Commuter Services Communications Plan

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RFP Plan - Anaheim Ride-Share Program

REPRESENTATIVES: Emma Rowell Britta Sanchez Vicky Hernandez Annmarie Motley Alexis Dosamantes

California State University, Fullerton 800 N State College, Blvd, Fullerton CA 92831

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

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Letter of Transmittal

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The Executive Summary

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Introduction

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SWOT Analysis

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PEST Analysis

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Problem Statement:

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Goal Statement

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Objectives:

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Key Audiences:

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Key Messages

10-11

Implementation

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Calendar:

13-24

Budget:

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Evaluation:

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Qualifications:

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References:

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Media List:

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Pitch For Traditional Media:

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Newsletter

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Graphics for Private Facebook Page

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Letter of Transmittal

April 13, 2021 200 S Anaheim Boulevard Suite 276 Anaheim, CA 92805

Dear Ms. Brenda:

In response to our work agreement, CSUF Capstone PR Management is here to present a public relations plan that we believe will increase awareness and membership to the Commuter Service Rideshare Program as well as increase the amount of individuals who sign up with the service.

As you’ll see in the executive summary, we propose to help by implementing at least two strategies that involve social media tactics and tools. Since the nature of your organization is government, we propose these social media platforms to be controlled, private groups and pages that will appeal to the primary audience, who are roughly between the ages 25-35. We are anticipating completion of proposed strategies by the end of May 2022 and project at least a 10% increase in membership by that time.

We would like to thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to helping the City of Anaheim’s Commuter Service Program.

Sincerely, CSUF Capstone PR Management The Executive Summary The City of Anaheim’s Public Works Department operates the Commuter Services program. The program is funded through the South Coast Air Quality Management District with the goal to reduce commute emissions caused by employees on their route to work. Anaheim City Employees are able to join the Commuter Club through the city’s website under the Department of Public Works. The Commuter Service Program provides monthly incentives for employees to use the following modes of transportation: carpool, bike, walk, electric vehicle, and telecommuting.

Additionally, employees have access to reduced rates for bus, vanpool, and Metrolink. An issue at hand, however, is that due to COVID-19, many workers have lost their jobs and some others have not commuted to work seeing as remote work has been the way of life the past year and are hesitant to use any of the listed rideshare options.

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Thus, the goal is to plan and launch a campaign that will build more awareness of the Anaheim Rideshare Program.

We plan to spread awareness by offering incentives to those who sign up or are signed up already.. Also, we would like to start a Facebook group for individuals to be able to directly communicate and feel at ease with potentially carpooling with one another, especially amid a pandemic. In addition, we would like to aim to be published in 3 different local media outlets to showcase the benefits and purpose of the rideshare program. The pitches will be distributed to those local media outlets and professionals with hopes of local media coverage.

As a year-long plan, we aim to reach key audiences by using low to free budget strategies and tactics on digital and social media platforms as the tools. The reason why we believe to approach this method is because the “digital revolution has upended [many different types of] business and its public relations practices” (Ames, 2016). Thus, why shouldn’t this be any different, if digital media can ensure effective and mostly free benefits, then government organizations can wield that same power for its own environment with precaution, of course. The primary audience, known as millennials, are digital natives and they can influence secondary audiences to join with how much they have already influenced the way society operates this past decade.

The majority of them are already in the workforce as of now. Many of them, according to a PR Newswire, are a diverse group, the youngest of which is turning 25 this year, while the oldest is nearing 40 (Zip, 2021). While keeping the client’s goal in mind, this primary audience is already known for caring about environmental safety and are money-conscious so providing an affordable, safe and healthy lifestyle for them through the rideshare program can rake in more employees to join the program if we could perhaps reach the Millennials first, show them a comprehensible poster within an email or even newsletter through a social platform like Instagram or Facebook.

These 25-35 year old workers are the first step to initiating a primary message. We shall try to reach them through their department of work and then mediums such as social media pages and groups that are of course, private and controlled by a gatekeeper in charge.

In order to measure the outcome, we will use analytical surveys, questionnaires and keeping track of how many people have signed up. The surveys and questionnaires will be sent out at least once a month to keep track and up to date with what the audience wants or needs.

