The purpose of this plan is to support OETA’s mission and strategic goals, as well as, identifying short and long-term solutions which meet one of the three identified areas of need: survival/funding, establishment as educational authority and establishment as a necessary and relevant entity within the state of Oklahoma.

Focus Area: Communication
Re-envision our brand to increase awareness, improve public attitudes, increase engagement and support Perhaps the simplest, yet most compelling definition of a brand is that it is a reason to choose.

The OETA brand gives viewers a reason to choose us over other available alternative offerings. The OETA brand gives foundations and donors a reason to choose us over so many other very worthwhile organizations. The OETA brand gives partners and potential employees a reason to choose us over other vendors and employers.

Our goal is to align what others think of OETA, our brand with our values. We must make it a priority to engage our communities. We currently have no other mechanism to assess true community value. We rely on the feeling and opinion of our staff and the emails of a few, typically unrepresentative individuals, to make our decisions. We must reinvest in the proper technology to assess our efforts authority wide. And we must do more outreach to our communities.

BE INSTANTLY RECOGNIZED AND VALUED IN OKLAHOMA FOR WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO.
Branding is essential for the success of any organization. When a brand is successful, the identity and credibility of the organization becomes more firmly rooted. OETA has 60 years of credibility with its audiences, but there remain opportunities to better define and amplify our brand and strengthen our connection with the community.

We seek to be a well-known and highly-trusted media partner for Oklahomans; to provide media, events and experiences that serve to educate and in and to be seen as a leader in education, news, public affairs, history, arts and culture and bettering the communities we serve.

Strategic Initiatives

• Review and refine OETA’s brand positioning that uniquely defines us as an essential public media content hub and the only PBS network in Oklahoma (1).
• Launch a rebranding campaign informed by strategy that moves OETA’s aesthetic brand into the 21st century (2).
• Develop and launch a communication strategy so OETA gets credit for the meaningful content, services and initiatives we deliver to our community. Ensure our brand personality is consistent with the evolving, innovative public media organization that we are aspiring to become (3).
• Ensure consistent OETA messaging and the flexibility for departments to communicate with their respective audiences (4).

DEFINE AND COORDINATE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES AND KEY MESSAGING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION.
We are committed to being effective, efficient and strategic. The good news is that our organization has a tremendous number of stories to share. The reality is that without coordination, a constructive dialogue with the communities we serve devolves into undirected chatter. Consistent, well-aligned communications are vital to building our brand. We seek to define and deliver our key organizational messages consistently and effectively, while respecting the need for authentic conversations between each of our departments and our constituencies.

Strategic Initiatives

• Create an internal communications strategy that ensures consistent buy-in of OETA value propositions among ALL stakeholders (5).
• Use the communications department as an internal marketing agency, collaboratively supporting all OETA departments with multi platform creative assets and branding projects, including logos, on-air graphics, etc. (6).
• Leverage the power of new marketing tools to target key audiences and speak to them specifically (7).
• Continue integrated social media, email and marketing campaigns to improve engagement and support (8).

BE VISIBLE AND PRESENT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
While the majority of our audience is largely interested in a remote control relationship with OETA, a growing portion of our audience wants a higher level of interaction and engagement. As OETA transforms into a public media company for future generations, evolving is critical to our success. We seek to use our on-air, digital and community-based presences to achieve our mission-based goals; to build visibility and credibility in the eyes of those individuals and organizations which support us.

Strategic Initiatives

• Create a community engagement initiative by which the authority uses its programming content as a means to interact with the public. These events are designed for each community to either address a problem within the community and how OETA’s programming can help start a conversation or interact with a community to educate them on OETA resources beyond programming and inquire how the organization can better provide resources to the community (11).
• Communicate OETA’s message with earned media, barter media, paid media and partnerships to create measurable impact (9).
• Be the preferred public media partner for events that target our strategic audiences in the community (10).
• Humanize OETA in the community through video content, events and other opportunities (12).
• Identify ambassadors and influencers inside and outside the building and listen to our community, letting them shape our brand (13).
• Seek mutually beneficial relationships with like-minded mission-based organizations (14)

MASTER THE USE OF NEW MARKETING SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES TO MEET STATION NEEDS AND PRIORITIES.
Changes in the media environment and consumer use of media have resulted in dramatic changes in traditional marketing. Consumers demand new ways to communicate with brands in a socially connected world, where peer referral is the most powerful message of all.
As we seek greater visibility and engagement with the community, we look to be more knowledgeable and skillful in the use of next-generation marketing techniques, technology and methodology.

