Communications Plan ProposalPrepared for:Roberto Torres

This communications plan proposal has been prepared by

Times are changing, perspectives are shaping. Cobalt Communications provides high caliber, creative PR strategies for the modern world. Our purpose is to cultivate

trust and credibility with our clients while helping them define and communicate their purpose.

We deliver the most leading-edge work in the industry, and this is how:

•We are creative. We disrupt the market through new, innovative approaches.•We are resilient. We use strategic communications to handle challenges and threats.•We are honest. We focus on accurate, open and consistent communication in order

to build and maintain relationships with our publics.

Be Bold, Be Intentional, Be Cobalt.

Michaela Faronda - Account ManagerStephanie Livaudais - Research Director

Skie Warner - Copywriting DirectorKirsten Tate - Director of Creative ServicesLexi Paul - Media/Social Media Director

CobaltCommunications

CobaltCommunications

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

Executive Summary 2

Background 4

Current Situation 6

Research 8

Plans, Goals & Objectives 12

Strategies 14

Framework 16

Tactics Explained 18

Timetable 24

Budget 28

Evaluation 29

Appendix 31

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Executive Summary

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Cobalt Communications has created this extensive public relations plan for our client, The Blind Tiger Cafe, with the goal of outlining the strategies, tactics and programs that will allow the cafe to reach its full potential. In order to do this, the community must be made aware of the uniqueness of the cafe and all that the boutique/coffee and tea bar/coworking space fusion has to offer.

Throughout this campaign, Cobalt Communications plans to increase community awareness and increase the number of customers who visit the cafe. This will be achieved by using social media, print advertising, networking throughout the Tampa Bay area, use of review sites/mobile applications, and many more strategies which are discussed later in the public relations campaign.

The sections of this book are organized as they are with the intent to ease the intake of information.

The Blind Tiger, unlike a typical cafe, offers a unique fusion of high-quality coffee/tea products and workspace through the rare mixed-use atmosphere the cafe provides. The Blind Tiger goes beyond tapping into the market of coffee shops — it is specifically the answer to an increasing demand for a concurrently one-of-a-kind and beneficial experience in an age where people have an unquenchable thirst for something novel and unique.

Beginning with sections on background, current situation and research, our team has determined the most specific target audience for this campaign as three primary groups: tourists, local students and local young professionals. The findings from our research are included.

The structure of our plan is provided to allow for easy analyzation of how the campaign will develop over a four-month period. These components include the specific plans, overall goals and objectives we will work from in order to employ the campaign.

The framework of the campaign is outlined in the next sections, which detail the objectives, strategies and tactics to be used by The Blind Tiger throughout the four-month period.

A thorough explanation of specific strategies and tactics follow. These sections include information about how to execute each strategy’s individual tactic.

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Lastly, the timetable, budget and evaluation sections of the campaign are laid out in an easy-to-execute format to ensure the cafe owners will understand how to use each step in the campaign. Specifically, the timetable include a numbered list of actions to take throughout the length of the campaign, which will also serve as a check-list.

Implementing Cobalt Communication’s public relations campaign for an initial four-month period will facilitate the The Blind Tiger in reaching its full potential. The use of the campaign after this period will help the cafe in retaining repeat/loyal customers and will allow the cafe to utilize results found in the evaluation to, in turn, apply them toward future communications plans.

BackgroundComposition of The Blind Tiger: Three business ventures make up the boutique/coffee and tea bar/coworking space fusion in Ybor City named The Blind Tiger. All three business ventures have nine employees on staff. The following are each of the businesses broken down independently:

• The Blind Tiger Cafe: a coffee shop that offers tea, coffee and pastries from the local vendors Buddy Brew Coffee, Te Bella Tea and Piquant Epicure & Cuisine.

• CoWork Ybor: Office workspace for rent ideal for small businesses and startups. Wi-fi, printing and work spaces are available for $12/day or a monthly fee. Group rentals are also available. Complimentary coffee is served to anyone using CoWork.

• Black & Denim:An all-American apparel and denim textile company that started in Ybor in 2006.

Objectives of The Blind Tiger: To strengthen the cafe’s social media presence and expand networking efforts through the community, targeting the community’s needs in order to promote growth. The cafe owners would like to promote word-of-mouth of the cafe by locals to those who are visiting the area.

Purpose & ObjectivesThe Blind Tiger is a “1920’s speakeasy style” coffee shop in Ybor City that offers gourmet pastries, premium coffee ingredients and separate work space areas for business people. The concept of “CoWork” is combined with the cafe and offers clients free printing, workspace, and wifi for a flat fee per day (or per month). The cafe has nine employees that cater to the needs of those who love high quality coffee. The Blind Tiger also offers personal coffee brewing classes for a fee for those who want to learn how to properly brew their own coffee.

One of the owners of The Blind Tiger, Roberto Torres, wants to promote the cafe throughout the community by strengthening its social media presence and attending more networking events. He says that an ultimate goal for the cafe is to create widespread awareness through the community. He would like it if locals would suggest the cafe to travelers from out of town. Roberto would also like to improve the presence

of the cafe online, catering more to the community’s needs in order to further promote growth. Though the cafe has only been open for a few months, Roberto says that The Blind Tiger already has hundreds of loyal customers that travel from as far as Orlando for a cup of their coffee. To reach the cafe’s objectives, Roberto says he currently attends local community events to promote The Blind Tiger. Roberto hosts personal brewing classes at the cafe, with class sessions offered on Groupon, for those who want to properly brew their own coffee. Thousands of people search on Groupon daily, so this is another opportunity for the cafe to be recognized.

CompositionThe governance structure of The Blind Tiger consists of three separate business ventures incorporated into a single concept. The three business ventures are as follows:

The Blind Tiger Cafe:A cafe co-owned and operated by Roberto Torres. There is one manager in addition to Torres. The cafe sells products from local vendors. Buddy Brew Coffee sells their coffee products to The Blind Tiger. Te Bella Tea sells their tea products to The Blind Tiger. Piquant Epicure & Cuisine sells their pastry items to The Blind Tiger. The Blind Tiger sells no food or drink items of their own. It is unknown at this time how much the mark-up is for the food and drink products The Blind Tiger purchases and then sells to its customers. No free wi-fi is available.

CoWork Ybor:An at-will office work space for rent. Also co-owned and operate by Roberto Torres. CoWork is located in the same storefront building, adjacent to The Blind Tiger Cafe. Wi-fi is available for $12 per day. Monthly and group rentals are available for the workspace. CoWork and The Blind Tiger are incorporated with each other with complimentary coffee served to CoWork patrons.

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Black & Denim:An apparel company owned and operated by Roberto Torres and two business partners.The apparel is for sale within The Blind Tiger storefront facility. All three of these business ventures are small businesses with a total of nine employees. The client achieves its goals and serves its purpose at its own will. No outside organizations are hired to implement campaigns.

