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Tommys Bicycle Shop PR Campaign 2013

Cassidy Davis
MSCM 370
Dr. Weidman
5/29/2013

Situation Analysis
Mission and Goals:

Tommys Bicycle Shop is a McMinnville business, specializing in retail sales of
bikes, bike parts and cycling clothes. The overall goal of the organization is to be the top
choice in bike purchase and repair throughout Yamhill County. Tommys Bicycle Shop is
a competitive business and ultimately needs to generate profit from sales and services. In
addition, Tommys Bicycle Shop wants to promote its support of fun, healthy lifestyles to
families in the surrounding community.
External Environment:
Tommys Bicycle Shops operates in a positive community environment, offering
the potential to connect with residents and prospective customers. Because many wineries
and vineyards surround McMinnville, the town is referred to as the capital of Oregons
wine industry. This title attracts many tourists and wine enthusiasts alike, and helps to
bring outside money to the town. McMinnville is a small community but provides urban
amenities such as a library, parks, transportation, entertainment, good schools and the
opportunity for growth. The small-town setting offers the quality of life that attracts the
young family and target audience of Tommys Bicycle Shop.
Though Tommys Bicycle Shops central location on Third Street puts the
business in a good location to attract attention. But the recent recession is a major
economic condition that has affected Tommys Bicycle Shop. Biking can be an expensive
hobby due to the need for bike upkeep and high-quality equipment that can withstand


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intense activity. While the bikers level of interest plays a role in expense variation, the
bottom line is that fulfillment of personal hobbies take a low priority in times of financial
struggle. Potential customers dont justify spending money on biking over more vital
living expenses, making this economic external factor a challenging one for Tommys
Bicycle Shop.
In addition, the social and seasonal external factors surrounding biking popularity,
often hinder business. While biking is well-liked sport for active individuals, it is more
popular throughout the warmer seasons of the year. The poor weather of winter months
attract less business than that of summer weather that permits individuals to engage in
outdoor activities. While the seasonal factor presents a threat to Tommys Bicycle Shop,
it is at the same time an external factor that holds opportunity for the business. Favorable
weather brings customers to Tommys Bicycle Shop in both a predictable and reliable
manner. Tommys Bicycle Shop can use this knowledge accordingly by appealing to the
seasonal and social trends of the hobby to meet the needs of the potential customers
during these specific time periods.
Other external factors that positively affect Tommys Bicycle Shop are found by
social factors of community events. McMinnville is an active community, hosting annual
events throughout the year including the McMinnville Turkey Rama and the UFO
Festival and Alien Costume Parade. These social events take place on Third Street near
the business location, offering free publicity and potential opportunity for Tommys
Bicycle Shop to gain new customers and recognition.
Business Analysis:
Tommys Bicycle Shop is the only store of its kind in McMinnville. It offers bike


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repair services and retail sale of biking needs, all of which can be found in one central
location. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and has the ability to offer the
necessary information to the potential customer. In Yamhill County, there is one
additional bike shop that creates competition for Tommys Bicycle Shop. The Newberg
Bicycle Shop is a similar bike repair and retail sales store located in downtown Newberg.
However, the accessibility, prices and overall product options of Tommys Bicycle Shop
outweigh that of Newbergs competing business. In addition, the implementation of the
community-centered objectives suggested in the campaign plan will help prove the
superiority of Tommys Bicycle Shop.
Internal threats to the success of a campaign are few, but can be directly
related to the staff and accessibility of Tommys Bicycle Shop. Tommys Bicycle Shop
needs to focus more time and energy on connecting with the target public and local
community on a personal level in for the plan to succeed. To implement this campaign,
the business will work around a conservative budget. In order for the budget to work, the
staff will need to be open to the possibility of working extra hours or doing jobs they
havent before. Tommys Bicycle Shop is currently open normal business hours Monday
through Saturday, however the campaign plan suggests additional events that would
require more time and staff flexibility. The plan can be extensive but the proficient staff
of Tommys Bicycle Shop can handle the many different components. However, in order
to accommodate the additional work, the option to seek an intern to help with various
tasks would be an encouraged and attainable idea. In the end, if the staff sticks together,
the opportunity for success is great.
Target Audience:


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The target audience of Tommys Bicycle Shop consists of the active, family-
centered, adult athletes of Yamhill County in the age range of 24-54. Tommys Bicycle
Shop is a family-run business and therefore tries to appeal to the average community
family. This average Yamhill County family is defined by the state average of a working-
class household of three. While still appealing to the family, Tommys needs to be able to
reach the adult athlete looking for an active hobby such as biking. Casual bicyclists as
well as loyal customers at Tommys are important supporters, but because Tommys
needs to develop widespread business recognition, they are not the target audience.
The target audience is looking for a trustworthy bicycle shop that offers a fair deal
on biking needs in a friendly and timely fashion. Tommys Bicycle Shop appeals to this
desired value of honesty by enforcing a zero-obligation request policy as well as offering
free quotes on repair services. Overall, Tommys Bicycle Shop wants to help the
customer and proves this through commitment to shared values with the target audience.
Tommys Bicycle Shop must always consider the values the attitudes of the target public
because these ultimately help influence purchase decision amongst the public.
The plan
Goal:
The overarching goal of the campaign plan is to build strong relations with the
surrounding community, making Tommys Bicycle Shop the first choice in bike service
and repair. In order to build these relations, Tommys Bicycle Shop will interact with the
target audience through outlets and events that promote community value and
engagement. This plan will be implemented in a manner that is cost and time effective,
getting the company name out in the community and shedding positive recognition on
Tommys Bicycle Shop.


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Objectives and theory:
In order for the campaign to run smoothly the plan requires two different
objectives. The first objective is to raise interest, inquiry, and interaction between the
community and Tommys Bicycle Shop by 25 percent. This objective will be measured
through the creation of new forms of communications and online interaction. Objective
one serves as the preliminary objective of the plan while objective two will take the plan
further.
Objective two is to raise the number of in-store purchases and repair services
from new customers by 35 transactions in a 60-day period. Gaining 35 additional
transactions would greatly add to the regular revenue stream. While the new percentage
of customers do not need to be regular customers, they do have the potential to turn into
regular customers if their experience is satisfactory.
The main idea of objective one is to get customers into the store before objective
two is implemented. Objective two will require more money and effort to complete,
meaning objective one is designed to be conservative and use little money for production.
However, the successful execution of objective one will create an easier transition to the
strategies of within objective two.
These objectives will be supported by the use of diffusion theory, the same theory
in which the plan is based upon. According to diffusion theory, the public goes through a
five-step process before adopting a new idea. The five-step process begins with
awareness and is then followed by interest, evaluation, trial and adoption. In the case of
this plan, the public needs to be aware of Tommys Bicycle Shop, which objective one


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aims to achieve. The end result, adoption of Tommys Bicycle Shop should be achieved
by the successful application of objectives one and two.
Strategies and tactics: Objective one
In order to achieve objective one, which is to raise interest, inquiry, and
interaction between the business and community by 25 percent, Tommys Bicycle Shop
will follow two strategies. Strategy one is to use controlled media to reach the target
audience and attract attention to the benefits of Tommys Bicycle Shop. This strategy
may seem like the most obvious option to gain customers, however, it needs to be
executed with care and thought in order to be successful. Tommys Bicycle Shop is a
unique business and has a lot to offer its customers. This message needs to be displayed
in the controlled media to help convince potential customers this as well. For this
strategy, the small scale of McMinnville will be used to the advantage of Tommys
Bicycle Shop. A useful tactic for communicating information is the brochure.
The brochure will be an important tactic for this strategy and will be used to give
the potential customer information on Tommys Bicycle Shop such as store hours, prices
and location. While basic information regarding repair services is surely important to
include in the brochure, it is equally important to include information in an effort to relate
to the potential customer. Since the target audience is the active community family, the
inclusion of personal information in the brochure will help to humanize the business and
provide a sense of relation to the target audience. The brochure will reinforce family
value and Tommys Bicycle Shops dedication to providing honest service. The
brochures will be readily available at the Tommys Bicycle Shop location, fellow


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businesses on Third Street and will also be handed out at community events such as the
McMinnville Public Market.
The McMinnville Public Market is Oregons first and only indoor public market
(McMinnville Public Market, 2009). The market runs year-round and is an optimal outlet
to identify with target audience members. Therefore it is the perfect opportunity to spread
the word and provide information on Tommys Bicycle Shop with little work on behalf of
the volunteer or employee who hands the brochures out. In order to evaluate the
effectiveness of this tactic, the amount of brochures made will be recorded as well as the
amount of brochures distributed. This is the most accurate way to measure the amount of
community members that are being reached by the brochure.
In addition to the brochure, an additional controlled tactic will be the creation and
inclusion of a business newsletter. The newsletter is important to this objective and
strategy because it generates an active form of communication with the public that
demonstrates the values of the shop. It also promotes the services of the business and
announces the activities of Tommys Bicycle Shop within the community. The newsletter
will be titled Trends at Tommys Bicycle Shop. The title is simple but makes it instantly
clear that the newsletter is produced by Tommys Bicycle Shop and avoids any type of
public misinterpretation that a clever title might create. For branding purposes, it is
helpful to generate customer familiarity with the Tommys Bicycle Shop business name
as well.
The newsletter will be released six times a year. This frequency is appropriate
because it will keep Tommys Bicycle Shop fresh in the minds of the potential customer
while allowing time for business events and promotions to be announced in a timely


