:This new October promotion was a big hit with our readers, and our advertisers. The

series started with a full page ad that ran twice announcing the game. These ads were fol-

lowed up with 15 quarter page ads featuring each individual business that donated a prize.

Each quarter page also told the reader what prize was in that day’s paper. Our PR staff got

up at the crack of dawn each publishing day to hide the ticket in a bundle of papers at a pre-

selected location on campus. In addition to the print ads, we did posters and

social media promotion, tweeting each day about what prize was in the paper. On the first

day of the promotion, our PR Manager got in the spirit of things with this tweet: “I decide to

wear something gold-ish today, in the spirit of the Hunt for the Golden Ticket! @CMLIFE”.

Now that is some serious PR dedication!


PR Manager promotes interesting articles, photos and advertisements to CM LIFE

Facebook page and Twitter feed. These posts will alternate between links to website, or

teaser to pick up the paper. Staff members use their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to

promote CM LIFE. This creates an opportunity to show the diversity of information in CM LIFE

on any given day.



sections CM LIFE is working on, so our local businesses can be part of the action. In addi-tion, each newsletter features an article, rein-

forcing the advertiser’s decision to promote in the student newspaper or the student market.

This newsletter is sent to our advertiser email list, plus posted on our advertising website.

OCTOBER

In today’s competitive market, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to make your ads stand out. But sometimes this results in ads that are too busy-- with too many words, too many images, and too much clutter. This can turn a lot of people off to read-ing your carefully planned and paid for advertisement. Ads should be designed to cut through the clutter, not create it.

So what’s the solution? Simplicity. Keeping your ad simple will help it stand out more because it will be more pleasing to the eye as well as easier to read, understand, and remember. An article from an advertising and marketing website, Market-ing Minefield, gives several top tips for print advertising, several of which deal with keeping your ad simplified.

1. Use a simple layout.Keeping a simple layout keeps your ad concise and helps it look polished. This can make your ad more visu-ally appealing and draw read-ers in. It can also focus their attention on the main mes-sage of your advertisement. A busy layout with a lot going on can often distract readers from the overall point of your ad, or deter them from even reading it.

2. Focus on one proposition.It is important to focus your ad on one idea, one key mes-sage that you want the reader to remember. While you have a lot of great informa-tion to get out there, it can be too much to ask readers to remember every detail. Therefore, it is imperative to make your key message

simple and obvious. It is also important to have every other element of your ad working to promote that key message and help it stand out.

3. Use color effectively.Color is a great tool to use for your advertisements. Color ads stand out more amongst the black and white print of the newspaper, and therefore catch more people’s attention. If you have a great picture or image in your ad, try picking colors or accent colors out of that image to also use to color your text. This will help tie your ad together, making it more cohesive and visually appealing.

4. Use the same format and layout again and again. It may seem boring to use the same format and layout for your ads from week to week. However, using the same simple layout can help read-ers recognize and remember your ads. You can still change the key message of your ad from week to week, but keep-ing several elements of the ad the same can help con-tinuously keep one image in readers’ minds. This can help readers remember your ad and help you develop a strong brand. Your ultimate goal is Top-Of-Mind-Awareness (TOMA).

So remember, when it comes to print advertising, simpler is better. American consumers see an estimated 3,000 advertising messages per day. Creating a clear, concise, and cohesive ad is one way to cut through the clutter and reach your audience effectively.

Your CMU News Source Since 1919October 15, 2012

436 Moore Hall, CMU, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 989.774.3493 [email protected]

What’s going on in October & November?

HALLOWEEN PAGES: October 26th & 29thNext to Christmas, Halloween is the biggest retail season of the

year. Buy Wednesday, Get Friday Ad 50% off + FREE COLOR (Orange) on your ad both days! DEADLINE: Mon., October 24.

ALCOHOL AWARENESS PAGES: Oct. 31 & Nov. 2Join CM LIFE in promoting responsible drinking and designated driving

during the Central/Western week. DEADLINE: Mon., October 29

COUPON PAGES: November 5, 12, 19 & 26Follow up your Campus Cash Coupons with new special deals,

bring more consumers into your business. DEADLINE: Fri., Nov. 2.

LAST HOME FOOTBALL GAMES: November 14 & 16 Take advantage of our special home games 50% off sale!