Relevant PublicsThe Blind Tiger generally serves locals, people who love high-quality coffee and tea, business people who can take advantage of CoWork Ybor, the work space areas at Blind Tiger’s storefront location which offers printing, workspace and wi-fi (for a flat fee per day or month), people who want to learn how to brew their own coffee properly via personal brewing classes, and people who seek vegan goods and a limited breakfast/lunch selection while having their tea or coffee.The publics that The Blind Tiger has deemed the most important are those who seek a fun, non-traditional work and meeting place to enjoy high-quality coffee and/or tea with an interest in taking advantage of the printing, workspace and wifi provided by CoWork, The Blind Tiger’s business-type counterpart.

FundingBased on an email conversation with Roberto Torres, these are the figures for funding public relations efforts for The Blind Tiger:

• $0.00 is spent annually by The Blind Tiger on reaching public relations goals.

• $0.00 is needed to carry on with current plans.

• The Blind Tiger is self-funded, with no additionally sources of funding.

• The return on investment for current public relations projects is 100%, since The Blind Tiger does not spend money on advertising.

Competitive FrameDirect competitors include coffee shops and smaller restaurants within walking distance. Within a three-block radius (a 10 minute walk) there are at least 13 places that sell coffee. Tre Amici At the Bunker,

Naviera Coffee Mills, Joffrey’s Coffee and Company, and The Bricks are the four highest rated. They all sell similar products, include a small or medium selection of bakery products and all have free wi-fi. An indirect competitor could include any business that offers free wi-fi or work spaces for rent. For example, The Blind Tiger has a strict “no wi-fi” policy due to their development of CoWork Ybor. There are several of these in Tampa, with CoCreative being the most popular. There are also libraries which offer basic services like wi-fi and printing in the vicinity, such as Hillsborough District Library which is only four blocks away from The Blind Tiger and CoWork Ybor. Also, Hillsborough County has recently opened their own shared workspace in Ybor City.

In the coffee shop space, The Blind Tiger does very well against its competition. Many of the customer reviews rave about the delicious coffee and the well-educated and courteous staff at the cafe. The ambiance appeals to a young crowd, and there arecomfortable chairs that encourage lounging. However, one drawback for them is theirlack of free wi-fi — something which is standard fare at every other coffee shop in the area. Also, there are few tables or workspaces which is likely due to the cafe’s “no wi-fi” policy as well as its shared workspace, CoWork Ybor, which is right next door. Compared to other businesses like CoCreative, CoWork Ybor operates on a smaller scale. CoCreative offers entire offices for rent as well as shared workspaces, whereas CoWork Ybor is smaller and geared toward day-to-day use, such as for startups and new professionals.

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Current SituationDevelopmentThe Blind Tiger was initially set to open in September 2014, but was pushed back a couple of months and officially opened in early November 2014. It initially opened as a coffee shop and denim store/textile shop (Black & Denim), then mid-November 2014 the coworking space CoWork Ybor opened. The three owners transformed an old office space into a unique and mixed-use space for The Blind Tiger Cafe, CoWork Ybor and Black & Denim. Because the boutique/coffee and tea bar/coworking space fusion in Ybor has only been up and running for a few months to date, not much has changed in terms of growth or evolution of the client’s business.The idea for the Black & Denim clothing line began in 2006. Luis Montanez,Roberto Torres and Chris Findeisen worked for three years to create the line andlaunched it in 2009, selling the clothing in 50 stores nationwide within three years of the launch. After a Kickstarter campaign raised enough money to open a small shop, Black & Denim opened its first storefront in August 2013 in a closet-sized Ybor City location. Black & Denim quickly outgrew this storefront and moved to a shop in Channelside, only to return to Ybor City in 2014 for the boutique/coffee and tea bar/coworking space fusion that has become The Blind Tiger — just across the street from the old Black & Denim storefront.The Blind Tiger has not initiated any public relations efforts to date.

Current PositionBlind Tiger Cafe has only been open for four months, so its relationship to the community is growing each day. The Cafe has associated itself often with Black & Denim Apparel, which has been a well known Bay-area mainstay. Given the news coverage at the time of opening, Blind Tiger Cafe was greeted positively. The owner envisions forging deeper ties with the Bay-area by going to independent business associations, local trade shows, and more, and is involved in the Visit Tampa Bay program Unlock Tampa Bay. Given the positive reception The Blind Tiger and CoWork received at the time of opening, many people were and are excited. The Tampa Bay Business Journal and St Petersburg Tribune both featured the venue’s opening, saying the venture was to become a “destination retail spot” in Ybor City. Similarly, customers have had generally good reviews of the service, food, and experience they’ve had. It is rated very highly on sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon.

The Blind Tiger’s current situation in regards to social media is as follows:Instagram - The most social media engagement the cafe has is with Instagram. Approximately, 90 users (upwards) “like” the cafe’s posts. Twitter - Low customer engagement. Twitter Posts have only about one to two “re-tweets” or “favorites” per post.Facebook- Adequate engagement for a business open for just a few months. The cafe’s posts have about 1-10 “likes” each.

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DirectionThroughout this PR campaign we need to address how The Blind Tiger is a unique coffee shop that offers premium ingredients and daily workspace. The Blind Tiger offers CoWork, a business where one can purchase wifi and a desk area for $12 per day. This option for customers makes The Blind Tiger different from most other coffee shops, especially those in Ybor City. This is a huge opportunity for growth because the cafe offers more than just coffee for business people. People like to utilize the free wifi in most cafes, but The Blind Tiger offers more than that; the cafe offers separate work space with desks, printing, and wifi for a small fee per day (or per month).The second opportunity would be for us to connect The Blind Tiger with other businesses and events currently happening in the area. This means we will need to improve their presence on social media and redo most of their company website. With more social media presence, more people in the community will notice the cafe which is essential for growth. A great way to improve business is to be recognized in the community. The goal is to have people come from out of town and suggest going to The Blind Tiger for their coffee, recommended by locals. If the cafe partners with and hosts local events, the community will become more aware and will be more willing to try a new destination.

VisionUltimately, the Blind Tiger wants to promote the unique qualities of their coffee shop within the Tampa Bay Community. Our client expressed that the experience customers gain from the Blind Tiger are unique and almost unparalleled to want can be had at other coffee shops in the surrounding area. The Blind Tiger has a distinctive background story and overall look to the cafe, qualities they want us to capitalize on. Our client envisions public relations initiatives as a catalyst to disseminating the word about their quality product and uniqueness. In the past, the Blind Tiger has not really utilized any public relations initiatives nor had they outsourced a public relations firm to help their business. Our client expects communication efforts that are trending, cutting-edge and most importantly creative. The Blind Tiger is looking for ways to get in touch with Tampa Bay Community while also connecting with the large influx of tourists that visit the city. Our client also expects attention to detail and high quality work that

they can actually implement following our contract with them. Cafe owner, Roberto Torres is especially interested in the visual appeal. He wants to show Tampa Bay all that Blind Tiger has to offer through videography and social media illustrations, especially highlighting on their special, unique events. Fortunately the Blind Tiger is giving us all creative control. They want Cobalt Communications to present any ideas we have and will evaluate what they will use following the proposal.

