Rise Broadband Final Deliverable

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RISE BROADBAND
Final Deliverable
November 16, 2015
Chelsea Mcdougall
Kofi Saahene
Jessie James

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary………………………………………………………………...3
Marketing Plan…….……………………………………………………………….4
Situation Analysis……………………………………………………………..4
Marketing Avenue Analysis………………………………………………….15
Marketing Budget…………………………………………………………….26
Sales Forecast………………………………………………………………...30
Our Recommendations……………………………………………………….30
Data Analysis………..……………………………………………………………31
Business Understanding………………………………………………………31
Data Understanding…………………………………………………………...31
Data Preparation………………………………………………………………40
Modeling………………………………………………………………………41
Evaluation……………………………………………………………………..44
Appendix A……………………………………………………………………45

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Executive Summary
Rise Broadband, previously known as “Digis,” and currently the largest fixed wireless broadband
internet provider in the nation, was incorporated in 2005 through parent company JAB, and
recently underwent a rebranding effort in 2015. The company provides internet services to
unserved and underserved areas of the US. They now want to expand their operations to Mackay
and Arco, Idaho, and have contracted the services of a capstone team of MBA students at Idaho
State University to research how to increase brand recognition in both towns. The major
components of this report will consist of a marketing plan and supporting research, and a section
on data analytics.
Marketing Plan: The marketing plan focuses on what Rise should do to enter the Mackay/Arco
area and is broken down into five sections as follows:
1. Situation Analysis: This section contains market demographics, a SWOT analysis, best
practices analysis, and an analysis of competitors. Some key findings are:
a. Mackay/Arco is a rural area with a target market of older, mostly childless heads
of households.
b. Rise Broadband’s major strength is being the only fixed wireless broadband
provider, and the two biggest competitors in the area are ATC and Frontier
Communications.
c. Rise Broadband’s major weakness is not being well-known in Mackay and Arco,
and our research shows that participating in community events is key to building
trust in rural areas.
2. Marketing Avenue Analysis: This section contains a description, strengths, and
weaknesses, and research about the effectiveness of all potential marketing avenues. Some
key findings are as follows:
a. Newspaper Advertisements, billboards, door to door sales, Facebook, mass
mailing, sports marketing, and participating in local events are all beneficial
marketing avenues.
b. In our specific case, we believe newspaper, mass mailing, participating in local
events, and sponsoring high school sporting events would be most effective.
3. Marketing Budget: This section contains a breakeven analysis and three potential budgets
for review. Some key findings are:
a. Billboards are probably not economically feasible in the area
b. Local events have low conversion rates needed to turn a profit
4. Forecasting: Contains potential revenue and profit based on realistic market penetration
rates and profit percentages. Some key findings are:
a. Potential revenue of up to $120,000 per year in the area based on 30% market
penetration
b. Potential profit of up to $60,000 assuming 50% profit and 30% market penetration

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5. Our Recommendations
Based on our analysis, we recommend Rise Broadband implement the large budget
marketing plan, which includes newspaper, direct mail, high school sporting event
sponsorship, and participation in four local events in Arco and Mackay.
6. Data Analytics: This section includes the entire data analysis process:
a. Business Understanding: Need to find a better understanding of the customers they
are losing (churn rate)
b. Data Understanding: Weekends have far fewer sales and churn, some cities and
management areas have a lot more churn than others, the churn rate is higher than
the new sales rate.
c. Data Preparation: There is enough data to have three sets of data: a train, validate,
and test set to help avoid over-fitting the model, re-coded distance from
management area, and combine variables into the sales or churn.
d. Modeling: The appropriate models are a logistic regression and a classification tree
e. Evaluation: The models only explain 11% of the variation in the data.

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I. Marketing Plan
Situation Analysis
Target Market
According to Nielson’s Prizm, the common theme with the market segments in the area is that they
are all mostly older with no children.1 These are the segments you would expect to see in a rural
area that is dependent on farming. It is not surprising that the segments seem to enjoy the great
outdoors, country music, and the simpler things in life. A strong sense of community involvement
with not much disposable cash is another characteristic of this group. In fact, the median household
income is only $44,000 for Mackay and $38,000 for Arco.2
Households
There are approximately 583 households in Arco and 506 households in Mackay.3 While there are
that many households in each zip code for the area, the actual cities have far fewer households as
seen in Figure 1. The heads of these households are mostly between the ages of 45 and 74. These
household heads are our target market. We believe these are the people who are actually making
the decisions for internet service providers.
Figure 1
1
"Prizm MyBestSegments." Nielsen MyBestSegments. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
2
U.S. CensusBureau; generated by Chelsea McDougall; using American FactFinder;
<http://factfinder2.census.gov>; (20 October 2015).
3
U.S. CensusBureau; generated by Chelsea McDougall; using American FactFinder;
<http://factfinder2.census.gov>; (20 October 2015).

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Potential Revenue
Based on the projected numbers for only inside the cities of Arco, Mackay, and Moore, we
performed a basic analysis of the revenue they can expect to bring in from these three towns each
year. This analysis can be seen in Figure 2. This analysis relies on several different assumptions
and is more than likely on the low side. The first assumption is that these numbers are strictly for
the cities and not the surrounding areas; while we realize that Rise covers a much larger area, it is
difficult to pin-point exact census data for the surrounding areas. The second assumption is that
customers are not dropping their service during the first year, and the third assumption is that each
customer purchases the most basic plan at $39.95 a month. The last assumption is that Darlington
is included in Mackay numbers. There was no available census data for Darlington as a city.
Figure 2
Figure 3 below is the projected numbers for Arco City as well as Mackay and the surrounding
area. These numbers are more likely to be realistic as they include the whole 83251 zip code that
Rise covers. This analysis relies on the same assumptions as above.

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Figure 3
SWOT Analysis
Table 1 shows a SWOT analysis of Rise Broadband:
Table 1
Strengths
● Radio towers: don’t have to dig up the
ground
● Not as susceptible to weather outages
● Leader in market of unserved and
underserved
Weaknesses
● Bad customer service ratings
● Not well known in the area
● No local branch in the area

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Opportunities
● Lots of upside potential: have 10% of
market share in the area with no
marketing
● Upgrading equipment in the area,
which will lead to better service and
may lead to better customer service
Threats
● Competitors better established
● ATC is really part of the community
● Fiber will become more popular as
infrastructure in the area improves
● Raising prices soon
Best Practices Analysis
This segment of our findings seeks to find what other industry players are doing that makes them
stand out in the market. Our research revealed that, although the telecommunication market in the
United States seems to be very saturated with a lot of industry players, there is still a huge portion
of the consumer market that remains untapped by these industry players. According to the
American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) website, about 61% of US households still have
one or no high-speed internet service provider in their region.4
Therefore, in order for Rise Broadband to make higher improvement in its area of operations, the
team saw the need to critically study the industry as a whole to identify areas that are likely to
provide opportune grounds for Rise Broadband and also to make it a leading brand in the rural
markets. We therefore asked some major questions that would help us identify these opportunities.
These questions are:
1. What are other companies doing to market to rural or underserved areas?
2. What works in rural marketing plans?
3. What doesn’t work in rural marketing plans?
What are other companies doing to market to rural or underserved areas?
According to our findings, customers are basically dissatisfied with their services due to the basic
lack of choice. It should be noted that most of the competitors in the industry, unlike Rise
Broadband, provide other services like television and phone services. These services actually give
them a competitive advantage over their competitors who provide only internet services. Among
these competitors that provide multiple services are Frontier Communications, AT&T (U-verse)
and Verizon Communications (FIOS) who operate in the Arco/Mackay market. These three
competitors pose a very strong threat to Rise Broadband due to their market strength and extent of
their coverage. The ACSI adds them to the nation’s top 10 internet service providers.
These companies are able to provide cheaper but valuable services to their clients. For instance,
for as low as $19.99, Frontier Communications provides its consumers with a high speed internet
plus a phone service. AT&T and Verizon provide these rural customers with almost uninterrupted
4
The American Consumer Satisfaction Index http://www.theacsi.org/industries/telecommunications-and-
information/internet-service-provider

