Public Relation & Strategic Planning

PRA2
Final Project

PR campaign
-
Alzheimers Research Foundation
Ayshat Aigounova, Karin Dahlstedt, Vivian Fernandez
Index

1. Introduction..3

2. Background information.3

3. Simultaneous initiatives..3

4. Target market..4

5. Goal and objectives.4

6. Strategy and Tactics..5,6

7. PR Techniques...6,7

8. Key Messages.7,8

9. Press Release....8

10. Timeframe...9

11. Budget.....10

12. Measures of success10

2
1. Introduction

This is the proposed PR plan for your Alzheimers Foundation as requested. We have taken into
consideration your vision and objectives about this project. To succeed with your campaign we have
developed a PR campaign with strategies that structures what we need to do in order to reach your
goal about receiving financial support for Alzheimers Research. This plan defines the people you
need to reach, the best channels to use and the most effective actions for your cause. All of this of
course within your budget and given timeframe. We are feeling optimistic about this project and are
looking forward to work with you. If you have any further questions or doubts feel free to contact
us:

Mail: akv.pragency@gmail.com
Phone: (+34) 694567891

2. Background information

The Alzheimers Association is a Spanish family owned foundation whos purpose it to draw
awareness and get financial support for the research of the illness. So far the Alzheimers
Association has achieved governmental support in terms of logistic and practical resources for
events, but no financial support. The purpose of this PR campaign is therefore to create actions in
order to increase governmental support for funding Alzheimers research projects, and for
Alzheimers patients care resources.

Alzheimers is one of the illnesses that is strongly related to the 21th century, 44 millions worldwide
and 800.000 people in Spain are living with the disease. A future forecast study estimates that 135
million of people in 2050 will be affected by the disease, which makes it a global health crisis and
the most significant disease of the current century.

Even though its a disease with great impact, Alzheimers has been struggling with getting attention
from politicians and the media compared to earlier years. A reason behind this could be that
Alzheimers is overshadowed by other diseases such as cancer, which directly affects people of all
ages. Even though the great majority of people with Alzheimers are over 60, the disease sill affects
other age groups. Alzheimers is a disease that affect the whole family of the elderly sick person,
since it requires a lot of care, attention, money and emotional investment. This means that
Alzheimers has a affect of society as a whole, not only the sick people. Which is why politicians
need to be conscious and prioritize the research of Alzheimers, as an investment for the future. This
will be the main focus of our PR campaign.

3. Simultaneous initiatives

New resources that could support the PR campaign is the latest studies and research of Alzheimers.
These studies can be used to support our arguments by presenting the impact/consequences that the
disease has on the individual, families and society as a whole. These researches can be presented to
influence both the public and politicians.

3
4. Target market

The targets are politicians and the general public. These two targets are related to each other in
terms of interest. If the politicians satisfy the needs of the public, they will earn public support
which generates power in terms of votes. This campaign will therefor be directed directly to
politicians, but also indirectly through their potential voters. As mentioned before, the fact that
Alzheimers is a big issue today, and even more in the future, makes it a relevant topic in society,
and therefor for politicians since they are in control of resources and decision making.

The public will also be a target because of the consequences that Alzheimers has on society. Many
people are affected by Alzheimers in some way, and it is in their best interest that research is
prioritized. The age group of the public target will therefor include people above 18 with voting
rights who are conscious of Alzheimers. When it comes to people/politicians who are not conscious
about the issue, our work will be to make them aware.

5. Goals and objectives

The goal is to increase the public and official support and awareness of Alzheimers disease. The
objective is to obtain more financial founding to support Alzheimers research and Alzheimers
patients care resources. A second objective (that supports the main one) is to make politicians see
Alzheimers research as an investment for the future, that in the long term works as a prevention to
future costs, since the disease is increasing and will have a big impact on many levels of society.
This is the insight of why Alzheimers research should be prioritized.

The business objectives presented through SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and
Timely goals):

Specific goal: The goal is to increase the public and official support (money) and awareness of
Alzheimers disease.

Measurable: Number of people participating in the PR activities, key performance indicators on

online platforms and the total sum of the obtained financial support.

Achievable: Through different PR actions such as lobbying and public campaigns these goals
have possibility to be achieved. It might be a slow process, but due relevancy and the social
implications of the cause it has to possibility to get attention form both politicians and the public.

Realistic: The goal has to be adapted to the budget and the time frame. We have to be realistic
about the available resources. It is a high goal, but if the current political and social climate of the
country is in our favor it has greater possibilities. Depending on these factors our PR work might
have more/less impact. For examples in times or financial crisis or alarming cases of other
diseases, the Alzheimers Research might risk to be overshadowed.

