Strategic Communications Proposal

MC 4320 PR Campaigns

Research Conducted
Primary:
Survey
Secondary:
Sakai online audit
Media/blog coverage
Marist college proposals
Personal interviews

Open source, free download

Sakai virtual conference
Global community, > 20 languages
Open, transparent organization model
Continuous website bug updates
Sakai community network
Feature-rich
Commercial affiliates

No major, obvious strategic

initiative
Weak brand presence
No Sakai-authored blog
Lack of promotional material
Small overall market share
Not easy to use
No visibility at EduCause
Low number of developers who
know JavaScript
Inconsistent support across
universities

Has the potential to:

Better communicate values and benefits that
Sakai is creative, customizable and
community
Communicate that V11 is more visually
appealing, mobile-friendly and intuitive
Leverage Sakai open-source values to retain
and grow community
Communicate Sakai V11 and system features
through classes, resources
Leverage social media to increase interaction
with and get feedback from end-users
Make all touch points consistent to be
cohesive

Competitors in LMS market aggressively

Canvas = Facebook-like
Blackboard = cloud for online teaching
Moodle = community driven, globally
supported
Community perception that competitors offer
superior solutions
Competitors have consistent and cohesive brand
presence
Prominent and pioneering Sakai university
community members recently switched from Sakai

Research: Survey

Survey Background

The survey was sent out Oct. 22 and closed on Oct. 28

Addressed to higher education IT developers within the Sakai Community

The survey was sent out to the community to better understand issues of
change and satisfaction for Sakai

Research Takeaways:

Half of the community are considering other options

There is a concern that with many large universities leaving to

other LMS systems there will not be enough continued support
to improve Sakai

If Version 11 is a success, the likelihood of the community

actually leaving will decrease

A satisfied community may not last...

A satisfied community may not last...

The biggest threat: Canvas

What will get the people to stay?

To achieve an 87% usage rate the community wants change:

Need everything to be stronger, more integrated, more

robust and hopefully more aesthetic and user friendly!

Planning

Problem Statement
Sakai is losing existing community members in higher education in the
US market to competing Learning Management Systems that have a
stronger brand presence and are more user-friendly.

Campaign Goals & Objectives

Goal: Keep current Sakai community intact
a.

Objective: Maintain 100 percent of the U.S. Sakai university

community members through the end of August 2016.

b.

Objective: Reduce the number of current Sakai community members

who are considering leaving from 50 percent to 40 percent by second
half 2016

c.

Objective: Increase the number who plan on using Version 11 by 10

percent by second half 2016

Campaign Goals & Objectives

Goal: Build a stronger brand presence for Sakai as the leading open-source
Learning Management System on the market today
a.

Objective: Make Sakai external market communications consistent on all

platforms by 100 percent by the end of December 2015

b.

Objective: Redesign the Sakai homepage to better communicate the

Sakai brand by December 2015

Promote Sakais
values

Strategies

Promote Version 11
Strengthen internal
communication

Create brand
cohesiveness

Leverage social media

Target Audience
Primary:

Sakai community developers and University administration LMS decision makers

Secondary:

LMS developers and decision makers based in the U.S.

Implementation

Sakai Key Messages

Sakai is the leading, open-source

learning management system.

Developers get a creative, customizable

and supportive community using Sakai.
Sakais new Version 11 brings a clean
and easy-to-use interface.