Introduction The City of Anaheim’s Public Works Department operates the Commuter Services program. The program is funded through the South Coast Air Quality Management District with the goal to reduce commute emissions caused by employees on their route to work. Anaheim City Employees are able to join the Commuter Club through

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the city’s website under the Department of Public Works. The Commuter Service Program provides monthly incentives for employees to use the following modes of transportation: carpool, bike, walk, electric vehicle, and telecommuting. Additionally, employees have access to reduced rates for bus, vanpool, and Metrolink.

In response to a request for proposal for the client, the City of Anaheim’s Public Works Department, it is our pleasure to offer the following proposal for a one-year public relations campaign. The Public works department in the city of Anaheim operates the Commuter Services program, which is funded through the South Coast Air Quality Management District. With the goal to reduce commute emissions caused by employees on their route to work, the client would like to raise awareness to their internal audience to participate in the program. Our proposal is based mostly on general information, such as the city’s overall demographics, general transportation study reports and daily news articles. Using that general information, we hope to translate that into an interpersonal communication between the organization and its employees through strategies and tactics we recommend.

SWOT Analysis Strengths ●

There are incentives provided to those who participate in the Commuter program.

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The Eco-Friendly aspect of the Ride-Share Program.

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The Public Works Department shows that they care about their community.

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It’s a private benefit of the City, limited only to Anaheim city employees.

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The location is at a community hub, between the Angel Stadium and Honda Center.

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Offers easy and accessible ways to get tickets and plan rides around your schedule.

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It promotes sustainable, eco-friendly options for public transportation such as OCTA, Metrolink, Vanpool, and even highlighting local bike paths.

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The hub offers multiple different forms of transportation, according to OCTA.net, “In addition to OCTA buses and Metrolink trains, ARTIC provides transit connections to Pacific Surfliner Amtrak, Anaheim Resort Transit (ART), shuttle and charter bus service, taxis, bikes, and other private transportation services available”

Weaknesses ●

Since the pandemic, many employees may not be comfortable using a carpool or rideshare program.

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Telecommuting is not available to all members; in fact, it may not be an available option at all after April 30th.

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They do not have access to many social media platforms as a means for messaging due to being a governmental agency.

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Limited to only employees of Anaheim.

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Due to COVID, many city employees are doing work virtually.

Opportunities ●

Gasoline prices have recently gone up and may continue to rise. This is an opportunity to encourage employees to use both public transportation and commuter services, opposed to using their own private cars.

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Telecommuting is essentially the future now since the Pandemic, causing less pollutants in the air.

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Promoting bicycle use as an affordable, healthy, and sustainable means of transportation.

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For employees looking to earn extra cash, opting for being the car or vanpool driver can be beneficial to them.

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Individuals are slowly transitioning from virtual to in-person work again.

Threats ●

There are other rideshare options such as Lyft or Uber, which are usually easily accessible using an app.

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Many individuals value having the freedom to drive themselves to and from work.

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Many employees may have initial hesitancy when it comes to using a ride-share program due to Covid-19.

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The messaging opportunities to target audiences may be difficult due to the lack of social media platforms.

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Getting employees to understand all of the benefits and different options included in the program may be difficult due to the many opportunities it offers.

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The pandemic may leave restrictions on the maximum capacity of the vehicles, causing limited availability.

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A survey showed that a large portion of OC residents simply prefer to take their own car over public transportation. “95 percent of Orange County residents have never taken the bus and 70 percent said that even if more efficient public transportation were available, they would still drive to work…”

(OCRegister.com).

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PEST Analysis Political ●

Since Joe Biden’s entrance into the presidency, the cost of living, goods and services may have increased.

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Corporate and city policies in regard to keeping employees safe during the covid pandemic.

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Employees political views on the safety of public transportation following the global pandemic.

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Many individuals lost their jobs and are currently unemployed.

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COVID-19 may cause individuals with different political views to react to guidelines while carpooling differently.

Economic ●

Gas prices climbed over 9% in the past month and 22.5% from last year (Kay, 2021).

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Incentives for ridesharers or carpool drivers can benefit the low income workers.

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Shift in the job market due to covid has influenced employees to work from home (telecommute) so less driving or ride sharing.

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Lower income groups, younger age groups, and minority groups (typically Hispanics and African Americans), these factors are all highly correlated with a lack of car ownership, the strongest internal predictor of carpooling (Correia and Viegas, 2011; Neoh et al., 2015, Shaheen and Cohen, 2019).