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fashion. This medium-paced frequency avoids the potential threat of overwhelming the
target audience with too much information and tiresome distribution. The public will be
able to sign up for the newsletter at no charge through the store, or online.
However, it is vital to readership and efficiency to produce an exciting newsletter.
In an effort to grab the attention of the public, the tagline writing about riding in
Yamhill County, will be included below the title. The tagline is more playful and
triggers interest in the following content of the newsletter. In addition to the amusing
tagline, the personality of the newsletter will shine through the design, layout and
editorial content of the issue. The newsletter will include information highlighting
upcoming events or in-store promotions as well as keep the reader up-to-date on business
news regarding staff and shop services. The newsletter will include detailed product
reviews on bikes or equipment featured at Tommys Bicycle Shop as well as helpful
biking tips from the staff. The topics of the tips and hints will vary from bike care to
safety, but are vital to help newsletter readers feel connected to the business though free
and personal advice.
In order to uphold the community-centered value of the business, testimonials and
profiles of active, satisfied customers will also be published in the newsletter. Including
bike trail updates with maps will be useful and engaging to the reader while promoting
involvement within the community and the businesss focus on biking. The newsletter
will also include maps of county bike routes to help give community members a jump-
start on their biking routine.
In addition, to announcing upcoming events in articles, the newsletter will include
an event calendar in list form to insure the reader can easily access dates and business


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activities. Obviously, the newsletter will need to include basic information regarding
business location, contact information and store hours. But ultimately, the editorial
material in the newsletter will be focused in a manner that appeals and relates back to the
overall goals of Tommys Bicycle Shop. The newsletter will act as an effective way to
measure the progress of the overall objective because the rate of distribution and sign-up
can be easily monitored along with the rate of inquiry from the public.
In addition to strategy one, strategy two will be put in place to help reach
objective two. Strategy two will focus on using uncontrolled media to reach a large
audience and raise awareness of Tommys Bicycle Shop. Within recent years, social
media has skyrocketed, making it an obvious and necessary strategy toward the success
of this plan. Social media sites are a cost effective strategy in promoting business, and
with 800 million active users on Facebook (Facebook, 2012), and 140 million active
users on Twitter (Twitter, 2012), there is a huge audience that has the potential to be
reached by Tommys Bicycle Shops online identity. While it would be impossible for
this strategy to gain attention from the entire social media population, it is attainable for
messages to reach the attention of local community members and the target audience.
The first tactic for this strategy will be to use Facebook as a form of
communication with the target audience. Currently there are 412 friends on the Tommys
Bicycle Shop Facebook profile. However, the Facebook page is under-used and must be
transformed. With more frequent postings and interaction, the number of likes can easily
be increased. By using the Facebook page in an effort to promote upcoming events or
featured bikes and apparel, Tommys Bicycle Shop can get the word out about their
product without low level of energy. Regular posts about deals and events are the key to


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getting the audience to share and like statuses, which then exposes the posts to a larger
crowd of people through their Facebook friends. The Tommys Bicycle Shop Facebook
page can boost the amount of likes on their page by following this approach and
communicating with its audience. This communication will be addressed regardless of
praise or criticism. In order to use Facebook to its true potential, Tommys Bicycle Shop
will reply to all comments and messages.
Fortunately, uncontrolled media such as Facebook are incredibly accurate to
evaluate. Numbers are easy to access, as well as shares, likes and comments. Tommys
Bicycle Shop will use this to evaluate the level of interaction and determine if the original
objective, a 25 percent raise in interest, is continuing as planned. In addition, by
monitoring the amount of likes one post or status gets over the other, Tommys Bicycle
Shop will be able to recognize what types of activities the target public and surrounding
community show interest in. Gaining this knowledge will help Tommys Bicycle Shop
further appeal to the needs and wants of the potential customers.
The second tactic will be the creation of a Tommys Bicycle Shop Twitter page.
Twitter is a valuable medium because it gives businesses and individuals the option to
publicize themselves to a large audience through retweets and favorites. Tommys
Bicycle Shop currently does not have a Twitter account. Getting an account up and
running and gaining followers can be challenging. But by using other tactics from the
plan, including the brochure, newsletter and Facebook page, the business can promote
and encourage followers. In order to gain interaction the account will encourage
followers to retweet Tommys Bicycle Shop in order to receive deals on future purchases,
repairs and apparel. This can result in either more retweets, or more follows, which is


