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Case Study  Mercer Development & BBL Development: Name-the-Building Contest Publicity Campaign Situation: A 140-bed student apartment building under construction in the Mount Ida section of Troy, NY promised amenities rarely seen in a typical college dorm:  individual bedrooms, media and study rooms with high-speed Internet access, a fitness center, laundry facilities, a first-floor eatery, off-street parking, and more.  Plans for the building included everything except a name, because the developers – Mercer Development LLC and BBL Development – couldn’t come up with anything they liked.     Research: After designating the project as the Mount Ida Apartments, Mercer and BBL hired Bartel Communications, Inc. (BCI) to introduce the building to members of the primary target audience:  male and female collegians between the ages of 18 and 25, attending or planning to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Russell Sage College, and Hudson Valley Community College, all in the city of Troy and to members of the secondary target audience:  residents and business community members in the Capital District.  Strategy: BCI worried that the name “Mount Ida Apartments” would evoke among members of the target audiences connotations of antimacassars, rocking chairs, and chamomile tea rather than connotations of first-class, high-tech, desirable student living space.  Since the building lacked an official name, BCI proposed introducing the building through a name-the-building contest for college students.  Mercer and BBL agreed to the plan and offered first choice of apartments and one-month free rent as a Grand Prize to the student submitting the winning entry.  The Name-the-Building Contest was launched in January 2006 via a publicity campaign directed to the target audience segments.  The outreach to the primary target audience consisted of a media release sent to college print and online news outlets; an event announcement sent to college radio stations; and a flyer posted on the RPI, RSC, and HVCC campuses.  The outreach to the secondary target audience consisted of a media release sent to daily newspapers and business-to-business print and online news outlets, an event announcement posted on the Web sites of commercial radio and television stations, and a letter-to-the-editor of the Times Union.  Publicity materials directed students to submit names for the building via a Web page previously set up by Mercer that explained the contest rules and provided a special e-mail address  for submitting entries.  The contest ran from January 16, 2006 (i.e., the date when students returned from holiday break) until the end of February 2006.  Out of the 95 non-duplicative entries, the name “Polytech Apartments” submitted by RPI sophomore Christopher Suraci was selected as the winner. BCI launched a follow-up publicity campaign in May 2006 to announce the contest winner and the building’s new name.  The outreach to the primary target audience consisted of a media release sent to college print and online news outlets.  The outreach to the secondary target audience consisted of a media release sent to daily newspapers and business-to-business print and online news outlets.  As part of the follow-up campaign, a media release was also sent to print news outlets in the contest winner’s hometown (i.e., Royersford, PA). Evaluation & Results: This publicity campaign influenced the primary audience’s knowledge about the new student apartment building, driving more than 100 college students to the Mercer Web site to submit proposed names for the building.  This publicity campaign also influenced the secondary audience’s knowledge about the new student apartment building, prompting the Times Union, the Capital District’s largest daily newspaper, to include Polytech Apartments in a feature story about high-end student housing, “Suite Digs for Students,” that appeared in the special publication, CapitalLand Quarterly (June 25, 2006). This publicity campaign generated the following stories: “Looking for a Few Good Names” by Kenneth Aaron, Times Union, January 18, 2006. “Name-the-Building Contest Open to Area College Students,” eNews Briefs, Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, January 19, 2006. “What’s In a Name?: Contest Gives Local College Students a Chance to Get First Pick at College Housing” by Megan O’Callaghan, Hudsonian, February 2, 2006. “Contest Winner Gets First Dibs on New Digs” by Robert Cristo, The Record, April 1, 2006  “Building Has New Name” by Kenneth Aaron, Times Union, April 5, 2006. “New Troy Apartments Raise Status of Off-Campus Student Housing” by Michael DeMasi, The Business Review (print edition), April 7-13, 2006. “New Troy Apartments Raise Status of Off-Campus Student Housing” by Michael DeMasi, The Business Review (electronic edition), April 7, 2006. “Student Wins Contest,” Polytechnic (print edition), April 19, 2006. “RPI Student Wins Contest,” PolytechnicOnline, April 19, 2006. “On Campus,” eNews Briefs, Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, April 20, 2006. “Royersford Native Names New RPI Dorm” by Mischa Aaron Arnosky, Reporter of the Spring-Ford Area, May 4-10, 2006. “Suite Digs for Students” by Brendan Lyons, CapitalLand Quarterly, June 25, 2006.   What the Communications Industry Said: This case study was a finalist in the 2006 Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award (MEA) competition. The international Summit MEA is founded on the belief that the goal of marketing communications is to change or influence the target audience's knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. During the blind judging event, judges analyzed entries to determine if they significantly achieved this goal. As a finalist, Bartel Communications produced communications that reached "a level of influential impact." Fewer than 13% of entries receive recognition.       Contact Bartel Communications TOP [Background] Teaching/Speaking] Services][Books] [Writing Resources] Ordering Info] Accolades] [Industry Links] Contact Pauline] Home]