Strategicplanning

1.888.340.2006 www.armstrongandassociates.org 1

Kentucky Press Association

2008 Report to the Board

on the Strategic Planning Project

L. Darryl Armstrong Ph.D. APR CCMC


What we were asked to do … contracted by the Kentucky Press

Association (KPA) to collaborate with their strategic planning committee. … we have assisted KPA’s committee in the drafting of a new vision and mission and have researched and developed a set of recommendations for a strategic plan of action for KPA that extends over the next 3-5 years


Research undertaken

• A facilitated opening retreat with the KPA committee and Board members to assess the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) they perceive that KPA faces

• The development of a KPA opportunity map using the Innovator Computerized Polling system

• Interviews with KPA staff

• A survey of the KPA membership (84 members responded)

• Survey of 49 of the 50 press associations

• Facilitation and computerized polling of the KPA committee, staff and Board members using a set of assessments designed from the research projects plus the expertise and experience of

ARMSTRONG and Associates


Value-add projects … value-add means that these projects were not part of the

original agreement and contract. They are provided because the organization needs this information to advance itself on a strategic path forward. KPA has not been charged for these additional reports.

Survey of Kentucky newspapers with web sites and development of a general set of recommendations for improvement

Focus group with Murray State University Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) on social media use and critiques of selected KPA newspapers


Recommendations Based on a three year planning path Provides recommended actions and ideas to cover

up to 5-years Resulting plan to be created must be written down

with designated responsibilities, metrics, benchmarks and deadlines and published to be effective

Will require annual objective assessment and re-calibration - report card to membership


Year One - Beginning November 2008 through December 2009

Publish strategic plan with new vision and mission and provide complete report for all the membership to access

Reorganize KPA “to run like a business and an association that provides specific tailored and unique assistance” to its membership focusing on tactics and management cultural change


Year Two - January 2010 through December 2010

Contract for an objective evaluation of year one accomplishments; celebrate successes; recalibrate as needed to implement other recommendations as part of the reorganization; report same to membership along with report card of assessment

Implement additional business operations’ recommendations

Develop and implement extensive outreach program to membership based on recommendations in the report


Year Three - January 2011 through December 2011

Objectively evaluate year two accomplishments; celebrate successes; recalibrate as needed to implement other recommendations as part of the business operations plan

Assess this entire report for additional improvements and tactics that can be implemented on behalf of membership; report same to membership along with report card of assessment of previous year


Proposed “New” Vision

A “vision” is what you strive to become - it is the organization at its best sometime in the future– “KPA will be its members' source of excellence

in the gathering, dissemination, and facilitation of news and information through multiple platforms.”


Mission

The “mission” of an organization is resilient and changes as needed to do those things necessary to accomplish its vision


Proposed “Revised” Mission The Kentucky Press Association will:

– Maintain a stable, secure, and solid financial operation to perpetuate the organization's vision;

– Uphold the highest ethical journalistic and business standards;

– Collaborate with its members and other media to better understand the needs and interests of its consumers;

– Be a leader in integrating and linking the internet and social web technology with its members and their consumers;

– Search out and promote new strategic partnerships for its members' benefit;

– Provide a platform for relevant training, exchange of ideas and resources;

– Use a marketing plan to re-brand itself and its members to the public;

– Be its members' voice to the Kentucky General Assembly.


We undertook a number of research and interactive planning projects to develop our recommendations for a path forward to help you achieve your new vision and fulfill your new mission

The results from those projects and our key findings follow


Research Projects Conducted Survey Of Membership S.W.O.T. Analysis Opportunity Map 49 Press Association Surveys and Research Interviews with KPA/KPS Staff Membership Feedback Series of Computerized-Assessments Independent Research by ARMSTRONG and Associates Social Media Focus Group

Kentucky Newspapers on the Web Reviewed Regular Committee Meetings


Project One: Survey Of Membership

84 people (28%) out of 300 possible returned the survey

National research shows that if you get 30% you are getting an average return

There was some concern about this “low” return rate, however, it is close enough to an average return we see no need for concern or questioning its validity

When nearly 1/3 of any organization’s membership responds the organization would be prudent to pay attention to what is being said


Areas Surveyed - Project One Lobbying Communication on pending legislation Advertising placement Maintaining a high code of ethics Providing services you need Meeting industry changes Planning KPA’s work and working that plan Anticipating new trends Providing insight into customers’ needs Finding and sharing new marketing ideas


Findings

No single category showed a “Most Effective” response greater than 51%

… this shows there is significant opportunity for continuous improvement in all the categories surveyed

An organization should seek to get a response greater than 70% in the “Most Effective” rating on all its programs or the programs should be evaluated for “sun-setting”


Findings ...