PitfallsWhen launching a new communications campaign there are many potential problems that need to be considered. Some problems that may be encountered by initiating a communication effort are the following.Budgeting issues are a large potential problem. Currently, The Blind Tiger has no funds dedicated to a communications budget. Adding this effort to their business plan may be short lived if budgeting is not considered. With no prior experience with handling funds allocated to strategic communication, the client will need careful guidance on this task.Another potential problem are other local providers of Buddy Brew Coffee and Te Bella Tea. We do not know the details of any manufacturing contracts with our client or the details of manufacturing contracts with other competitors our vendors are currently engaged with. We do not know the level of loyalty the vendors will have with our client. Our client may become very successful as a result of our campaign, thus affecting the sales of large competitors, such as, Oxford Exchange. The competitors may wish to sign a non-compete contract with our vendors, which may leave our client with zero vendors. The Blind Tiger needs to strengthen its relationship with its vendors to ensure a mutually beneficial partnership and to avoid any potential non-renewal of contracts.A third problem that may encounter is employee involvement. As the agency providing the campaign we need to make sure that all parties involved in the campaign are in agreement with the communications plan. Any employee who does not agree with the communications plan may sabotage it. To avoid this we need to make sure the employees are considered a vital part of the campaigns’ success. We will need to include the employees in all aspects of the campaign, from planning to execution to evaluation.

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ResearchStatement of the Problem

Following extensive research and analysis, the circumstances and situation affecting The Blind Tiger appear to be as follows:

The attitudes of consumers toward The Blind Tiger indicate generally positive feedback, specifically with the atmosphere (“creative and quirky,”) the high quality of coffee products available, the friendly service and the location of the cafe. Drawn from consumer reviews across multiple platforms such as Yelp, Urbanspoon and Facebook, the attitudes of consumers are overall positive and seem to view The Blind Tiger as an up-and-coming coffee shop which is progressing toward becoming a go-to coffee shop in the Ybor area.

Compared to leading competitors, The Blind Tiger strongly differentiates itself from other coffee shops, mainly because of its uncommon mixed-use space. The boutique/coffee and tea bar/coworking space fusion in Ybor is one of a kind.

Some of the weaknesses of The Blind Tiger include the no wi-fi policy, since free wi-fi is a common feature at not only competing cafes, but at almost all public places today. Also, The Blind Tiger has not utilized any public relations initiatives in the past and, as a result, it has had little success in spreading the word about the uniqueness and quality of products available, aside from word-of-mouth marketing.

Problem statementToday, The Blind Tiger is missing out on opportunities to connect to its publics. If thisproblem is ignored, the cafe may miss a critical founding period in reaching out and making thecommunity aware of and informed about the rare mixed-use space that is The Blind Tiger.

Goal statementTo increase the community’s awareness of The Blind Tiger, specifically the uniquenessand all that the boutique/coffee and tea bar/coworking space fusion has to offer.

Research Questions/Hypotheses

We are trying to answer the main question of what people look for in a cafe experience. We thought our most popular answers would be “quality of coffee/tea” and “atmosphere.” We included the question of “How likely are you to choose a cafe over another dining experience?” and expected the answers to mostly be “not likely” due to the lack of food items that cafes offer. We asked the question “Where and how do you obtain information about dining options in the Tampa Bay area?” and we expected people to answer with “social media” or “friends/word of mouth.”

Most people that we know go to cafes quite often, so when we asked our respondents how often they go to cafes, we expected them to answer anywhere between 1 and 4 times per week. When we asked respondents what their favorite cafe in the Tampa Bay area is, we expected most people to say “Starbucks.” Most people are unwilling to travel very far to a cafe, so we included this question in our survey, to expect most people to say “no more than 2 miles.” We asked the general education, sex, and age questions, expecting most respondents to be females between the ages of 18-22 with a Bachelor’s degree.

By asking these questions we would be able to determine how far people would be willing to travel to a cafe, therefore knowing the possible outcome of how many people would be willing to travel to The Blind Tiger if it had what they were looking for. By asking what people look for in a cafe experience, we are better able to assist The Blind Tiger in knowing this information in order to implement it at their cafe. Since it is assumed that most people look for high quality coffee and drinks in a cafe, The Blind Tiger is already ahead in the campaign because they offer top quality ingredients that are locally brewed to perfection.

graph 1

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Method

Our data collection technique was digital surveying. We created a survey using Google Sheets and distributed it to as many people as we could in a two-week period. We chose this method because it was free, allowed for various question formats in the same program, came with built in analytics to allow us to view the data in real time and adjust our strategies accordingly. Also, given our time constraints, surveys proved to be the most efficient method, allowing us to reach a broad and varied group of people in a short amount of time.

Blind Tiger is located in Ybor City, a highly popular district of the City of Tampa. Our survey’s population, then, is the City of Tampa, which has about 353,000 people in a 170-square-mile area. This is a diverse and spread out population comprised of mainly Caucasians, Latinos, and African Americans. The median household income in Tampa is $40,000 ($10,000 below the national average). Ten percent of the population is between the ages of 18 to 24 and 32% is between the ages of 25 to 44.

Our survey’s sample size was 45 people chosen via a combination of random and convenience sampling. Since we created a digital survey that was distributed via social media and email, we didn’t have complete control of the sampling method. The reason for this distribution method was our time constraints and lack of resources - we had about two weeks to complete our data collection and had no budget to conduct research.

We recorded a total of 45 responses over a two-week period. The surveys were distributed digitally, primarily over email and social media like Facebook and Twitter with posts including a short survey description and a call to action. Users clicked on a link which directed them to the online survey. The survey was made up of 10 questions, seven of which were a mix of multiple choice and text box questions. The remaining three were basic multiple choice demographic questions.

Analysis

Every time a user took our survey, the results were logged in a linked Google Sheet (similar to an Excel chart). The results were put into a form that was easy

to analyze, which every user being a row in the chart and each question a column, so that when answers were recorded they went into the corresponding cell. Using Google Form’s publishing tools, these answers were then turned into pie charts, bar graphs, lists and other visual methods of communicating the responses. These were instrumental in helping us understand our findings and how to apply them to our strategies.

Findings

Our first question asked, “What do you look for in a “cafe experience?”’ (See Graph 1). The five answer choices (excluding “other”) were presented in such a way that they primed the respondents to think of various elements of the cafe experience besides just coffee. This was a multiple choice question which allowed respondents to choose more than one answer.