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phone service and internet service to go about their duties. Since most rural customers work from
dawn till dusk outside of their homes, our research revealed to us that, getting fixed internet service
in the homes did not seem a good idea to them. AT&T and Verizon therefore provide mobile
internet services for their clients to use anywhere they find themselves.
Per the results of the ACSI survey, the major standards that consumers today use to define a good
company in the industry include but are not limited to the following: ease of understanding bill,
ability to keep service interruption and outages to a minimum, consistent speed and service, service
performance during speed hours, data transfer speed, quality video streaming, website satisfaction,
variety of internet plans, call center satisfaction, quality of other services such as email, data
storage, internet security and so on. One major area that clients really seek to see in their providers
is how clear the providers present their bills. Customers do not want to be forced into service
contracts, unreliable service, slow internet speed and high subscription prices. Research has shown
that the above mentioned customer concerns are areas that most competitors like AT&T, Verizon
and Frontier Communications have made tremendous efforts to address, thereby placing them
among the nation’s top 10 internet service providers.
Concentrating on Arco/Mackay area, the team found out that one major competitor commanding
a greater market share is ATC Communications. From the conversation we had with one Mackay
local, the team gathered that ATC Communications has won the loyalty of many users in Mackay.
From our studies we found out that there are several reasons that actually make ATC
Communications stand out in Mackay. These reasons include:
● How consumers believe the company to be part of them because it started in Albion, ID
● The $1000 scholarship awarded to 5 people every year
● ATC’s willingness to sponsor local community events5
● Community services such as the recycle project, 911 presentation to school children in
kindergarten and first grade, adoption of 3 highways in Malad, Albion and Arco etc.6
The above reasons contribute to ATC’s popularity among clients in the Arco, Mackay and all its
areas of operations.
What works and what doesn’t work in rural marketing plans?
A good marketing plan, as it’s understood, is a summary of what the marketer has, over a period
of time, studied the marketplace and shows how the marketer plans to achieve his/her marketing
objectives. Per our research, we found out that there are certain marketing practices that are very
peculiar to certain markets.7 Some of these practices are based on demographics, geography,
5
ATC Communications’ Sponsored events. < http://www.atcnet.net/about-atc/community-involvement>
6
ATC Communications’ Community service. < http://www.atcnet.net/about-atc/scholarships>
7
Strain, M. (2015). Demand Media.. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-rural-marketing-urban-
marketing-23162.html

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consumer tastes and preferences, opportunities etc.8 This implies that there are some marketing
plans that work best in rural markets and those that are not applicable in these markets.
The team decided to focus on what works and doesn’t work well in rural markets because Rise
Broadband primarily operates in these markets.
● Demographics
From our research, we found out that most rural folks are into blue collar jobs and this
implies they are mostly below on average income when compared to people who live in the cities.
Therefore, a good rural marketing plan will focus more on how affordable its products may be.
This means that rural dwellers mostly do not seek products that are very luxurious and expensive.
● Geography
Since most rural dwellers live very far from city centers, they mostly rely on the internet
sales or a partnership with stores that mostly serve these rural areas. We identified that online sales
might not always work to sell services to people that may not have internet access in the first place.
However, online sales may work for consumers that are dissatisfied with their current provider.
Our research revealed that most successful rural businesses have stores or agents that attend to the
needs of their clients. Also from our discussion with a Mackay local, it may be beneficial for Rise
to open up a customer service store in the Arco/Mackay communities to help solve the needs of
their customers locally. According to him, this will help build trust and loyalty among Rise’s
customers, but more research needs to be done to determine feasibility.
● Tastes and Preferences
Tastes and preferences differ from consumer to consumer and this may be due to how
exposed a consumer may be. Our findings revealed that there are certain advertising words that
resonate well with rural dwellers while other words may not work as well. Words that resonate
well in rural marketing plans include “traditional, dependable, values” etc. On the other hand,
words like “innovative, new, fresh, technology” etc. may not achieve the best results in rural ads.
● Marketing Methods
From the discussion we had with the Mackay local and from our own research, we
realized that there are certain marketing methods that can be used to make inroads in the rural
markets. We found out that rural consumers are more likely to respond to one-on-one marketing
such as the door-to-door sales done by sales personnel who take their time to solve all the needs
of these rural folks.
Competitor Analysis
The competitor analysis defines who the competitors are, their plan pricing, how they price their
plans, the marketing avenues they utilize, and what customers believe differentiates competitors.
8
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/doclib/20120320_LeeGalley_Indiv.pdf

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Table 2 summarizes the type of service, pricing base, differentiation, and marketing avenues used
by each competitor. Tables 3 and 4 show plan pricing for each competitor.
Table 2
Competitor Type of
Service
Pricing Differentiation Marketing
Avenues
ATC DSL and
fiber
Company costs Local service and
support
Direct mail and
newspaper, but
also utilizes
social media
and billboards
Frontier Satellite Profitability and
competitiveness
Value: Decent
speed for a
reasonable price
Direct mail,
newspaper, TV
& radio,
website, digital
advertising,
search engine
marketing
Exede Satellite Competitors Speed, availability,
and price
TV, radio,
print, pay-per-
click, public
relations,
website, social
media
Blaze Wifi &
Hughesnet
Wireless &
satellite
Competitors and
company costs
2 options in one,
fastest & cheapest
satellite among
competitors
Website, social
media, TV,
radio
AT&T Mobile
internet
Market trends &
competitors
Fastest network TV, radio,
website, direct
mail, social
media, internet
ads
Verizon Mobile
internet
Market trends &
competitors
Largest network
coverage
TV, radio,
website, direct
mail, social
media, internet

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ads
Table 3
Providers 5-6 mbps 10-12
mbps
20-25
mbps
50 mbps 100 mbps
ATC (without phone
line)
$56.45 $71.45 - - -
ATC (with phone
line)
$77.21 $92.21 $112.21 $132.21 $232.21
Rise Broadband $39.95 $49.95 $69.95 - -
Frontier
Communications
$29.99 $39.99 $49.99 - -
Frontier Communications and ATC are Rise Broadband’s biggest competitors; Frontier under
prices Rise Broadband in almost every category, and ATC is well-known as a local company.
Table 4
Provider 10GB 20GB 30GB 50-55GB 60GB 65GB 70GB
Exede - $49.99 $79.99 $129.99
Hughesnet - - - $39.99 $49.99 $69.99 $119.99
Blaze Wifi - - $139.99 - $329.99 - -
AT&T $80.00 - - - - - -
Verizon $90.00 - - - - - -
Among providers with data caps, the cheapest competitor is Exede, but Hughesnet may provide
the best value for the money since a customer can purchase more data for less money.
Our methodology in researching competitors consisted of contacting marketing directors (or
someone in the marketing department from each company), as well as searching their websites to
find information about how they differentiate themselves, their value propositions, how they price
their services, and marketing avenues they each utilize.

