New Wave Public Relations Plan - Fall 2019

Morgan Mosiman Sara Smith Alaina Trofler Hannah Miller Andres Benson

In collaboration with

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Introduction New Wave PR has collaborated with Common Sense Media to promote the recent launch of Common Sense Media Plus, the new platform for parents that provides personalized advice regarding their children’s media consumption. The purpose of our PR Plan is to help Common Sense Media with their desire to stand out in an online landscape that’s oversaturated with advice columns, platforms, and subscriptions. While Common Sense Media is not the only service of its kind, it is certainly a leader in this expertise. Backed by its favorable reputation and level of trust among parents, our team has the task of promoting the launch of a new feature that only builds off of Common Sense Media’s already solid foundation.

The goal of our PR Plan is to increase awareness of Plus by targeting their key publics, moms and dads. We have outlined our methods to achieve this goal and provide the following in our PR plan: ● Thorough research to determine the best way to reach the key publics, note any potential roadblocks, decide the most effective communication vehicles to use, and to gain background knowledge or any other miscellaneous information we will need to move forward with the project. ● Lay out a detailed plan of action with the steps to take in order to achieve our goal. ● Establish Common Sense Media Plus as the best resource for parenting advice and their children’s media consumption advice. ● Offer several measures of evaluation to determine the success of our campaign.

Through this process we have had a great opportunity to practice our skills and learn more about writing for PR, collecting and organizing our ideas, and synergizing to utilize each of our unique talents for this project. Our team has steadily worked over the past several weeks and we are confident that we have created a solid and concise plan that will serve the needs of Common Sense Media to differentiate their new platform, Common Sense Media Plus.

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Memo to Client Date: November 15, 2019 To: Marketing Communications Coordinator, Common Sense Media From: New Wave PR Subject: PR Proposal for Common Sense Media Plus Hello, This memo is to introduce and outline the PR plan for Common Sense Media Plus as determined

by New Wave Public Relations. We are so pleased to collaborate with you to promote this recently launched interactive and personalized platform! New Wave PR has diligently worked to provide a detailed and concise PR plan to assist you with this endeavor.

It can be a challenge to navigate the unveiling of a new product, idea, or service, and this new advice platform is no exception. We have developed a highly targeted outline that promises to generate more awareness of Common Sense Media Plus by listing the concise strategies we will use to (1) drive traffic to the Common Sense Media Plus landing page, and (2) create buzz on social media to increase engagement. The strategies and tactics we have laid out in our communication plan are the building blocks that will achieve these objectives.

We have determined these specific actions to be the most effective way to achieve the goal by conducting thorough research on the background of Common Sense Media, the key publics who will be affected, the key communication vehicles, the situation at large, and the key concerns and obstacles that we might face.

It is our hope that you find this document to be detailed, straight-forward, and purposeful for our collaboration with Common Sense Media Plus. Thank you for your time and consideration, we look forward to working with you in the near future!

Sincerely, New Wave Public Relations Morgan Mosiman Alaina Trofler Hannah Miller Sara Smith Andres Benson

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Table of Contents Introduction

1

Memo to Client

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Table of Contents

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Research and Analysis Background Affected and Potentially Affected Publics Key Communication Vehicles Situation Analysis Key Concerns and Obstacles Other Issues to Consider or to be Concerned With Obtaining Information Needed

4 4 4 5 6 6 7 7

Communication Plan Communication Timetable

8 10

Evaluation Web Analytics Social Media Analytics Baseline Surveys Content Analysis

12 12 12 12 13

Communication Materials/Tools Blog Pitch Email to Joe Rogan Joe Rogan Podcast Outline Social Media Posts

14 14 15 16 17

Appendices

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Research and Analysis Background Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization based out of San Francisco, was founded in 2003 by James Steyer. Their mission is to ensure digital well-being for children, as it has become increasingly important in modern society. Their goal is to call attention to the influence of media and technology on kids’ lives, while providing resources to improve the well-being of every child. Common Sense Media publishes ratings and reviews of movies, television shows, books, and video games by expert reviewers so that parents can feel comfortable about the media their children view. Their main vision is for families to take charge of their digital choices.

