Mozingo Plans Book: Fall 2012

This report was prepared by Northwest Missouri State University’s Advanced Advertising class in the Fall term of 2012

Mozingo LakeRecreation Area

This report was prepared by Northwest Missouri State University’s Advanced Advertising class in the Fall term of 2012.It is one in a series of three reports created for the rebranding project.

Resident Survey Results

PlansBook

DetailedResearch

Mozingo LakeRebranding ConceptsPlans Book

Mozingo Lake Rebranding Concepts || 1

Introduction.............................................................

Situational Analysis.................................................

Primary Research.....................................................

Competetive Analysis...............................................

Target Market Analysis............................................

SWOT Analysis.........................................................

Campaign Strategy

“Change Your...”............................................

Campaign Strategy

“Share Your Mozingo Moment”.....................

Media Strategy........................................................

Social Media...........................................................

Publicity.................................................................

Zazzle.......................................................................

Web.........................................................................

Acknowledgements.................................................

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Table of Contents

2 || Mozingo Lake Rebranding Concepts

This report summarizes the materials proposed for the rebranding of Mozingo Lake and Mozingo Golf Course into one entity, Mozingo Lake Recreation Area. This book includes summary results of target audience, competitive and industry analysis, primary

research conducted, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for Mozingo Lake Recreation Area, two logos and creative strategies with different messages, a budget breakdown for social media, as well as plan for a new unified web site.

Mozingo is a recreation area that offers a large array of services, including a 1000 acre lake for boating and water sports, a highly rated golf course with a pro shop, RV and primitive campgrounds, cabins and shelters available for rental, a youth camp with multi-purpose building, trails for hiking, walking, biking, and equestrian riding, and hunting areas. Mozingo is also the water source for the city of Maryville and the surrounding area.

Mozingo Lake and Golf Course Summary• Mozingo Golf Course hosts 50 to 60 corporate outings a year,• Mozingo’s golf course generates $150,000 to $180,000 a year.• Mozingo Lake hosts 50 fishing tournaments during the summer.•The Pro Shop at the golf course generates $65,000 a year, while the snack bar generates $90,000.• Mozingo is family oriented; The recreation area offers something for every age.• Cabins are popular April through August.

Introduction

The Fall 2012 class of Advanced Advertising spent four months working on rebranding Mozingo Lake and Mozingo Golf Course into one unified entity.


Now that Mozingo Lake and Mozingo Lake Golf Course have been open to the public since 1995, the city and the lake’s advisory board are considering the next phase for the complex. A 2011 feasibility study indicated that a hotel with convention facilities is a reasonable business prospect for Mozingo, but that the entire park lacks a solid presence, specifically a unified brand. To that end, the city considered hiring a marketing firm for assistance, and was kind enough to partner with Northwest Missouri State University, and specifically this class, Advanced Advertising Strategies, taught by Jacquie Lamer. This plans book represents the culmination of a semester-long research and implementation project where our class researched many aspects of Mozingo, its offerings and its visitors, and in a presentation to stakeholders, as well as this and accompanying reports, made recommendations to brand Mozingo as a single entity and position it for future growth opportunities.

This plans book just indicates the highlights of our research and recommendations. Key stakeholders also received a Detailed Research and Recommendations supplement, as well as a document titled Mozingo Sentiment Research, which is the full results of our primary research, conducted to better understand how the general Mozingo community feels about Mozingo and its offerings. The client version of this plans book includes a Password List, that includes all user names and passwords related to the work our class has prepared. Most important, all recommendations for rebranding are based on results from our primary research which indicate the best name for Mozingo. The chart below is clear: most people refer to the entire Mozingo Entity as “Mozingo Lake” or “Mozingo Lake Recreation Area.” And so we’ve based all of our branding concepts on this new name: Mozingo Lake Recreation Area.

Executive Summary

Situational Analysis

Participants were asked to go to MozingoSurvey.com to participate in a survey


In order to gain insight on what people thought of Mozingo, our class conducted in-person surveys at the Bearcat football game during Family Weekend and at Hy-Vee. Students in our class interviewed people who agreed to answer “6 Questions in 60 Seconds.” A sample questionnaire is included in the

Mozingo Detailed Research Report. In total, we interviewed 217 people. Our respondents ranged from college students, Maryville residents, and people from out of town. The findings from the survey were very important in helping us understand how Mozingo is viewed by people and the familiarity of Mozingo to local residents.

