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Olivia Beals
Juliet Casinelli
Sarah Ellis
Sarah Jugovic
Penelope Smith
April 14, 2015
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
1
Mission Statement
Primary Research
1
Target Audience
4
Situation Analysis
4
The Problem
4
What the Fans Want
4
Opportunity
4
Secondary Research
5
Goals and Objectives
6
The Campaign
7
Budget
9
Evaluation
9
2
Recommendations
10
Conclusion
11
Supplements
12
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Have you ever watched a group of five-year-olds play soccer? All of the aspiring soccer stars chase the ball
around the grass field like a school of fish. Just like five-year-olds follow a soccer ball when they are first
learning how to play the game, Pittsburghers should to take note and start following the latest Pittsburgh
sports team, Steel City FC.
Steel City FC is the first women’s premier soccer league in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their inaugural season in
the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) kicks off at the end of May, 2015. The team is looking to bring
a new competitive level to premier women’s soccer leagues while engaging the youth and soccer fans in the
community.
The 2015 Steel City Public Relations Team of Chatham University’s COM 360: Advanced Public Relations began
by recognizing the deep connection the City of Pittsburgh has to sports, leading us to set goals in raising
awareness of Steel City FC while increasing fundraising efforts for the team as well.
Surveys and additional research in the areas of women in sports, marketing sports in the community, and
building successful relationships with a sponsors helped us to understand the groundwork of our campaign.
By using Facebook to engage a fanbase, we were able to partner with Chatham University to host a
spaghetti fundraiser dinner for Steel City FC. We were able to draw
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attendees to the dinner, at which we
raised $1,109, rounding off the campaign with a 43% increase in Facebook likes. With strategic planning,
our public relations campaign for Steel City FC raised awareness in the community, ignited a fanbase, and
established a fundraising initiative to benefit the team.
MISSION STATEMENT
STEEL CITY FC MISSION STATEMENT
As stated on the Steel City FC website (http://steelcityfc.com), their mission is as follows:
“To enable women soccer players of Pittsburgh to compete at a
national level and establish aplatform for local female athletes to
engage with the communityand inspire youth through outreach programs.”
OUR MISSION
As Steel City FC’s Public Relations Team, we have provided Steel City FC with social media tools to keep an
active Facebook in order to reach out to their fanbase. We have also raised over $1,000 in donations to
offset the cost of Steel City FC’s first season. By helping Steel City FC break into the business as evidenced
through an increase social media interactions and hosting a well-attended spaghetti dinner fundraiser, we aim
to help Steel City FC grow further by connecting them with the community through sponsoring youth soccer
clinics and volunteering at women and youth centered organizations in Pittsburgh. To do this, we make it our
mission to insert Steel City FC in the Pittsburgh sports tradition.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
Our goal for this project is to help raise awareness of Steel City FC. We hoped to increase social media
productivity, organize a fundraising campaign with an accompanying fundraising event, and possibly develop a
mascot, in addition to organizing some of the media attention for the players of the team.
In order to effectively help Steel City FC boost their recognition, our group decided to gauge the awareness
of Steel City FC through surveys that were given to 45 people on Chatham University’s campus (see page 12).
This survey provided insight on how to approach our target audience by listening to what they looking for in
a team or sport.
45 people is a small sample size in comparison to our goal, we value their opinions, and
from their answers we could determine common themes about what the community is looking for in a team.
As of now, Steel City FC is not well known by the community due to its recent start up. The survey showed
that 14 out of the 45 individuals know of the Steel City FC organization. Through social media and word of
mouth, we hope to gain Steel City FC some recognition, and hopefully by the end of this project we hope to
increase the number of likes on social media by 20%
The community wants and craves the engaging atmosphere of sporting events. The survey determined that
21 out of 45 people said the atmosphere of the sporting events is what makes or breaks the entertainment
factor. One individual wrote “In Pittsburgh, I love the atmosphere of the game and the energy of the crowd. It
really makes me want to come back for more”. Additionally, 18 out of 45 people said that the energy of the
crowd is another entertainment factor needed when watching live sports (see figure 1). For example, another
individual wrote, “Whether the fans are yelling at the refs for a bad call or the crowd singing along to Sweet
Caroline, the energy of the crowd determines how I feel about the game”. Only 6 out the 45 people said that
going with his/her friends is what they find entertaining about live sports. The roaring energy of the crowd
and the intensity of the match is what draws audience members in and keeps them coming back for more.