Moreover, their Common Sense Education section supports K-12 schools so that educators are prepared with the right tools to teach the next generation of children. Its vision is to help students thrive in the digital age. Their Common Sense Kids Action platform partners with policymakers, business leaders, and others to give children the resources they need for success. Its vision is for technology choices to support families.

The Common Sense Research Program provides unique, data-driven insights into families' and educators' experiences with media and technology. The Common Sense Latino Program connects with Spanish-speaking families and responds to their unique media and technology needs. The Common Sense Privacy Program evaluates popular applications and edtech products so parents and educators can make informed choices about the media and tech they use with kids. The Common Sense Digital Citizenship Program addresses top concerns for schools and educators, prepares students to make smart choices online and offline, supports teachers with training and recognition, and engages the whole community through family outreach.

Affected and Potentially Affected Publics One of the elements of this PR plan is to bring the Common Sense Media Plus membership to current and new publics. A study showed that mothers are the primary seekers of information when it comes to parenting. More specifically, 43% of mothers are likely to say they occasionally turn to parenting websites, books, or magazines for advice, while only 23% of fathers do so. Similarly, 56% of fathers say they never use parenting resources for advice, while only 34% of mothers express this statement. It is safe to say that mothers are the target audience for Common Sense Media and sites like it, which simply means that we have two goals: one is to continue to strengthen our relationship with the mothers that use parenting resources, and the other is to dip our feet into the father market.

According to a study conducted by ZeroToThree with the support of the Bezos Family Foundation, 73% of parents say that parenting is their biggest challenge, and 69% of parents say that if they knew more positive parenting strategies, they would implement them into their own New Wave PR

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parenting style. Furthermore, 54% of parents wish they had more information about how to be a better parent, which confirms that there is an enormous market for Common Sense Media Plus to infiltrate. Over 40% of fathers want to be more involved with the parenting of their children, but believe that their partners interfere with their parenting. If these fathers were given the proper parenting guidance and resources, this number would certainly decrease. But partner interference isn't the only reason to target fathers. According to Institute For Family Studies, it is becoming common for single-parent households to be headed by fathers, which is largely due to increased divorce rates. A literature review by Roberta Coles that compared single mothers and fathers concluded that children raised by single fathers performed similarly academically, but were more likely to use substances and demonstrate externalizing behaviors. While this is due to a variety of factors, unhealthy media consumption could be a contributor. With a membership program like Common Sense Media Plus, fathers would benefit from the direction and can improve their parenting approach.

Key Communication Vehicles According to Edison Research’s “Moms and Media 2019” 92% of moms use social networking.

In 2019, 81% of moms use Facebook and 53% of moms use Instagram. Common Sense Media’s own Facebook page has 172k+ likes and 174k+ follows while their Instagram account has 16k+ followers. In terms of Common Sense Media’s social engagement for October 2019, the average number of Facebook reactions across 103 posts was 15.4 with a standard deviation of 23.1 and the average number of Instagram likes across 12 posts was 168.9 with a standard deviation of 251.5. With the increasing presence of mom and family influencers on the Internet, collaborating with them on social media platforms serves as a great medium to catch the attention of mothers.

For instance, Rachel Parcell, a mother and blogger with over a million followers, has written a blog post regarding our “​Mom-osa Brunch​” event, which will spread the news about Plus not only by word of mouth but by using the hashtag “#CSMPlus” on each photo posted from the event.

