Glacéau IndyCar Title Sponsorship Public Relations Plan

Disclaimer: I created this writing sample for a class. The information is not meant to represent the organization described. It is for academic purposes only.

Opportunity Statement
Vitamin Water will sponsor Danica Patrick's IndyCar Racing Team, providing an opportunity to broaden the shareholder base, enhance the working relationship between managers and supervisors and improve VitaminWater’s business-to-business relationships while increasing consumer awareness.

Situation Analysis

Auto racing is the most popular and fastest growing sport in the world. IndyCar is watched in person, or on TV, by more people than any other sport including soccer. Recent trends even show an increase in the number of women and families attending races or watching from home. Due to its reach and effectiveness, motorsports has become one of the world’s premier and most desirable marketing properties. Spectator sports like IndyCar racing generate about $60 billion in revenue annually, this is a clear indication of the tremendous involvement they draw from both businesses and individual consumers.

This is why Glacéau has decided to sponsor Danica Patrick and her pit-crew team in the 2008 IndyCar Series. Glacéau believes that sponsoring Danica Patrick’s team is a great opportunity to expand our brand awareness and customer loyalty, especially because IndyCar races are featured on all the major networks. The sponsorship could also improve Glacéau’s business-to-business relationships with customers, as well as our internal relationships between supervisors and managers

Here are some of the activities our sponsorship will feature::

• Up to 100 general admission tickets to each race

• A hospitality tent with food and beverages

• Access to the team’s transporter (which is a truck trailer that can hold two race cars above with a workshop below)

• Tours of the team’s private motorcoach

• Admittance to the pit area

• Access to Danica Patrick for autograph signings and brief meet and greets

• Access to 2 show cars where Vitaminwater banners can be displayed and fans can get a closer look at the Indy cars they love

All of the activities, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities included in the title sponsorship, will create an entertaining and authentic IndyCar experience for Glacéau shareholders, potential shareholders and employees.

Target Audiences

Shareholders

Shareholders can be divided into two groups: existing shareholders and potential shareholders. Our existing shareholders are primarily large financial institutions and individuals with large investments in our business.

Our CEO has expressed his desire to diversify our shareholder base. He wants to attract more individual shareholders.

Sponsoring an Indy Car team provides us with two opportunities. The first is to improve our relationships with existing shareholders.

The second is to develop relationships with potential investors. By catering to individual investors, we increase our company’s awareness and gain ‘word-of-mouth’ credibility as a safe and popular investment because individual investors are likely to inform their friends about new stocks that they acquire.

Employees

To keep employees of Glacéau productive and loyal to the company, Glacéau needs to concentrate on employee relations, specifically with newer employees. Glacéau should still engage in employee relations with experienced employees even though they are less likely to leave the company.

Employee relations have been a challenge for Glacéau, specifically between first-line supervisors and managers. Sponsoring an Indy Car team provides Glacéau with an opportunity for its employees to collaborate on exciting and challenging projects while building positive relationships.

Business-to-business partners

Our distributors act as an extension of our employee base. We have many of the same concerns with our business-to-business partners as we do our employees. Ensuring good relations with our business-to-business partners helps ensure that our products are distributed on time and that our retailers place our product in favorable locations.

Customers

Sponsoring an Indy Car team provides us with an opportunity to expand our customer base by increasing brand recognition while providing us with opportunities to engage in direct consumer relations tactics, such as hospitality tables.

Key Objectives:

1. To improve relations with existing shareholders, broaden shareholder base, and develop a more diverse mix of shareholders so that Glacéau can attract the interest of potential investors and achieve a greater public recognition of the company name.

2. To strengthen our company’s business-to-business relationships with its customers so we can build customer loyalty and increased orders.

3. To improve the working relationships between supervisors and managers so that we create an improved working environment.

4. To expand the consumer base so that Glacéau can attract the interests of potential customers, achieve a greater brand awareness of the company name, and increase sales of Vitaminwater products.

Communication goal:

For Glacéau to broaden its shareholder base and in an effort to achieve a more diverse mix of shareholders, strengthen relationships with business partners, improve working relationship between managers and supervisors, and achieve greater brand awareness with consumers.

Key Messages:

1. At Glacéau we want you to hydrate responsibly. That’s why we’re dedicated to promoting active lifestyles by providing healthy products for all of our consumers..

2. Glacéau believes in diversity and choices. That’s why we offer Vitaminwater in a large variety of flavors, colors, and health benefits for every age group.

