The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling has developed a strategic plan to market their services to college students. Their plan includes a March Madness awareness campaign using radio public service announcements and electronic newsletters. They will evaluate their website and social media presence to better target college students and raise awareness of problem gambling issues. Their goal is to reach students at 8 major colleges near Boston and provide resources to help prevent gambling problems.

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Massachusetts Council on
Compulsive Gambling
Strategic Plan for Marketing
Communications
Alison Dennis Kim McGuire
Harrison Petit Michael Shea

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Market Situation
 Need for a specific market
 Need for a well-defined message
 Not against gambling at the collegiate level, but want
to serve as a save haven for those who exhibit
characteristics of problem gambling
 Little competition in market
 Recent launch of Prevention Initiative
 Financial First Steps
 New improvements to Web site

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Situation Analysis
 Strengths
 Nonprofit status
 Newly improved Web site
 24-hour helpline
 Financial First Steps
 Weaknesses
 Lack of defined message
 Issues with market penetration
 Lack of funding
 Overall lack of awareness

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Situation Analysis
 Opportunities
 New target audience
 Growth in college market
 Teach young people about problem gambling
 Prevent future problems
 Threats
 Growing gambling issues
 Growing popularity of online gambling

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Target Audience
 Primary target
 College students aged 18-22 in the Boston Metro area
 Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, College of the
Holy Cross, M.I.T, Northeastern University, University of
Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massachusetts Boston
 Secondary targets
 Presidents and Deans
 Parents of college students

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Target Media
 Primary targets
 College newspapers (online & print) and radio
stations
 Major print publications in Boston area
 Secondary targets
 Major radio stations in Boston area
 Major television stations in Boston area

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Program Objectives
 Dedicated to reducing the social, financial and emotional
costs of problem gambling
 Intends to reach a new target audience
 Aims to offer problem gamblers a comfortable place to seek
help
 Intends to raise awareness in new markets via social media
 Intends to reach out to eight major colleges and universities
in Massachusetts by 2009
 Will increase the amount of events, speaking opportunities,
and news coverage in the following year

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March Madness 2009 Campaign
Elements
 Public Service Announcements
 60 second spots
 Testimonials from college students suffering from problem
gambling
 Placed on all target radio stations
 The stations eight major colleges and universities
 September 2008 start

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March Madness 2009 Campaign
Elements
 “March Madness Awareness”
 Goal of generating awareness on problem gambling
around the March Madness tournament
 Public service announcements
 The 60 second radio spot
 Electronic newsletters
 Updates on progress of programs, information on upcoming
programs
 January 2009 start

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March Madness 2009 Campaign
Elements
 Electronic Newsletter
 Quarterly newsletter
 Updates on programs of Council
 September 2008 start
 December 2008, March 2009, June 2009 releases

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Strategy
 Press Release
 “New Gambling Prevention Campaign For College Students”
 Announce Council’s intentions to work with aforementioned
colleges and universities on new prevention campaign
 Appeal to School President
 Gauge interest of figureheads
 Tap into their interests to heighten chances of cooperation
 Media Pitch
 Gauge interest of writers
 Appeal to their interests to ensure a positive article

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Elevator Pitch
 Three main points we want to stress in the pitch:
 Our main goal is to provide awareness on the
negative financial and social effects of
problem gambling.
 Within the last year, we have launched our
new Prevention Initiative.
 If you would like to hear more, I am free next
week and would love to talk to you more.

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Electronic Newsletter
 Quarterly Newsletter
 Constant Contact
 User-name and password-secure account previously
set up
 Template created to ease transition process (“Copy
of MassGambling 1”)
 501-2,500 contact list category suggested

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Web Site & Social Media
Evaluation
 Web site
 Improvements needed:
 More information on college students needed
 Making the “Self Assessment” link more accessible
 Current positive elements
 Good use of press room, services section, and “Contact Us”

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Web Site & Social Media
Evaluation
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Web Site & Social Media
Evaluation
 Social Media
 Facebook
 Utilize group feature
 MySpace
 Create user page
 YouTube
 Utilize viral video craze: public service announcements

17. +
Web Site & Social Media
Evaluation

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Company Descriptions
 Three descriptions
 100-word, 250-word, 500-word
 Different Web sites want specific lengths for write-ups
 If the descriptions exceed the required length, they
are not used
 Allows for write-ups on the Council to be used on a
number of different Web based publications

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Thank you!
 We hope you have enjoyed our presentation and
strategic plan for marketing communications, and
have found what we have suggested for you to be
informative and helpful.