According to Edison Research’s “The Podcast Consumer 2019,” 51% of Americans 12+ have listened to a podcast with an estimated 90 million people having listened to one in the past month. Out of these monthly podcast consumers, 54% of them are men, 39% are between ages 18-34, and 35% between ages 35-54. Additionally 54% of podcast consumers say that they are more likely to consider brands they are exposed to through podcasts. The Joe Rogan Experience is hosted by celebrity Joe Rogan, of ​Fear Factor a​ nd ​NewsRadio,​ and is the number #1 show on Apple Podcasts. His podcast has been rated 4.8/5 with over 126k reviews. He has been said to understand men better than most people in America, and is a great medium to capture the attention of fathers.

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Situation Analysis With the rise of digital media and the influx of information online, it’s difficult for parents to control what their children are exposed to, and to know what is appropriate for their viewing.

While Common Sense Media addresses this issue by providing ratings, reviews, and articles for parents, they need to differentiate themselves from competing platforms. When searching for common parenting issues online, the Common Sense Media website is not always a top search result due to all of the parenting resources online. However, through secondary research, we’ve found that there is an audience who would benefit from more parenting direction, so a membership program like Common Sense Media Plus creates a unique selling proposition. The entertainment guides, timely curated advice from experts, and access to exclusive community newsletters and parenting forums make it distinctive. Membership can create a community of like-minded parents who are striving to raise responsible digital citizens for the next generation.

Common Sense Media Plus should be known as a one-stop place for parents to be guided, rather than navigating advice from a variety of resources and platforms. We believe that through a combination of increased social media engagement and partnerships we can make Common Sense Media Plus a well known program for parents needing expert answers and a reliable community.

Key Concerns and Obstacles Because Common Sense Media wants to increase brand loyalty and provide personalized media advice with this new membership program, there are several variables to take into account for the execution of this PR plan. We must be aware of the key concerns and potential obstacles that we will face when promoting Common Sense Media Plus. Common Sense Media is already aware of the oversaturation of advice columns and free search engines online. The challenge of this is to find a way to differentiate their advice column and help them to stand out by presenting Plus as a better, more-personalized experience.

That being said, this advice column comes at a price. Though the price point is reasonable and fair, this still needs to be a consideration when we’re making plan decisions. We have to convince our key publics that this platform is worth paying for because it is a much different experience than simply using Google. We are fortunate to have some leverage on this point because Plus is designed to offer personalized content that you can’t find anywhere else online.

To further increase interest for this platform, we have the ability to emphasize Common Sense Media as a leader in the realm of parenting advice for children’s media consumption. There is some other competition, such as Metacritic, but there is not another site that compares to the reputation and trust that Common Sense Media holds.

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Other Issues to Consider or to be Concerned With Another form of useful secondary research is information on competitors. ​Plugged In​ is a Focus on the Family publication that gives reviews, articles, and discussions to help guide families through media in order to gain insight on movies, videos, television shows, and much more.

Besides giving reviews, they create a 60-second radio feature each week that focuses on a popular entertainment area to inform families so they can be aware. In their reviews, they include different elements of the movie like spiritual, violent, and sexual. ​Dove Org ​releases Christian based reviews on all entertainment so that families can view virtuous material. They rate based on faith, integrity, sexuality, language, violence, drugs, nudity and other aspects. ​Screen It! provides unbiased reviews for parents so that they can decide what is appropriate or not for their children. They include a web page devoted to describing what they do, what they include in the review, and the review categories included. By evaluating the services offered by companies, Common Sense Media Plus can focus on what distinguishes themselves from the competition and emphasis these distinctions in communication tools such as blogs, pitch letters or social media posts.

Some other concerns have to do with the logistics of the platform itself. Because they go beyond the scope of this project, we will not include those here.

Obtaining Information Needed The information needed to create this public relations plan was found using secondary research.

Edison Research serves as a reliable resource for all things pertaining to media consumption, helping inform which channels to use. Pew Research, Institute for Family Studies, and the Census are useful in obtaining information about parenting and household dynamics. Social media analytics are helpful in determining which influencers to partner with. These analytics are also useful in determining which of Common Sense Media’s platforms are best suited for a given message, considering the engagement that different platforms provide. We did our own analytics on engagement with Common Sense Media’s social media accounts for the month of October 2019.