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Pollution affects labor productivity and leads to lower incomes.

Social ●

Millennials (ages 25-35) are more inclined to environmental impacts making them key targets for the client’s campaign plan

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Employees with low incomes can benefit from earning incentives and save money because statistics or studies have shown that these demographics are conscious of spending their money.

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Lower income communities, such as African Americans and Latino/Hispanics are the most common groups of people to use public transportations.

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The Orange County Annual Ridership was reported at 51.4 million passengers per year.

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There is heightened awareness about emissions and carbon footprints.

Technological ●

Telecommuting is the future, however the client stated that the telecommuting service will no longer be available.

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Electrical vehicles are more environmentally friendly. The Anaheim Transportation Network (ATN) has selected AMPLY Power to manage all aspects of charging for its 46 electric buses servicing the city of

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Anaheim, California and surrounding communities (Power, 2020). This is the first step that the City of Anaheim will make in ensuring less fuel emissions by providing all electric buses. ●

Remote work has been the epitome of this past year’s work life, however, according to Forbes, “remote work requires more engagement and affects work performance.” Thus, needing to encourage workers, especially Anaheim City workers, to get out, walk and be active to and from work. This doesn't seem to be an issue for the client because telecommuting is no longer available.

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This client doesn't use social media thus it's harder to reach out to her intended audience, because social media is so huge we are missing an opportunity to connect with the audience who range from the ages 25-35.

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By implementing the private facebook page we can potentially see more employees benefit from the rideshare program because it would allow employees to be more casual about work opportunities. This would also allow for the rideshare program to talk about how beneficial the program is and what they can offer with their incentives.

Problem Statement: Based on the above information and the client’s goal to enhance awareness to their internal audience, which is the City of Anaheim employees, we see that both COVID-19 and personal financing are limiting factors. Since the campaign is focusing on internal employees, this is more private and inclusive to a smaller audience. Our challenge then, is to plan and launch a year long campaign that will result in an increase of awareness and membership of the rideshare program options, which includes metrolink, vanpool, and OCTA.

Goal Statement Our primary goal is to create a campaign that will increase awareness to the client’s internal employees. The goal is to increase sign ups for the program by 5 more individuals per month. This increase in sign ups will be done through strategies and tactics implemented throughout the year. Strategies and tactics include posters, surveys, and pitch distributions to media professionals. The plan will seek to target individuals ages 25-35 as a primary audience.

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Objectives: Objective 1: Once a month, from now till the end of April 2022, send out emails or newsletters to current employees, informing them of the options and even safety measures that Metro link and/or OCTA Busses are implementing to make the rides safer.

Objective 2: By the end of Summer 2021, we will have raised the awareness by 10%, along with a 10% increase in acquired new memberships.

Objective 3: Invitations to a once a month “Social Distancing Luncheon” to welcome new and current members.

Objective 4: Pitch a feature story to be highlighted and published in local media outlets to spread awareness about the program.

Objective 5: Create a private Facebook page specifically for the City of Anaheim employees by May 17 2021. This page would be completely private and be controlled by the City of Anaheim. This will allow for the client to push the rideshare program and make employees get to know each other on sa more casual format

Key Audiences: To address the above stated challenges, we propose targeting the City of Anaheim workers, with a focus on the primary audience of those ages 25-35. This age range is likely to use commuter services and tend to be environmentally aware. The most important factors for these consumers when considering signing up is the purpose of the program, and convenience to their lifestyle.

We chose to focus our secondary audience on the age demographic of those 36-50 because our source of primary research shows that young adults are more likely to use ridesharing services compared to older adults.

Forty-five percent of adults aged 18 to 29 say they use ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, whereas this drops to 36% among those 30 to 49 years old, 23% of those aged 50 to 64 and 13% of those aged 65 or older.

However, the primary demographic is set to young adults, not too young to be working for the city of Anaheim (Reinhar, 2021).

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Key Messages Primary Audience: 25-35-year-olds Primary message: Anaheim rideshare program promotes sustainable, eco-friendly solutions to transportation.

Secondary message: Promote the various forms of sustainable transportation that the program offers, since it’s not just limited to ride share.

Secondary message: Be a part of the change in reducing emissions.

Primary message: Anaheim rideshare program hopes to help individuals transport easily and effectively.