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Frontier
The Marketing Manager of Frontier whom we contacted is named Brendan Kelly. He asserted that
Frontier prices their services by taking into account several factors: profitability and
competitiveness. Frontier prices their services just above installation costs, but also in line with
what competitors are charging, so they are not too high or too low. Brendan believes that Frontier’s
internet service is “…a ‘value’ product; decent speed for a reasonable price.” In terms of how they
market their services, Frontier uses a variety of methods: direct mail, newspaper inserts, TV ads,
radio ads, their website, and placing messages within current customers’ billing statements. More
and more, they are using digital advertising and search engine marketing to reach new customers,
however. The basic message behind their marketing is price; according to Brendan they really push
the price of their high-speed internet, rather than showcasing the brand.
In terms of what sets Frontier apart from competitors, there are several factors, but price is the
main one, as Brendan believes Frontier costs less than most competitors. Other factors that set the
company apart are modem lease and the company’s belief in “value.” All new customers receive
a free wireless modem rather than being required to rent one. Frontier may not have the fastest
internet, but for the price, Brendan believes it is a good value, and it is this value that the company
promotes. Along the same lines, the company proudly claims to be 100% US-based and is one of
the top 100 companies in America to hire service personnel, which further bolsters the company’s
belief in “value”. According to Brendan, “All in all, we want to convey that we’re a good value.”
Also, the fact that service is not offered based on a contract sets the company apart from
competitors who offer their services based on 1-3 year contracts.
Exede
The next competitor we contacted is Exede Internet, whose Content & Social Media Editor is Alex
Miller. According to Alex, Exede prices its services based on what competitors are charging, what
they believe customers can afford to pay, and what will allow for some amount of profitability.
Their services are a bit more expensive because the company must install special equipment on
customers’ homes, and must build and maintain a fleet of satellites, only one of which costs the
company about $500 million just to launch. Exede markets their services via TV ads, pay-per-
click, radio, print, public relations, their website, and social media. Marketing is tricky, however,
because although they are available nationally, they are a satellite provider and their beams do not
all have the same plans and capacity, so they must adjust their marketing in order to avoid
overselling. Alex stated that in terms of differentiation, Exede focuses on speed, availability, and
price. He claims their download speed of 12 Mbps is faster, especially in rural areas where the
larger phone and cable companies don’t provide their best service. Exede’s internet, on the other
hand, is available anywhere as long as the customer has a satellite dish that can receive their signal.
Another benefit is that the company offers a three-year price-lock guarantee so customers’ rates
can’t randomly increase. Exede Internet’s value proposition is “To provide high speed internet to
anyone who needs it, particularly those who are unserved or underserved by terrestrial broadband
providers.

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ATC
The next marketing manager we spoke with is Kyle Bradshaw, from ATC Communications. Kyle
stated that because there are not many competitors, ATC bases pricing on their company costs.
The company markets their services to consumers mostly through direct mail and newspaper, but
also utilizes social media and billboards. According to Kyle what differentiates them from
competitors is capitalizing on service and support; ATC is really the only local company that’s
close by and can arrive on site in a few hours if your internet is down. ATC may not be the price
leader because it’s always cheaper to be wireless than to put cables and wires in the ground, but
they make up for it through good service. In terms of a value proposition, Kyle stated “We realize
our customer base has made a choice to live in rural Idaho, and we feel like our goal is just because
you’re a rancher out in the middle of nowhere and you don’t have neighbors, that doesn’t mean
you shouldn’t have access to the rest of the world. This is what drives us, knowing that we’re there
to take care of customers who have chosen to live out in Rural Idaho.”
Blaze Wifi & Hughesnet
Blaze Wifi and Hughesnet are the next competitors in the Mackay/Arco area. Hughesnet is a
satellite provider that is sold through Blaze Wifi, which sells wireless internet service. Both are
provided under Viasat, however. According to a representative we spoke with, the company prices
based on competitors and their own costs. They market their service to customers via the Blaze
Wifi website, social media, and TV & radio ads. Blaze Wifi differs from competitors in that it
offers two options (satellite and wireless) through the same overall company; data caps are required
by federal law for satellite providers, but if a consumer wants unlimited data, they have the option
of switching to Blaze Wifi without switching to a completely different company for their internet.
Blaze Wifi also differentiates itself from competitors by advertising that Hughesnet is the fastest
and cheapest satellite internet choice among competitors, with prices starting as low as $39.99 per
month.
AT&T and Verizon
AT&T and Verizon are the last two competitors who offer service in the Mackay/Arco area;
because of the size and breadth of both companies, we were unable to speak to someone in the
marketing department, and tried to find as much information as we could about them from their
websites. Both are the only mobile internet providers in the area and market their services through
TV & radio ads, website, direct mail, social media, and internet advertisement. We could not find
any information about how the two companies price their services, but based on the fact that both
companies are nationwide and probably have a corporate marketing strategy, we believe their
pricing would be based on market trends and competitors’ pricing. In terms of value propositions,
AT&T claims to offer the fastest network, and Verizon claims to have the largest coverage area.
Consumer Ratings
We next attempted to determine what consumers believe differentiates ISP’s in the area by looking
at customer reviews, and the short answer is nothing. A search of customer reviews for each
provider led us to the conclusion that many customers are generally unhappy with internet

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providers in the area, and there were no advantages to any one provider over another. ATC
communications had an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau’s website, but we could find no
consumer reviews for or against the company. The provider of Hughesnet and Blaze Wifi (called
“Viasat”) had a BBB rating of B. AT&T and Verizon both had BBB ratings of A+. Neither Frontier
nor Exede had BBB rankings. Despite the seemingly good ratings, however, all of the providers
except for ATC Communications had horrible written customer reviews. Rise Broadband is no
exception to this, as the company has an “F” rating on the BBB website, even though it claims to
offer a better customer experience than competitors. Across the board, customers complained of
very slow speeds, terrible customer service, technicians who have no idea what they are doing,
getting locked into several year contracts because they were lied to about the service, and billing
& collection problems. Overall, according to reviews, consumers don’t believe anything
differentiates internet service providers in the area, because none of them are doing a satisfactory
job providing their services.
Marketing Avenue Analysis
The marketing avenues we looked into for the Mackay/Arco area are Newspaper, Door to door
sales, billboards, Facebook ads, Mass mailing, and Sponsorship of local events. This section will
provide research about the advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness of each method. Tables
5-7 list pros and cons of all avenues, costs, and contact information.
Table 5
Advertising Method Advantages Disadvantages
Newspaper ● Personal
● Works well in rural
communities
● Only targets the
community we are
interested in
● Can lead to increases in
product trials, sales, and
market share
● Can be expensive depending
on the ad
● Not as popular as digital
methods
Door to Door Sales ● Personal& builds trust
among community
members
● Expensive (must pay worker
to go door to door)
● Time consuming
● May not be able to reach all
areas depending on geographic
size of target market.
Billboard ● Guaranteed exposure for 2
years
● Good for top of mind
awareness
● Short, simple message
● Targets mostly people from
out of town
● Expensive in comparison with
the low level of local exposure
● Only one location

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● Repeated exposure
Mass Mailing ● Very wide reach
● Good for getting brand
name out
● Often thrown away/ignored
● Doesn’t feel personal
● Not necessarily targeted
Facebook Ads ● Very targeted
● Can positively affect
brand image and equity
● May target people outside of
our service area (50 mile
radius)
● Not personal
● Visibility of ads based on
bidding higher than
competitors
Sponsoring local
events
● Lots of exposure,
especially in small
communities
● Very personal: Builds
brand recognition, and
trust in community
● Can be cheap depending
on the event
● Attendees more receptive
to marketing messages and
images in connection with
the event
● Actively engages
customers
● Can be expensive depending
on event
● Can be time-consuming
Sports Marketing ● Shows social
responsibility
● People tend to remember
sponsors they see at
sporting events
● Can be time consuming
Table 6
Advertising
Method
Cost Contact (if applicable)
Newspaper $5.50/ column inch
$22 for business card size
$693 full page ad
Arco Advertiser
146 S Front St, Arco, ID 83213
(208) 527-3038
Door to Door
Sales
Training time, salary for a sales
person, and travel expenses