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Communication Plan Campaign Goal​: Bring awareness to this new parenting advice platform, Common Sense Media Plus.

Objective:​ Drive traffic to the Common Sense Media Plus landing page, getting 50k hits in the first 6 months.

I. Strategy:​ Get CEO James Steyer on the Joe Rogan Experience, the #1 podcast show on Apple, to have a conversation with Joe Rogan about Common Sense Media Plus, effectively communicating the message to dads.

A. Tactic:​ Send a pitch email to Joe Rogan and his team detailing our vision for the collaboration.

B. Tactic:​ Work with both Joe Rogan and James Steyer to prime areas of conversation and prepare some talking points. These talking points would include some background information on Common Sense Media, why James created it, the launch of Common Sense Media Plus, how Plus stands out from what is already on the market, and some anecdotal parenting stories to tap into the comedy aspect of the Joe Rogan Experience.

II. Strategy: ​Partner with Barnes & Noble to let parents sample the membership plan.

A. Tactic:​ Create a special beta program that serves as a sample of Common Sense Media Plus. It would enable parents to input their kids’ gender, age, and interests to generate a few suggestions per medium (books, movies, games). To view more suggestions, parents can press the “view full guide” button, which will direct them to the Plus landing page and prompt them to purchase the Plus membership.

B. Tactic: ​Pitch partnership to Barnes & Noble, emphasizing that it would benefit both companies by linking book suggestions on Common Sense Media Plus to the Barnes & Noble website for purchase.

C. Tactic: ​For a period of three months, set up iPads in select Barnes & Noble stores across the country with the beta program described in Tactic A. D. Tactic: ​Set up Common Sense Media Plus tables near the kids and teens sections.

They will have books recommended by Common Sense Media organized by age group. Each one of these books will have a Plus sticker with the age on the cover signifying that it is recommended by Common Sense Media Plus for that age group.

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Objective:​ Create buzz on social media about Common Sense Media Plus, increasing engagement by 20% within the first 6 months of the launch.

I. Strategy:​ Host an Instagrammable, buzzworthy “​Mom-osa Brunch”​ event with informational sessions. Invitees will be mommy bloggers, popular YouTube moms, mom Instagram influencers, and select members of the press.

A. Tactic: ​Organize a staged panel with CEO James Steyer, President Ellen Pack, and the in-house experts to inform the moms about Common Sense Media Plus while they eat their brunch. After, the experts will do a brief overview of some of the main topics they give expertise on, and explain they will be around to take personal questions throughout the duration of the event.

B. Tactic: ​Station Common Sense Media Plus’ experts behind various Peanuts-​ themed advice stands that read “parenting advice 5 cents” with an overarching topic above it. Moms can then go up to the specific experts throughout the remainder of the event and get guidance on various parenting areas.

C. Tactic: ​Set up a fun, aesthetic area for moms and a hired professional photographer to take photos. Clearly legible in the decorations would be the words “Common Sense Media Plus” along with the hashtag #CSMPlus, so that it is clearly recognizable who hosted the event when the attendees post on their socials.

II. Strategy:​ Create a month-long social media contest where participants share why they love Common Sense Media Plus on their different social accounts using #CSMPlus.

A. Tactic:​ Post on Common Sense Media’s own platforms -- Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter -- about the Plus contest, encouraging their followers to share why they appreciate Common Sense Media Plus using #CSMPlus in order to win an entertainment bundle of recommended books, movies, and games, specialized for that family based on information and preferences they have set in their Common Sense Media Plus account.

B. Tactic: ​Repost at least 3 reasons to love #CSMPlus every day across the different channels to keep motivation high and for parents to see why other parents appreciate it.

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Communication Timetable

Tactic

Start Date

End Date

Send pitch email to Joe Rogan and his team.