Steel City FC has an awesome opportunity to show their skill level and prove to the community that they are
worth watching and worth coming back for more.
Figure 1.
45 people took a survey to determine what they find entertaining about live sports events.
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Figure 2. 45 people were asked to share top qualities they look for in a local team
The survey showed that the three top qualities that the community looks for in a local team are community
involvement, Pittsburgh pride, and commitment from players on and off the field. One of the most insightful
quotes read “I find a sense of pride in the team’s city to be an important quality. Also, how much the team
shows volunteerism and loyalty to the program by having no DUI’s”. This quote just reiterates the top three
qualities that fans look for in a local sports team.
45 out of 45 people said that community involvement is the number one quality he/she looks for in a local team. One person wrote, “Providing educational experiences about sports to the community, and getting
young kids involved in the area would be great” as well as” connection to the community is very important”.
As of now the team is still working on setting up their game schedule and practice times. In the future, Steel
City FC would also like to showcase their skills, by possibly organizing a training camp for the youth soccer
players in the area or having open practices so young players and fans can go and watch them practice. Both
of these opportunities will allow the players to get the community involved and give back the target audience
what they would like.
Our data showed that Pittsburgh pride is an important quality for a local sports team to have. Pittsburgh is
known for their committed fans and pride, it is no wonder that pride should be a top quality for a local team
to have. Steel City FC embodies their hometown in their logo, as well as in the players hearts. The players
bleed black and gold, and would like to share their city’s pride in the game they love.
“Dedication to training, good sportsmanship, and commitment to the team, is what I value in a local team”,
said sport enthusiasts. Commitment is among the one top priorities for a local sports team to represent. A
team is a group of athletes who work together to achieve a similar goal. Showing fans that Steel City FC’s
players committed to their sport their team and their image will help them gain and maintain their fanbase.
Although accessibility did not make the top three themes, it should be noted that the survey showed that accessibility tickets, practices and game are important to fans. Steel City FC will be providing information about
their practices and games as well as tickets for upcoming events on their Facebook and twitter. Steel City FC
plans to use the Ellis School, an all-girls college-preparatory school in Shadyside for their games and practices. Working as Steel City FC’s PR team, we hope to network the team through social media and other media
outlets to show the community that Steel City FC is accessible to everyone.
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TARGET AUDIENCE
1: Soccer enthusiasts in the Pittsburgh Area
2: Aspiring Female soccer players
3: Local soccer clubs (Pittsburgh Football Club, Victory, Stars United, etc.)
SITUATION ANAYLSIS
The Problem
Our research has shown that there was a little to no awareness about Steel City FC, but there was a lot of
awareness about the Riverhounds, the men’s soccer club team in Pittsburgh. 65 percent of the people that
took the survey had not heard of Steel City FC while most of them had heard of the Riverhounds and 30
percent of them had attended a Riverhounds game. This proves that Pittsburgh is a town where Steel City FC
could survive and gain a following. However, numbers have shown that it is not likely for fans to actually show
up to the game itself.
What the Fans Want
Respected Team
By analyzing primary research that our team has acquired, we have noted that soccer fans find that accessibility, community outreach, and respected team players are all important to a team that they support. 72
percent of those surveyed regarded community outreach as the most important aspect of a team.
By surveying the Riverhound’s (the Pittsburgh men’s amatuer soccer team) fans, and finding out what they
think is important in a local team, we were able to understand what Steel City FC will need to obtain to
appeal to the public. We plan to share these findings with Steel City FC in the hope of motivating them to
demonstrate these ideologies. We plan to exhibit these qualities through the social media activity that will take
place throughout the campaign by posting statuses and sharing links that correlate with ideas such as community and city pride.
Energetic Games
We also asked our respondents what they found enjoyable about local sports games, specifically soccer
games. 97 percent replied it was the energy of the crowd or atmosphere of the game. By establishing a
strong social media following through consistent activity and proving that their ideals match that of their audience, Steel City FC will be able to create a fanbase for their team. If they have a strong fanbase then they
will be able to hold well attended and energetic matches.
Opportunity
Steel City FC is the first women’s premier soccer league in Pittsburgh. Steel City FC is new and will not have
their first match until later in the year. This allows a lot of room to become whatever and whoever they want
to be. By creating a positive name for themselves, they will be able to create a strong and loyal following.