• Power-c (dragonfruit, Vitamin C+Taurine, more strength)

• Balance (cran-grapefruit, Vitamin C+Glucosamine, more flexibility)

• Endurance (peach-mango, Vitamin E+Ribose, more sustained energy

Objective #1: To improve relations with existing shareholders, broaden shareholder base, and develop a more diverse mix of shareholders so that Glacéau can attract the interest of potential investors and achieve a greater public recognition of the company name.

Strategy: Our CEO is a charismatic person, but his schedule keeps him busy. However, he is committed to the idea of IndyCar racing, and he full supports our public relations efforts during race days.

Because our CEO connects very well with people, we feel that he would be an excellent ambassador in our effort to better our relations with our investors. Therefore, we will establish a series of opportunities on race day for our CEO, along with other executives in the company, to meet with potential and existing stockholders in an informal environment to promote investment of the company.

Activities: 

1. Pre-Race dinner with existing and potential shareholders. These dinners will be held the night before the race. Attendees will arrive at their own expense, but the company will provide a catered dinner. We expect the CEO to be present at some of these dinners, but we will have other Glacéau executives present to interact with attendees.  

2. Before the race starts, we will introduce our guests to the IndyCar racing team who will briefly chat with our shareholders and discuss their race strategy.  
   
   

3. Race viewing from a luxury box at the track. We will secure a luxury box for our guests with two televisions to view the race as well as a glass wall to watch the Indy cars. We will have food and beverages to help create an informal environment. Our CEO will be present at these events along with other officers, such as our CFO. Our CEO will engage our guests and attempt to speak with each of them.

Activity	On schedule On target On budget	Off schedule Off target Off budget	Completed
Pre-race dinner
Introduction of IndyCar racing team
Luxury box for shareholders

Objective # 2: To improve the working relationships between supervisors and managers so that we create an improved working environment.

Strategy: We will accomplish this objective by matching the supervisors and managers of each department in a competition with the other departments. Supervisors and managers will have to work together to win a chance at giving away 30 employee tickets to the Indy 500. The IndyCar team will also be used to raise the morale of the company and in effect bring everyone closer together. The following activities to consider include:

Activities:

1. Invite supervisors and managers for the kick-off company dinner.

2. Host and cater company dinner for managers and supervisors. We will have a show car on display. At the dinner, the CEO will personally explain the contest. He will explain the resources that will be available for managers and supervisors.

3. Distribute electronic memo to company employees announcing the title sponsorship and explaining the contest between departments.

4. At each race, a different department will be responsible for portraying/representing one of the many VitaminWater flavors (endurance, flexibility, focus.) It will be up to each department to choose how they are going to creatively portray one of the flavors. For example, putting on a skit that portrays endurance, or creating a funny song about flexibility. All invited business partners, shareholders and consumers will get to view activity in the hospitality tent. The winning department will have the privilege of inviting 30 employees to the Indy 500.The CEO will choose the winning department before the Indy 500.

5. Approximately 30 regular season tickets will be held for employees at every race. The employees who work in the host department selected for that race, will be the ones invited. Not only does this allow Glacéau to invite every department and almost every employee to at least one race, but the overall winning department will get to select 30 employees to attend the Indy 500.

6. The weekend prior to race day, each host department will have a kick-off company picnic/dinner to boost relations. Two show cars will be at event as well as some members of the Danica’s racing team. There will be catered food and other fun festivities. Managers and supervisors will distribute 24 tickets to selected employees (based on performance, attitude, etc), and six tickets will be raffled, so that the other employees who were not selected will have a chance to go to a race.

7. After each race the host department will provide feedback through a written survey. When the contest is over there will be another survey sent out to get the overall consensus.

Progress Tracking Report for objective #2

Activity	On schedule On target On budget	Off schedule Off target Off budget	Completed
Invite supervisors and managers to dinner
Cater company dinner
Distribute memo to employees
Portray VitaminWater flavor
Give out 30 employees tickets
Kickoff company dinner
Distribute survey

Objective #3: To strengthen Glacéau’s business-to-business relationships with its customers so we can build customer loyalty.

Strategy: We recommend that our CEO commits to hosting our business customers attend the races, because he has a natural talent for building relationships.

We feel that this approach would demonstrate how Glacéau cares about strengthening our existing business relationships. The following activities to consider include:

Activities:

1. Inviting 20 selected business partners (distributors and retailers) to each race. By the end of the season we will have invited every leading business partner to at least one race. We will save our eight Indy 500 tickets for our leading business partners.