November 23​rd​, 2019

November 23​rd​, 2019

1 Day

Schedule a recording session and prepare talking points for Joe Rogan and James Steyer.

November 30th, 2019

December 30th, 2019

1 Month

Record, edit, and publish the podcast.

January 8th, 2020

January 11th, 2020

3 Days

Create the Barnes and Noble beta program.

November 23​rd​, 2019

December 7​th​, 2019

2 Weeks

Pitch partnership to Barnes and Noble including the beta demo.

December 9​th​, 2019

December 9​th​, 2019

1 Day

Set up iPads with beta program across Barnes and Noble retail stores.

December 16​th​, 2019

March 16​th​, 2020

3 Months

Set up Common Sense Media Plus tables with age-recommendation stickers on the selected books.

December 16​th​, 2019

March 16​th​, 2020/Until partnership with Barnes and Noble comes to an end.

3 Months/

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Indefinitely

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Start contacting event organizers and book the venue for the “​Mom-osa Brunch” event.

November 1st, 2019

December 1st, 2019

1 Month

Work with artists in order to create ​Peanuts-​ themed event decorations and theme.

November1​st​, 2019

December 1st, 2019

1 Month

Create and send out invitations to mommy bloggers and other attendees.

December 13th, 2019

December 20th, 2019

1 Week

Hire catering service, professional photographers, other event staff.

December 14th, 2019

December 21st, 2019

2 Weeks

Start social media posts in week leading up to the event.

January 11th, 2020

January 18th, 2020

1 Week

Set-up venue with decorations, tables, booths, etc.

January 15th, 202

January 17th, 2020

2 Days

EVENT DAY

January 18th, 2020

January 18th, 2020

1 Day

Start social media posts on Common Sense Media Plus contest. (3 Posts Per Day)

January 20th, 2020

February 20th, 2020

1 Month

Evaluate effectiveness of all strategies and compare to objectives.

April 23rd, 2020

April 30th, 2020

1 Week

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Evaluation The following tools will be used to evaluate the success and effectiveness of each strategy previously stated as it ties with its overall campaign objective.

Web Analytics Web analytics will be used to evaluate the success of driving traffic to the Common Sense Media Plus website landing page. In depth tracking of the number of website hits and the sources that drove the user to the site will convey which strategies were responsible for achieving the objective. For example, web analytics could show that the Barnes & Noble partnership contributed to increased website traffic if the linked source was the beta sample program on the iPads. Further, web analytics may show that the user was directed to the site from a link in the Joe Rogan Experience podcast description. If the audience visits the site on their own without a direct link, analytics will show if there is a spark in website hits after the launch of the podcast or Common Sense Media Plus tables at Barnes & Noble.

Social Media Analytics Social Media analytics will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the ​Mom-osa Brunch​ event, and the #CSMPlus social media contest. After the event, analytics will track the mommy bloggers posts through likes, comments, mentions, shares, new followers, etc. This will help to evaluate if the event achieved an increase in media engagement. Analytics will also be used to count contest entries for the entertainment bundle through the hashtag #CSMPlus, and measure the increased shares and engagement surrounding Common Sense Media Plus on social media.

Baseline Surveys As previously mentioned, fathers are a potential new target for Common Sense Media Plus, as statistics show that fathers want to be more involved with parenting and single-father households have become more common in recent years.The Joe Rogan Experience podcast is a strategy specifically placed to target fathers, and baseline surveys are needed to measure their awareness of Common Sense Media Plus before and after the launch of the podcast. Surveys will indicate if the podcast was effective at reaching this audience and if it prompted fathers to buy the membership.

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Content Analysis To further evaluate the strategy of creating social media buzz around Common Sense Media Plus, it is important to evaluate the content of that buzz. Ideally, the mommy bloggers who attend the ​Mom-osa Brunch​ event will post positive feedback, pictures and recaps of the event. If they feel that Plus is a helpful parenting tool in controlling their kids’ media consumption, the content they post should encourage their audiences to try the membership program. Content analysis should also evaluate why our audience loves Common Sense Media Plus in their contest entries using the hashtag #CSMPlus.