Primary Research


To help us better understand how people feel about Mozingo, our class also conducted an online survey, hosted at MozingoSurvey.com. The class orchestrated a public relations campain in which we asked Maryville residents to go to the online survey and submit their opinions. Public Service Announcements were run on KXCV and KNIN as well as news stories run in the Maryville Daily Forum and Nodaway News Leader. Announcements were made within the University community. The survey included approximately 23 questions, with not all questions requiring an answer. The questions involved, short answer, check all that apply, as well as rating on a scale from one to five. During in-person interviews at a home football game and the Maryville Hy-Vee the URL for the online survey was passed out. This was for people who would like to expand on their answers or did not have time

to be interviewed in person. We concluded the survey on Tuesday, October 9th with a total of 299 responses. The results of every survey were automatically compiled into a database for us to observe and segment. This data was also automatically placed into a summary by Google, which can be seen with this report. The results were then sorted by specific categories to better understand the data. We segmented by location of the participant. We sorted residents of Maryville versus nonresidents of Maryville as well as students and alumni of Northwest Missouri State University. We also sorted by age of the participant, under 30 versus over 30. We determined the five most beneficial questions in the survey and presented the results to each of those questions for each segment, as well as the overall survey results during course time to evaluate and use for other purposes of the project.

Primary Research


In order to fully understand the competition Mozingo faces we have studied similar destinations in this region. We have looked into lakes and campgrounds within a 200-mile radius and golf courses within a 90-mile radius. Comparing the destinations to what Mozingo soon hopes to be, we have narrowed it down to five locations that pose the greatest threat. The top five facilities represent the greatest threat to

the Mozingo Lake Recreation Area is: Big Lake (Mound City, MO), Lake of Three Fires (Bedford, IA), Basswood Resort (Platte City, MO), Smithville Lake (Smithville, MO), and AOK Campground (St. Joseph, MO). These competitors were chosen based on several requirements including: golf course, camping options, facilities/amenities, distance, price, and overall quality.

Competitive Analysis

The map shows the five facilities that pose the greatest threat to Mozingo Lake Recreation Area. Big Lake (Mound City, MO), Lake of Three Fires (Bedford, IA), Basswood Resort (Platte City, MO), Smithville Lake (Smithville, MO), and AOK Campground (St. Joseph, MO).


There are several different audiences to consider for Mozingo. The following analysis has broken them down into sections to better understand each of them individually. It is broken down by: Golfers, RV’ers/Campers and Anglers (and soon Maryville Residents). Different kinds of information was found for each based on various reports and studies. The demographic similarities found between golfers, anglers and RV’ers/campers is dominated by males, at about 75% overall. On average the participants are between the age of 35 to 65 years. Participants in all the activities are predominantly Caucasian. The interesting aspect of the demographics found was the differences and similarities with average household income. In golfing and Rv’ing/camping the average income is between $50K to $100K. The Fishing

household income is $25K - $100K. This bracket is incredibly broad, meaning income isn’t a major factor in fishing as much as golfing and camping. The Psychographic similarites found in golfers, RV’ers/campers, and anglers are they enjoy travel, enjor the outdoors, enjoy hiking, camping, sight seeing, fishing, biking, boating, and walking, running, or jogging. • Enjoy travel• Enjoy outdoors• Hiking• Camping• Sight seeing• Fishing• Biking• Boating

The map shows where the visitors to Mozingo are from and how far they travel to Mozingo. The smallest ring on the map (green) represents a 50 -mile radius from Mozingo, the medium sized ring (pink) represents a 100-mile radius from Mozingo and the largest ring (yellow) represents a 150-mile radius. Each pin dropped on the map represents the zip code in which visitors have come from. The red pins represent RV campers, the red pins represent “tent” campers and the yellow represents those who have stayed in the Mozingo cabins.