Strategic Initiatives

• Invest in the proper technology to be able to determine our return on investment and work, ex. Nielsen (20).
• Realign and reprioritize resources with communication responsibilities (15).
• Pursue targeted professional development for new media marketing skills, sharing best practices and building new organizational competencies (16).
• Better integrate marketing and revenue departments to convert engagement into support via impactful marketing strategies and content (17).
• Develop marketing tools and leverage new communication channels that reach targeted audiences (18).

This plan is comprehensive to cover the areas of need of our agency, including all departmental needs, as well as general and broad-reaching to allow for revision of this plan as resources and needs change. The purpose of this plan is to support OETA’s mission and strategic goals, as well as, identifying short and long-term solutions which meet one of the three identified areas of need: survival/funding, establishment as educational authority and establishment as a necessary and relevant entity within the state of Oklahoma (1). Everything we do should correlate with donations to the foundation or having individuals contact representatives to tell how impactful we are in their lives.

The purpose of this plan is to create content that engages existing and potential OETA members, viewers and advocates. There are numerous sub sects of demographic groups that watch OETA. Some are aware of our educational components, while others only watch us for our entertainment programming. We must keep in mind that we reach a breadth of audiences but that we also have the assets to appeal to a wide-array of individuals through our four channels, digital content and educational initiatives. Our pledge drives feature national programing, which along with our children’s programming, are what the majority of Oklahomans associate OETA as. This plan is meant to expand upon singular interests in OETA and broaden our own scope to develop a more well-rounded audience.

This plan is written with the understanding that the underlying basis of messaging and delivery is to generate interest, support and funding without alienating individuals with constant requests of monetary gifts. A well-rounded plan includes incorporating direct giving asks into the messaging when necessary and relevant without turning off any single audience. Our main goal is tell our story in a way that people choose to give whether asked or own their own accord.

Authenticity is key to executing this plan. We must be honest, open where we can be as defined by statute and law and realistic about expectations, execution and resource availability. This plan is designed to reimagine our brand for future sustainable generations, to inform and reach those that don’t know we exist, open dialogue about the future of public television in a digital world and establish OETA as a frontrunner in the execution of digital strategies that have long been effective in other professional areas (4).

BRANDING (1)
OETA’s visual aesthetic reflects the overall direction of the brand in both look and feel. Look represents feel. The feel of any brand is how people perceive the brand and their thoughts/emotions towards that brand and is both implied and inferred. An organization can work hard towards crafting a brand and communicating that message clearly and directly to their audience. On the other hand, the audience is willing to make up a brand (often assigning a negative connotation) for those organizations that are unwilling to communicate.

The look of the brand should reflect the defined feel. Never should a organization pursue a visual style without first knowing who they are—what their DNA is made of. Look is the best way to communicate and build a relationship with your audience. Rarely are words needed for this. This is achieved mostly through style. Outlined are four key characteristics as cornerstones for our organizational branding. These characteristics become OETA’s brand attributes—what OETA strives to do and who it wants to be.

OETA is a trustworthy institution.
a. Reliable
b. Honest
c. Reputable

OETA is kid and family friendly.
a. Approachable
b. Neighborly
c. Familiar
d. Relatable

OETA has phenomenal educational resources.
a. Scholastic
b. Enlightening

OETA, as a public servant, is distinguished.
a. Stately
b. Deliberate
c. Composed
d. Dignified

With these four characteristics in mind, OETA’s visual identity should follow the aesthetic of Trusted Neighbor.