The top two answers were “quality of coffee/drinks” and “atmosphere/environment,” with 69% of respondents choosing them. Access to Wi-Fi came third (62%) and a varied menu came fourth (58%). Workspace area was last at 38%. Additionally, 7% chose “Other.”

The second question asked respondents how likely they’d be to choose going to a cafe over another dining option. They were limited to choosing one answer choice. An overwhelming majority answered neutrally, with 67% answering “maybe, depending on the cafe” (see Graph 2). The remaining few had stronger opinions: 20% answered “likely” and 13% “not likely.”

Our third question asked respondents to expand on their previously given answer, filling in a text box to tell exactly why they’d choose the dining experience they did. Given the variety of answers, these were coded into the following categories: quality of coffee/drinks, variety of menu items/food, workspace area, atmosphere/environment, access to Wi-Fi, and other. These categories reflect the answer choices in Question 1, as we wanted a way to weigh how much of a factor each element of the cafe experience was for customers. (Answers could be coded into two different categories.)

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After the content analysis, we’ve discovered that a cafe’s atmosphere (29%) is still the most important factor in whether or not a customer will choose that for a particular dining experience, followed by workspace area (19.2%) and variety of food items (19.2%). The complete results of the content analysis are found in Table 1.

Our next question asked users where and how they obtained information about dining options in the Tam-pa Bay area. This is a multiple choice question which allowed them to choose more than one answer (see Graph 3). This question was important to us because these answers would be heavily considered in the shap-ing and evaluating our communications plan.

Far and away, respondents selected “friends/word of mouth” and “social media” as their top choices (87% and 84%, respectively). Advertisements came at a dis-tant third, with 38% including them in their selections. Other media ranked low on respondents lists: maga-zines (9%) billboards (16%) and newspapers (18%).

Next, we asked, “How often do you go to cafes?” We wanted to establish a baseline to compare Blind Ti-ger’s repeat customer rates to the rate of cafes at large. A majority of respondents (29%) said they go “1-2 times per week.” Interestingly, the next most-selected option was “once per month,” with 24% choosing that option. “Two-three times per month” was next at 20%, followed by “3-4 times per week” (18%), and “Never” (9%) (See Graph 4).

Our next question asked respondents to write in a text-box what their favorite local cafe is. Starbucks was the top submission at 24%. Oxford Exchange in downtown Tampa was the next favorite at 16%, and 24% do not have a favorite cafe, do not go to cafes, or chose not to disclose. Other cafes that were mentioned include Kah-

wa, Buddy Brew and Felicitous (next to USF campus).

Respondents were then asked how far they are willing to travel to visit a cafe (see Graph 5). Most said “6-10 miles,” with 40% choosing that option. “No more than 2 miles” was the next most popular choice (29%), followed by “2-5 miles” (22%). Nine percent of respon-dents said they wouldn’t travel.

At this point, we’ve finished our primary data collec-tion and asked three basic demographic questions relating to age, gender and level of education. These questions helped us get a clearer picture of our sample group, and were designed to be as inclusive as possible.

In the age question, we found that a large majority of our respondents (56%) were between the ages of 18-22 years old (see Graph 6). This puts them firmly in the “millennials” generation, which is one our key publics. At 31%, our second largest group, 23-27 years old, is also considered to be millennial. Thirteen percent were older than 32 years old. In the gender question, we found that 69% of respondents identified as female and 31% identified as male (see Graph 7).

When our respondents were asked what is their high-est level of school completed, 47% said Bachelor’s degree, 8% said Master’s degree, 13% said Associate’s degree, 27% said no degree but some college credit, and 4% said high school diploma (see Graph 8).

graph 5

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Application/Interpretation

This survey has given us valuable insight into the Bay area consumer. Judging from the demographics of our sampled group, most of the survey takers fall under our “millennials” publics, and this provides information on the tastes and habits of local millennials. That being said, we’ll have to supplement our research for our other publics (like tourists) with outside, third party research.

We’ve learned that the most popular way that respondents find out about Tampa Bay dining options is via social media or word of mouth. These results support current research with lauds the value of social media and word of mouth over other traditional forms of promotion. According to AdWeek, personal brand stories and recommendations shared over Facebook trump other forms of social media in terms of trustworthiness, and freely-given recommendations from close friends or family trump any form of paid promotion.

Encouraging customers to share their stories and pictures with a dedicated hashtag that would be promoted throughout the store (on menus and signage). Blind Tiger’s social media team would regularly review the contents posted to the tag and share customer stories and pictures, reinforcing and encouraging customers to share. (See a similar campaign by South Tampa restaurant Datz featuring the Instagram tag “#datsforfoodies”).

In addition to the value of social media in promoting to our publics, we’ve learned that most potential customers are willing to drive (“6-10 miles”) to visit the shop, but a significant amount would prefer to be within walking distance (“no more than 2 miles”). This data is valuable to our campaign as it will aid us in further targeting our messages.

Another key finding is that “access to wifi” is a very significant part of the “cafe experience” for most respondents, who ranked it right up there with the atmosphere and the beverages themselves. This indicates that Blind Tiger needs to carefully discuss and explain their reasons for forgoing such a key aspect of the typical cafe experience. Continuing to promote and tout the benefits of the adjoining CoWork Ybor and emphasizing the “old school” atmosphere

will be a key in avoiding people passing up the Blind Tiger altogether.

How will you use the data you collected to plan the PR campaign?

Our findings should help us identify specific trends. Are participants answering how we expected them to? Are they providing insight on aspects not considered previously? More importantly, how will we address the issues brought up? What comes from analyzing the focus group results will let us determine what further action needs to be taken in the quantitative portion of our research. To analyze the results from the survey instrument, we will compare the results from the interval/ratio questions asked across categorical demographics. Any correlations found will be tested using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. We can conduct cross-tabulations, univariate and/or bivariate analyses, and analysis of variance when necessary.

The most results-oriented test we predict will be testing correlations. Trends that are found in our quantitative research that relate or match with trends found in our qualitative research will be heavily focused on. We have a greater chance of our communications proposal for The Blind Tiger to be successful if we revolve the campaign around the findings of our research. If we choose to run any statistical tests that require software, Cobalt Communications will use either SPSS or STATA, because of free access through the USF Application Gateway. What mistakes did you make in designing the research or collecting data that could have influenced findings? After reviewing our survey and findings, we realized that not all of our publics were represented in our demographics. We were not able to find a way to distribute our survey to tourists, which required us to find outside research and incorporate it into our strategy. Also, due to our survey distribution method, our sampling method was not as random as we would have liked. Distributing the survey through social media and email limited the amount of people that we could send it to. The results could be biased due to our extended circle of friends and family. We recommend any surveys in the future to be completely random.

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Plans, Goals & Objectives

The goal of our campaign is to increase awareness of the unique qualities of the cafe as well as increase the amount of customers who come to the cafe, especially in terms of retaining them as repeat customers. Our plan for reaching this goal includes the use of multiple strategies including social media, print advertising, networking throughout the Tampa Bay area and utilizing review sites and mobile applications.