2. Pre-race responsibilities of our CEO on race days (in order) :

   1. Have our CEO do a meet and greet with the business partners

   2. Thank business partners for everything they do for Glacéau

   3. Explain why we decided to become a sponsor for the upcoming IndyCar Series (at least a 90 introduction second speech).

   4. Adress how Vitaminwater is increasing sales in the market (emphasize its increasing popularity).

   5. Introduce our Indy race-car team and driver (Danica and team will do a very quick explanation of this races strategy).

   6. Inform business partners about all the activities they’re welcome to participate in on the race day (hospitality tent, pit access, photo opportunities, free t-shirts, caps and memorabilia).

   7. Answer any questions.

Progress tracking report for objective #3

Activity	On schedule On target On budget	Off schedule Off target Off budget	Completed
Invite 20 business partners to each race
Check off CEO pre-race responsibilities
Survey business partners

Objective #4: To expand the consumer base so that Glacéau can achieve greater brand awareness to increase sales of Vitaminwater.

Strategy: We recommend that the advertising and marketing departments of Glacéau develop creative, innovative and appealing advertising tactics to attract attention to Vitaminwater. Advertising and marketing techniques to consider include:

1. Create a sweepstakes for consumers and potential consumers of Vitaminwater. We will use a “twist-a-cap” strategy for the sweepstakes where consumers will twist off a Vitaminwater cap, look under it, and see if they won tickets to a race. These tickets, redeemed online, will account for two of the ten total consumer tickets given away each race.

2. Design a new series of labels for Vitaminwater featuring Danica Patrick for the upcoming IndyCar season. The production and distribution of the newly designed Vitaminwater labels will need to debut about three months prior to the start of the season. We will also need to distribute a press release to the media to announce our title sponsorship and our new labels.

3. Distrubute a press release a month prior to the Indy 500 race to local media outlets announcing a charity event Glacéau will sponsor where consumers, fans, and the general public can view our two display racecars. Attendees will receive a free raffle ticket entry form for a chance to win two tickets to the Indy 500 race (our most valuable give-away for consumers). Danica Patrick will attend the charity event, and the public will have opportunities to take pictures with her.

4. On race days, we will have a large Vitaminwater tent inside the racecar arena where we will provide free samples of Vitaminwater. We will be distributing the same flavor of Vitaminwater that the host department is featuring.

Progress tracking report for objective #4

Activity	On schedule On target On budget	Off schedule Off target Off budget	Completed
Create sweepstakes
Design labels
Distribute press release
Provide free samples

Timeline:

December

15^th: Send out announcement memo of Sponsorship to company employees

January

1^st: Send out a news release introducing Glacéau as the title sponsor of Danica Patrick’s team and announcing the upcoming new labels on Vitaminwater.

10th: Danica Patrick labels produced and distributed to retailers

February

1^st: Send out invitations to employees to the CEO-manager-supervisor dinner

13^th: CEO-manager-supervisor dinner

16^th: Send out company memo to all employees announcing department competition

March

12^th: Department 1 picnic: host flavor- Endurance

20^th: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

21^st: Opening season race

27^th: Department 2 picnic: host flavor-Flexibility

April

3^rd: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

4^th: Race 2

17^th: Department 3 picnic: host flavor- Power-C

24^th: Shareholder dinner

- Set up tent

25^th: Race 3

May

8^th: Department 4 picnic: host flavor- Focus

15^th: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

16^th: Race 4

June

19^th: Department 5 picnic: host flavor- Balance

26^th: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

27^th: Race 5

July

10^th: Department 6 picnic: host flavor- Essential

17^th: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

18^th: Race 6

31^st: Department 7 picnic: host flavor- Vital-T

August

7^th: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

8^th: Race 7

21st: Department 8 picnic: host flavor- B-Relaxed

28^th: Shareholder dinner

- Set up tent

29^th: Race 8

September

11^th: Department 9 picnic: host flavor - Rescue

18^th: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

19^th: Race 9

23^rd: Send out press release announcing Indy 500 charity event

October

3^rd: Charity event

10^th: Department 10 picnic: host flavor- XXX

19^th: Department contest winner announced

23^rd: Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

24^th: Race 10

November

6^th: Last Shareholder dinner

-Set up tent

7^th: Indy 500

14^th: End of season gala hosted be Glacéau

Budget 

Hospitality $15,000

Hospitality (for Indy 500) $150,000

Publications $15,000

On-car TV camera (five races) $100,000

Media monitoring $5,500

Merchandise (costs of production, printing, mailing) $20,000

Indy 500 stadium (100) $19,000

Photography $5,000

Newsletter $47,000

Show car appearances (5) $10,000

Contingency $60,000