REBRAND (2)
All of the measures included in this plan can be executed with or without a rebrand. While a rebrand is not necessary to change our tone or approach in certain elements, it can be used an external signal of our commitment to change in order to provide public television in Oklahoma for years to come.

Action Items

• Implementation of strategy, including launch date and messaging to the state legislature, stakeholders and public (2).
• Consider the positives and negatives of a rebranding campaign. There are people that have known OETA for 60 years and others who don’t OETA at all. This is a chance to re-establish ourselves as an educational entity and take advantage of the attention and protection being given to education.

WEBSITE (12)
Our website is our home base for any relevant information related to our programming, programs and communication efforts. We already utilize our website as a home base for our digital studio produced projects, such as What’s the Deal? We should also be using the website as a means to tell our story, whether that be through our own words or the words of others (13). While we are a media outlet and, and in a sense our own media, we should extend that premise beyond the programming realm to include our digital home.

Action Items

• Develop a digital series on why people support OETA and how it impacts their life (12, 13).
• 60th anniversary content for 2016, including a timeline and potential video content (2)
• Developing new digital series with video and exclusive content in the future that have the potential to lead to new sponsorship and underwriting opportunities (12, 13, 17).
• Review SEO section (1).
• See action item No. 1 under mobile (1, 18).
• Redesign the OETA.tv website main page.
• Utilization of OETA Passport and informing of viewers how they can watch missed programming.

SOCIAL MEDIA (8, 13)
Social media provides us an opportunity to change our messaging and tone to appeal to existing audiences, as well as attract a more sustainable audience for the future. We must utilize each platform to the best of its ability and understand it’s an ever-changing atmosphere. Investing in social media advertising allows us the opportunity to spend far less than we would for print advertising and attract a hyper-targeted based for specific campaigns.

The goal with the majority of social media posts is engagement. We want our followers to be intrigued by the content we’re posting, share it with their peer groups, comment and ask questions related to that content. Our social media content should include a solid mix of programming needs, agency needs, foundation needs, as well as, bringing attention to those things considered of relevant importance to the organization’s mission.

Action Items

• Create a well-rounded, differentiating social media content plan for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. We will work to vary the content between platforms, understanding the need to cross-promote and sometimes post the same information across platforms. This means developing a plan specific to each of our target audiences and identifying which platforms those audiences frequent (7, 8).
• Create social media plans for our in-house produced shows (1, 7, 8).
• Consider social media engagement and posting during shows to create conversation (7, 8).
• Create a viable special media advertising campaign, specifically surrounding pledge drives. The purpose of this would be to support our on-air efforts not only to our existing audience but potential future audiences. We want to reiterate the messaging they are seeing on-air with these campaigns. We would also need to identify those agency programs in which we feel may benefit from the increased online exposure (8, 17).
• Consider integrating social media into our on-air election coverage using hub software to highlight and showcase messages and encourage individuals to talk and share online (4, 12).

SEO (1, 18)
We should frequently check our search engine optimization data to ensure we continue to rank in areas such as television, public television and education in Oklahoma. We should also review the content on our website to ensure the messaging attracts a positive
SEO result.

Action Items

• Review website content with SEO in mind but ensuring messaging is consistent with what’s appealing to the demographic we’re trying to reach (1, 18).
• Monthly reviews of SEO keywords and rank and reviewing of data to see where improvements can be made (1, 18).

MOBILE (3, 18)
Realizing that more and more people view information on our phones, we should review our digital communications collateral to ensure it’s viewed optimally on phones, tablets and other mobile devices.

Action Items

• Take an inventory of active pages on http://www.oeta.tv and consider necessary changes to ensure mobile optimization and responsiveness are presenting the content in the manner we want it to be (3).
• Review Inside OETA e-newsletter for mobile optimization (3, 18).
• Better promotion of the PBS app, which features local content and updating that content more often.

