An activity or program is not worth much
unless everyone knows about it!! Here’s
the low-down on how to publicize your event, and make your residents say “wow”
over your great publicity!
1.
CREATIVITY. Put creativity into your publicity! You can generate more enthusiasm and
interest by using unique, fresh, and clever methods of promotion. Developing gimmicks or logos, utilizing
pictures and unusual shapes are all ways in which publicity can be made more
attractive.
2.
VARIETY. If no one type of publicity reaches the
entire audience, you must use more than one.
More than one medium can also reinforce and intensify your message. Use a variety of techniques that work well
together and complement each other.
3.
QUANTITY. An advertisement must be seen or heard
several times before it has any impact.
The more often it is seen or heard, the greater the retention of your
message. Thus, you can magnify the
impact of your publicity by increasing the frequency with which it is seen or
heard.
4.
VISIBILITY. Since the frequency with which publicity is
seen or heard is crucial to its effectiveness, it makes sense to place your
publicity in locations that have high visibility. Areas with the greatest traffic patterns usually have the highest
visibility. Good locations include:
mailbox areas, cafeteria walls, bathrooms and bathroom stalls, under or on room
doors, bulletin boards, etc.
5.
LEGIBILITY. How often an advertisement is seen will have
little impact if what is seen is not legible.
The greater the legibility, the greater the chances that an individual
will read all of the information.
Greater legibility is ensured by using lower case lettering rather than
uppercase. Capitals may be used for
emphasis; but to be effective, emphasis must be used sparingly.
6.
UNDERSTANDABILITY. Even if your message is readable or can be
heard well, it must be understandable to get the message across. You can make your publicity more
understandable and more effective by incorporating the following points:
i.
Be concise and clear.
ii.
Avoid excess verbiage.
iii.
Use terminology that the target
audience would understand.
7.
ADVANCE
NOTICE. Publicize well enough in
advance. If publicity goes out too
late, it does not give people enough time to plan to attend an activity. For optimum exposure, publicity should be
out at least one week before your activity is scheduled to take place; however,
you may want to issue additional publicity pieces as the event approaches.
An ideal publicized event might work
like this:
10 days
before Teaser posters
in the bathrooms and lounges.
7 days
before Ad in
personal pages of newspaper.
5 days
before Posters and
signs in residence halls.
Table
tents in study lounges.
3 days
before Word of mouth
campaign initiated.
1 day
before Banner near
major entrance/exit way.
The Day A round-up
reminder a half-hour before.
The following section lists numerous
means by which you can publicize events.
Some of these ideas will be familiar to you, while others will hopefully
provide you with some innovative and more creative ways of effectively
publicizing activities.
Inexpensive Publicity Techniques
POSTERS: The essential purpose of a poster is
the rapid telling of a single message using a limited number of elements. Posters are viewed more rapidly than are
other methods of advertisement; hence, their message must be strong, simple,
and brief.
FLYERS: A smaller version of the poster is
the flyer. They are usually made on 8
½” x 11 or 8 ½” x 14 paper. An
advantage is that they can be reproduced easily at minimal cost.
TABLE Table
tents should be made of a thick or heavy grade of paper that will stand
TENTS: firm. Table tents can be placed in visible locations including the
lounge, lobby, dining hall, and on desk tops.
TICKETS & You can purchase printed tickets or make your own. Free tickets, like invitations, COUPONS can be placed in mailboxes, handed
out or slipped under doors. The coupon
might entitle the person to a discount
admission price or a free drink.
Coupons can be included on flyers or on printed schedules, and this may
prevent your advertisement from falling victim to the trash can.
CALENDAR: A large calendar of activities located in
a central location is a particularly effective technique. Students will have at least one consistently
identifiable source for information on activities. Also, smaller calendars of activities can be copied or
mimeographed and put into mailboxes.
BALLOONS: You can write a message on the balloon
or put the message on a piece of paper inside the balloon. Balloons can be tied with string to
student’s door knobs, handed out at the entrance of the building, or handed out
in dining hall lines.
TELEPHONE A quick way to get word out on activities or meetings is to
identify a number of PYRAMID: people,
five for example, who would call five other people. The five people
would then
be responsible for calling five other people, and so on, and so on.
BANNERS: A large extension of the poster, these
can be hung outside your residence hall or in your main lobby. A bedsheet or old shower curtain will make a
good size banner.