The categories with 50% “Most Effective” response were:– Maintaining a high code of ethics – 50%– Communication to members on pending

legislation – 51%

– Lobbying – 34.5% Most Effective Response


The categories showing the greatest opportunity for improvement were:

Anticipating new trends Providing insight into customer needs Finding and sharing new market ideas Providing advertising placement Planning the work of KPA and working the plan Meeting the changes of the industry

Opportunities


Strengths

Accessibility to all newspapers (in the state) Forward-thinking, responsive and diligent leadership

supported by KPA staff Excellent Executive Director and its advertising sales force Legislative voice Member services (advertising network) Effective communication with membership


Weaknesses

Programs not specific No strategic plan Board members too busy to contribute Need for separate weekly and daily focus Need to overhaul revenue programs Lack of collaboration/communication

among members


Opportunities Internet Digital advertising Online directories Leadership role for newspapers to move into

digital age Become effective advocate for all newspapers in

state Develop strong web presence


Threats Declining revenues Inability to quickly access members for lobbying purposes Shifting dollars from print Online publications that are not part of KPA Readers want to be entertained as well as informed Public opinion that journalists fall into same categories as

politicians and used car salesmen when it comes to ability to trust them


Major Concerns

A new business model to make money using the Internet audience

Changing newspaper operations to meet audience news and information needs

Continuing need to attract quality “journalists”


Barriers

Tradition - “always done it this way” Fear of the unknown A business model that dates to the 1970s “Inbreeding” Failure to understand and embrace the

importance of collaborating internally and externally


Greatest Needs Web assistance in design, training and sales Bridging print and digital models Hiring and retaining good employees For KPA to be a “major” tool in marketing

newspapers and digital products For KPA to develop online news, sports and

information content for its members


Project Two: KPA Opportunity Map 1. Succession planning for KPA Executive Director 2. Transition from print to digital media 3. Dealing with organizational change 4. Training and development for membership to help move them

from print to digital 5. Developing, creating and improving revenue streams * 6. Dealing with outside threats – Ky General Assembly 7. Pooling resources to collaborate and reduce expenses, share expertise 8. Developing better communications between KPA and its customers 9. Convincing readers of value of newspapers 10. Identifying new ways of doing business *

11. Attracting people to the profession


Opportunity Map


Project Three – Association’s Surveys: Ideas and Models to Consider

Community Newspaper Tune-up Community Technology Tune-up Taking training into the field “Town Hall” collaborations with cable, radio, and TV on

areas of importance to community New public notices web site Training “webinars” Online training videos Statewide news portal - “news aggregator” services


What Other Association Members Are Requesting

Online advertising and placement network Member-focused training Online classified network More ways to generate revenue online and print More online sales; all forms of ad sales Helping members develop online presence - easier Assistance with USPS issues Classified ad portal for print products


Project Four – Interviews, Facilitations, Membership Feedback And ARMSTRONG And Associates Research

The final Innovator questionnaires and assessments provided significant insight from 15 participants including members of the strategic planning committee and KPA/KPS staff members. Four of the 15 surveys were conducted by mail following the session in Lexington and incorporated.

The participants were asked to rank statements on a scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being “Completely Disagree” with the statement and 9 being “Completely Agree” with the statement


1. Assessing Organizations’ Instrument - 32 ...often times unintentionally members of organizations may actually

prevent the organization from trying new ideas “change is inevitable” .. members of organizations “too often compete with each other” ... newspapers are seeking to “monetize” the Internet while maintaining

the same or better revenue streams from the traditional newspaper “fear is fundamentally changing how many different organizations do

their business.” “...associations should be ‘run like a business’ ” “successful organizations exceed the needs” of their members… ... training programs should be offered based on need and not on the

expectations of a Board member or two.