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Communication Materials/Tools Blog

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Pitch Email to Joe Rogan Date: November 11, 2019 To: Joe Rogan From: Common Sense Media Subject: PITCH: Podcast Episode with Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer Hi Joe, I’m with the PR team at Common Sense Media and we have a new membership program rolling out called Common Sense Media Plus. The membership provides parents with personalized entertainment guides, access to exclusive newsletters and articles, community Facebook groups, and more. We are avid fans of your podcast and thought it would be a great idea to get our CEO James Steyer onto an episode to talk about your experiences parenting three daughters, issues with media consumption for children, and any other relevant topics that interest you!

Research shows that 54% of parents wish they had more information about how to be a better parent, 56% of fathers claim to never use parenting resources for advice, but 40% of fathers want to be more involved with the parenting of their children. This has led us to target fathers by giving them the resources they need to be informed and involved parents with our new membership program. We believe the demographics of your audience align well with the audience of fathers we are trying to reach. Furthermore, we believe an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that informs the listeners about Common Sense Media Plus will boost the number of fathers desiring to take an initiative in parenting.

We also think it could be fun to have a “swear jar” for the episode, as one of the things we are known for is reviewing media for profanity. This lends itself to a potential donation opportunity, where each time you swear you would give a predetermined amount of your choosing, and you could then donate it to a charity of your choice at the end.

We hope to work something out, as we understand you have a very busy schedule. Thank you for your time and consideration, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely, Common Sense Media

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Joe Rogan Podcast Outline ● Main Introduction​ ​(Duration: 10 minutes) ○ Introduce James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media ■ Establish his position as an author, child advocate ■ Give background ○ James explains some effects of media on children ● Segue: Let’s talk more about Common Sense Media ● Topic 2: Common Sense Media Background & Use​ ​(Duration: 35 mins) ○ James tells Joe why he founded Common Sense Media and what he had in mind when creating this platform.

■ James gives stats on media consumption and how it affects kids ● Joe relates with a story about his daughters’ media consumption ■ How Common Sense Media helps parents with child media consumption ● Talk about advice for online privacy and security for kids, violence in media (video games and movies), sex/drugs in media, how to stay safe online etc.

■ Joe gives anecdote about a time he naively let his kids watch something without looking into it first (ex: playing a movie that wasn’t appropriate for daughters’ viewing) ● Segue: There’s a need for parents to know how to navigate issues that arise in their children’s lives. ● Topic 3: Common Sense Media Plus​ ​(Duration: 30 mins) ○ James talks about all of the features of Common Sense Media Plus ■ How you are able to personalize Plus, and get curated advice about topics previously discussed, and exclusive newsletters and articles.

■ The need for a community of dads because there is a lack of social networking platforms to turn to for parenting advice. ● Conclusion:​ Joe states that this is a useful service he would pay for at the low price.

James inserts one last plug for Plus and mentions the promotional event

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Social Media Posts The following is an Instagram/Facebook post to announce the partnership with Barnes & Noble and promote the Common Sense Media Plus approved tables in Barnes & Noble stores.

The following are Twitter and Instagram/Facebook posts to announce #CSMPlus contest and encourage participation.

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Appendices Background https://www.commonsensemedia.org Affected and Potentially Affected Publics https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-192.html https://ifstudies.org/blog/five-facts-about-todays-single-fathers https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/2-satisfaction-time-and-support/ Key Communication Vehicles https://www.edisonresearch.com/moms-and-media-2019/ https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-podcast-consumer-2019/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-joe-rogan-experience/id360084272 https://www.instagram.com/rachparcell/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/08/my-joe-rogan-experience/594802/ Competitors https://dove.org https://www.pluggedin.com https://www.screenit.com

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