2004 PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition
Ford Motor Credit Company
Background
In 1999-2000, 64 percent of college students graduated with student
loan debt. According to a report from the State Public Interest
Research Group's Higher Education Project, the average debt has
nearly doubled during the last eight years to $16,928.
With high school seniors and new college graduates obtaining
credit cards at such young ages, it's imperative that they are
taught how to use them responsibly. Young adults may not realize
what establishing good credit really means for their future. For
example, it can affect whether or not they get approved for a
car loan or an apartment lease.
Ford Motor Credit Company understands the need for credit education.
As a provider of automotive financing, the company is a natural
fit in helping young adults manage their financial responsibilities
while they still have a clean slate.
Situation Analysis
Ford Motor Credit Company is the world leader in meeting the
financial services needs of automotive consumers globally. The
company's "Credit Drives America" program teaches a
basic knowledge of the use of credit to students in their final
two years of high school. It is a unique initiative started by
Ford Credit, and one that should be taken even further.
In order to educate students about proper credit habits, we need
students to understand how their credit status affects many areas
of their lives. Most importantly, we need to use interesting and
fun ways to engage these students and educate them on this not-so-fun
issue.
Some of the items we would like to address include:
- How do I establish credit?
- How do I keep good credit?
- What should I do if I run into trouble with credit?
Mission
Develop a program that will educate high school seniors and college
students about the concept of personal credit (what is credit,
how to get credit, how to manage credit, how your credit rating
affects your present and future); then develop and implement a
public relations and marketing communications campaign that will
increase awareness of the program.
Students will not be charged with creating the curriculum for
the credit education program. An existing program, "Credit
Drives America" will be provided by Ford Credit.
Objectives
- Your promotion of the educational program must engage its
participants. The program may be in the form of an event, a
game, a product or something completely out of the box, but
it must require the participants to interact. No pure lecture-and-listen
programs, please.
- Your public relations campaign should include all the elements
of a complete public relations plan, including situation analysis,
research, goal, measurable objectives, strategies, tactics,
timeline and evaluation. Please use a mix of tactics for a well-rounded
campaign. (For example, you may wish to include media relations,
events and grass roots communications.)
- Your program and your campaign should focus on the 17-23 age
group; high school seniors to new college graduates.
- Please include measurable results in your presentation. (You
may define your own measurements.)
Once PRSSA receives the intent-to-enter forms, Ford Credit will
provide a variety of background materials, including pamphlets,
a fact sheet and a contact page of whom to call for more information.
Judging Criteria
A. Four Step Process (60 points
total)
1. Research: Thoughtful analysis
of the situation; fact-finding to determine statistics, trends
and attitudes; peer research (e.g. focus groups, surveys, etc.);
use of information to determine tactics. (15 points)
2. Planning: Development
of public relations plan, including statement of goal, objectives
and strategies, key messages, description of tactics, timeline
and evaluation. Emphasize the "why" behind your plan.
(15 points)
3. Execution: How are you
executing your tactics? Detail your implementation activities.
(15 points)
4. Evaluation: What methods
did you use to measure the campaign results? Do your methods
support the campaign objectives? (15 points)
B. Effectiveness: How well
do you understand the situation? How well did your public relations
and marketing communications plan apply to the situation? Did
the results of the campaign meet your objectives? Did the messages
in the campaign reach the target audience? (20 points)
C. Creativity: What creativity
did you show in the development of the new education program?
What kinds of creative strategies and tactics did you pursue in
your campaign? How did the creativity positively affect the results?
(20 points)
Back
to Bateman Competition
Top
