PRINCESS THEATER FOREIGN FILMS
Public Relations Campaign 2015
MAY 4, 2014
BRANDON CHAMPION, JORDAN PURCELL, MEGAN CHADWICK, SAMANTHA CHALUPA
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Table of Contents
Research/Key Findings …………………………………………………………………. 2-3
Publics……………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Goals and Objectives……………………………………………………………………. 3
Key Messages……………………………………………………………………………. 3
Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Tactics…………………………………………………………………………………….. 4-6
Timeline…………………………………………………………………………………... 7
Budget…………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Evaluation………………………………………………………………………………... 8-9
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………..... 10-14
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Research Techniques:

Primary Research
 Surveys:
 Professors
 Stratified random sample of 400 professors at Miami University
 Surveys contained three answers based on the question
 Surveys contained an open answer question
 Surveys sent via professors’ email addresses
 Undergraduate Students
 Random sample of every undergraduate student at Miami, totaling 15,460
 Survey contained a question in which students answered yes or no
 Surveys sent via school email addresses
 All Miami Students
 Random sample of 2,000 Miami students, including graduate students
 Survey contained a question in which students answered yes or no
 Attached to the survey were two open ended questions
 Survey sent via school email addresses
 Focus Group:
 Randomly contacted 10 Miami students for the focus group
 Met in King Library Cafe
 Interviewed students about Theater experiences and thoughts on our tactics
 Personal Interview
 Contacted the owner of Princess Theater to inquire about the history of the Theater
 Phone Call:
 Contacted the head of the Miami University Housing Department to determine budgeting
concerning residential activities

Secondary Research
 Census:
 Contacted the Census Bureau to request research information regarding Oxford, OH
residents
 Used information to determine demographics, educational levels, ethnicity, age, etc.
 University Statistics
 Researched Miami University’s website to determine information regarding students,
living learning communities, dormitories, etc.
 Princess Theater Financial Reports
 Used the yearly financial reports provided by Princess Theater to research ticket sales on
given days of the week
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Key Findings:
From the research methods above, our firm gathered ten key findings:
 43.46% of current Miami University students have taken or are currently taking a foreign language
 5% of Miami University organizations are multicultural
 68% of Miami University international students are from China
 40% of current Miami University students have seen a film at Princess Theater
 On average, Miami University students visit movie Theaters twice a month
 The top reason that a Miami University student would see a foreign film would be if it were assigned as
extra credit for a class
 47% of Miami University professors would give extra credit to students who saw an assigned foreign
film
 The dormitories at Miami University that house the most foreign exchange students are Thompson,
Dodds, and Dennison
 The majority of Oxford residents (68.06%) are between the ages 18-24
 African Americans make up the largest minority group in Oxford (4.32%)
Publics
Primary:

Miami University students, white, 18-24 years of age
Secondary:

Non-student residents of Oxford
Intervening Publics:

Miami University Teachers, Residential Advisors
Goals

Increase awareness of Foreign Film Days

Increase ticket sales on Foreign Film Days
Objective

Increase awareness of Foreign Film Days of 18-24 year old college students from 10 percent to 20
percent by December 31, 2015

Increase Foreign Film Day Ticket sales from 40 percent to 55 percent of total annual sales of Princess
Movie Theater by December 31, 2015
Key Messages

Princess Movie Theater provides foreign film classics to Miami students and Oxford residents.
Strategy

Use grassroots tactics and social media to increase moviegoers on Foreign Film nights at Princess Movie
Theater
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Tactics
The tactics for the campaign are divided into three categories
Print:

Flyers:
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Flyers will be made and posted in several popular locations in the Oxford area; including
downtown, Miami University’s campus, Kroger, and Wal-Mart. The flyers will be put up
throughout the 12 month campaign twice each month starting January 1st 2015, and 75 flyers will
be put out at a time. Each flyer will contain basic information about Princess Theater’s Foreign
Film Night, in order to create general awareness about the event in the Oxford area.
 Each flyer will include the following information:
 The title of the event, the days and time the films take place, the Theater’s social media
information, and information about the sweepstakes that will be taking place throughout
the campaign.
Electronic Billboard:
 An advertisement spot will be purchased on the electronic billboards, located in the residential,
dining, and academic buildings on Miami University’s campus. The primary public is college
students, and the advertisement will be exposed to thousands who inhabit the main buildings on
campus. The ads will run for an entire week once a month, during the fall and spring semester
(September through December, and January through May) in order to expose the ads to our
primary public.
 The advertisement will contain the following information:
 The title of the event, the dates of each day the films are being showed that month, the
Theater’s social media information, and the films being shown that month.
Table Cards:
 Miami University allows for table cards to be placed on the dining hall tables located on
campus. The table cards will be a simple visual to attract potential customers while they are
eating. These cards will target the primary public, and increase awareness and interest in the
event. Miami University Dining will receive 500 cards once a month during the fall and spring
semester of the campaign.
 Each card will contain different information than the flyers and billboards the following
information:
 The title of the event, the days it will take place, the Theaters social media information,
and information about the popcorn special event night will take place once each week.
Event:

Extra Credit from Professors
 Based on the surveys given to Miami University’s professors, 47 percent said they would
consider giving extra credit to students who attended movie night. The largest positive response
came from professors who worked in foreign language departments. Professors from the
Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Russian, and Italian departments will be consulted over what
movies are culturally informative while still being entertaining. The movies that are decided
upon will be shown on the third Sunday of each month during the spring and fall semester of
2015, excluding January and December.
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The extra credit would be offered to hundreds of students each month and would give them an
incentive to go to the Foreign Film showings. Due to most professors saying they would give
extra credit depending on the movie being shown. The most effective way to get more
professors on board is to consult them on the movies being shown that month.
Living Learning Community Movie Nights
 Miami University’s freshman dorms contain living learning communities in order to organize
students based on their interests. Six of these communities are based on foreign cultures and
international diversity, and are located in 13 dorms on campus. The communities hold special
events with the people who live in each community in order for the students to spend time with
each other. Group ticket sales will be provided to the Residential Advisors heading these
communities once in the spring semester and once during the fall. The event will bring in
potential returning customers, and customers who are interested in the foreign and cultural
entertainment and studies.
Co-Sponsor Wine Tasting Festival
 The city of Oxford has hosted a summer wine tasting festival over the past couple of years. On
the first Sunday afternoon of June, Princess Theater will co-sponsor the event and provide
entertainment in the form of a classic foreign film during the festival. The festival takes place in
the town square park, and the film will be shown on an inflatable projector screen.
 The event will target the secondary public of the campaign (non-student local residents of
Oxford) and will take place in the first week of summer when the majority of our primary public
will have returned home until the fall semester. The event will be a kickoff for the summer and
will create awareness and attract new customers in order to gain business from the local
residents.
Popcorn Night
 On the last Tuesday night of every month during the yearlong campaign; a popcorn night special
will be held, where customers who buy a large popcorn and regular size fountain will get 50
percent off of their ticket. Our research shows that the main concession purchases at Princess
Theater are popcorn and a drink, the special will give a better reason for customers to come to
the Foreign Film Nights on Tuesday because they would be saving money on products they
would normally buy when attending a movie.
Movie in the Park
 On the second Friday of each month during the summer (June, July, and August) a movie night
will take place in the downtown park of Oxford. The event will provide a fun experience for
local residents and will be friendly for both children and adults, giving both couples and families
the opportunity to attend. The movie nights will not only attract customers on those nights, but
the success of the event will create returning customers on other days where foreign films are
shown.
 The event will require a projector and an inflatable projector screen, along with an employee to
run the film. Concessions will also be provided at the movie night, which will also require an
employee to run the concession table.
Vacation Sweepstakes
 A sweepstakes will be used to give an incentive for potential customers to attend the foreign
films. Every time a customer buys a movie ticket, his or her name is entered into a drawing for a
grand prize vacation and 12 monthly drawings.
 The grand prize will be a travel package that includes lodging and airfare to Cancun Mexico for
the first week of January in 2016. Each month a drawing will be held for two 35 dollar Visa gift
cards. A person can only win the gift card once, but can win both a gift card and the grand prize.
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Social Media
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Twitter
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A Princess Movie Theater Twitter account will be created at the beginning of the campaign in
order to gain access to the thousands of Miami students who have a Twitter account. The
account will be used in multiple ways in order to create awareness and attract potential
customers.
 January will be a vital month in the campaign for building a base of followers. The Miami
Student Twitter account has an estimated eight thousand followers, and will be used as a catalyst
for publicity for the new account. A contest will be held in the last week of January, where there
will be a drawing for two free tickets that come with a free fountain drink and popcorn for both
tickets. To enter the drawing a person must retweet and follow the Princess Theater Twitter
account. Each retweet will expose the initial tweet to the followers of each person who
participates. The first retweet will be by the Miami Student’s account in order to send get an
initial media hit of eight thousand Miami students.
 A promotion will be held three times during the twelve month period, where customers can tweet
a picture of themselves inside the Princess Theater, and hashtag #ForeignFilmNight, in order to
get a free popcorn. The promotion will take place on the fourth Friday of the months of March,
July, and September.
 Each week there will be a tweet made about the films that will be showed on the three Foreign
Film Days, along with a tweet with the times and movie on the day the film is showed. The
tweets will be an informative reminder about the event, and will help lure customers if they are
interested in the film.
Facebook
 The Princess Theater Facebook page will be used to deliver basic information about the times,
dates, and the movies being shown on Foreign Film days. The page currently has close to 4,000
likes, which is a large enough number to be effective, and it will continue to grow naturally
throughout the campaign.
 One tactic that will be used throughout the campaign to engage customers, is a poll asking what
foreign film people would like to see. Facebook’s poll allows for people to enter their own
response, which others can vote on. The poll will be an effective way to find films that
customers want to see. The poll will run for the entire year, starting January 1st and ending on
December 31st.
Princess Theater Application