Target Market Analysis


Strengths WeaknessesGood Golf Course

• “Mozingo Lake offers the best golf course in all of Northwest Missouri.” –Ron Darnell• Mozingo’s Golf Course generates $150,000 to $180,000 yearly in green fees• Mozingo Golf Course is host to 50 to 60 corporate outing yearly

Good Fishing• Mozingo Lake has one of the best fisheries in Northwest Missouri.• Mozingo offers up to 50 fishing tournaments in the summer

Escape from NWMSU

• Most students see Mozingo Lake as “A getaway”

Family Oriented atmosphere with things to do for all ages

• Playgrounds and the Youth Camp for children• Golf • RV park and primitive campsites• Beach• Equestrian Trails• Hunting

Popular Cabins• Mozingo currently offers five cabins for

rental• They are sold out months in advance and

are most popular April through August• RV Spots• There are 70 RV spots that begin filling up

on Wednesdays and are fully booked by Friday.

• There are 5 RV spots that are able to be reserved

Underutilized Buildings• The Youth Camp is Mozingo’s most recent addition but it is also the most underuti-lized area.• Beach Concession isn’t utilized at all• Mozingo spent $1,000 on building the beach concession and it isn’t being used.

No large venues for receptions• There is an upper level venue in the club house that people may have alcohol in but it isn’t big enough for receptions.• The other big venue is in the Youth camp where alcohol isn’t allowed.

Cabins during winter months• Even when people visit for ice fishing tournaments they stay in local hotels in-stead of the cabins

Signage isn’t attracting visitors well• The signs are large or flashy enough to attract eyes.

Inconsitent Marketing materials• There are three different websits for Mozingo with different information on each

Erosion• Poses problems for future gbuilding at Mozingo.

Call City Hall to reseve RV Spots• Can be confusing to potential customers• Low marketing on equestrian trails

Marketing Plan• Mozingo has a hard time with being pro-filed as a lake, golf course, recreation area, park, or camp. • Mozingo also has no Mission or Vision statement.

No Social Media presence• Mozingo has websites and social media but neither are updated consistenly.

SWOT Analysis


Opportunities ThreatsHotel/Restaurant

• There is talk and actual planning beginning for a hotel with a restaurant at Mozingo• More reservable RV Spots• More spots are to be built to reserve in the RV park.

Central Office• There is a central office where a city hall employee is being moved to make resevations• This helps bring in a large amount of their revenue

Online Support• Online booking made available to RV spot and cobin rentals.

Tie Mozingo into VisitMo.com

New Marketing• Mozingo should have a unified presence and become one entity

Signage• There is an oppurtunity for a sign to be put at intersections to drive traffic to Mozingo. • As well as having a small sign on Maryville’s city signs.

Impact from environment• Erosion and water supply issues may pose a threat to building/rebranding• Natural Disasters such as Tornadoes, Flood, and Drought.

Competition• Major competiton will need to be looked at for their offering and marketing strategies.

Local Support• How will the local residents feel about more tourists being drawn to Mozingo. Not only rebrand Mozingo to tourist but also to the local residents.

SWOT Analysis


The creative strategy behind our tagline “Change Your...” is that it is an interchangeable phrase that focuses on personalization and character of the target. We want the target to view these Mozingo advertisements as a direct connection to them, so we decided to emphasize how a change of priorities or scenery, for example, will allow Mozingo to meet their needs. Our first advertisement featured “Change Your Priorities,” in regard to taking a break from work, school, and life’s unpredictable mishaps. Target audience survey research has allowed us to understand that consumers view Mozingo as a recreational getaway. This quote is from a member of the focus panel that we conducted, it offers more intellectual validity behind the driving force of our campaign, “When you’re at Mozingo you’re in another world, you’re not at home doing laundry—you don’t feel like you’re in Maryville, Missouri, instead, you’re watching the sun go down, you’re watching deer, and this is where I’d rather be…” For this person, Mozingo is where she’d rather be spending her

time; “Change Your Priorities” offers a direct personalization to identify with her. The images that we use represent the “beautiful” and “powerful” part of Mozingo that dominated our research. The images that were chosen for the campaign ads were studied to see if they captured the essence of Mozingo and represented personalized character. We chose images with people that convey happiness, with beautiful scenic backgrounds. The advertisements also emphasize social media, directing people to share their Mozingo photos on Mozingo’s Facebook page. This is a relevant strategy because it allows the target to feel involved and extends a way for them to offer feedback in a non-traditional way. Social media also offers a way to advertise because when people share their awesome photos, other people can view them and can potentially be persuaded to visit Mozingo. This is an affordable, long-term way to stay connected with your consumers.