We need to ensure awareness in the community about the cafe compared to traditional coffee shops remains constant and consistent. The amount of repeat customers could be improved.

Throughout the campaign we plan to increase awareness among tourists and potential local customers and in-crease amount of customers walking through the door.

Our overall plan is to increase community awareness and increase the number of customers who visit the cafe by using a series of strategies including social media, print advertising, networking throughout the Tampa Bay area and review sites and mobile applications.

Our client is a relatively new business in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the Blind Tiger Cafe is doing a great job of promoting themselves for only being open for about 5 months. The Blind Tiger seeks to keep their momentum going and remain relevant in Tampa Bay

Cobalt Communications would like to help the Blind Tiger stay relevant by continuing to attract local and visit-ing customers by promoting the cafe qualities.

As a result of the proposed communications plan, Cobalt Communications and the Blind Tiger Cafe would like to see a continued increase of awareness of the cafe via social media and a higher volume of clientele walking through the door throughout the week.

We have tasked ourselves with exceeding four main objectives, set to a four-month-long timeline, that aim to meet our goal of increasing awareness about our client.

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Objective 1 - Increase Awareness of Cafe among Tourists (by 10% over a four month period)

We chose this objective per the client’s request. Building and maintaining a presence among tourists was an important aspect of growing the cafe’s success in our client’s mind. We also feel that it is important for the Cafe to be established as one of the “must see” sites in Tampa from a tourist’s perspective. Being a relatively new busi-ness located in Ybor City on the most popular street, 7th Avenue, we feel that a 10% growth in awareness among tourists is a reasonable number to obtain.

Objective 2 - Increase Awareness of Cafe among local students and young professionals (by 12% over a four month period)

We chose this objective because the cafe caters to the demographic of local students and young professionals. Again, because this is a new business that is in a state of growth we feel that a 12% increase in awareness among this key demographic is obtainable.

Objective 3 - Maintain Customer Loyalty through onsite customer engagement (Build customer loyalty by increasing customer engagement by 15% over a four month period)

We chose this objective because customer engagement is what makes a new business thrive. We are stretching at setting our objective at a 15% increase, but with consistent effort, this objective should be obtained within the set timeframe.

Objective 4 - Increase purchase of Living Social deal by (Artisan Cof-fee Brewing Class and Tasting) (sell 40 deals over a four month peri-od)

Another way to meet our goal of overall increased awareness of the cafe is to increase awareness of the more unique and lesser known services offered. The coffee brewing class is one of these unique aspects that we feel we can grow with our campaign. The task of selling 40 deals over four months should be easily met with consistent effort from our client.

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Strategies

Potential Customers - Tourists

•Leverage the Tampa Bay network•Review sites and mobile applications•Print advertisement

One key public for our client is tourists and business professionals from out of town. Tampa Bay is extremely well-known for its tourism and the amount of people that come to visit from all around the world. Since Ybor City is a historic district, it attracts people from around the world. The Blind Tiger is at an all-time advantage with its location in the heart of Ybor City — on the 7th avenue strip — which is the most popular part of the historic district. There are a plethora of hotels located near Ybor City where many business professionals stay during their work conventions. We decided we want to create print advertisements to place at local hotels.

In order to market to tourists and business professionals from other areas, we have come up with some strategies for The Blind Tiger to consider. Our first strategy is for the cafe to leverage the Tampa Bay network and attend local events such as conventions and markets. Many people travel to Tampa Bay not only as tourists, but also for work conventions. These business professionals from out of town like to explore what the Tampa Bay has to offer, and among the many foodie-type options for adventures, there are some nice cafes as well. We think it would be a good business strategy for The Blind Tiger to attend local events with a booth offering options from the menu, print copies of the menu for customers to take with them, and also some “swag” items such as logo stickers and key chains. Not only will this promote the cafe to out-of-town business professionals, but it will also ensure that if the professionals enjoy the products, it is likely that they will visit the cafe the next time they are in town.

The Blind Tiger can also utilize mobile applications and online review sites. By creating a mobile application and allowing potential customers to access reviews, menu information, hours, contact information and pictures, they will be able to get an idea of what to expect from The Blind Tiger and it could push them toward trying the cafe out. Customers will enjoy being able to look up reviews and see photos of the products from The Blind Tiger.Another strategy is to create print flyers or advertisements to place on the concierge desk at local hotels in Channelside and Ybor City so that while customers are checking in and out, or simply looking for nearby places to hang out, they will see The Blind Tiger flyers and possibly choose to go there. The flyers should contain the cafe name and logo, along with hours of operation, location and some general menu items. Something like this could boost the amount of travelers that come in to the cafe. Another aspect to add to the flyer is a purchase incentive- such as “Bring in this flyer and receive $1 off of your coffee/tea purchase.” This way, the owner of the cafe knows the customer came there because of the flyer being distributed locally.

Potential Customers - Graduate Students/Young Professionals

•Leverage the Tampa Bay network•Social media•Review sites and mobile applications•Print advertisement

Tampa ranks second on the Forbes list for top 10 cities for young entrepreneurs. This is a major benefit for The Blind Tiger, as it has the workspace fusion incorporated into the cafe. We believe that using social media, review sites and applications, print advertising and networking with local professional organizations will be the most effective strategies for communicating with the graduate student/young professional public.

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Potential Customers - Undergraduate Students

•Social Media•Print advertisement•Face-to-face customer engagement

Another key public is undergraduate college students as the Tampa Bay area has a large population of people pursuing higher education. Cobalt Communication would specifically like target students from the University of Tampa, Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida.

A bulk of the “Millennials” generation is comprised of undergraduate college students ranging from ages 18 to 22. We believe the most effective way in communicating with this public is through social media platforms, print advertisements and face-to-face customer engagement.

ObstaclesObstacle with social media: Respondents overwhelmingly reported that they use social media and word-of-mouth as their primary sources of information for dining options in Tampa Bay (85% word of mouth, 83% social media). A challenge that can arise here is low engagement — people see the post and keep scrolling. How can this be avoided: A dedicated effort to create content that drives engagement (implement social media monitoring to find what works and what doesn’t), run social-only promotions to encourage people to pay attention to posts.

Obstacle with print advertisement: Survey respondents rated print sources very low on the list of how they get their Tampa Bay dining information, circulation area might alienate our tourist demographic. How can this be avoided: Focus on “grad students/young professionals” demographic in publications they are likely to read (Tampa Bay Times/*TBT, Tampa Bay Business Journal, Creative Loafing) and tout the features of the adjoining CoWork Ybor.

Obstacle with Tampa Bay networks: This alienates the “undergraduate students” demographic (only 2% in this age bracket reported that they look at networks like “Unlock Tampa Bay” for information about dining options). How can this be avoided: Position this as “community involvement,” and highlight the involvement on social media. “Giving back” is important.