TRADITIONAL (9)
We will continue to send out press releases and our publications. However, we cannot rely on the print media to share our content for us.

Action Items

• Develop a weekly press release to the media showcasing selected on-air broadcasts, as well as a feature or digital program from our website (9).
• Continue to send press releases on our community events and education endeavors (9).
• Have a list of organizations to send information to in addition to the media. Colleges and universities would qualify under all entities in which the information is relevant (14).
• Seek outside-of-the-box partnerships that expose us to our existing audience, as well as potentially new audiences and supporters like community events with large attendances in metro areas (10).
• Strengthen partnerships with other state agencies and community organizations to better serve each other purposes such as the Oklahoma Arts Council, Oklahoma City County Health Department (14).
• Better use our volunteer base to help support us in event endeavors.
• Explore the monetary support, as a primary media partner, of key demographically driven events to attract new audiences and promote our educational programs. These events include Wiggle Out Loud in Oklahoma City and Lindt Oktoberfest in Tulsa (10).

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS (5)
While we continue to focus on external communication efforts, we must develop a strategy for internal communications to be able to engage our staff and other internal stakeholders (ex. Board). It’s important for all staff to have access to necessary information to
answer questions from the public.

Action Items

• A long-term goal would be to develop an OETA intranet where employees can access a company-wide calendar, relevant information, as well as necessary documentation provided by human resources (5)
• Use the communications department as an internal marketing agency (6).
• Utilize our staff to diversify our content. We should work to make our staff (more) aware of OETA’s impact beyond the office. When staff encounters individuals that say they love OETA or are seen wearing OETA/PBS branding, something as simple as taking a photo and sending it with a short caption to a communications staff member can help with showing our impact in the community (13).
• Navigate work/life balance.
• Send relevant information out to staff.
• Develop a lunch and learn series for employees and offer trainings.

RESOURCES (7, 15)
Long-term resources to consider as this communications plan develops and expands are software items that assist the communications department in general upkeep of media lists and scheduling of social media posts and enhanced analytics.

Action Items

• Establish an OETA speaker’s bureau to allow statewide organizations to invite our staff to speak at their events.
• Encourage our staff members with expertise in certain areas to be open to public speaking events related to their area of expertise (1).
• Maintain a current list of speaking engagements by OETA staff members (1).
• Consider purchasing Cision media software, which allows us to maintain an up-to-date media database at $3,300/year (15).
• Better engage and motivate our digital influencers. Consistently seek to find those individuals, bring them into the fold and foster those relationships (13).

CROSS-PROMOTION (5, 17)
We must better cross-promote all of our assets if we expect to see an overall increase in engagement. While the long-term goal is to generate original content specific to each platform, we must utilize those platforms to promote each other.

Action Items

• Include social media icons and website address on all printed collateral and develop bugs, etc. to accomplish this on-air (17).
• Promote all four of our channels using all of platforms as a means to do so. Production can provide OETA-branded videos for use online when applicable. Linking to COVE is ideal for analytics (17).
• See action item No. 1 under traditional (9).
• Work with programming to re-work our template forms for independent producers. Set expectations regarding programming needs, closed-captioning and social media marketing before submission (9).

EVALUATING RETURN ON INVESTMENT (20)
While the communications department can employ numerous analytical tactics to show facts and figures, we are unable to determine if such initiatives resulted in increased viewership for programming. We are currently not using any system other than select viewer emails to determine the success or failure of programming.

Action Items

• Work towards the purchase of Nielsen and other technologies that better allow us to determine return on investment.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (11)
We must make it a priority to engage our communities. We currently have no other mechanism to assess true community value. We rely on the feeling and opinion of our staff and the emails of a few, typically unrepresentative individuals, to make our decisions.

Action Items

• Create a community engagement program (see attached) and execute the plan in 2017.
• Reimagine OETA Day as part of these community engagement events if the traveling option is taken. Or if it’s to remain in Oklahoma City, it could substitute for the Oklahoma City event in the community engagement framework.
• Add a legislative initiative into our community engagement portfolio.