Ahh..nothing like a home game! DEADLINE: Mon., November 12

NOVEMBER QUARTER PAGE SPECIALBuy a Quarter page ad or larger during the month of November

and get one FREE front page strip ad! $395 value.

NOV/DEC ONLINE & PRINT SPECIALSPackage your print ad with an online ad for a 1-2 punch to more than

103,778 readers. Buy an online leaderboard ad, get a front page strip ad free AND/OR buy a 15” ad and get an online rectangle ad at 50% off!

Print Ads: Keeping it Simple

“My favorite part about reading CM LIFE is that it is a news-paper that reports news that is relevant to our generation.”

- Ally Converse, CMU Junior, Charlotte, Integrative Public Relations Major CM LIFE reader for 2 1/2 years.

Written by: Amy Crockett, CM LIFE PR/Marketing Intern.Source: http://www.marketingminefield.com.uk/print-advertising-tips/2

1

The

hunt

IS On!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

RiveR RunGeneRal StoRe

FIND THE GOLDEN TICKET

the Plate Boutique

A Golden Ticket will be discreetly placed inside a

CM Life paper every publishing day throughout October.

If found, please bring the ticket into the CM Life advertising office, Moore 425, to

clAIm yOur prIze!

CM Lifeis offering you a

GoldenOpportunity

a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate

Robaire’sBAKERY

6B || Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com3

TODAY’S SPONSOR:

Find the ticket and win a $25 Gift Certificate to Hungry Howies!

Bring your ticket into the CM Life clAim YOuR PRize! advertising office, Moore 425.

FIND TODAY’S

GOLDEN TICKET

G o l d e n T i c k e t

cong ratu lat ions ! You’ ve found the Golden Ticket ! P lease br ing th is t icket into the cm li fe o f f ice , moore 425 to c la im your pr ize .

DATE

October 8, 2012 PLACE

moore 425

RiveR RunGeneRal StoRe

the Plate Boutique

Robaire’sBAKeRY

HALLOWEEN COUNTRY

Located inside Black Tie Tuxedo and Costume Shop

Thank you to our sponsors:

Promotional Plan

Full page ads in the paper, bus shelter posters, posters and flyers placed around campus.1. Uncle Sam; 2. Honest Abe; 3. Lady Liberty; 4. Patriotic Group.

HOUSING FAIR:The Mt. Pleasant Housing Fair is an annual event held on campus and hosted by CM LIFE. This event is a public relations effort for our largest group of advertisers, Mt. Pleasant apart-ment complexes. Ten of our top 20 accounts are housing units in the Mt. Pleasant commu-nity. They also support our 3x per year Apart-ment Life magazine. This free event is a thank you PR effort to them for their loyal business.

This year’s event presented a challenge as it was scheduled on Election Day. Our PR staff decided to embrace that message and play on the theme of the “second most important deci-sion you will make this year”. To create buzz for this event we wanted to create some creative, maybe even corny, messages that would be memorable in the minds of students. Our goal was to get readers talking, laughing, comment-ing and sharing with friends. This would help create top of mind awareness for the event.

Our PR staff came up with four different slo-gans that worked historically with patriotism, presidents, USA, etc. We ended up using Uncle Sam, Honest Abe Lincoln, Lady Liberty and a patriotic group shot. The creative team set up photo and video shoots for each theme, worked on scripts for the videos and ad copy for the print ads. They negotiated with a local costume shop for trade, and our creative staff put the finishing touches on the designs.

The staff also created 2-20 second videos spoofing their characters. The videos were posted on CM LIFE’s Facebook page, the Hous-ing Fair event page and the PR and Advertis-ing teams also posted to their own personal Facebook pages to get people sharing.

This event also helps promote CM LIFE as a source for the latest and most complete information on apartments in Mt. Pleasant.

We promote this event with full-page advertisements, online rectangle ads, social media postings, chalking, bus shelter advertising, rack posters and flyers around campus. CM LIFE brings in more than 1,000 students to talk with area apartment complexes and landlords. At this event, CM LIFE also distributes its Fall/Winter issue of Apartment Life magazine.

NOVEMBER

MOUNT PLEASANT HOUSING FAIRH H H

H H HMt. Pleasant

Housing FairH H H

nov 6. BOVEE U.C. ROTUNDA • 3PM - 6PM

Costume Credit: Halloween Country Black Tie Tuxedo & Costume Shop, 1017 S. Mission, Mt. Pleasant

i’M uncle saM, and i aPProve tHis Message.