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Billboard
Advertising
$325/ month plus printing costs
8' x 24'
Location 43
http://www.meadowoutdoor.co
m/locations/43
Kathleen Seuss
ksuess@meadowoutdoor.com
(800)-221-4114
meadow@meadowoutdoor.com
Facebook
Ads
Based on bids www.facebook.com/ads/manager
Mass Mailing $110 Mackay
$130 Arco
plus printing costs
https://eddm.usps.com/eddm/customer/rout
eSearch.action
Table 7
Event Pros Cons Dates/ Cost Contact
Fireworks
at the Dam
Brand
recognition
Local
Only once
per year
July 4th
Biggest
donor is
matching
$1500
Ron Brown
(208) 541- 6989
OR
South Custer Rural Fire
District
(208) 588-3361
Mackay
Farmer’s
Market
Reach female
customers
Local events
Not where
people go to
find ISP
Every
Saturday
$25 per
booth
Arrow Durfee
208-932-1842
arrowwind09@yahoo.com
Mackay
Rodeo
Big event Lots of
people from
out of town
Heavily
sponsored by
Budweiser
June (208) 588-3027
West End of Capitol Avenue
Mackay, ID
83251
Free BBQ Local event
Sponsored by
Business
Must be on
site
September
Donation
basis
City of Mackay
203 South Main Street
P.O. Box 509

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community
Good way to
become
involved
No specific
signs/ etc.
Mackay, Idaho 83251
208-588-2274
Atomic
Days
Local Event
One of the
only events in
Arco
Lots of people
Lots of
people from
out of town
July
10’ X 10’
Vendor
Booth: $35
w/o
electricity.
$55 with
electricity
Jaci Hill
208-403-9011
hilljaci@butteschools.org
Butte High
School
Game
Sponsorship
Good brand
recognition
via
community
involvement
Date depends
on game
Need to
contact
athletic
director
Judy Coburn (Athletic
Director)
Cell: 208-589-7346
cobujody@butteschools.org
Mackay Jr-
Sr. High
Game
Sponsorship
Good brand
recognition
via
community
involvement
Date depends
on game
sponsored
Need to
contact
athletic
director
Jack McKelvie (Athletic
Director
jackmcke@mackayschools.org
Descriptions of Marketing Avenues
Potential marketing avenues we looked into are mass mailings, Facebook ads, newspaper ads, door
to door sales, billboard advertising, and local events.
Mass Mailings
Direct-to-door mailings are advertisements mailed directly to every address in a specific area. This
can be done through the United States Postal Office. The cost of this for Arco would be $131 and
Mackay would be about $110. There are two ways of accomplishing this. One way would be to

19
have a technician drop the mailings off at the local post office, or if necessary, the mailers can be
mailed in one large box to the Arco post office addressed to the postmaster.9
Facebook Ads
While Facebook advertising may not be the most effective advertising for this type of market
segment, the percentage of rural users is a bit surprising. Depending on what source you are
looking at, the percentage of rural users that are using Facebook is almost 70%.10
Facebook ads also have another major benefit: businesses can choose exactly how much money
should be spent in a specific area before they stop showing the ads. The way it works is the business
selects four things: either cost per click or cost per impression, daily limits for spending or lifetime
limits for spending, an objective, and their target consumer.11 This would allow Rise Broadband
to spend only what they want to spend on ads directly to consumers in the Mackay/Arco area with
the ability to pause ads that aren’t working or change them on the fly.
Newspaper Advertisement
The cost of running an ad in the local newspaper is dependent on the size of the ad. According to
the Arco Advertiser, cost varies from $22 for a business card size advertisement all the way up to
$693 for a full page ad. The cost per column inch is $5.50 for any size in between that. Advertising
this way is only a fraction of the cost of a billboard advertisement, and has similar benefits. Most
people in the town like to know about the most local news, and the newspaper is their main source
of this local news.
Door-to-Door Sales
While this may be an outdated way of advertising to urban areas, this strategy seems to be
something that would work well in the Mackay/Arco area. It may be expensive, but would
probably have a large return on investment from a day’s worth of work for a technician.
Billboard Advertising
There is one billboard available in the Mackay/Arco area. According to Kathleen Suess, an
employee from Meadow Outdoor, this billboard is $325/month with a traffic count of 1159. This
is incredibly expensive comparatively. For comparison, there is a lighted billboard in the Idaho
Falls area for $300/month.12 While this billboard will definitely increase awareness, it may not be
cost effective.
Local Events
9
"Advertise with Every Door Direct Mail®." Every Door Direct Mail. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
10
"Facebook Demographics." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech RSS. 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 20
Oct. 2015.
11
"Facebook AdsManager." Facebook. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
12
"Billboardsfor Rent in 83401 (Idaho Falls, ID)." Billboard for Rent in Idaho Falls, ID: (ID:279780). Web.
20 Oct. 2015.

20
While there are many events in the Mackay/Arco area, there are a few that are more important to
really becoming part of the community. These select events are really the heart and soul of these
small towns. There are a few bigger events, but they aren’t as integral to the lives of the people
that live in the community.
The first event that is important to Mackay is the free BBQ that is organized by local businesses
in the area. There are a couple advantages to this event as opposed to others. First, the event is
donation based, meaning that whatever amount Rise has to donate is appreciated. Second, this
event specifically attracts the locals, so there will not be many attendees from outside of the Lost
River Valley area. This means time won’t be wasted on event goers from out of town. The free
BBQ event happens in September every year in the Mackay Tourist Park.
The second event that may be extremely important for Rise to participate in is the Fireworks at the
Dam. This is a Fourth of July celebration that is funded entirely by donations. Last year, they were
short about $1500 as of June and had collection cans out around the town trying to finish raising
enough money to make the event happen. Being a major sponsor of the fireworks would increase
brand recognition almost overnight. This is a large event for the area, and all the locals attend.
Arco is bigger than Mackay, but there aren’t as many local events as in Mackay. However, Atomic
Days happens once per year. This is a large event in late July that celebrates the first use of nuclear
power in peacetime. This events attracts people from all over, however, it attracts all the locals.
Atomic Days is a huge part of the community in Arco.
The following is a more complete list of larger events in the Mackay/Arco area:
Fireworks at the Dam13
Every year Mackay has Fireworks at the Dam put on by the South Custer RFD (Mackay Fire
Department). The entire event costs $2,500, and they were short $1,500 in donations. The
community had collection containers up around the city. While this may be a lot to put forth all at
once, any form of donation would look good to the community. It could be a very good way to
establish a connection with the community in a positive fun way.
Farmers Market14
There is also a farmers market every Saturday morning in Mackay. While it may not be possible
to have a booth every Saturday 10AM-1PM, it may be a good event to go to once in a while.
Spruce Street
Mackay, ID 83251
(208) 932-1842
arrowwind09@yahoo.com
13
"Fireworksat the Dam." Mackay, Idaho 4th of July Fireworksat the Dam. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
14
"Mackay Farmer'sMarket." Mackay Community Farmer'sMarket. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

