Wednesday, 8 April 2015

The Red River College Student App



I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record over here, but I have another off-topic blog post for ya.

Never fear, Dear Reader! A review of Kingsman: The Secret Service is coming your way in the next couple of days, so make sure to check back for that.

As for this blog post, it’s all about apps and marketing. As part of an Ad/PR assignment, my classmates and I have been coming up with original app concepts, playing around with how we would design them, and now we’re dipping our toes into marketing them.

My App

I’ve noticed that none of my classmates can remember which classroom we’re supposed to be in or what’s due the next day. And we’re all pretty damn hungry a lot of the time.

Repeat my mantra: I will not eat Tim Hortons today, I will not eat Tim Hortons today.

My idea is simple and sweet: an RRC app for students that helps them plan their days, stay up to date with their many (MANY) assignments, and even lets them know about the best places to get lunch in the area.

Let’s begin.



The 4 P’s of Marketing

Product — an app that will help students stay organized and makes their lives easier
Place — available for Android and iOS
Price — $2.99 and part of students’ tuition fee (but you can choose to opt out of it)
Promotion (ad and PR) — an emphasis on reaching students through their student email

The Unifying Theme

Stay on top of it — stay organized, stay up to date, stay in school … because it’s harder than it sounds

Key Messages

Being a student is hard and you need all the help you can get.

The RRC Student App answers those pesky questions that are guaranteed to keep coming up, like “Where’s my next class? What’s due this week? Where should we go for lunch?”

Be in control of your student life no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

Traditional Ads / Online Mobile Ads

Who needs ‘em!?

Just kidding… they’re aiight for the aiight product, but this app can be marketed directly to students through email, the college website, and specific hashtags on Twitter.

We can advertise the app through Red River Radio or The Projector, but is it really necessary? I don’t know.



Don't fall asleep now! You're halfway through!



Public Relations / Screens / New Media

Starting in July, we’ll get the word out through an online newsletter sent directly to new and current students through their student email addresses. The newsletter should include screenshots of the app, the benefits that come with downloading it, and a date for when it’s launching.

On the first day of school, we’ll set up an outdoor booth amongst other first-week-festivities where volunteers or staff will tell students about the app and offer to download it for them.

Why not get the second-year Ad majors to whip up some fun online ads they can post to Twitter? Ahhhh …free labour! Who doesn’t like that? …. Oh, right.

The Incentive

Unless they opted out of the app, they’ve already paid for it! Plus, they can get someone to download it for them on the first day of school.

Eventually, every student is going to forget his or her classroom and assignment schedule. The problem we’re solving ought to spread good word of mouth and get people downloading.

Budget


$6000

Congratulations! You made it 'til the end. Now get out of here, you!




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