An application will be made for customers to download and create a profile. The app will help
customers know what movies are being shown and when, allow for tickets to be purchased ahead
of time, and for customers to track loyalty points, where after ten visits to the theatre they will
receive a free ticket.
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Budget
Item
Cost
Flyers (1,800)
$400
Table Cards (4,500)
$225
Electronic Billboards
$1,000
Visa Gift Cards (24)
$840
Vacation Package (1)
$2,500
Inflatable Screen Rental (4)
$700
Projector Rental (4)
$200
Total
$5,865
Evaluation:
For each tactic, we have specific measures of evaluation:
Print:

For all print Tactics we will evaluate each customer at the door with a brief customer survey inquiring
how they heard of the event. Responses will be recorded to determine their effectiveness at different
points in the campaign.
Events:
Extra Credit from Professors

Evaluation of this will be in two stages. First we will determine the outcome of students that attended for
extra credit. The second stage will be surveying the professors about the effectiveness of our program
and how to improve as it progresses.
Living Learning Community Movie Nights

We will be recording the number of package deals sold as well as continue to record how many of those
people returned on other nights through our Princess App.
Co-Sponsor Wine Tasting Festival

Ticket sales will be recorded. Special tickets that can be redeemed for discounted concession prices
anytime at the Princess will be tracked for return customers.
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Popcorn Night
 Attendance during the Popcorn Nights will be compared to a normal night. To be successful these nights
will need to increase attendance by .15 percent to be considered effective and create a necessary return.
If this is not possible the event will be discontinued.
Movie in the Park

We will be monitoring attendance as well as customer surveys of the event. Weather will be a large
factor in the event and will be changed as needed.
Social Media
Twitter
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
We will be monitoring the built in tools that Twitter already has available to track and monitor views
and posts.
We want our number of followers to surpass six thousand
Facebook

The success of the Facebook page will be determined by the number of likes that the account
receives. The goal by the end of the year will be to have over ten thousand likes on the page, an increase
of six thousand likes from the initial four. We will also use the tools that Facebook provides in order to
track the demographics of those who like the page, in order to gage how the plan is attracting the
primary public.
Princess Theater Application

The application’s success will be evaluated based off of the number of downloads and profiles that are
created.
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Appendix
Research:
Below are the 16 research questions that correlate with Key Findings:
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What is the demographic makeup of Oxford and Miami University of Ohio?
What is the educational background of Oxford residents?
What percentage of professors would be willing to give extra credit to students who see foreign films?
What percentage of students currently visit Princess Theater?
What would compel a Miami University student to see a foreign film?
What percentage of Miami University students are currently taking a foreign language or have taken a
foreign language?
Which dormitories house the greatest number of foreign exchange students?
How often to Miami University students visit a movie Theater in one month?
What is the history of Princess Theater?
What are Princes Theater’s ticket sales on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays on average?
How often do non-students visit Princess Theater?
What is the budget of the Residential activities chair?
What are Miami students’ attitudes towards movie Theaters?
What are professors’ favorite foreign culture movies?
How many Miami University students watch foreign films on Netflix?
Rough Research Questions
Informal Research:

Archival:
 What is the demographic makeup of Oxford and Miami University of Ohio?
 Reason:
 This will allow us to segment our publics in order to formulate which culture of
foreign films will potentially attract the greater number of people.
 Method:
 Analysis of Oxford demographics according to the Census.
 What is the educational background of Oxford Residents?
 Reason:
 This allows us to segment our public, and choose films that can be understood by
all Oxford residents, despite their educational level.
 Method:
 Analysis of Oxford demographics according to the Census.
 What percentage of Miami University students are currently taking or have taken a foreign
language?
 Reason:
 This will allow us to segment our public, as well as get a feel for how many
Miami students may show an interest in cultural experiences.
 Method:
 Utilize Miami University’s website in order to gather the needed statistics.
 What are Princes Theater’s ticket sales on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays on average?
 Reason:
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This will allow us to asses the number of tickets sold on the given days, so that we
may measure them with the ticket sales during foreign films to deem whether or
not the campaign was a success
 Method:
 Using Princess Theater yearly sales accounts, and accounting records, we will
gather the needed information. We will also consult with the Theater’s accountant
so that we have a good grasp on the sales in the past year.
 Which dormitories house the greatest number of foreign exchange students?
 Reason:
 This will allow us to know which dormitories it is imperative we put foreign film
flyers in, given that exchange students may be interested in seeing foreign films of
their culture.
 Method:
 Utilize Miami University’s website in order to gather the needed statistics.
Survey:
 What percentage of professors would be willing to give extra credit to students who see
foreign films?
 Reason:
 This allows us to decide whether or not to collaborate with professors in order to
increase attendance for foreign films at Princess Theater.
 Method:
 Use a yes or no survey in order to assess professors’ willingness to give extra
credit to students who view foreign films at Princess Theater.
 What are Professors’ favorite foreign culture movies?
 Reason:
 This information will allow us to gather some ideas about good foreign films to
possibly show. Also, professors are more likely to offer extra credit to see a film
they are already familiar with.
 Method:
 Use an opened ended survey to get various results on movie recommendations.
 What percentage of Miami University students currently visit Princess Theater?
 Reason:
 This will allow us to assess the attendance of Miami students, so that once the
campaign is finished we can assess the final attendance to measure whether the
campaign was successful in increasing the attendance of Miami students
 Method:
 Use a yes or no survey to assess current student attendance at Princess Theater
 What would compel a Miami University student to see a foreign film?
 Reason:
 This will allow us to utilize the top reasons to encourage student attendance for
foreign films at Princess Theater.
 Method:
 Use an open ended survey allowing students to express their opinions on why
they would choose to see a foreign film at Princess Theater.
 How many Miami University students watch foreign films on Netflix?
 Reason:
 This will give us a number of students that are already interested in foreign films
and watch them for pure enjoyment.
 Method:
 Use a yes or no survey to assess current interest in foreign films.
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How often do Miami University students visit a movie Theater in one month?
 Reason:
 We will use this information to gather information regarding students’ movie
Theater attendance, so that we may come up with tactics to increase that number.
 Method:
 Use an open ended survey emailed to students using their student email addresses.
How often do non-students visit Princess Theater?
 Reason:
 We will use this information to segment our non-student public, so that we may
increase their attendance at the Theater.
 Method:
 We will use a random, open ended survey to gain information regarding how
often non-students visit Princess Theater so that we may organize tactics to
increase their attendance.
Formal Research
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
Personal Interview:
 What is the history of Princess Theater?
 Reason:
 We will use this information to become more knowledgeable about our client, as
well as inform moviegoers about Princess Theater
 Method:
 Conduct a sit-down interview with the owner of Princess Theater, and ask
questions regarding the founding of the Theater, previous owners, etc.
 What is the budget of the Residential Activities Chair?
 Reason:
 We will use this information to set up group deals with language and foreign
exchange Living Learning Communities.
 Method:
 Call the H.O.M.E. office and ask for the budget information.
Focus Group:
 What are Miami students’ attitudes about movie Theaters?
 Reason:
 We will use this to gauge a general sentiment towards Theaters. If the sentiment is
negative, this is something we will work on in our public relations plan.
 Method:
 We will gather a group of 10 students in King Cafe to talk about their feelings
toward movie Theaters. We will find out what they feel is good and bad about
Theaters.
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Princess Theater Presents
Foreign Film Days
Every Tuesday and Friday night, and
Sunday afternoon
Every visit gives you a chance to win a
trip to Cancun for two
wo
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
@PrincessTheater