MEMORANDUM
To: Board of Directors, George Brown College
From: Singh Manbir, Uboveja Vasuprad, Velchelvan Ganan, Chavada Krupa Krunal Singh
Date: 17th April, 2024
Subject: Strategic PR Campaign Proposal
Introduction
Due to Covid, George Brown has faced a loss of international applicants, due to the
competition from multiple colleges and universities. To combat this we must make a
strategic PR campaign to encourage potential students to pick our school. This proposal
will showcase a campaign that could be used to make our school more appealing.
Situational Analysis
Some of the key findings regarding the current situation at Ontario College.
Public colleges in Ontario are grateful for the province's decision to allocate 80 % of
international study permits to them, recognising their crucial role in forming a workforce
important for the growth of the Canadian economy.
The main outcome of the research is that Ontario colleges are now facing significant
financial strain due to abrupt federal cuts to study permit applications.
Due to the pandemic, there was a steep 17% reduction in the number of international
students coming to Canada leading to the loss of CAD$7.3 billion in student expenditure.
An interview session conducted by our team with upcoming international students says
that many courses that they chose for the upcoming term were suspended by the colleges
due to the study permit frizz and financial strain.
Additionally, there is an estimated loss of 100 million in college revenue due to substantial
operational cuts.
Despite being vital for Ontario's prosperity, public colleges are funded less than
universities, making them inefficient in providing high-quality programs and evolving
Funds.
College Current PR standing:
George Brown College Centre of Business being one of the first choices for high-quality
education, diversity, and students' creative thinking is the oldest tradition of its existence. Despite
its reputation for excellence, many people are not aware of the centre, and its activities, limiting
its influence. The Centre needs to employ robust PR incidents that celebrate accomplishments
and enhance its public image. This article will give the key indicators for assessing the outcomes
of the Centre of Business's public relations campaigns and will speak of improvement
suggestions.
Why the centre for business should need more Funds
Looking into the bigger picture and aligning it with the George Brown College 2030
Strategies our team came up with the essential research for why the Center for Business
Should need more Funding. With global conditions improving post-pandemic,
governments, including Canada's, are prioritizing support for startups and fostering
entrepreneurship, recognizing their significance in economic revival. New Startups,
ventures, for business graduates are being promoted by the Canadian government,
attracting talent globally and stimulating entrepreneurial activity.
Based on this core point our team strongly believes that the CENTER FOR BUSINESS
should receive more attention and funding.
A survey done by my fellow teammates tells that business students upcoming, present
and pass out chose Center for Business as it offers a wide range of courses. Whether in
Business or the field of finance, the Alumni of George brown college have excelled and
showcased their skilled learning. Taking a tour of big firms we always find students of
George brown college working as interns or professionals in the company. George Brown
College is one of the top colleges here in Canada and the Center for Business has played
a big part making in that way
PR Objective
The object of George Brown College Centre of Business is to deal with the loss of
influence despite having a high-quality education. To combat this we will need a campaign
to show a larger audience the accomplishments the alumni of George Brown have
achieved.
Tactics Used
We will do this by combining traditional and digital media. Our social media channels will
be filled with success stories from our student body, displaying our students' work, which
will be utilized to demonstrate the opportunities and knowledge that can be gained at
George Brown.
We will use blog posts, and newsletters to promote our school's successes, future events,
and programme highlights, showing future students who are interested in George Brown
the wonderful work that is being done. The marketing will be used to communicate our
students' experiences and facts to a bigger audience, demonstrating the effect of our
education.
How the campaign will engage key Centre/College stakeholders
Partnerships will be used as the base of our campaign. We will partner with industry
experts and small businesses to show our students opportunities through internships,
workshops, and other programmes. Future students who are interested in George Brown
will learn about the Centre for Business's remarkable features through open houses and
virtual events.
This project relies on the support of all stakeholders, from future students to staff. We
seek to inspire and motivate our core audiences by engaging them with specific and
straightforward messages.