Secondary message: Transportation can help individuals save money from expensive ride sharing programs such as Uber or Lyft.

Secondary message: Members receive benefits, while also saving gas money.

Secondary Audience: 36-50-year-olds Primary message: Anaheim Rideshare Program is created for efficient and sustainable transportation.

Secondary message: Ridesharing can also help to reduce traffic congestion.

Secondary message: Anaheim rideshare program provides incentives for its members.

Primary message: Anaheim rideshare program is reliable and not too tech savvy.

Secondary message: Rideshare programs are reliable and are not extremely complex through devices.

Secondary message: Transports individuals to their everyday jobs efficiently.

Implementation

Strategy #1: To influence the internal employees to use ride shares that are provided through the Commuter Services under Public Works, by sending out monthly newsletters informing them about incentives and monthly luncheons that will be held to encourage new members.

Tactics: Content Calendar

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Using Canva to create colorful and engaging emails or newsletters can appeal to the current employee members and attract new members.

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Use an email marketing service such as Mailchimp to send out monthly newsletters.

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Social media for invites to private pages that can direct employees to the correct form of transportation they are seeking.

Tools: Canva, Mailchimp or email marketing service Strategy #2: Increase member sign up by offering catered lunches (ranging from tacos, bbq, etc.) that can be served to employees that have been a member of the rideshare program for at least 3 months. Also offer raffle prizes ranging from gift cards to electronics. This is a way for the rideshare program to thank employees for their participation.

Tactics: Social distancing luncheons and events ●

Capturing the primary audience's attention would benefit in influencing secondary audiences to join, such as putting Ads within the work spaces could be appealing to both.

Tools: Incentives, raffles, and prizes Strategy #3: Traditional media pitch in 3 local media outlets to gain coverage about the program.

Tactics: Media Pitch ●

Pitch to local editors to publish a feature story

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List of local media outlets and editors

Tools: Pitch, Email Strategy #4: Create a Facebook group for Anaheim Rideshare program that is only for current members. This page will announce upcoming incentives and give one another the opportunity to get to feel familiar with those they are carpooling with.

Tactics: Content Calendar ●

Use Canva for to create at least two graphics a month

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Use Facebook analytics to record engagement

Tools: Canva, Facebook

Budget: Labor Costs $144,000 - for 12 Months of Work

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Emma Rowell

$40 Hourly (20 Hours Weekly)

Vicky Hernandez

$40 Hourly (20 Hours Weekly)

Alexis Dosamantes

$40 Hourly (20 Hours Weekly)

Britta Sanchez

$40 Hourly (20 Hours Weekly)

Annmarie Motley

$40 Hourly (20 Hours Weekly)

Event Costs $1,800 - for 12 Months of Events Monthly Luncheons

$150 per Month

Total: $145,800 Evaluation: Each one of our objectives plays a significant role in the entire public relations plan. Our objectives are looking to target City of Anaheim workers, with a focus on those who fall between the ages of 25-35, and ethnic groups. Our first strategy is to send out emails or newsletter once a month to current employees to inform them of the rideshare program and the options available to them. These newsletters will also remind the employees about the monthly luncheons that will be held to welcome current and new members. Our goal is to increase awareness about the rideshare program by 10%, and also increase the number of new members by 10%. These strategies will be measured by tracking the number of new sign ups for the program.

The second strategy is to provide more incentives for current and new members of the rideshare program.

This will be done through offering monthly raffles and gift cards to those members who get others to join the program. This is a great way to motivate current members and thank them for being a part of the program, and also convince prospective members to join. These incentives will increase awareness and increase membership sign ups.

The third strategy is to gain local media coverage from local media outlets in order to spread awareness about the program to the Anaheim and Orange County communities. This can be implemented by creating a traditional media pitch that will be sent out to local media outlets for publication. These pitches will spread awareness about the environmental impact that the program has on its community, and also the benefits for its employees.

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Qualifications: Emma Rowell: Emma Rowell is a junior attending California State University Fullerton, she is majoring in Communications, with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Women’s Studies. She is currently the Vice President of Events for CSUF’s Public Relations Student Society of America, as well as President-Elect for the 2021-2022 Executive Board. In the past she has served as both an Account Coordinator and Account Executive for Titan Public Relations, a student-run firm on campus.