21
https://www.facebook.com/MackayFarmersMarket
Mackay Rodeo15
The rodeo happens once per year around June 20th (give or take a couple of days). The event looks
to be heavily sponsored by Budweiser. It may not be as valuable of an event because of the
sponsorship domination by Budweiser, but there are commercial vendors at the event.
Mackay Rodeo Grounds
Capitol Ave and Vadan St
Mackay, ID 83251
Free BBQ16
Every September the businesses in Mackay host a free BBQ for the community that happens in
the Mackay Tourist Park. This would also be a good opportunity to show the local community that
Rise really cares about being a local company. It also has a reach outside of the immediate
community to the surrounding communities.
Atomic Days17
Atomic Days is a celebration held in July to celebrate the first use of a nuclear reactor for power
in peacetime. This event has a rodeo, food, and tons of events. The whole community comes out
to support the events, and it draws people from all over.
Marketing Avenue Research
Newspaper
Newspaper advertisement is the first area we researched. The September/October 1993 issue of
the Journal of Advertising Research published a study that addressed the effectiveness of
newspaper advertisements. In the study, four one-third page color ads were run in the Richmond
Times Dispatch and News Leader. The brands behind the ads were Nabisco Fruit Newtons, Meow
Mix, V8 Light n’ Tangy, and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. The city of Richmond, Virginia was
divided into a northern and southern half; residents of the north side received the first two ads,
while residents of the southern half received the other two ads. The ads ran in the mid-week food
section once a week for four insertions. Households were taken from a database of households that
hold Ukrops Shopper Value cards (purchases made with these cards accounted for about 80% of
Ukrops sales); those with data that was not of research quality were removed, leaving a total of
28,486 households that participated in the study.18 Data about household sales (purchases) was
15
"Mackay Rodeo." Facebook. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
16
"Free BBQ." Mackay, Idaho. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
17
"Atomic Days." Atomic Days. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
18
Tolley, B.S. (1993). A STUDY OF NATIONAL ADVERTISING’S PAYOUT: IMAGE ADS IN NEWSPAPER
ROP. (cover story). Journal of Advertising Research, 33(5), 11-20.

22
collected and measured for fourteen weeks before the ads ran, the four weeks when the ads ran,
and for seven weeks after the ads ran. Findings of the study were as follows:
● Sales and shares were up: Three of the four ads significantly increased sales and share of
the market for the firms.
● Brand trials increased: Among households who received the test ads, but had never tried
the test brand, sales increased 20% in comparison with people who did not receive the ads.
● For Nabisco specifically, one additional ad dollar was followed by $4.40 in additional
sales.
● Coordinating the timing of promotion and image ads makes a difference.19
Door to Door Sales
We could not find any particular research studies that had been done to examine the effectiveness
of door to door sales, but did find an article about a company who found the tactic very beneficial.
American Solar Direct, a seller of solar panel installations in California utilized door to door sales
as part of its marketing strategy. Before salesmen hit the streets, however, they were trained for a
month, shadowed more experienced salespeople, learned about the solar industry, and visited
distribution centers and job sites.20 According to the article, this method helped the company grow
to $52.1 million in sales in 2013. Brennan Mulcahy, the creator of the company, stated that the use
of three tactics made door to door selling effective for his company:
1. Find the right hook. In other words, talk to customers about things they will care about. In
the case of selling solar panels, customers cared more about their finances than being
environmentally friendly, so salesman switched from talking about the environment to
discussing the cost savings of installing solar panels.
2. Keep it local. The company actually did not do any other advertising and instead relied on
door to door selling. All distribution centers were located in a densely-populated area,
which shortened the purchase-to-installation process. Branches of the company were
staffed with employees who knew the community’s permit processes and standards, which
further sped up the process from purchase to installation.
3. Teach, don’t sell. Rather than relying on selling the product, salesmen and women instead
educated customers; this enabled the product to sell itself. 21
Billboard Advertising
Billboard advertising is another marketing avenue for which we found research. One report called
the Arbitron 2009 National In-Car Study examined the in-car media audience, their exposure to
outdoor advertising, radio, and audio technologies, and consumers’ shopping and purchase
decisions based on their exposure to these forms of advertising. For the sake of our research, we
focused only on the results related to billboards. The study consisted of 1,858 respondents who
19
Tolley, B.S. (1993). A STUDY OF NATIONAL ADVERTISING’S PAYOUT: IMAGE ADS IN NEWSPAPER
ROP. (cover story). Journal of Advertising Research, 33(5), 11-20.
20
ALSEVER, J. (2015). Using Old-School Tactics to Sell New Solar Tech. Inc, 37(5), 32.
21
ALSEVER, J. (2015). Using Old-School Tactics to Sell New Solar Tech. Inc, 37(5), 32.

23
were interviewed via phone about their travel habits and use of different types of media. Some key
findings of the report are as follows:
● People notice billboard advertisements: 71% of travelers 18 or older responded that they
noticed billboard advertisements sometimes, most of the time, or every time they passed
one.
● People learn from billboard advertisements: over half of respondents reported learning
from a billboard about a an event they were interested in attending, a restaurant or store
they later visited, or saw something funny that they later talked about with someone else.
● Billboard advertising is one of the last messages a consumer receives before making a
purchasing decision.
● Billboards drive store traffic: almost 25% of respondents said that they were motivated that
day to go to a store they saw advertised on a billboard, and 32% visited that store sometime
that week. (In the case of Rise Broadband, instead of being driven to a store, consumers
could be driven to the website instead if they remember the Rise Broadband name.)22
According to this research, billboards that effectively convey a message (i.e. are clear, concise,
and attention-grabbing), and are placed in a high-traffic location could be a potentially beneficial
component of a marketing strategy.
Facebook
Facebook ads are another method we initially looked into for Rise Broadband. Although Facebook
ads are very targeted, they may not be the best option for Rise Broadband due to two factors. First,
the Mackay/Arco area is very rural, and the smallest area Facebook would cover a 50-mile radius,
some of which Rise Broadband does not service. Second, although the two methods of paying for
ads are straightforward (one lump sum over a specified period of time, or a daily budget), the
visibility of said ads depends on how much a company bids. Ads by Rise Broadband would be
seen less if competitors bid higher, and there is no way to know how much other companies in the
area are bidding.
Rather than looking at research specifically about Facebook advertisements, we found a study
about the effectiveness of Facebook advertising (maintaining a Facebook page) on enhancing
purchase intention of customers. The hypotheses of the study are as follows:
● Consumers’ opinion on Facebook advertising will positively affect the firm’s brand image.
● Consumers’ opinion on Facebook advertising will positively affect firm’s brand equity.
● Firm’s brand image on Facebook advertising will significantly affect the firm’s brand
equity.
● Firm’s brand image on Facebook advertising will significantly affect purchase intention by
consumers.
22
Williams, D. (n.d.). The Arbitron National In-Car Study. Retrieved November 13, 2015, from
http://www.arbitron.com/downloads/InCarStudy2009.pdf