Obstacle with review sites: Lack of customer participation. How can this be avoided: Highlight positive reviews and address negative ones — show customers their opinions are seen and valued. One way to do this could be to physically clip or share socially what customers have been saying. Respond to each comment, both positive and negative.

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Framework

Objective 1 - Increase Awareness of Cafe among Tourists (by 10% over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - Connecting with local tourism board/bureau

Tactic 1- Placing Blind Tiger stationary at local hotelsTactic 2- Further relationship with Visit Tampa Bay by promoting Cafe’s special events through their calendar and being involved in special advertising campaigns

Strategy 2 - Social media/internet

Tactic 1 - Encouraging customers to write reviews and “check-in” on Facebook, Instagram, Urbanspoon and Yelp Tactic 2 - Reach out to similar cafes around the country to give social media shoutouts to the Blind Tiger. Customers that love a good coffee shop will hopefully seek out the Bling Tiger Cafe when visiting Tampa (especially if they’re favorite local coffee shop has highlighted The Blind Tiger)

Objective 2 - Increase Awareness of Cafe among local students and young professionals (by 12% over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - Utilize social media platforms more strategically

Tactic 1 - Short videos to visually promote product, atmosphere, crafting of beverages and special events Tactic 2 - Encouraging customers to write reviews and “check-in” on Facebook, Instagram, Urbanspoon and Yelp

Strategy 2 - Create a presence on college campuses

Tactic 1 - Place print advertisement within local college newspapersTactic 2 - Attend campus events that can showcase The Blind Tiger

Strategy 3 - Build a presence within the Tampa Bay area community

Tactic 1 - Creating a presence at college campuses by tabling at campus functionsTactic 2 - Create a presence at Ybor City Saturday Market Tactic 3 - Place ads in the Creative Loafing Newspaper: This newspaper highlights the “best of the bay” in other words, events and local attractions in the Tampa Bay area.

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Objective 4 - Increase purchase of Living Social deal by (Artisan Coffee Brewing Class and Tasting) (sell 40 deals over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - In store promotion

Tactic 1- Have baristas frequently mention the Living Social deal in store Tactic 2- Create in store signs for the class so customer see the sign when visiting the cafe

Strategy 2 - Social media promotion

Tactic 1 - Use boosted social media postsTactic 2 - Strategic wording and timing of social media posts (solely on the living social promotion) Tactic 3 - Create an event page for the class

Objective 3 - Maintain Customer Loyalty through onsite customer engagement (Build customer loyalty by increasing customer engagement by 15% over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - Create an email list-serve of customers to remind them of special events and new features to the cafe

Tactic 1 - Collect emails from customersTactic 2 - Have baristas ask for every customer to sign-up for the electronic newsletter

Strategy 2 - Encourage social media use

Tactic 1 - Launch a social media photo contest where customers can document their experiences at the Blind Tiger Tactic 2 - use hashtag #blindtigerybor on social media platforms, print on business cards and menus and other print ads Tactic 3- feature customers in social media posts, retweets, etc

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Tactics ExplainedWe would like to specifically increase awareness of The Blind Tiger in the community, realistically by 5%. We would like to measure how many people follow The Blind Tiger on social media, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook specifically, after our campaign compared to how many people followed the company before. We will have the Blind Tiger focus on one hashtag (#blindtigerybor) to monitor the increasing number of people that follow or have “liked” The Blind Tiger on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. By focusing primarily on one hashtag we will be able to measure the success rate of our campaign.

The Blind Tiger has a major advantage that their location is not placed near a Starbucks, the leading cafe competitor. Our team is measuring the response rate of the potential customer surveys we distributed through Google Drive to determine what most people like to see out of a cafe- wifi, atmosphere, menu items, or convenience. We will suggest to the owner that he should improve the cafe’s presence in the community by attending nearby conventions and events.

We intend to measure the plan’s success by monitoring the amount of followers The Blind Tiger has on social media- Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter- recording the number before our campaign, and then again after. We will be able to see if there is an increase in followers due to our campaign. If the result is around a 5% increase, our campaign will be successful, with our goal of expanding awareness in the community of this unique cafe. We want to also provide the owner of the cafe with the satisfaction that we have helped him expand his business.

Our client is a relatively new business in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the Blind Tiger Cafe is doing a great job of promoting themselves for only being open for about 7 months. The Blind Tiger seeks to keep their momentum going and remain relevant in Tampa Bay’s array of dining experiences.

Our plan meets directly meets the goals of our client because it maintains their relevancy by staying connected to targeted publics through a variety of different means. Our plan intends to connect The Blind Tiger to customers in unique ways that are not only interesting but engaging. We balanced incentives and effective communication to highlight our client’s unique special events, promotions and atmosphere.

Our intended public are locals and tourists that fall into the following descriptions: 1. Local College Students (both undergraduates and graduates) 2. Local Young Professionals (could be going to school and working concurrently) 3. Any Tourists with specific attention to tourists that are in town for work related purposes

We plan to gear our social media efforts specifically towards local customers. We believe that tourists are more likely to discover The Blind Tiger through restaurant listings, mobile application reviews and hospitality infor-mation resources. Locals are likely to use some of the same means to find The Blind Tiger in addition to word of mouth and friends posting on their social media account about their experiences.

The owner of The Blind Tiger, Roberto, would be responsible for carrying out each individual activity during this campaign. In addition to him, he could hire (or designate) a certain employee to implement this plan as well, if he does not want to carry it out himself. If he were to choose to hire or appoint an employee for these activities, it would be added to the campaign budget.

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Objective 1 - Increase Awareness of Cafe among Tourists (by 10% over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - Connecting with local tourism board/bureau

Tactic 1- Placing Blind Tiger stationary at local hotelsTactic 1: Execution Plan-Connecting with local hotel’s guest services-Contacting the manager of the concierge of the following hotels to place brochures and menus in guest resource center.