Campaign Strategy

Logo

Change Your...


Campaign Strategy

Amenity LogosThis particular logo is able to be broken down to allow each color dot representing a different part of Mozingo. Such as the logos featured below, which have been broken out to represent the golf course and RV & Campground.

This logo can also be used for business cards, such as the card below. This card was designed for use at trade shows and other events. It can be handed out to potential Mozingo visitors to later take home to remind them of Mozingo and also drive traffic to the web site.

Change Your...


Campaign Strategy

Business Package

The logo has also been incoporated to be able to be used as a letterhead or on an envelope, with the colored dots blown up to run along the bottom of each

The dots could even be used for in park signage with the colored dots leading visitors to that designated location.

This logo can also be used on professional business cards for the employees of Mozingo. Such as the ones pictured left. The color of the back of each of these matches the color of the ball that represents that specific part of Mozingo.

Change Your...


Campaign Strategy

Maryville View Book Advertisement

Facebook Cover Highlighting Mozingo Events. This could be changed for

any event Mozingo would want their Facebook audience to see.

Change Your...


Campaign Strategy

Newspaper Advertisement

Outdoor

Change Your...


Campaign Strategy

Four-Fold Brochure

Front

Back

Below is one side of brochure. The back of the brochure will have a map of Mozingo.

Change Your...


Share Your Mozingo Moment

Campaign Strategy

This campaign focuses on capturing moments. The advertisements depict the specific moments that people have at Mozingo. They encompass the idea of reflecting on the time you have spent with friends and family or even on your own, and how the little moments you thought nothing of, became lasting memories. The purpose of the “Share your Mozingo moment” tagline shown

across the campaign is to get people who read it to think about the moments they have had at Mozinog , or get them excited to get to Mozingo to create their own ‘Mozingo moment’. These are the captivating moments you look back on that make you smile and the moments that you look forward to creating.

Logo



Campaign Strategy

Business Package


Campaign Strategy




Campaign Strategy




Campaign Strategy

Outdoor 12 X 6

Logo’d Merchandise

This logo’d merchandise is a small example of what can be offered in the Zazzle store. The Zazzle score is connected to the web site and covered in more detail later in this book.



Campaign Strategy

3-Fold Brochure

Front

Back



Rebranding Campaign The main goal of this plan is to inform the local community about the new Mozingo Lake brand. The driving demographic element is the geographic location of the target. We suggest local media such as Nodaway News Leader, Maryville Daily Forum, The Northwest Missourian, 95.9 KNIM, 97.1 KVLL, 106.7 KZLX, 90.5 KXCV. These media provide Maryville and the surrounding area local news and information. Both 90.5 KXCV and the Maryville Daily Forum each had a significant positive impact on the class’s primary research

after publicizing the community survey, indicating the audience of each is actively interested in Mozingo. We also suggest local billboards which will reach local and regional travelers. Billboards can help remind locals about Mozingo offerings as they commute daily, but equally important, they’ll inform travelers that Mozingo exists, encouraging a visit. Along with billboards, we also suggest highway logo signs to direct the travelers to Mozingo Lake.

These pages outline two separate Mozingo advertising campaigns: a rebranding campaign specifically focuses on introducing the greater Maryville community to the new Mozingo name and logo. It’s intended to be a short-term

campaign that also helps establish Mozingo’s web site and Facebook presence. The long-term campaign focuses on reaching travelers and establishing Mozingo Lake Recreation Area as an outdoor destination in Northwest Missouri.

