J-K Thanksgiving Invitational
Marketing Plan
This is a benefit golf tournament put on by the Hawks 4 Help, benefiting those affected by the flood in the summer of 2008. Zach Johnson and Nate Kaeding, both professional sports stars are former local natives here that will bring a lot of enthusiasm and attention to this event. This will be located at the Finkbine Golf Course on Melrose Ave. in Iowa City, Iowa. The date of this golf tournament is November 7th, 2009. There is an entry fee for the tournament which consists of $20 per person. Free will donations will also be taken at that time. Walk-in participants are welcomed while supplies and spots last.
The plan for marketing this event is to publicize it in a minimum of three ways. Finding four ways that will be the most effective and powerful would be really beneficial. Our first source of advertisement for the event is to ask the Daily Iowan to type an ad for the event. The Daily Iowan is the university newspaper and is widely seen around campus and along with the city of Iowa City. That would be a sure source to get some public attention. The second way is to put a facebook ad online, create an event, and make it open to the public to be viewed. Facebook is a social networking tool on the internet that is available to anyone with an email address. Our third advertisement would be a radio ad on a widely listened to radio station. With the popularity of music today, a flashy commercial advertising the event would be sure to catch peoples' attention.
As listed in marketing plan strategies, a day before plan of advertisement would be really beneficial to the outcome. We plan to hand out paper fliers on campus and also put them up around town welcoming in walk-ins to the tournament.
A planned outcome of 75-125 participants would be expected to make profit on this event. With there being a few less than that the event would still see progress. With there being more than 125 participants, nothing but success can really be expected.
PROJECT SUMMARY
The title of our project is the 1st Annual Johnson-Kaeding Thanksgiving Invitational. The event is a golf tournament and fundraiser to help raise money for the flood victims. It will take place the Saturday before Thanksgiving at Finkbine Golf Course. The format of the golf tournament will be a scramble. There will be at least one University of Iowa Golf Team Alum on each team and the other members will be other UI alumni and supporters of the university. The tournament will be a shot-gun start, meaning each group will start on a different hole (that way everyone gets to be on the course at the same time). The teams will be foursomes and since there are eighteen holes there should be roughly 70 people in attendance. There will be prizes for the winning team as well as for the person with the longest drive, closest to the pin and longest putt on their designated holes. The prizes will consist of a Thanksgiving turkey for each winning participant as well as a gift card to the Finkbine Pro Shop. The golf team alumni will be invited based on seniority (earliest graduates to the most recent). The rest of the teams will be rounded out by alumni or Hawkeye fans who wish to participate. The entry fee for all participants will be $20 and donations of any kind will be accepted and much appreciated. The money brought in for the event will first pay for the costs of production and the rest will be for flood relief. Each participant will receive a pin representing the flood disaster and commemorating those most affected.
EVENT ASSESSMENT PLAN
In assessing our plan we must first establish the goal of our project. Our goal is to have 72-100 participants and raise around $5,000 for flood relief. We will achieve this goal by charging $20 a person and by giving "hole prizes" and awards to increase participation. This will account for roughly half of our goal of $5,000, the other half will come from various donors and sponsorships from business around the area. We will also have participants fill out a survey and rank how pleasurable the experience was.
For this event to be considered a success we will have raised at least $5,000, had at least 70 participants, and are left with satisfied participants. This event will be unsuccessful if the above criteria is not met.