Tactic 2- Further relationship with Visit Tampa Bay by promoting Cafe’s special events through their calendar and being involved in special advertising campaignsTactic 2: Execution Plan-Contact Visit Tampa Bay regarding their upcom-ing advertising campaigns, especially the Summer Leisure Campaign. Since our plan is set to launch in May, taking part in the Summer Leisure Campaign aligns perfectly with the timeline. This marketing campaign highlights the many activities to take part in Tampa, over the summer. -Advertise the Cafe’s themed tea times as special events in Visit Tampa Bay’s Calendar of Events

Strategy 2 - Social media/internet

Tactic 1 - Encouraging customers to write reviews and “check-in” on Facebook, Instagram, Urbanspoon and YelpTactic 1: Execution Plan-Make Facebook and Instagram account names visible in the Cafe. Print account names on menus and receipts, write them on the chalkboard outside of the Cafe-Have baristas drop an informational handout about mobile application review sites upon serving customer’s orders

Tactic 2 - Reach out to similar cafes around the country to give social media shoutouts to the Blind Tiger. Cus-tomers that love a good coffee shop will hopefully seek out the Blind Tiger Cafe when visiting Tampa (especially if they’re favorite local coffee shop has highlighted The Blind Tiger)Tactic 2: Execution Plan-Contact similar coffee shops (in regards to atmosphere and services offered)-The Blind Tiger needs to provide “shoutouts” to other cafe’s first to expect recognition in return

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Objective 2 - Increase Awareness of Cafe among local students and young professionals (by 12% over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - Social media/internet

Tactic 1 - Short videos to visually promote product, atmosphere, crafting of beverages and special events Tactic 1: Execution Plan-Video example: beverages being crafted by baristas-Video example: customers using the workspace-Video example: showcasing new merchandise, panning across the merchandise section of the establishment -Video example: special tea times-Video example: how was the beverage crafted-Video example: opening the store procedures-Video example: closing the store procedures-Video example: tea brewing-Video example: customers enjoying the oatmeal bar-Video example: growler refill process-Video example: setting up the pastries-Video example: contest winner teasers

Tactic 2 - Encouraging customers to write reviews and “check-in” on Facebook, Instagram, Urbanspoon and YelpTactic 2: Execution Plan-Make Facebook and Instagram account names visible in the Cafe. Print account names on menus and receipts, write them on the chalkboard outside of the Cafe-Have baristas drop an informational handout about mobile application review sites upon serving customer’s orders

Strategy 2 - Create a presence at college campuses

Tactic 1 - Place print advertisement within local college newspapersTactic 1: Execution Plan-Contact school newspapers University of South Florida: “Oracle” (Lifestyle Section) University of Tampa - “The Miranet” (Lifestyle Section) Hillsborough Community College - “The Hawkeye” (Arts and Entertainment Section)

Tactic 2 - Attend campus events that showcase The Blind Tiger Tactic 2: Execution Plan-University of South Florida “Bull Market” Bull Market is a weekly tabling event that happens every Wednesday. Student organizations and local vendors set up tents and tables, hand out promotional items and fliers to students.-Tabling suggestions: Bring a custom Blind Tiger table cloth and promotional decals for students to place on their laptops

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Strategy 3 - Build a presence within the Tampa Bay area community

Tactic 1 - Creating a presence at college campuses by tabling at campus functionsTactic 1: Execution Plan-University of South Florida “Bull Market” Bull Market is a weekly tabling event that happens every Wednesday. Student organizations and local vendors set up tents and tables, hand out promotional items and fliers to students.-Tabling suggestions: Bring a custom Blind Tiger table cloth and promotional decals for students to place on their laptops-The Blind Tiger can sample some of their beverages and promote upcoming special events

Tactic 2 - Create a presence at Ybor City Saturday Market -Since the cafe is located in Ybor, this is a great way for the client to get connected with the local community. Ybor City is also a historic district which attracts a large tourist population. The Ybor City Saturday Market differs from other community markets because it’s not solely based on farm to market products. Ybor’s Saturday Market gives opportunity to a wide array of vendors to promote their business and generate sales.Tactic 2: Execution Plan- Directions for registering for a space at the Ybor City Saturday Market: -The Blind Tiger should register for the daily rate to provide flexibility. The campaign is intended to last 4 months. The Blind Tiger can create a presence at the market once every month.

Tactic 3: Place ads in the Creative Loafing Newspaper: This newspaper highlights the “best of the bay” in other words, events and local attractions in the Tampa Bay area.Tactic 3: Execution Plan- Prepare a general or specific ad for the paper: The Blind Tiger can create a general ad marketing the cafe as a whole OR if a major special event arises within the the 4 month campaign timeline - Contact Creative Loafing Sales and Marketing Coordinator for ad space and fees:

Objective 3 - Maintain Customer Loyalty through onsite customer engagement (Build customer loyalty by increasing customer engagement by 15% over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - Create an email list-serve of customers to remind them of special events and new features to the cafe

Tactic 1 - Collect emails from customersTactic 1: Execution Plan- Have professionals drop their business cards into a bowl by the register. Provide a promotional aspect while also getting emails. Especially for young professionals, The Blind Tiger can promote two free hours of wifi in the coworking space next door (one winner to be chosen every month).

Tactic 2 - Have baristas ask for every customer to sign-up for the electronic newsletterTactic 2: Execution Plan-The Blind Tiger should have an ipad prompted with a google form near the register where customers can easily, and quickly log their email for promotional updates on the cafe.The form should have short description of what the customer’s email will be used for and a space provided to type in the customer’s email.-Baristas should be briefed at a staff meeting of the new efforts to maintain customer loyalty to the cafe

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Strategy 2 - Encourage social media use

Tactic 1 - Launch a social media photo contest where customers can document their experiences at the Blind TigerTactic 1: Execution Plan-Use the unique hashtag (#damngoodBT) to track customers photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook-Repost winners to The Blind Tiger account-Choose three winners a month that can receive the following prizes: one free beverage or pastry, one free hour of wifi from the co-work space, The Blind Tiger mug

Tactic 2 - use hashtag #blindtigerybor on social media platforms, print on business cards and menus and other print adsTactic 2: Execution Plan-The Blind Tiger currently uses the hashtag #blindtigerybor in conjunction with many other hashtags. To track social media progress the cafe must especially promote one hashtag to see who is talking about the cafe and how much.

Tactic 3 - feature customers in social media posts, re-tweets, etc.Tactic 3: Execution Plan-By consistently using and promoting a major hashtag the Blind Tiger can easily repost customer’s positive com-ments about the cafe

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Objective 4 - Increase purchase of Living Social deal by (Artisan Coffee Brewing Class and Tasting) (sell 40 deals over a four month period)

Strategy 1 - In store promotion

Tactic 1- Have baristas frequently mention the Living Social deal in store

Tactic 2- Create in store signs for the class so customer see the sign when visiting the cafe

Strategy 2 - Social media promotion

Tactic 1 - Use boosted social media postsTactic 1: Execution Plan-Facebook allows users to pay for “boosts” a feature that makes posts appear higher on audience’s News Feed (which increases the likelihood of being read)

Tactic 2 - Strategic wording and timing of social media posts (solely on the living social promotion)Tactic 2: Execution Plan-Posting at the beginning of the week asking audience if they have end of the week date plans (The class is held every Thursday)-Posts could have a tag line reading “Thirsty Thursday”-Posting at the beginning of the month saying “try something new this month, take The Blind Tiger Artisan Coffee Brewing Class”-Create special posts about Living Social special discounts (a few dollars off the original price and its deadline)

Tactic 3 - Create an event page for the classTactic 3: Execution Plan-Plan to create an event page every other week-Invite only 50-100 of your followers at a time to create exclusivity (and to not exhaust your audience)Inviting a small portion of your audience to the event will prevent over-saturation of the event