Media Strategy

Missouri Highway logo sign


Long Term Campaign During our initial client meeting, we understood that there has been an approved bump in the budget for the rebranding efforts, which include all previous media mentioned. For the long term, we propose the following methods for the most efficient return on investment. To specifically reach the target market based more on interests and hobbies than just

geographic location, we suggest regional a tourism media: The Midwest Traveler/AAA Auto Club and Missouri Traveler Guide magazines, VisitMo.com, Google Keyword, Ads. These specifically target individuals psychographically but by also taking into consideration geography. Billboards and Highway logo signs should also continue long term.

Media Strategy


In this report, you will discover social media recommendations for Mozingo Lake Recreation Area. Social media is an excellent way to stay in constant contact with Mozingo’s past, present and future visitors. With an active voice through various social media platforms, you can have a personal connection with the audience. This report covers what we think is an effective and manageable social media plan designed to meet Mozingo’s needs.

With an organized and implemented social media plan, Mozingo Lake Recreation Area will be able to:• Build personal relationships with visitors• Drive traffic to the new website, MozingoLake.com• Promote events, services and new logo’d merchandise

According to our survey results research, Facebook is already being utilized as a source of spreading the word about Mozingo. This proves people are already talking about Mozingo on social media. Mozingo now needs to interact with people currently talking about Mozingo and also encourage more to begin talking about Mozingo. A social media plan for Mozingo Lake will allow visitors to interact and share their memories and times with other past, present and future visitors. It will also keep them updated on everything Mozingo has to offer.

Social Media


Social Media

Posting Recommendations

Provide Quick Feedback

It is important to quickly reply to a visitors question or comment on the Facebook page.

Post Current Information

Let people know how the fishing is at Mozingo, or post special

events that are to be held.

Encourage Audience Participation

Hold a contest for a free round of golf or a free t-shirt to get visitors involved in sharing their experiences at Mozingo on the Facebook page.


Publicity

Rebranding any brand can be a monumental task. Not only do you have to change your logo on every sign, business card, and brochure, but you also have to manage your brand’s presence on the internet, and in your case, also in GPS systems.Since this is such a large task, we’ve begun the process for you here. We’ve narrowed our focus to the most important area for Mozingo: Directory Sites, Map-Based Web Sites, Review Web Sites, GPS, and Calendars. What you’ll find in this report is the results of our analysis of how, or if, Mozingo is currently listed within these types of services. Most of what you’ll find here are charts that indicate the sites we’ve investigated, along with the status of Mozingo’s presence on those sites, and recommendations.

What you’ll notice is Mozingo already has a decent presence in many important directories. But, those listings do not consistently refer to Mozingo in the same manner. In some cases, Mozingo is listed as “Mozingo Park,” or “Mozingo Golf Club” or “Mozingo Golf Course.” Our goal is to ensure that Mozingo has one name, one identity in all of these important areas to avoid confusion as well as reiterate it is one entity. Of course, we did not act on any of this information, because you have not yet decided to rebrand. But, if you do choose to do so according to our recommendations, at some point you can attack this list, and work on getting Mozingo’s name consistent, everywhere. There are directions for almost every name change, or editing of any kind. We tried to make this process as stress-free as possible for you.

VisitMo.com is an online directory

of Missouri tourist destinations. The

Detailed Report covers how to

give Mozingo it’s own page on this

directory site .

Garmin and other GPS systems have online tools to submit change requests. See the Detailed Reports for a comprehensive list of resources.


Zazzle

Zazzle is an on demand, online marketplace that allows users to create and sell their own merchandise such as prints, shirts and mugs. Users can even buy merchandise created by others. When an item is created in Zazzle it is then offered in the Zazzle marketplace and it’s only after someone purchases the product that it is made on-demand, usually within 24-hours.It’s easy to become your own merchandise

retailerwith Zazzle. Zazzle handles the orders, printing, credit cards, shipping and returns. After someone purchases one of your products you get a royalty payment and gain a referral commission fee. Zazzle offers an opportunity for you to expand your profit all while strengthening your brand by allowing visitors to market for you while showing off your logo on the items they want!

When visitors click a product from

MozingoLake.com’s store, they’ll be

taken to a Zazzle page where they can customize and order

the product.