24
● Firm’s brand equity on Facebook advertising will significantly affect purchase intention
by consumers.23
An 11-item questionnaire was distributed to 100 college students to test these hypotheses. The
results were as follows:
● Consumers’ opinions on a firm’s Facebook page do affect the firm’s brand image and
equity.
● A firm’s brand image on Facebook significantly affects the firm’s brand equity.
● A firm’s brand image on Facebook significantly affects consumers’ purchasing intention.
● A company’s brand image and brand equity on Facebook significantly affects consumers’
purchasing intention.
Due to the above mentioned reasons Rise Broadband may not want to create Facebook ads, the
company may want to focus on increasing brand image and equity its Facebook page instead,
especially in terms of customer reviews and complaints. According to the study, consumers’
opinions of a company are influenced by the company’s presence on Facebook. If reviews of the
company don’t look good, this influences consumers’ opinion of the company negatively.
Mass Mailing
We were unable to find studies strictly on the effectiveness of mass mailings, so instead focused
on the uses of mass mailing and what makes it an effective technique. Mass mailing is an
inexpensive way to reach a wide area of potential customers; in the case of a company that is new
to an area, it is a perfect way to get a brand name out among the masses. The key to mass mailing,
however, is keeping customers engaged. Postcards and junk mail are often tossed in the trash
without a second thought. In order for mass mailing to be effective, it must be seen often enough
for customers to remember the company, but not so often that it becomes a nuisance. It must also
continue to capture customers’ attention. If the same (or a very similar-looking) promotional flyer
or postcard is sent out each time a mass mailing is done, customers may eventually lose interest
and feel that “If I’ve seen one, I’ve seen them all.”
One way to ensure that customers stay engaged is to use mass mailing for a variety of other
purposes, as well, including informing customers, building customer loyalty, and fostering
goodwill.24 Informational flyers can be sent out to educate customers about the company, its
involvement in the community, and products & services. Special offers are one way to let
customers know you appreciate doing business with them and can help build customer loyalty,
while generating sales as well. Finally, greetings and holiday cards can show consumers that the
company is thoughtful and cares about its customers.
23
Dehghani, M., & Tumer, M. (2015) A research on effectiveness of Facebook advertising on enhancing
purchase intention of consumers. Computers In Human Behavior, 49597-600. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.051
24
Five Good Reasons to Do a Mass Mailing. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from
http://www.allbusiness.com/five-good-reasons-to-do-a-mass-mailing-1083-1.html

25
Local and Sport Event Sponsorship
One new marketing avenue we looked into, is sponsorship of games at Butte High School and
Mackay Jr-Sr High School. We contacted the athletic directors at both schools, and according to
them, business sponsorship does not happen often, but they are open to the idea. In the past,
businesses who have sponsored games have handed out flyers, snacks, T-shirts, and even held a
fun competition at halftime. Jody Coburn, athletic director of Butte High School, also mentioned
that they desperately need score boards in the school gym and on the football field. We attempted
to find out the process (any necessary fees or paperwork, etc.) of signing up to sponsor an event,
and both athletic directors said the business would just need to contact them and discuss what they
are interested in doing at the event.
In terms of the effectiveness of event sponsorship, we found a 2006 study that examines the
relationship between event attendees, sponsorship, community involvement, and consumers’
perceptions of the sponsors, and their intentions of purchasing the sponsor’s product. The aim of
the study was to prove or disprove the following five hypotheses:
● “An event attendee who is more knowledgeable about a sponsor’s products (i.e.
automobiles) is more likely to appreciate a sponsor’s community involvement.
● An event attendee who is more active in the area of the event (i.e. spots) is more likely
to appreciate a sponsor’s community involvement.
● An event attendee who is more enthusiastic in the area of the event (i.e. sports) is more
likely to have an appreciation for a sponsor’s community involvement.
● An event attendee who has more of an appreciation for a sponsor’s community
involvement is more inclined to have a positive opinion of the sponsor’s brand.
● An event attendee who has a more positive opinion of the sponsor’s brand is more
intent on purchasing the sponsor’s branded product(s).”25
The event was the Fourth Annual Tour de Georgia cycling event, which is a six-day race consisting
of six stages across two states. The event sponsor was a major car company. Participants were
recruited to participate in the survey while attending the event; data was gathered through in-depth
interviews and a survey. A total of 1,741 participants completed the survey. The following were
findings of the study:
1. Participants agreed they liked that the company demonstrated community involvement,
and that companies care to do more than just buy and sell products.
2. Being a major sponsor in the community showed community involvement.
25
Close, A., Finney, R., Lacey, R., & Sneath, J. (2012). Engaging the Consumer through Event Marketing:
Linking Attendees with the Sponsor, Community, and Brand. J. Adv. Res. Journal of Advertising Research,
26(4), 420-433. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985801

26
3. Many agreed (23.6%) or strongly agreed (25.1%) that the opinion of the sponsor changed
positively as a result of the sponsorship.
4. Participants agreed that the event created more intentions to buy the sponsor’s products.
5. Many agreed (20.3%) or strongly agreed (18.2%) that their purchase intentions changed
positively in response to the event.26
The data and analysis suggested that consumers who are aware, knowledgeable, and active in terms
of a sponsor’s product are more likely to appreciate a company’s involvement in the community
than their counterparts who are less aware, knowledgeable, and active. More appreciation of a
company’s community involvement led to more positive perceptions of the sponsor’s brand.
Lastly, results suggested that when people’s opinions about a sponsor are changed in a positive
way, they are more likely to purchase the sponsor’s products. It can be concluded from these results
that sponsoring local events is crucial to raising awareness about a company’s brand, establishing
trust in the community, and incentivizing customers to purchase the company’s products.
Marketing Budget
Before creating a budget, we first conducted a breakeven analysis to examine how many household
conversions would be necessary to make up for the money spent on each marketing avenue. This
analysis allowed us to see which avenues were most feasible in terms of cost vs. how many
households we reasonably thought it would be possible to convert. Unfortunately, we were not
able to factor in any company costs other than the marketing avenues themselves due to our client
being unable to provide us with this information. Rise Broadband offers $39.95, $49.95, and
$69.95 plans and we made assumptions of 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% of each plan being profit.
We calculated the breakeven using the following formula:
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒
(𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 × 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
For example, to arrive at 27.12 household conversions necessary to make up for the cost of the
billboard assuming 30% profit, we divided the cost of the billboard ($325) by the product of $39.95
and 30%. In order to keep the units of measure the same across all marketing avenues, we assumed
a time frame of one month; for example, the farmer’s market occurs four times a month, so we
multiplied the $25 fee by four to arrive at a total cost of $100. Table 8 below shows the breakeven
analysis.
Table 8
Percentage of plan that is profit 30% 40% 50% 60%
Conversions needed for $39.95 Plan
Billboard 27.12 20.34 16.27 13.56
26
Close, A., Finney, R., Lacey, R., & Sneath, J. (2012). Engaging the Consumer through Event Marketing:
Linking Attendees with the Sponsor, Community, and Brand. J. Adv. Res. Journal of Advertising Research,
26(4), 420-433. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985801

27
Newspaper Ad (twice a month) 7.34 5.51 4.41 3.67
Mass Mailing 20.11 15.08 12.07 10.05
Door-to-door 66.75 50.06 40.05 33.38
Facebook* 8.34 6.26 5.01 4.17
Farmer's Market Booth 8.34 6.26 5.01 4.17
Fireworks at the Dam (once a year) 41.72 31.29 25.03 20.86
Atomic days 4.59 3.44 2.75 2.29
Free BBQ ($500 Hypothetical) 41.72 31.29 25.03 20.86
Billboard Conversions needed 21.69 16.27 13.01 10.84
Mass Mailing 16.08 12.06 9.65 8.04
Door-to-door 53.39 40.04 32.03 26.69
Facebook 6.67 5.01 4.00 3.34
Market Booth ($25x4) 6.67 5.01 4.00 3.34
Atomic days 3.67 2.75 2.20 1.84
Billboard Conversions needed 15.49 11.62 9.29 7.74
Mass Mailing 11.48 8.61 6.89 5.74
Door-to-door 38.12 28.59 22.87 19.06
Facebook 4.77 3.57 2.86 2.38
Market Booth ($25x4) 4.77 3.57 2.86 2.38
Atomic days 2.62 1.97 1.57 1.31
Rise Broadband Plan Prices 39.95 49.95 69.95