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Timetable

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Budget

Estimated total budget for the four-month communications plan proposal : $1444

Item Details Quantity Total Cost

Fliers-trifold or double sided

For vendor tables/hotels 200 $80

USF Oracle advertising 5 column x 2.75”, 16 weeks

$99

Creative Loafing Tampa advertising

1/4 sheet, weekly $400

Video Videographer hourly + production + fees

$300

Graphic design services Branding package + fees $100

Sunglasses For vendor tables 60 $100

Coasters For vendor tables 60 $60

Balloons For vendor tables 20 $10

Business Cards For vendor tables 150 $20

Pens For vendor tables 200 $90

Signage (to promote reviews)

For restaurant 10 $5

Signage (for in-store pro-motions and Living Social

For restaurant 2 $30

Boosting social media Per Facebook post (Reach: 5000-13000)

1 $20

Miscellaneous Any unforeseen expenses $50

Promotional items Free items such as menu items or mugs

$60

Recommended Budget $1444

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Evaluation

Criteria The success of our campaign will be measured by a number of criteria. Cobalt Communications feels that the best criteria to measure the results of the campaign includes things such as the amount of customers through the door of the cafe, Facebook/instagram/twitter likes (social media interaction), amount of customers who use hashtags already implemented by the cafe, use of unique hashtag created in campaign. By using these methods, we will be able to see if there is an increase in customers, followers, customer interaction, etc. directly as an im-pact of implementing our campaign. We will also create 2 evaluation surveys- one for current customers and one for potential- asking the current customers how often they come to The Blind Tiger, and when they do how often they use the hashtag our team created for the campaign “#damngoodBT.” For our evaluation of potential customers, we will ask in our survey if the customers have ever heard of The Blind Tiger before, and if they have, how they heard about it. If the current customers answer that they use the hashtag every time they visit the cafe, then our campaign is successful; in the second survey, if potential customers answer “yes,” they have heard of The Blind Tiger before and if “through social media/word of mouth” then our campaign is successful.

Method For our evaluation, we would create surveys targeted towards the audiences of current and potential customers. We would create two surveys; one for general awareness of The Blind Tiger and one for current cus-tomers using the hashtag. We would use the same survey technique on Google surveys because the data results were extremely easy to analyze for our first survey through this instrument. The evaluation surveys would be distributed over a two-week period, since our first survey was distributed over that same time period. If the re-spondents in our target group of current customers respond saying that they have used the new hashtag “#damn-goodBT” our group implemented, one of our campaign objectives can be measured as successful. This objective would be to promote the use of one singular hashtag from our campaign rather than the use of many other hashtags so we can track the results of how many people are regularly using it. In our survey to current cus-tomers we will ask how often they come to The Blind Tiger and how often out of that time they use the hashtag “#DamngoodBT.” If they use the hashtag every time they visit the cafe, our campaign is rendered successful. Our second evaluation survey will be targeted to potential customers, focusing on the question “Have you ever heard of The Blind Tiger before?” Following that question, if they answer yes, we will ask “How did you hear about The Blind Tiger?” If the majority of our respondents over a two week period answer “yes” that they have heard of the cafe before, and “social media/word of mouth” about how they heard of it, then our campaign was successful.

Analysis After collecting a vast array of data from our target audience, we can analyze the results and will be able to determine how our campaign was successful. The results should help us identify specific trends. To analyze the results from the survey instrument, we will compare the results from the interval/ratio questions asked across categorical demographics. Any correlations found will be tested using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. We can conduct cross-tabulations, univariate and/or bivariate analyses, and analysis of variance when necessary. The most results-oriented test we predict will be testing correlations. Trends that were found in our quantitative research that relate or match with trends found in our qualitative research were be heavily focused on. We had a greater chance of our communications proposal for The Blind Tiger to be successful if we revolved the campaign around the findings of our research. If we choose to run any statistical tests that require software, Cobalt Communications will use either SPSS or STATA, because of free access through the USF Application Gateway.

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Appendix

Works Cited:References (as needed)Bennett, S. (2013, December 10). Consumers Trust Social Media Recommendations (and Facebook Most Of All). Social Times. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/social-recommenda-tions/494136

Whitler, K. (2014, July 17). Why Word of Mouth Marketing is the Most Important Social Media. Forbes.com. Retrieved April 20, 2014, fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/07/17/why-word-of-mouth-marketing-is-the-most-import-ant-social-media/

Frisch, E. (2012, December 12). Attracting Tourists to a Restaurant. Foodservice Warehouse. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/education/restaurant-marketin /attracting-tour-ists-to-a-restaurant/c28090.aspx

Café Opinions Survey - Cobalt CommunicationsThe purpose of this survey is to collect data from consumers and potential customers of The Blind Tiger Ybor, an Ybor City-based café. We are asking customers for their opinions of their preferred café experiences. Data col-lected from this survey will potentially be used to create a public relations campaign that addresses the expressed needs or desires of customers.

* Required question

What do you look for in a “café experience?” *Please mark all that apply.Quality of coffee/drinksVariety of menu items/foodWorkspace areaAtmosphere/environmentAccess to wifiOther: [ ]

How likely are you to choose a café over another dining experience? *LikelyMaybe, depending on the caféNot likely

In your own words, explain why you chose the answer to the previous question. *Please write a sentence or two.[ ]

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Where and how do you obtain information about dining options in the Tampa Bay area? *Please mark all that apply.NewspapersMagazinesBillboardsAdvertisementsFriends/word of mouthSocial mediaAt schoolAt workSporting eventsFarmer’s marketsUnlock Tampa Bay (or similar) eventsOther: [ ]

On average, how often do you go to cafés? *Pick the range that best fits your answer.1-2 times per week3-4 times per week2-3 times per monthOnce per monthNever

What is your favorite café in the Tampa Bay area and why? *Please list the name of a café and a few things you love about it.[ ]

How far are you willing to travel to a cafe? *Pick the range that best fits your answer.No more than 2 miles2-5 miles6-10 milesMore than 10 miles

How old are you? *Pick the range that best reflects your age.Younger than 18 years old18-22 years old23-27 years old28-32 years oldOlder than 32 years old

What is your gender? *Pick the choice that best reflects the gender you identify as.FemaleMaleTrans*Choose not to respondOther: [ ]

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What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed? *If currently enrolled, please select the highest degree achieved.No schooling completedSome high school, no diplomaHigh school graduate, diploma or the equivalent (for example: GED)Some college credit, no degreeTrade/technical/vocational trainingAssociate degreeBachelor’s degreeMaster’s degreeProfessional degreeDoctorate degree

Your response has been recorded. Thank you for participating in our survey. Your opinions are truly valued.

Research Graphs and TablesGraph 1

Graph 2

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Table 1

Graph 3

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Graph 4

Graph 5

Graph 6

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Graph 7

Graph 8

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Local Hotel list

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Cafe Contact List

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