Currently Mozingo Lake Recreation Area has three to four separate websites housing different information about the parks and available activities, and each sporting a different brand identity. The re-branding of Mozingo into a single comprehensive entity applies to all possible marketing faucets- including the web. Mozingolf.com, Mozingolakemo.com, Mozingogolf.com, and some parts of Maryville.org will be merged together as a single web entity utilizing the domain name MozingoLake.com. This name was chosen based on market research collected from both an in-person and online survey. More than 75% of those polled said that “Mozingo Lake” and “Mozingo Lake Recreation Area” were the best names to describe the entire Mozingo complex. It is known that URLs need to remain relatively short; therefore www.MozingoLake.com was chosen as the domain name.

Mozingolake.com will include content from all four websites. The most important informatio and tasks on each of the three sites will be reorganized and republished in a more user-friendly structure. New content and functionality will be added to increase the user experience, and decrease the workload of Mozingo employees. Additionally, the repurposed content should be re-written with search engine optimization in mind. It is imperative that MozingoLake.com appear in search engine results page to become a regional travel destination. Inserting specific keywords in certain areas of the Meta tags, website code, and actual content can ensure that MozingoLake.com begins to rise in search rankings.

Web Site: www.MozingoLake.com


A Usability test was conducted on Mozingolf.com and navigation prototype of MozingoLake.com in an effort to better understand how visitors interact with the websites, and what their main tasks/objectives would be. Testing participants were qualified based on their representation of the three core target markets of Mozingo: RV’ers, Golfers, and Anglers. These participants were posed with introductory questions and tasks to complete on each of the websites. Data such as completion rate, time of completion, and verbal feedback was collected and analyzed to identify major usability issues with both sites. Three major issues were identified with Mozingolf.com, and four major usability issues were found on the navigation prototype. Solutions have been sculpted for these issues, and will be implemented on the new comprehensive site.

The new website will be built on WordPress, a free content management system. WordPress is intuitive to the not so tech savvy, and within a short time an individual can quickly teach themselves how to add, edit, and update all content and features on the website. This content management system also supports multiple themes to change the visual layout of the site and widgets and plugins to add extra functionality.

Web Site: www.MozingoLake.com

We’ve built this concept site, hosted at MozingoLake.com, using WordPress. All passwords related to the site are located in the back of the client version of this plans book.


ClientGreg McDanel: City ManagerRyan Heiland: Assistant City Manager Ron Darnell: GM/Superintendent, Mozingo Golf CourseGrant Evens: Mozingo Lake Manager

Mozingo Advisory Board Daniel Billings Bob Cooper Michael Graham Dale Mathis Ed Higdon Alan Langley Jon Gustafson Mike Thompson Leslie Schulte

Team MembersBrooke Abbott: Competitive Analysis, Resident Survey, Creative Team for “Share your Mozingo Moment”Bill Anders: Competitive Analysis, Online Survey Assessment, Web and SEO, Data DesignerChayse Barr: Account Coordinator, Company Analysis, Resident Surveys Pitch Coordinator, Erin Funk: Branding/Tourism Advertising, Online Survey Assessment, Creative Team for “Change Your...”, Data DesignerCatherine Grimm: Target Market Analysis, Resident Surveys, Creative Team for “Share Your Mozingo Moment”Lauren Mathiott: Competitive Analysis, Resident Surveys, Plans Book TeamChristine O’Brien: Company Analysis, Build Surveys, PublicityLauren Richardson: Branding/Tourism Advertising, In-Person Survey Assessment, Social MediaKeyaira Richest: Branding/Tourism Advertising,Resident Survey, Creative Team for “Change Your...”Katherine Stevenson: Target Market Analysis, In-Person Survey Assessment, Media Plan, Alexandria Webster: Target Market Analysis, Build Surveys, Media PlanAmber Webster: State Park Industry, Resident Surveys, Plans Book TeamJacquie Lamer: InstructorKevin Fullerton: Thank You for guiding us throughout this process and for your creative advice. This wouldn’t have come together as smoothly without your visit to Maryville and your video chats.

Acknowledgements

Documents

Mozingo Plans Book: Fall 2012