Vicky Hernandez: Vicky Hernandez is a fourth year at California State University, Fullerton double majoring in Communications with an emphasis in PR and Chicana/o Studies. She is currently the Vice president of Sponsorship and Fundraising for CSUF’S Public Relations Student Society of America and has served as an account coordinator for Titan Public Relations.

Alexis Dosamantes: Alexis Dosamantes is a senior at California State University, Fullerton majoring in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. She is currently a Public Relations and Marketing intern at Shout Public Relations.

Britta Sanchez: Britta Sanchez is a Senior at Cal State University, Fullerton majoring in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Public Relations. She has over 4 years experience in the entertainment settings where she’s dealt with customer relations and aspires to work as a creative writer. She is currently interning as a Creative Brand writer at BeachCandy Swimwear.

Annmarie Motley: AnnMarie Motley is a fourth year student at California State University, Fullerton, majoring in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. She served as an account coordinator for Titan PR, a student-run PR firm. She is currently a Public Relations Intern for Valerie Allen Public Relations, an entertainment and lifestyle PR agency, and one of 2021’s top 20 branding agencies.

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References: 1.

Ames, C., (2016). Entertainment Public Relations Communicating with Audiences (pp. 211). Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York

2.

Castrillon, C. (2021, January 11). This is the future of remote work in 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2021/12/27/this-is-the-future-of-remote-work-i n-2021/?sh=40cfc4e51e1d

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Kay, G. (2021, April 13). Gas prices are skyrocketing and are expected to rise even higher this summer. Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/gas-prices-skyrocketing-in-us-expected-increase-further-summ er-2021-4

4.

Kopetman, R. “Survey Shows a More Moderate Orange County, but 70 Percent Would Still Choose Cars over Improved Mass Transit.” Orange County Register, Orange County Register, 25 Mar. 2019

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Power, A. (2020, September 22). Anaheim transportation NETWORK electric buses to save an Estimated $4.8 million in fuel costs with FLEET charge management services from AMPLY Power.

Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anaheim-transportation-network-electric-buses-tO -save-an-estimated-4-8-million-in-fuel-costs-with-fleet-charge-management-services-frOm-amply -power-301135160.html

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“Orange County Transportation Authority.” Completed Rail Projects - ARTIC, www.octa.net/Projects-and-Programs/All-Projects/Rail-Projects/ARTIC/

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Shaheen, S., Lazarus, J., Caicedo, J., & Bayen, A. (2021, February 24). To pool or not to pool?

Understanding the time and price tradeoffs of ondemand ride users – opportunities, challenges, and social equity considerations for policies to promote shared-ride services. Retrieved April 08, 2021, from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/44q6n0mm

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Zip. (2021, February 27). Millennials now save more money than their parents according to zip.

Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/millennials-now-saving-more-money-than-their-par ents-according-to-zip-301236400.html

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Media List: Name: Heather McRea Contact: 714-796-7932, hmcrea@scng.com Organization: OC Register Title: Local Editor

Name: Sonya Quick Contact: squick@voiceofoc.org (714) 704-6472 Organization: Voice of OC Title: Digital Editor

Name: Hannah Fry Contact: hannah.fry@latimes.com Organization: LA Times Title: Orange County Editor

Pitch For Traditional Media: Subject: Solving Our Next Issue of Reducing Emissions, Pollution, and Traffic - Anaheim Commuter Services Rideshare Program

Hi <<First Name>>,

According to LA Times, California is set to reopen on June 15th. With that being said, more individuals are returning to their work lives and traffic is slowly increasing day by day. Considering the amount of individuals who are soon to be on the roads again once fully open, pollution, traffic, and emission issues are our next concerns.

So, how can you help reduce emissions, traffic congestion, and pollution? Also, how can reducing emissions help the environment? What should you be doing to be a part of this change?

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Anaheim Commuter Services Rideshare Program is available to break it all down. The City of Anaheim’s Public Works Department operates the Commuter Services program. The program is funded through the South Coast Air Quality Management District with the goal to reduce commute emissions caused by employees on their route to work. The Commuter Service Program provides monthly incentives for Anaheim employees to use the following modes of transportation: carpool, bike, walk, electric vehicle, and telecommuting. Additionally, employees have access to reduced rates for bus, vanpool, and Metrolink.

If you have any interest in covering, please let me know, and I’d be happy to set it up.

Best, Emma Rowell