Timely: The Association of Alzheimers have a long term plan to achieve the goals, but at least
two actions have to be done before Christmas 2016 to start getting attention. The moths before
christmas (October - December) will therefor be used to plan the campaign and organize actions
before the end of the year.

4
6. Strategy and Tactics

Lobbying
Since the foundation already has contact within the ministry of health, the idea is to use these
contacts and convince them with lobbying as a PR activity to also invest in Alzheimers research
with financial support.

The two main arguments in the meeting with the politicians will be:

1. Since there is a financial crisis in Spain and people are dissatisfied with the government,
investing in a disease that affects many families/people can be a positive reinforcement of their
image. Highlighting Alzheimers as an issue in society can work as an distraction for the
politicians and for the foundation it will be an opportunity to get support. By making it official
that they support Alzheimers research financial is good publicity for the politicians and their
parties, especially in times of crisis.

2. Presenting studies to the politicians of the impact that Alzheimers will have on society as the
most important disease of the 21th century, and the costs/impact that it will have on many levels
on society, makes it crucial to invest in the research. If they invest in the research now, they will
save money on costs in the future by preventing the impact with medical developments and
patient resources. This is also favorable for the countrys image in the health industry, Spain has
the opportunity to become a leading country of a disease that will affect the whole world, this
will increase the value of the Spanish medicine research and the ministry of health. To
summarize, Spain will save money if they invest now as a prevention of future cost in
Alzheimers research, and the value and prestige of the country will increase due to the demand
of Alzheimers research worldwide. This cause is economically beneficial and good PR for
Spain.

To support the arguments scientific research of Alzheimers as a disease and the consequences it will
have on society will be presented. In order to increase the credibility we will invite a researcher in
the field, to answer any questions and present the data.

Focus groups
As a second step in the process, a focus group with be arranged where politicians and medical
doctors have the opportunity to discuss the collaboration in the matter of Alzheimers research, to
find a plan that is mutually beneficial. The doctors can present what resources they need for the
research, and the politicians can explain what they need from the doctors in relation to issues in
society related to Alzheimers. Objectives and strategies can be discusses for a successful
collaboration.

A press release concerning the focus group, which will give the politicians and the Spanish health
institutes good PR. Its also a opportunity to increase the present in media and publicity of the
cause, which can lead to more public awareness.

5
Online actions
The visibility and online presence of the Alzheimers Association will be augmented through PR
campaigns on online platforms such as social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

Online content:
- Interviews with Alzheimers specialist/researches, to spread the knowledge of the issue (articles).

- Use emotional loaded messages in the form of videos to make the public relate and identify
emotionally with the power and impact that the disease has on families.

- Short video clips informing about Alzheimers and the impact is has on society in a easy,
understandable way (since complicated data can be hard to understand) for the general public,
especially younger people. Politicians and researches/doctors can be mentioned in these videos to
highlight their contributions. The politicians and the medical institutes who support the research
of Alzheimers will receive good PR due to the increased public awareness.

A part for the production of online content, reach engine optimization will be used as a technique to
increase the visibility of Spanish Alzheimers research and the Alzheimers Association on search
engines.

Since the budget in low compared to the costs of PR campaign in the public space, the focus will be
on creating awareness online with attractive and interesting content. This can be something in our
favor since in todays society most people consume news on social media online on their smart
devices.

The objective of the online actions is to create a movement online through engagement of the
public. A hashtag will be used to unify the content, and for users to mark their own or shared
content related to the Alzheimers cause.

Example of a hashtag that could be used:

#dontforget

This hashtag relates to the fact that Alzheimers disease makes you forget things, but also indicates
that its a cause that cant be forgotten.

7. PR Techniques

These are some additional PR techniques that goes in line with the previous presented strategies and
tactics. The PR techniques can help us achieve our objective by organizing activities that promotes
and supports our cause and reaches our target market in an effective manner.

Annual Financial Report

In order to stay transparent and prove to our financial stakeholders (politicians and other investors)
that the money is put into use in Alzheimers Research an annual research report will be presented.
This will increase our credibility in the public eye and for the investors, which is important as an
non profit organization. In order for people to invest in the research they need to be able to see how
the money is used.
6
Direct Lobbying
Since the goal is to achieve support from the government, direct lobbying will be a key activity for
our campaign. The direct lobbying will consist of face-yo-face meeting with political parties and
departments in the ministry that have an influence in areas related to our cause - such as health,
medicine & research and social compromises. As mentioned in our briefing, in the meetings with
the politicians we will have aid from an expert in Alzheimers, in order to convince and persuade the
politicians. The presentation will consist of research, data and previous works of the foundation, to
show the impact Alzheimers have on society and how important it is for the government to invest in
the illness that is affecting the population and society on many levels.