28
Marketing Avenue Costs
Billboard per month 325 325 325
Newspaper Ad (twice a month) 88 88 88
Mass Mailing 241 241 241
Door-to-door (20hrs/week, $10/hr, 4 wks) 800 800 800
Facebook (monthly) 100 100 100
Market Booth ($25x4 times per month) 100 100 100
Fireworks at the Dam (once a year) 500 500 500
Atomic days (once a year) 55 55 55
Free BBQ ($500 Hypothetical) 500 500 500
Based on the breakeven analysis and pros and cons of each marketing avenue, we arrived at three
potential budgets. We provided three budgets because we felt it would be helpful to offer several
options based on cost and effectiveness. The small budget is based on an estimated market
penetration of 25% and includes what we believe would be the most beneficial avenues for the
least money. We estimated the market penetration for the medium budget to be 27% and believe
it to be more effective, but slightly more expensive than the small budget. Finally, the large budget
includes all avenues we believe Rise Broadband should invest in to be most successful in the area;
it is the most expensive of the three, but we estimate could provide 30% market penetration and
produce the most profit.
SMALL BUDGET LEVEL (25% penetration)
Potential Revenue $102,711.45
Marketing Avenue and AssociatedExpense
Atomic Days $55.00
Mass Mailing $964.00
Game Sponsorship** $375.00
TotalAnticipated Expense ($1,394.00)
TotalProfit $101,317.45

29
MEDIUM BUDGET LEVEL (27% penetration)
Atomic Days $55.00
Fireworks at the Dam $500.00
Farmer’s Market Booth $150.00
LARGE BUDGET LEVEL (30% penetration)
Atomic Days $55.00
Fireworks at the Dam $500.00
Farmer’s Market Booth $150.00
Newspaper $1056
Free BBQ $500

30
Sales Forecast
We made some specific assumptions for this forecast. The numbers are based on a 25%, 27%, and
30% market penetration and 30% profit, 40% profit, and 50% profit based on the $39.95 plan for
consumers.
Figure 4
Our Recommendations
We recommend Rise Broadband implement the large budget, which includes running a newspaper
ad, doing a mass mailing, participating in the farmer’s market, free barbeque, Atomic Days,
Fireworks at the Dam, and sponsoring a high school football game. We suggest this budget first
because we believe 30% is a reasonable penetration rate that can be reached using all of these
marketing avenues. Second, potential revenue for 30% is $12,000 more than for the medium plan.
Lastly, this budget fits well within the spending limit of our client’s marketing budget.
Newspaper is important because a majority of residents in small towns such as Arco and Mackay
read the newspaper; for them, it is an important part of the community, so implementing it in Rise
Broadband’s marketing is a good way to get into the community. A newspaper ad twice the size
of a business card would be run twice a month. An ad of this size is large enough to be seen, but
much less expensive than a full-page ad. Rise Broadband should also look into writing a column
in the newspaper every so often; as earlier stated, people read the newspaper very frequently, so a

31
column would be read by a large portion of the community. This is also a good way to get involved
in the community without actually attending an event. Mass mailings are great for reaching the
masses, and also provide a tangible piece of information for customers. We recommend doing a
mass mailing four times a year; doing this only four times a year will increase brand awareness
among consumers, but not annoy them with getting the same/a similar piece of mail from the same
company too often. According to our research, participating in local events is vital to increasing
brand awareness, especially in small towns where there is an even tighter-knit community. This is
the major reason we recommend Rise Broadband participate in the major community events of
Arco and Mackay.
Although we researched door to door sales, billboard ads, and facebook ads, we did not recommend
any of these options. We do not believe door-to-door sales will be economically feasible in terms
of the number of conversions required to equal the amount of money necessary to pay a door-to-
door employee. Billboard ads were ruled out because we also do not believe they are economically
feasible: there is only one location, which is next to a freeway, so mostly through-traffic would
see the ad. There is a two-year contract of $325/month for the billboard, and a number of people
from the area may see it and sign up, but the number of conversions would taper off after a while;
over the two-year time span, this form of advertising would probably become ineffective.
II. Data Analysis
Data Process
1. Business Understanding
The main goal of examining this data set was to be able to predict churn or sale for Rise Broadband.
Churn is all customers that discontinue their service, and sales is any time they have a new
customer or connection. The data understanding of their current customers can help them make
better educated forecasts for these areas. Better understanding churn rates can help them make real
time changes to their strategy.
A more flexible approach to marketing strategies can help give Rise a superior position in the rural
markets as they will be able to more quickly adapt to changes in market conditions.
2. Data Understanding
The original data set we were provided had the following variables:
Table 10
Variable Meaning
Date Mm/dd/yyyy

32
Type Five types of actions included:
NP- Non pay (churn)
VD- Voluntary Disconnect (churn)
RS- Restart (sales)
RC- Reconnect (sales)
NC- New connection (sales)
Day of Week Day of the week that the action occurred
Day of the month Day of the month that the action occurred
Month Month that the action occurred
City The city that customer resides in
Management Area The city the management area is located in
Sales/Churn Sales or churn according to type
State State that the management area is in
The second step of data understanding is to look at the descriptive statistics for the whole data set.
All descriptive statistics can be seen in Appendix A. There were some outliers in the distance set,
but they were necessary data points.
As can be seen in Figure 5, there was a problem with the number of data points in November and
December. Since this is year-to-date data for the past 3 years, it seems like there are significantly
less data points in November and December. To alleviate this problem, we excluded data for
November and December altogether. The data is much more representative using this method.

33
Figure 5
As seen in Figure 6, there was slightly more churn (53%) than sales (46%). This is concerning
because a business with more churn than sales will eventually go out of business, so Rise
Broadband should try to determine the cause behind why churn is higher than sales. The summer
months (June to September) seem to have more of both sales and churn. Some management areas
seem to have many more customers than others (Pahrump and Idaho Falls). Nevada and Idaho also
seem to have more churn and sales. The day of the month actually seems fairly stable, while the
day of the week seems to have more data points during the weekdays than the weekend.
The average distance in miles from the management area to the city is just over 9 miles. This isn’t
as far of a distance as we imagined it would be.
The next portion of data understanding is using the graph builder to explore some relationships
between the variables. The following figures show the interesting graphs built from this analysis.

34
Figure 6
Figure 7 allows you to see that most days of the month have about an even split, but there are a
few exceptions. It appears that on the first few days of the month and the last few days of the month
there are slightly more customers churning.

35
Figure 7
Figure 8 below allows us to see the churn/sales by state. This graph can be somewhat deceptive as
it looks like every single person in Montana is churning. However, upon closer inspection it is
clear there is only one data point in Montana that happens to be a churn. Ignoring this issue, Figure
8 shows that Nevada is the only state experiencing more sales than churn. It also shows that
Wyoming and Utah are the states with the most amount of churn. It does not show us if this
difference is statistically significant, but it does signal that this could be an important variable for
evaluation in the models.

36
Figure 8
Figure 9 also shows some interesting things going on in the data. Recall that CitySize is coded as
0 for a city larger than 200,000 people, 1 for cities between 50,000 and 200,000 and 2 for smaller
cities. It would appear that there is more churn in smaller cities and very large cities, but medium
cities seem to have more sales.
Figure 9

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Figure 10 shows the different types of churn codes. It is interesting to see that the vast majority of
churn is due to voluntary disconnections. This could signal some very different challenges than if
the majority of churn was non pays. It is also interesting that a lot of sales are new connections
rather than returning customers.
Figure 10
Figure 11 shows the different types by management area. This graph reveals some interesting
information. For example, Las Vegas and Malad both have unusually high numbers of voluntary
disconnects vs. Pahrump or Sandy Valley. Pahrump (along with Mountain Home) seem to have
higher percentages of new sales.

