The Face Behind The Badge

By: Haley Brewer, Nathan Carroll, Kirsten Klima & Vinny Dellaria

COM 219 PR Presentation

We Are….

Company Background

-Founded in 2016.

-Based in Peoria, IL.

-4 Founders. US!

-Mission Statement:

“We provide a professional and interpersonal experience to our customers, focusing on bringing the most qualitative public relations and marketing solutions to maintain, promote and advance the overall company image and reputation. Our work adds personality and creativity while striving to be daring, bold and brave.”

Our latest (and greatest) campaign...

Situation Analysis

Organizational Background

• Primary functions are to protect life and property within and beyond the University community
• University Police Department operates under authority granted by the State of Illinois
• BUPD has complete authority to apprehend and arrest anyone involved in illegal acts on or off campus
• BUPD receives the same training as municipal police officers and are armed and empowered to make arrests and issue tickets.

Situation Analysis

Organizational Background Cont.

• Officers in the department are graduates of the Illinois State Police Training Academy or the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana Police Training Institute
• required to complete a 480-hour training program
• new officers are tested to receive state certification
• All officers are required to have a high school diploma

Situation Analysis

Products and Services/Marketplace

• Officers conduct foot, bicycle, and vehicular patrols of the campus and residence halls and are on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• The BUPD work to protect all people on Bradley’s campus, as well as people residing in the surrounding area

Situation Analysis

Products and Services/Marketplace Cont

• University police have direct two-way radio contact with the city Police Communications System.
• the department is also connected to the city of Peoria's police computer which allows for municipal and state access to vehicle or criminal information.
• Bradley University Police Department offers two services in which students, faculty, and staff may be escorted within the Bradley Patrol Area:
• The Student Patrol
• The Hilltop Safety Cruisers

Situation Analysis

Communication Analysis

• The BUPD’s current communication plan is mostly limited to ForeWarn.
• ForeWarn is a safety alert system where students and faculty receive safety notices and warnings sent through text message and email.
• Besides ForeWarn, there is little to no communication between the BUPD and the students and faculty on campus.
• BUPD officers patrol campus and give safety lectures when the university mandates them.

Situation Analysis

Communication Analysis Cont.

• This lack of communication became a problem in the Spring of 2015, when a Bradley student started a petition for the BUPD to review and update their safety procedures
• The petition gathered almost 900 signatures in 24 hours
• The BUPD is trying to become a larger part of the fabric of campus by initiating an event called Coffee with a Cop
• have not seen a great turnout in the preliminary stages

Our Research

• Survey
• Over 70 potential student survey takers
• 41 students took survey
• 21 females, 20 males
• 19 upperclassmen, 22 underclassmen
• 30 living on campus, 11 live off-campus
• 26 have NEVER contacted the BUPD
• 9 faculty survey takers
• 6 females, 3 males
• All in Communication and Fine Arts Dept.
• 6 feel that BUPD lacks strong campus presence

Our Research

• Interview
• Met with Officer Savage
• Felt that the BUPD has been making efforts to increase relationship with students and staff on campus.
• Struggling to organize and get events together.
• Currently have NO social media presence.
• Community policing has always been a value.
• Increased openness
• Stressing educational prevention

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Target Audience

Bradley University students and faculty

The primary groups the BUPD is responsible for

Groups are both shown to have issues having knowledge of, trusting, and feeling comfortable with BUPD

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Granted complete authority both on and off campus by the State of Illinois
• Stresses the “importance of education and training for all personnel”
• Conducts safety lectures for the university
• 85% of surveyed students feel comfortable; 77% of surveyed faculty
• Runs programs such as
• Student Patrol
• Hilltop Safety Cruiser
• Forewarn

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SWOT Analysis

Weaknesses

• Lacks strong university presence
• 42% of surveyed students; 67% of surveyed faculty
• Criticized for inconsistent ForeWarn messages
• 50% of surveyed students; petition
• Unable to fully connect with students and faculty
• 63% of surveyed students; 56% of surveyed faculty
• Programs to reinforce relationships are not properly advertised

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SWOT Analysis

Opportunities

• Desire to work with university organizations to promote public image and campus presence
• Enthusiastic to work with Brave Solutions
• Gains support from Bradley University and its stakeholders
• ex. Student Senate providing Coffee with a Cop donuts
• 85.4% of surveyed students are interested in attending more BUPD events.