"Entrepreneurs in the Making"
Entrepreneurs in the making is the message we want to convey via this campaign. We
conducted online surveys and used our LinkedIn networks to have different views on this
vision and got mostly positive results. We were pleased to know that this message
completely aligns with the Centre of Business’s current efforts made in the interest of its
learners. According to our respondents, this message will help the centre of business to
empower a huge number of aspiring entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into reality.
Centre of Business tries to provide every possible exposure to students with hands-on
learning experiences and mentorship support to the students. We will make every
possible effort to fuel the entrepreneurial success of our learners. Students at the centre
are forced to think outside the box and explore new possibilities. We believe in the power
of business, so we encourage students to experiment with new ideas and learn from both
success and setbacks.
We know how crucial it is to align communication, behaviour, and symbolism for our
campaign’s success. We contacted friends who are in different schools and got to know
almost every other competitor college is getting failed in aligning these elements, if we
ensure that our context is consistent in all the channels, being transparent in our
communication to build trust and showcase our values through actions such as prioritizing
students and promoting inclusivity. We will be in a better spot than most of the colleges
in Ontario.
Symbolism visually demonstrates our campaign's themes and reinforces our brand
identity. This alignment strengthens our identity, builds trust, and enhances engagement.
We will ensure continued success through clear plans, resources, and regular evaluation.
Metrics for PR success
The creation of connections between the educational centre and business leaders
magnifies the Centre's credibility and provides students with essential real-life practice to
enhance their learning. We measure this by looking at how well the centre connects with
business leaders, which can help students learn outside the classroom.
Journalistic coverage that is positive improves visibility and broadcasts a favourable
picture of the candidate's position. The metrics for this aspect are: Media mentionsKeeping an eye on the number and type of mainstream media notices gives information
about what the Centre stands for and Sentiment analysis- media analysis of the centre
'tone and sentiment of coverage gives a clue about the degree of support the symbol gets
from the public and the stakeholders.
Social media can increase the brand image, and attract all the organizational
stakeholders. Metrics of social media involvement include Follower growth- Analyzing the
rise in hashtag usage and community engagement reflects the Center's improved reach
and impact and Engagement rate- Measuring likes, shares, comments, and other types
of interaction reveals the extent of audience engagement with the Centre's content.
Strategies for Improvement
To boost outreach, the centre should prioritize building strong relationships with industry
partners through frequent communication and networking. Collaborating with them will help
raise the centre’s profile. Devote digital marketing methods to increase the traffic of your
website and communicate with the broad groups of people you have. Post media-worthy
content and tag students involved to increase your visibility on different social networking
platforms. These will ignite healthy discussions around business-related topics.
Let students boost the Centre's programs and activities on their social media platforms,
networks, and communities. Supporting students to be ambassadors by taking part in
promotional activities like the tour of campus, attending industry events, and sharing their
experiences on social media is recommended.
Budget
Since we are conscious of how valuable the money is for the institution, we try to spend
it wisely as possible. Our budget is estimated to be worth 80,000 dollars out of which
$10,000 goes towards marketing materials including posters, brochures, and promotional
videos.
$20,000, events and outreach programmes including industry event sponsorships and
virtual webinars which will enable us to engage with stakeholders and build lasting
connections.
$30,000 will contribute towards public relations efforts, which include employing a PR firm
to contact media outlets and $5,000 is estimated to implement measurement and
assessment tools that will enable us to monitor the campaign's success and make
necessary modifications.
Conclusion
George Brown College's Centre of Business's excellent PR results are ensured by a
mixed approach including industry cooperation, press coverage, application/enrolment
numbers, and social media updates. To solidify itself as the Chief in business education,
the Centre can take a smart public relations approach in publicizing it and regularly
analyze the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Through strategic PR initiatives, the
Centre will contribute to the expansion of the college itself, while at the same time bringing
a positive image gain to George Brown College through this collaboration.