2. Assessing KPA as an Organization - 100 Items Develop and follow strategic plan with goals, metrics, benchmarks,

deadlines Review and “sunset” on annual basis programs not producing revenue or

providing value-add to members Run KPA like a business with responsible managers, programs budgets,

goals, metrics and report regular basis to Board - (reward and incentive program designed in advance)

Find new digital models and offer digital training programs Provide technological assistance to members Promote and market KPA services to members Provide social media, videography and related “mini-seminars” at annual

meetings Develop and market a statewide newspaper marketing campaign


3. Vision and Mission Assessment - 32 KPA needs a vision that includes social media Newspapers need to be “watchdogs” of government Editors should ensure “fair and balanced coverage” Newspapers need to learn how to collaborate internally and externally Newspapers must learn to collaborate with their competitors to remain

relevant KPA facilitate the collaboration process of sharing ideas and

information between its members

Newspapers should use the Internet as the medium to break instantaneous news


Future newspapers will be multi-media platforms for the delivery of news, information and opinions

Readers should have a role in determining news coverage or content

KPA has the opportunity to be seen as a “Source of Excellence” in its new incarnation


4. Strategic Themes Assessment


Strategic Themes - 8 Annually conduct a round table meeting with all competitors to discuss

how collaboration can be better achieved Establish KPA as the “Source of Excellence” in leading the way into the

new digital age for its membership Align KPA and its work program to evolve into the “public relations”

firm for all the newspapers in the state Establish a collaborative working group with interested members of the

legislature to resolve the public meeting and legal notices issue Invite professionals from the radio, television, public relations and

Internet areas to present at each conference Take the information from the value-added report “Review of KPA

member web sites” and use it to help the membership improve their sites


5. Board Actions Assessment - 8

Ranked high– Establish a system of reporting where the Board hears from the

Directors responsible for their programs on a regular basis

– Establish and implement 360-degree performance evaluations for all department managers

– Establish a committee to review the charter of KPA and all its existing bylaws including the size of the Board and length of service of the President

– Establish a standing strategic planning committee


Not Ranked High Yet Important

Establish a standing committee to annually review new revenue, program and membership opportunities, and make specific recommendations to the strategic planning committee.

Work with the Commonwealth’s universities and colleges to establish a “think tank” that meets at least twice annually to brief the Board on new ideas and programs

they are finding and problems they are experiencing.


6. Organizational Change Assessment – 9 Re-brand KPA using the best of its old brand but projecting a newer, more

informative, dynamic and modern image Re-organize KPA so that special needs of dailies and weeklies are specifically

discovered, programs developed and implemented by responsible team managers

KPA has been run by newspaper people like it was a newspaper, more or less, since its beginning. But the organization is not a newspaper and that can be used for the betterment of the organization. Change paradigm to more of an association assistance organization

Reorganize KPA to run like a business in today’s environment. Establish departments with managers who have written plans of actions with metrics and budgets for which they are accountable. Let them make the decisions as to how best to use their budgeted money in keeping with the agreed upon plan of action.


Establish an online advertising sales policy that supports online sales personnel with computer equipment, graphic artists’ expertise and the ability to negotiate rates with the customer

Work with appropriate parties to develop and provide “leadership training” course for KPA managers and for the membership

KPA should be reorganized to run more like a business with distinct “profit centers” established wherever possible

Establish an ongoing management cultural change-counseling program for KPA staff and membership. Work with universities to find the best available resources and counsel. KPA cannot change as an association until the management culture changes from top down driven to collaborative.


7. Business Operations Assessment

The participants ranked 46 suggested business operational issues

27 of the 46 ranked in or above the 70 percentile. This means that these 27 should first be considered in

making any changes operationally The remaining 19 should be considered within the 5-year

time frame as time and circumstances allows


Just A Few Highlights ... Setup and run the association like a business with goals, metrics and profit

centers Become a “Source of Excellence” for its membership Develop a marketing plan to sell KPA and its services Face-to-face regular meetings out in state with members KPA become state news aggregator Change internal KPA management culture to collaborative instead of top

down autocratic - get counseling and training needed to do this Find a web service company to help make transition easier from print to

digital ‘Sunset” programs that are no longer productive Offer contemporary needed training such as Working with Next Gen;

Videography; Web site sales training


8. Management Issues Assessment – 7 Hire dedicated and experienced sales people for online sales who have

the capability of training others Review current staffing needs against members’ expectations and calls

for new programs and assistance, and determine how best to use the KPA professionals

Write job descriptions for each position with appropriate metrics to be used for annual written performance evaluations. Work with the people filling these positions to establish measurable goals. Report performance annually to Board.