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SWOT Analysis

Threats

• Recent surge in shootings and armed robberies around campus
• Armed robbery Nov. 30
• 24% of surveyed students still feel unsafe on campus; 44% of surveyed faculty
• Affected by overall distrust of law enforcement

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Acceptance Objectives

• Increase personal relationships between students/faculty and BUPD officers (which would be shown through results of our post-survey) by 10% within the next 4 months.
• Increase student/faculty comfort on campus by 10% within the next 4 months.
• Also measured through post-survey

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Awareness Objective

• Increase knowledge of BUPD activities and organizations by 5% within the next 4 months.
• Smaller because of large existing knowledge of BUPD programs
• Also measured by post-survey

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Action Objectives

• Increase attendance at BUPD events (Coffee with a Cop), by 2% every event over the next 4 months.
• Create a social media presence and encourage social media interactions.
• Make Facebook page, post once a day.
• After gaining a following, increase online interactions by 5% every month over the next 4 months.

Key Campaign Message

Campaign Theme

“The Face Behind the Badge”

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• We wanted to pick a theme that would humanize the BUPD, as well as place them more directly in campus presence.
• Putting names and faces behind the badges and police uniforms will make the BUPD seem more personal.

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If the students and faculty on campus begin to see the BUPD as regular people and a key part in the fabric of our school, they will feel more comfortable both approaching them and learning from them, therefore strengthening ties and creating relationships.

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Strategies and Tactics

1. Create relationships with key figures in earned-media on campus in order to generate more positive publicity

2. Create BUPD Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram accounts (Newsroom social media)

3. Make Coffee with a Cop a bi-monthly event; more events such as No-Shave-November; “Do’s and Do-nuts.”

Communication Channels

“Meet and Greet” style events

Social Media/Online Communications

Fliers/Posters

Budget

Media Costs

• Social media is essentially free, unless the BUPD chooses to boost their posts on Facebook to reach a wider audience
• It costs approximately $2.50 to boost a post to increase reach by 600 people, as well as a $5.00 service charge
• So essentially, any time the BUPD wanted to boost a post, they should factor in $10.
• To boost each event every month we suggest that the BUPD budgets $40 a month strictly to go toward boosting posts on Facebook

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Budget

Coffee Costs

• Grocery stores in the surrounding area have all stated that they are very generous with donations, especially for organizations like this
• A 48 ounce container of Folgers coffee grounds averages $11.99 and would make approximately 576 cups of coffee.
• Coffee filters run at $5.99 per pack of 250, so buying 20 packs to begin with would give 5,000 filters and would cost approximately $130.
• A budget of $150 to cover coffee and filters for the Spring 2017 semester should be plenty.

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Budget

Donut Costs

• Local Dunkin Donuts franchises are willing to donate a few donuts each month, but some will need to be provided by the BUPD
• Student Senate and the Bradley cafeteria donated donuts for the most recent events
• 50 Munchkin donuts from Dunkin Donuts
• $8.99; ordering in bulk could be expensive
• Hostess mini donuts
• $6.99 per pack of 30
• A budget of $150 a month should cover donut costs

Budget

Total Budget

• $200 for boosted social media posts
• $150 for coffee
• $750 for donuts

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Total Budget = $1,100 for the Spring 2017 semester

Evaluation

Acceptance Objectives

• Will be measured through audience feedback and a benchmark study
• Will assess our impact on the interests and attitudes of our target audience by quantifying the number of personal relationships fostered and comfort levels of our audience.

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Awareness Objectives

• Will be measured through our benchmark study
• Will also be measured through numbers of followers gained on BUPD social media sites and number of interactions

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Action Objectives

• Will be measured through a direct observation of results and audience participation
• Namely through social media interactions and observable interactions at events

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Thank you!

Now enjoy a donut :)