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exactly what the page needs. Since Twitter is used by most as a form of communication
with friends, its likely that a retweet by a community member will be broadcast to
followers from the same local area. This exposure holds potential for page interaction and
growth.
Evaluating the success of Twitter is made easy on the media site. Tommys
Bicycle Shop will monitor how many followers, retweets and favorites were gained in the
time period of the Twitter renovation. In addition, by analyzing the numbers of followers
a retweeter had and then comparing that to how much attention Tommys Bicycle Shop
was able to gain from the retweet, an estimated number of the target audience being
reached by the information can be determined.
Strategies and tactics: Objective two
As stated earlier, the second objective is to raise the number of in-store purchases
and repair services from new customers by 35 transactions in a 60-day period. Since
objective one aims to increase community awareness, objective two aims to use the
newly achieved awareness and apply it to community involvement and activities.
Increasing the amount of customers is an attainable goal for this plan if the other aspects
of the plan are carried out successfully.
The first strategy of this objective will be to use a community event that appeals
to the public and attracts them to Tommys Bicycle Shop. This event will be 10K fun-run
and bike competition to be hosted by the business as an open event to the public. There
will be a 15 dollar registration fee to participate in the competition. However, in order to
appeal to the target audiences interest in an honest company that shares their personal
values, Tommys Bicycle Shop will donate all proceeds from registration fees to the food


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bank at Yamhill Community Action Partnership (YCAP). YCAP is a nonprofit
organization that helps many people and has a positive reputation throughout the
community. By donating proceeds to an influential community organization, Tommys
Bicycle Shop will reestablish its family centered values and prove its contribution to the
community. So while the event will be a benefit to YCAP, Tommys Bicycle Shop can
gain supporters and publicity at the same time.
Since the 10K fun-run and bike competition will be an open event and therefore a
large event to plan, Tommys Bicycle Shop aims to partner with YCAP in order to help
with the preparation process. The staff at YCAP can help with organizing volunteers and
event registration, while Tommys Bicycle Shop plans the routes, safety checks and event
advertisement.
The 10K competition is vital to the plan and must be promoted accordingly. In
order to insure this happens the first tactic of the strategy will be to create a 60-second
public service announcement (PSA), for radio broadcast. The PSA will center on the 10K
fun-run and bike competition, giving the public important details about the event and
explaining why the public should attend. The PSA will take an emotional appeal,
highlighting that the race is for a good cause and giving the audience a compelling reason
to support the event and those in need.
The challenge with this topic falls to the lack of radio broadcast stations in the
area. As of recently, Yamhill Countys KLYC 1260 AM has officially gone off the air.
With no local station to broadcast the PSA, it is necessary to look toward stations in
Portland that will effectively reach McMinnville. KYCH 97.1 FM, a genre neutral radio
station and KOPB 91.5 FM, the station for Oregon Public Broadcasting, are two options


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for the PSA. These radio stations still have the ability to reach a large amount of the
target audience although they do not aim directly at the McMinnville community. Since
the event is open to anyone, broadcasting the message through a larger station might gain
supporters outside of the community as well.
Tactic two follows closely to the efforts of tactic one, but appeals to a different
news outlet. Tactic two will be the creation of a press release explaining the 10K
competition. With the publication of the press release, the desired action will be for
community members to take interest in the event and sign up. While the press release is
focused on facts and information, rather than the emotional appeal depicted in the PSA,
the press release will explain the event and its relation to the YCAP food bank.
Even though the press release doesnt provide the same level of emotional
persuasion, the active community member should still be able to recognize that the event
is for a good cause and of value to the community. The press release should also generate
community discussion about the event and in turn, Tommys Bicycle Shop. The mass
media in which the press release will be distributed to is the News-Register. This news
outlet is appropriate for this press release because it is aimed at the target audience
members of Yamhill County. In addition, the information in the press release is relevant
to the News-Register because it regards a community event and is therefore an important
topic to the papers readers.
In order to evaluate the effect of this tactic, the news outlet that received the press
release should be monitored to see if and when the information is used. In addition, how
often the event information was published and approximately how many copies of the
publication were distributed, need to be requested from the News-Register. While there is