WORD OF And of course, there is the time-honored word-of-mouth
technique. This is MOUTH: perhaps the oldest, yet most effective way to get the word out. Go door to door
and personally inform people of the
activity; and remind them frequently, so that they don’t forget.
After you have decided what
types of publicity will best reach your target audience, you will need to be
sure that you have the necessary materials and/or equipment available to
produce the publicity piece. These
materials are readily available and inexpensive.
Basic Materials might include:
1.
Poster Board
2.
Construction Paper
3.
Newsprint
4.
Colored Markers
5.
Rub-On Letters
6.
Stencils
8.
Water Color and Poster Paints
9.
Glue Stick
10.
Masking and Scotch Tape
11.
Ruler
12.
Colored Chalk
What makes
effective publicity?
Element of Surprise Selling Point
Layout Simplicity
Workmanship
1.
Illustrations
Illustrations are
one of the most effective methods for increasing the attention value to
advertisement. A picture helps convey
the message more easily, more quickly, and more completely. Where do you get your picture ideas?
Books Posters
Magazines Clip Art
Catalogues Travel Agencies
Newspaper
Ads Coloring Books
2.
Headlines
Headlines are the most important words
of an advertisement because approximately 90% of the viewers only read the
headlines. The functions of a headline
are the threefold: 1) to assist the
illustration in seizing attention; 2) to arouse the reader’s interest; and 3)
to attract the target audience.
3.
Color
Color can be used in publicity to
attract attention, to develop interest, to create desire, and to stimulate
action. The value of color lies in its
contrast affect and its illustrative value.
This
will link you to an illustration of a color wheel.
Primary colors include red, blue, and yellow. All colors except black and white can be made by mixing these three
colors. Secondary colors include
orange, green, and purple. These colors
are made by mixing two primary colors (i.e. red + yellow = orange). Never use colors that are next to each other
on the color wheel because lettering will not show up well (i.e. blue felt pen
on purple paper). The most effective
way to use colors is to use those which are located directly across from one
another on the color wheel or use colors that are found at the three points of
the triangle. The triangle can be drawn
anywhere on the color wheel.
4.
Lettering
Lettering is an integral part of any
publicity. You should only place
lettering that is necessary to what needs to be said. Too much type of any piece of publicity is ineffective. Letters should be positioned to ensure
optimum readability.
Types of lettering include:
Speedball
pen and ink
Calligraphy
Dry
Transfer
Stencils
Magic
Markers held at difference angles
5.
Borders
Borders serve to increase attention
value, lend unity and compactness, separate items, and add a decorative
value. Your building supervisor has
access to a “border book” housed in the Department of Housing and Residence
Life’s reference library.
6.
Timing
of Publicity
Give yourself plenty of time to
accomplish each task in your publicity campaign; plan; acquire the necessary
materials; have things printed (if applicable); post materials; and leave time
for a second wave of publicity. During
the 2-5 days before the event, remind people via new posters, notes on bathroom
mirrors, or through some other creative means.
7.
Some
Publicity Do’s and Don’t’s
Just a few reminders to help your
publicity maintain its effectiveness!
DO DON’T
*Use graphics in your posters. *Don’t post
flyers and posters
Good eye catchers make them on windows,
trees, or walls around
Easily understood. Campus.
*Make lettering large enough to *Don’t place
publicity in areas where
be seen on your posters from a
distance. it will get lost
among other posters.
*Use odd shapes in your posters; *Don’t put together
publicity in
be creative. a hurry!
*Make sure to make your messages *Don’t limit yourself to
just one
short and sweet. kind
of publicity.
*Place announcements in high *Don’t forget to
use all the
traffic areas! resources
on campus.
*Identify your target audience. *Avoid dittos and
plain black on white
flyers.
8.
Follow-up
Remember to remove all publicity you
have put up the day after the event has taken place. This step in the publicity process is most frequently
forgotten. When posting your publicity,
it helps to make a list of the locations where you post information such as the
removal of “old news” is made easier for you.
It was the intention of this publicity
section to introduce you to some new, exciting, and creative ways of
publicizing hall and/or campus programs and events. By utilizing the planning and follow-through techniques outlined
in the manual, it is hoped that:
i.
Your knowledge of effective publicity
techniques has been broadened and strengthened.
ii.
You will utilize several means of
publicizing rather than employing only one type.
iii.
Your publicity will be read.
iv.
Your activities will be better
attended.
Be Creative!