Creative Recommendations

Updated homepage interface

Pitch deck targeted to higher education leaders (deans, presidents,
department leaders, campus administration, etc.)
CV templates
Monthly e-newsletter sent out to community
Promotional ad mats for branding

Creative: Website Design

- Interactive
- Efficient
- Clean

Creative E-Newsletter

Frequency
Target Audience
Topics

Creative: E-Newsletter

Creative: CV templates

Sakais emphasis on community

Highlight the key players (leaders,
main developers, new community
members, etc.)
Feature new CVs in the enewsletter to draw community
back to Sakai website

Creative Ad Mats
- Gain insight into campaign with
brief, visual messages
- Use creative copy to convey
campaign message
- Brand images with Sakai logo
- Used for all owned media (Social
Media Accounts, blog sites,
website)
- Depending on advertising
budget, begin distributing to paid
media outlets (Print, Digital
outlets)

Sakai Company Pitch Deck

Sakai Company Pitch Deck

Social Media: LinkedIn

According to our survey, 55% of Sakais community uses LinkedIn as their primary
social media outlet. In order to raise social media reach and interaction, we
recommend the following:

Have a consistent name for Sakai

Add a Join Our Community tab
next to the Home tab
Create new, updated bio/intro
paragraph (on next slide)
Post updates
-New Features
-Version 11
-Problem Fixes
-FAQ
Join/follow LMS groups in order to
increase knowledge of Version 11
Commit to quarterly profile updates

Social Media: LinkedIn

Create new, updated

bio/intro paragraph

Social Media: LinkedIn

Create new, updated

bio/intro paragraph

Social Media: Twitter

We recommend the implementation of a social media schedule to ensure a consistent

social media presence. The schedule above is based on normal business operating
hours throughout the week and can be modified according to staff schedule.

Twitter: Hootsuite Dashboard

Social Media Monitoring

Social Media: Twitter

We recommend that Sakai create and constantly use a specific hashtag. The use of a
creative hashtag can gain Sakai followers and bring the already existing community
closer by grouping conversations with a specific and unique hashtag.
Examples: #SakaiProject #AskSakai #SakaiV11 #SakaiNews

Social Media: Facebook

Sakai has two Facebook pages: Sakai (109 likes)

and Sakai Project. (148 likes)
In order to be consistent throughout Sakais
social media, we suggest choosing one primary
Facebook page or possibly combining the two.
We also suggest using a consistent branding
image (profile photo) and a consistent name
across all social media outlets including LinkedIn
and Twitter.

Social Media: Facebook

Suggestions:
1. Drop it all together because of limited resources and focus on expanding your
LinkedIn and Twitter pages.
2.

Keep it updated with constant posts, replies and interactions.

We found that the majority of the

community used LinkedIn and Twitter
rather than Facebook.

Media Relations
Suggestions:

Draft press materials i.e. press release: Boilerplate, email pitch, fact sheet
Pitching Sakai Version 11 to top influencers
Pitch Version 11 to Learning Solutions Magazine
Research LMS Analyst
Research awards that Sakai could be nominated for
Build and Maintain a blogger and influencer list

Boiler Plate

Influencers

Carl Straumsheim
-

Technology Reporter for Inside Higher Ed

Wrote five publications for Inside Higher Ed

Connection:
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlstraumshe
Twitter
@carlstraumsheim

Joshua Kim
-

Director of Digital Learning Initiatives

Dartmouth Center for Advancement of Learning

Connection:
Email
joshua.m.kim@dartmouth.edu
Twitter
@joshmkim

Media Relations: Media

We recommend reaching out to Learning Solutions Magazine advertising department,
sales@eLearningGuild.com
In this exchange, version 11 should be covered and promoted, highlighting the current
and new features. This could be executed by interviewing a Sakai representative.
Learning Solutions Magazine is the most trusted
publication in the eLearning industry. Sakai has
only covered in three articles since the
publication began in 2002, the last coverage
being published in 2009.

Media Relations: LMS Award Possibilities

Sakai has the opportunity to win awards associated with the e-learning community. We recommend that Sakai
take efforts to win or be considered for these honors to increase their credibility.
Excellence in Technology Awards Brandon Hall Group
E-Learning Awards
Saba Talent Management Awards Software LMS Awards
Talented Learning LMS Awards
BSOCO Awards
Ventana Research Awards
TrainingIndustry.com Awards
ASTD Awards
ADL SCORM Certification