BROUGHT TO yOU By:

Free Food!door PriZes!

i Want Yout o F i n d t H e

best Place to live

H H H

make the second most important decision this year!

PARTiCiPATiNg APARTMENTS AND TOwNHOMES:H Olivieri Management H Cherry Street Town Houses H Heritage Square H Franklin Village H Oakridge Apartments

H Copper Beech TownhomesH Colony westH University MeadowsH Village at BluegrassH Tallgrass ApartmentsH 1200 west Campus ApartmentsH Appian wayH Casa Loma ApartmentsH Lexington Ridge Apartments

H United Apartments H Deerfield Village H Emerald Village H Hickory Lane H Jamestown Apartments H Main Street H Polo Village H Southpoint Village H Union Square H washington Village H west Campus Village H western islands H westpoint Village

6A || Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com

MOUNT PLEASANT HOUSING FAIRH H H


I’m ABRAHAm LINCOLN, ANd I AppROve tHIs messAGe.

BROUGHT TO yOU By:

FRee FOOd!dOOR pRIZes!

We CAN HeLp YOUsAve peNNIesON YOUR NeXtHOme

H H H

H H Hmt. pLeAsANt

HOUsING FAIRH H H

NOv 6. BOVEE U.C. ROTUNDA • 3PM - 6PM


MT. PLEASANT HOUSING FAIRPARTIcIPATING APARTMENTS

ANd TOwNHOMES:H Copper Beech Townhomes

H Colony West

H University Meadows

H Village at Bluegrass

H Tallgrass Apartments

H 1200 West Campus Apartments

H Appian Way

H Casa Loma Apartments

H Lexington Ridge Apartments

H Olivieri Management H Cherry Street Town Houses H Heritage Square H Franklin Village H Oakridge Apartments

H United Apartments H Deerfield Village H Emerald Village H Hickory Lane H Jamestown Apartments H Main Street H Polo Village H Southpoint Village H Union Square H Washington Village H West Campus Village H Western Islands H Westpoint Village

6A || Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com

MOUNT PLEASANT HOUSING FAIRH H H H H H

participating apartments and townhomes:


The STaTue of LiberTy approveS ThiS meSSaGe.

BROUGHT TO yOU By:

free fooD!Door priZeS!

e X e r C i S e y o u r

freeDomT o f i N D T h e

beST pLaCeTo Live

iN ToWN!

H H HmT. pLeaSaNT

houSiNG fairH H H

Nov 6. BOVEE U.C. ROTUNDA • 3PM - 6PM


H Copper Beech Townhomes

H Colony West

H University Meadows

H Village at Bluegrass

H Tallgrass Apartments

H 1200 West Campus Apartments

H Appian Way

H Casa Loma Apartments

H Lexington Ridge Apartments

H Olivieri Management H Cherry Street Town Houses H Heritage Square H Franklin Village H Oakridge Apartments

H United Apartments H Deerfield Village H Emerald Village H Hickory Lane H Jamestown Apartments H Main Street H Polo Village H Southpoint Village H Union Square H Washington Village H West Campus Village H Western Islands H Westpoint Village

6B || Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com

MOUNT PLEASANT HOUSING FAIR★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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WE ARE CM LIFE AND WE APPROVE THIS MESSAGE.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

FREE FOOD!DOOR PRIZES!

THE RACE FOR THE

RIGHT HOUSE!

MAKE THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT DECISION THIS YEAR!

★ Colony West

★ Copper Beech Townhomes

★ University Meadows

★ Village at Bluegrass★ Tallgrass Apartments

★ 1200 West Campus Apartments

★ Appian Way

★ Casa Loma Apartments

★ Lexington Ridge Apartments

★ Olivieri Management ★ Cherry Street Town Houses ★ Heritage Square ★ Franklin Village ★ Oakridge Apartments

★ United Apartments ★ Deerfield Village ★ Emerald Village ★ Hickory Lane ★ Jamestown Apartments ★ Main Street ★ Polo Village ★ Southpoint Village ★ Union Square ★ Washington Village ★ West Campus Village ★ Western Islands ★ Westpoint Village

6A || Friday, Oct. 26, 2012 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com

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ARR!

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★ ★ ★MT. PLEASANT

HOUSING FAIR★ ★ ★

NOV 6. BOVEE U.C. ROTUNDA • 3PM - 6PM

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