Recruit expertise and professionals for consultations in making the transition from the print to the digital venue


9. Social Media Issues Assessment – 5 KPA should arrange and offer a social media experience and training

session for annual conference. KPA ED should establish a “blog” and regularly share his ideas,

opinions and advice with membership to demonstrate the move to being more social media friendly.

KPA must better understand how to use and help its membership capitalize on Twitter, Face Book and My Space, etc. in order to advance the organization into the future.

KPA should hire a social-media-experienced Next Gen employee dedicated to selling online ads.

KPA has the opportunity to become a national leader in understanding the new social media application to the business.


10. Web-based Issues Assessment – 5 Bring KPA information distribution including listing of our services

and how they can help our membership online so they can be readily accessed and consistently and quickly sent to members

KPA should regularly schedule and offer its membership webinars and online training to demonstrate its commitment to the integration and application of the Internet to the association

Work with the web experts to develop a prototype for an online legal and public notice-advertising site as an alternative to the printed product. Use this proactive approach to collaborate with the Ky. Legislature.

KPA should develop noncompetitive web-based and print products as a value-added service and make them available on their web site for the membership


Project Five – Value-add Report - Web sites of Ky Newspapers

We reviewed the web-based Kentucky newspapers

We made 30 observations for consideration to help you improve the web sites

We will provide a handout on this to KPA


Project Six – Social Media Focus Group - Value-added Project

Conducted at Murray State University 13 Students from MSU - PRSSA Web cast arranged - will be uploaded to

Google - copy of videos to be provided Provided insight into social media use Provided “critiques” of daily and weekly

newspapers


Demographics of group* My Space - 5 Linked In - 0 Face book - 11 Twitter - 0 Flickr - 0 You Tube - 11, 1 uploads E-mail - 11 Blogs for research - 5

– * reflects only 11 participants - 2 came in late


Demographics ...

One person has their own blog. Blackboard used by everyone for school. How many read your hometown newspapers when you‘re

at home? 5 How many read their hometown newspaper on line

regularly? 2/3 How many read weekly newspaper when they go back

home? 4


Key Points On Social Media Use

How many text? ALL How many times a day text? A lot. More than talking on

phone. 200 text messages a month. Unlimited -- 200 messages a day

If a newspaper offered a text messaging service that sent you news and events happening would you use it? “They’d like to pick out what they want to see.”

“Just do it!” Use Face Book to get started More likely to read if ... could receive topics by email


List newspaper as a group on Face Book so you could join and learn about the paper that way.

Offer something more unique, hopefully news that actually matters to me as a Gen

Next. Integrate (your newspaper) through the existing social media. Don’t re-invent the

wheel! The only way to reach college students regardless of social economics is through Face

Book. When you put your links on Face Book … offer the headlines the top stories ... offer a

personalized homepage ... with text messaging. 27-year old: “Hire young people educated and knowledgeable to know what their

generation wants. They need to change the language or style of news.” I use Yahoo or CNN and I’d like to have access more local things or if newspapers

would step up and be more available I’d use them.


Critique of The Newspapers Create a newspaper geared towards us ... We don’t read the paper because

our parents do... I don’t want to do what my parents do. Need edgy design, such as www.cnn.com or www.yahoo.com (on line) and print make a big deal about it nationally. A large enough audience will make their friends read it.

8 out of 11 respondents said they would pay for online services and newspaper subscriptions after graduation

Offer incentives to parents - “student” discounts who can then pass the information along to us

Devote a page to college students, editorials, features of interest to our age group

Offer a classified section where we can reach the advertiser not just send in our resumes and offer professional jobs that we would have interest in


In general on newspapers reviewed:

– Need clean front-page layout - some were awful

– Fewer stories and really good photography to pull in reader

– Write local slant to national stories - i.e. “What does bailout mean to me?”

– Don’t load up front-end of paper with advertising

– Lead with “bad” news to pull me in

– Why would you want readers to read obits first?

– Like the “menus” and “boxes” telling what’s inside the newspaper

– “Larger budget = larger staff = better newspaper”

– Have one story at least per page that applies to all demographic groups you want to reach

– “Bigger paper has more credibility than smaller newspapers”

– Newspapers should be “fair and balanced”

– Many newspapers are “biased” in their reporting


Social Media

Focus Group Video


Questions? Contact us at:

– Dr. L. Darryl Armstrong– [email protected]– 1.888.340.2006– www.armstrongandassociates.org

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