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no exact way to know how many community members will read the information on the
event, it is possible to estimate how many had the potential to be exposed to it.
Strategy one is complicated, requiring a combined effort on behalf of YCAP and
Tommys Bicycle Shop. But the two tactics will be implemented carefully in order for
the strategy to work as planned.
The second strategy is to use a sponsorship to insure Tommys Bicycle Shop is a
reoccurring business name in the local community. This sponsorship will be used on a
local McMinnville youth soccer team. The McMinnville Parks & Recreation Department
is in charge of organizing the Youth Sports Soccer Program, which is a boys and girls
organization that hosts soccer games during the fall and spring seasons. The co-ed teams
are divided by grade with any child eligible for program enrollment (Parks and
recreation, 2013). Soccer practices and games occur weekly at Joe Dancer Park, a
community park located in McMinnville (Parks and Recreation, 2013).
The youth soccer program proves to be a huge community event. Youth soccer
games involve and attract a wide range of audiences including parents, friends and
extended family members. The amount of exposure that Tommys Bicycle Shop will get
from this strategy is crucial. With the target audience being the active community family,
a sponsorship focused on a local program is the perfect way to introduce Tommys
Bicycle Shop to families taking an active role in the community. This strategy will be
used as a deliberate and direct interaction with the target audience.
Sponsoring a soccer team will grant more business exposure, while directly
reaching the target audience and appealing to their values. When looking back at the
overarching goal to build strong community relationships, this is an excellent way to get


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the Tommys Bicycle Shop name heard and to promote the level of involvement
Tommys Bicycle Shop has in the surrounding community. While this strategy requires
more money and effort, the final payoff will be worth it.
The most obvious expense will go to fulfilling the first tactic, which is to provide
the youth soccer players with team jerseys. Bulk ordering jerseys for the team will range
from 100 to 200 dollars. However, the jerseys will act as a form of walking
advertisement. The shirts will have all the necessary requirements of a soccer jersey such
as distinguishing numbers on the back, but the Tommys Bicycle Shop logo will be added
on to the front. By including logos on shirts, Tommys Bicycle Shops sponsorship will
be apparent and will show that Tommys Bicycle Shop is an invested business that cares
about the community and its active programs.
The second tactic will be the use of a pitch letter to gain more community support
for the sponsorship. The pitch letter will be sent to Jeb Bladine, the editor and publisher
of the News-Register. The letter will explain that Tommys Bicycle Shop has recently
involved itself with the youth program and will discuss the benefits that the program has
on youth and McMinnville in general. However, it is unlikely that a story would be
published on Tommys Bicycle Shops soccer team alone. Instead the pitch letter will
propose a feature story on the youth soccer program as a whole. A reasonable portion of
the community is involved with the youth soccer program and a feature story on it would
show connection and foster a sense of community spirit in residents.
The pitch letter will focus on the great influence that the program has over youth
by teaching them valuable lessons in teamwork, sportsmanship and relationships. But the
letter will also request that the feature story depict the way in which team sponsors insure


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the livelihood of the program, Tommys Bicycle Shop included. Tommys Bicycle Shop
is not the only business in McMinnville that will be supporting the youth program. Many
teams are sponsored through other organizations in the area. By bringing together the
local businesses and families, the youth program fosters community growth and
togetherness. The pitch letter will explain how a feature story depicting this message of
community inclusiveness is one that the papers readers would take interest in.
A feature story that mentions Tommys Bicycle Shop as a supporter of
community programs will help the business achieve an overall reputation boost amongst
residents, including the target audience. In addition, the story would show Tommys
Bicycle Shops community involvement and dedication to youth development. This
action is one that would appeal to the values of the target audience and would reinforce
the trustworthy, family-centered values of Tommys Bicycle Shop. If the pitch letter is
successful, the target audience can be influenced in a positive manner, contributing to the
overall plan goal of fostering strong relations and becoming a top choice in biking needs.



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References
Facebook. (2012). Newsroom. Retrieved from http://newsroom.fb.com
McMinnville Public Market. (2009). Oregons most idyllic public market. Retrieved from
http://mcminnvillepublicmarket.com/index.html
Twitter. (2012). Twitter turns six. Retrieved from http://blog.twitter.com/2012/03/
twitter-turns-six.html
The City of McMinnville. (2013). Parks and Recreation: Youth Sports Soccer Program.
Retrieved from http://www.ci.mcminnville.or.us/city/departments/parks-a-
recreationrecreationalsports/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45
7&Itemid=112
Tommys Bicycle Shop. (2013). Retrieved from http://tommysbicycle.net
Wilcox, D. (2013). Public relations writing and media techniques. New Jersey: Pearson
Education.