38
Figure 11
Figure 12 shows that the day of the month does not have a huge effect on the major categories
(voluntary disconnects and new connections). It does have an effect on the smaller categories, but
it may not have a large impact in the modeling due to the effect being on categories that are much
smaller in comparison.

39
Figure 12
Figure 13 shows Type by Day of Week. This chart also showed some interesting patterns. Mondays
have the highest level of voluntary disconnects. The middle of the week (Wednesday, Thursday,
and Friday) seem to have the highest number of new connections. It is obvious from this chart that
business dramatically slows on the weekends.

40
Figure 13
3. Data Preparation (cleaning)
The data set was originally 99,215 rows. After excluding the two months for which we don’t have
data, and eliminating all rows that don’t pertain to churn or sales, the data set was down to 34,308
rows. The rows we eliminated had to do with other call types such as equipment pick up or fixing
equipment.
The next step in the data cleaning process was re-coding “Type” into “CorS” which became a 1 for
all variables that are sales, and a 0 for all churn.
The next variable to be recoded was the city. We made a new column for distance from management
office and then manually recoded all the city names to a driving distance in miles from the city to
the management office city in miles. All distances were recorded from Google Maps. This variable
is one that we thought could possibly be causing disconnects due to longer wait times for service,
and in rural areas, we suspected that having to drive a long way to talk to a person face to face
could have a major impact on people disconnecting their service.
We also recoded city size into small (2), medium (1), and large (0). However, this variable turned
out to be insignificant in all models run.
The next task was to make a validation column. We achieved this by making a new column labeled
TVT (train, validate, test) that was then randomly assigned a 0, 1, or 2. Sixty percent was assigned
to the training set, 20% to the validation set, and 20% to the testing set. The training set is used to
build the models. The validation set is used to determine when to stop modeling, and the testing
set is used to determine how well the model works on real data. Using this type of validation helps
to eliminate over fitting of the model.

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4. Modeling
Since CorS (Churn or Sales) is a binary variable, the appropriate models are a classification tree
and logistic regression. If the variable of interest was a continuous variable the appropriate models
would be a multiple regression and a regression tree.
We then selected variables that would not be predictive of each other. For example, distance from
management area and city could not be in the same model. We then ran the classification tree.
Figure 14 (Classification tree)
According to Figure 14, the most informative attributes from the classification tree were the city,
followed by the day of the week, month, management area, and day of the month.
The interesting thing about this column contribution report is that distance is not something that
factors into the analysis much.
The first split of the tree is shown in Figure 15 (first split)

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Figure 15
Every other city is in the other side of the tree. Since this was the most informative attribute, we found
it important to be able to see the cities where there is a difference. All other cities not listed in this
first split are on the other side.
The most extreme leaves were:
1. Firth group city, March-June & August & October and Sunday with 97% of calls within
this leaf being Churn.
2. The same as above except for Saturday with 89% churn
3. Adrian group city, January-March & August to October, Distance less than 26 miles,
and the day of the week is Saturday, Wednesday, or Thursday with 73% being sales
4. Same as above with day of the week being Thursday or Friday with 67% being sales

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The r-square and number of splits is shown in figure 16 below.
Figure 16 (classification tree and number of splits)
The next model that we ran was the logistic regression. In order to set up the logistic regression, we ran
a step wise to eliminate variables. Figure 19 in the appendix shows this process.
The intercepts are useful in some of the instances. For example, the first grouping of days of the
week is Saturday-Monday and it is 1.66 times more likely to be churn if it is in these days of the
week vs. the rest of the weekdays. It is also 2 times as likely to be churn if the day is Sunday than
if it is Monday or Saturday.
Figure 17 below shows the R-square and RMSE for the logistic regression.
Figure 17
The informative variables from the logistic regression were: city, day of the week, month, and day
of the month.
The first group of cities can be found in Appendix A, Table 11. If the city is one of those 129 cities,
then the customer is 1.79 times more likely to be churn than if they had been in the other cities on
the list.
If the action is Sunday, Monday, or Saturday it is 1.65 times as likely to be churn than if the action
happened during the week.
If the month is April- July, then the action is 1.14 times as likely to be churn than if the month was
August-October or January-March. Please see attached data table for all other intercepts.

44
Using this particular training and validation set, this model explains approximately 11% of the
variation found in the data.
5. Evaluation
Although there were many data points, the highest r-square achieved after many iterations of the
data analysis cycle was just over 11%. While that is better than some models, it still does not
explain a lot of what is going on in this particular data set. This really means that these variables
are not very predictive of whether or not a customer will churn.
This particular dataset showed that distance from the management area and city size classified as
small, medium, and large are not important to predicting churn for their customers.
In the future, the data cycle can be started again to continue to build a better model.
Some variables that could be tracked in future data analytics cycles are: how many competitors
there are in the area, if the customer had a trouble call in the month prior to disconnecting, the
median salary in the area, how long the person had been a customer, marketing dollars spent in the
area, speed the customer was promised vs. the speed they actually received, and how many towers
are in the area.
After collecting more variables, Rise can continue to improve upon the models built to better
explain the variation within the data. The areas they should focus on are the areas that seem like
interesting patterns from examining the bivariate patterns seen in the pie charts. Particular attention
should be paid to the management areas where churn is higher and perhaps better classifications
of city size such as population density.
Overall, the most informative and interesting patterns can be seen in the city data. Further analysis
of what makes those cities similar in context of Rise Broadband would be a very likely bet for
improving the performance of the models.

45
Appendix A
Figure 18- Descriptive Statistics

49
Figure 19
Table 11
Cities
WEST YELLOWSTONE DRIGGS NEWDALE REXBURG
ALBION VICTOR CLIFTON ARIMO
LETHA MUD LAKE HOWE IRWIN
MONTEVIEW BLISS DOWNEY SHELLEY
MOORELAND PARKER THATCHER INKOM
MOOSE IDAHO FALLS AMMON DRUMMOND
ROCKLAND SAINT ANTHONY SWAN VALLEY HOLLISTER
PILOT VALLEY CHESTER KIMBERLY OVID
MOSCOW FORT HALL SODA SPRINGS MACKS INN
NOTUS AMERICAN FALLS BASALT GARDEN CITY
NORTH LAS VEGAS LAVA HOT SPRINGS STAR VALLEY RANCH ONTARIO
OSINO EAGLE JACKSON MARYSVILLE
HENDERSON TETONIA AFTON SPRINGFIELD

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THAYNE ABERDEEN WEST WENDOVER NEW PLYMOUTH
HANSEN KUNA HOMEDALE FAIRVIEW
BUHL NAMPA WILSON BURLEY
WENDELL PARIS MERIDIAN IONA
HAMER HEYBURN RYNDON ALPINE
SHOSHONE FELT TERRETON MARSING
FILER WILDER ARCO NYSSA
SWEET BLACKFOOT BOISE POCATELLO
DARLINGTON WELLS HAGERMAN MCCAMMON
SOUTH FORK GRACE LEWISVILLE CARLIN
MORELAND CHUBBUCK RIGBY MALAD
MACKAY RUPERT HAZELTON SUGAR CITY
DIETRICH SPRING CREEK DECLO GOODING
MALAD CITY ELKO TETON MENAN
JEROME RIRIE WENDOVER MOORE
LAS VEGAS ETNA MELBA OAKLEY
EMMETT DINGLE FIRTH TWIN FALLS
FREEDOM PAUL VALE ALTA
MURTAUGH

Rise Broadband Final Deliverable

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