Theme Day
A theme day with Alzheimers as topic will be done to increase the public awareness and interest to
the cause, which also is important to influence the politicians, since the public interest is in their
interest in terms of votes. This theme day could be done in collaboration with museums on a day
when the entrance is free. In this way an Alzheimers exhibition could be available for the public -
families, schools, universities etc. The content of the theme day at the museum will be adapted to
appeal to the different age groups of our public target.

Educational Package
An educational package will be given to the politicians in the lobbying, but also to the researchers
in the focus group, so that they are provided with information to get familiar with the topic and
easier follow the presentation. With an educational package they also have the opportunity to bring
the information home and continue the reflection of the cause. Its important to keep our target (in
this case politicians and researchers) as informed as possible so that they fully receive our key
messages, to get the insight that Alzheimers is worth investing in.

Corporative Web (Social Media)

Because of the modest budget of the campaign, a main focus to reach out to the public is online
actions. We will be present on social media and on the official webpage, with the objective to
spread our key messages through interesting content that encourages engagement from the
audience. The content will be related to Alzheimers and the campaign in different manners with
rational and emotional appeals. The content will consist of information on the website and on social
media, in form of videos, images and texts related to the cause. These actions are especially
important to reach the general public, since most people today consume information through the
internet and on social platforms. Its important to reach the public in order to make Alzheimers to be
seen as a relevant issue in society.

8. Key messages

Our key message will be focused on both rational thinking and emotional appeal. Because
Alzheimers is a disease that affects the economy as well as burdens a great amount of lives and
families.

Rational key message:

The fact that 135 million of people in 2050 will be affected with Alzheimers as the most impacting
disease worldwide, is enough fact to realize that invest in Alzheimers now, is to invest in the future.

7
Emotional appeal key message:
Alzheimers can affect anybody. Either you have it, or you know somebody that suffers form it. Its a
disease that does not only affect the personal life of the sick person, but also the lives of all the
people around him/her. Its is painful and dreadful to forget your loved ones, and on the other hand,
a loved one forgetting you.

9. Press Release

In order to give visibility to our cause, its important to build a good relationship with journalists in
the different medias. Here is an example of a press release for the Alzheimers Theme Day. This
format can be used as a template for future activities as well.

8
10. Timeframes

The timeframe is to start with the actions before Christmas 2016. Since the month of Christmas is
strongly related to family, we will make sure to have have some contents for online distribution
ready by then.

We will work on achieving financial founds for the cause, which might take up to 1-2 years since
beaurochrncy processes can be slow.
In the meantime we will focus on creating content online to draw awareness to the cause.
Depending on the development of the lobbying and the focus group we will see what future actions
we can develop.

Phase 1
Analyze the political landscape for the lobbying, which is our main activity to achieve the goal of
receiving financial support. The research departments with doctors who will participate in the
financed research also have to be documented and targeted, so that they can participate in the focus
groups.

Phase 2
Organized and activate the online channels such as the webpage and social media. Create and
distribute the planned content according to the timetable.

Organize the preparations for the lobbying and focus groups. Prepare educational package, other
materials, logistics and speakers at the meetings.

Phase 3
Inform the media about the Alzheimers Theme Day through a press release. The Theme Day is
activity which both media and the public will be invited to, but the journalists needs to be informed
first so that they can inform the public about it. So a template for the press released has to be
created with the required content.

Phase 4
Monitoring media through key performance indicators, online and traditional platforms and
channels. For example the response form the press release and any written articles about the cause.
Also the response form the politicians and the researches will also be monitored to keep track on
how the lobbying is going in terms of financial support.

9
11. Budget

The proposed budget is 1500 .

Focus group and Educational Package: 500 (catering, logistics and materials)
Lobbying and Educational Package: 1000 (Salary of the invited Alzheimers researcher/
specialist, logistics and materials)
Maintenance of online platforms/Online PR campaign: 0 (With our education within the
area of online marketing/art direction, we will ourselves maintain the platforms and create
content).
Theme Day: Sponsored by La Caixa Obra Social

12. Measures of success

Key performance indicators of the user engagement online (followers, reposts, likes, comments
etc.).
The amount of financial support received by the politicians, results of lobbying.
Response and results from the focus group.
Monitoring medias response to our actions, both online and in traditional media (Articles, TV
news, radio etc.).
Monitoring response and results from journalist after sending out the press release.
Amount of visitors by the public in the Theme Day at La Caixa Forum, and the response to it on
social media and in traditional media by journalist.

10