They have not had any issues or controversies and this allows them to have a blank page. They have the
potential to make a large statement by being the first of their kind in the city.
Our objectives were to hold a spaghetti dinner and to increase social media followers by 20 percent. These
objectives will increase awareness and funding for Steel City FC.
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SECONDARY RESEARCH
Congruence with Sponsors
According to a 2009 article by Caspar Coppetti, Daniel Wentzel, Torsten Tomczak, and Sven Henkel, it is important to have congruency with the event and the sponsor. By having Steel City FC’s first fundraising event
at Chatham University, this has given Steel City FC a foundation to create a relationship with them and to
possibly have other fundraisers in the future at Chatham. Since the event was successful, this was a positive
event for both Steel City FC and Chatham. This not only enabled Steel City FC to have their fundraiser, but it
also brought people into Chatham who may not have come before the fundraiser. Most of the funds to organize the spaghetti dinner fundraiser came out of Steel City FC’s budget, but money was saved by Chatham’s
donation of the event space, tables, chairs, and other serving supplies.
Event Success and Tourism
Steel City FC is fortunate to be a part of a sports enthused city. Pittsburgh pride is very important to the
local sports enthusiasts that we surveyed with 47 percent saying that it was the most important quality of a
sports team that they would support. It is also important to Pittsburgh to have more successful sports events
that will bring more tourists into the city for longer amounts of time. By Steel City FC associating themselves
with Pittsburgh’s sports and Pittsburgh pride, they will attract other local sports enthusiasts to their games.
According to a 2013 article by Kyriaki Kaplanidou, Shannon Kerwin, and Kostas Karadakis, it important to cities to be able to market tourism events. These events will cause their guests to stay longer and spend more
money. It is important for Steel City FC to integrate themselves into Pittsburgh’s sports community so that the
city will market them as one of their teams that they are proud of. To do this, Steel City FC’s logo are the
Pittsburgh colors, black and gold. We also implemented a hashtag called “#yinzhers” to play off of the common Pittsburgh fraze “yinzer” which describes someone from Pittsburgh with a lot of Pittsburgh pride.
Marketing to Women
According to a 2013 article by Kristen Eden, is has been found that girls and boys at a young age have the
same if not a comparable interest in sports. The article also found that as they grew up into men and women the difference between their interest in sports changed dramatically, with men becoming more interested
in sports than women. That being said, it has been noted that women’s interest in sports is on the rise. Our
target audience for our public relations campaign for Steel City FC included local soccer enthusiasts of both
genders, but with Steel City FC being a women’s team it is naturally important to consider marketing strategies
that target women specifically.
According to the same article, it has been found that word of mouth was the best form of marketing amongst
women and sports. We found through our surveys given out at the fundraiser that word of mouth was the
most common way that the people in attendance found out about the event. 87 percent of people said that
they heard of the event through word of mouth, and this included all genders. With this finding we found that
most of our attendees were told by the team mates and also by the people on our PR team.
Secondly, a clear brand of Steel City FC is crucial when it comes to attracting a fanbase. According to Steel
City FC’s mission statement, it is important for them to make an impact on the youth in their community. In
the “recommendations” part of this strategic plan, we will go into further details of what types of community
interaction would be effective for Steel City FC to do to activate their mission statement, including talks at
elementary school, soccer camps, and volunteering.
1Caspar Coppetti, Daniel Wentzel, Torsten Tomczak, and Sven Henkel. “Improving Incongruent Sponsorships Through Articulation of the Sponsorship and Audience Participation.” Journal of Marketing Communications 15, no. 1 (2009): 17-34. Accessed April 12, 2015. Communication & Mass Media Complete.
2 Kaplanidou, Kyriaki (Kiki), Shannon Kerwin, and Kostas Karadakis. “Understanding Sport Event Success: Exploring Perceptions of Sport Event Consumers and Event Providers.”Journal of Sport & Tourism 18, no. 3 (2013): 1-18. Accessed April 12, 2015. SPORTDiscus.
3 Kristen Eden. “What Women Want: Marketing Tactics for Female Sport Fans and Female Sports Teams.” KAHPERD 50, no. 2 (2013): 17-
20. SPORTDiscus.
4 Ibid.
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goal One: Increase the donations to Steel City FC
Objective One: To inspire soccer enthusiasts to contribute at least $1,000 to Steel City FC at the spaghetti
dinner fundraiser on March 27, 2015
Strategy: Host a spaghetti dinner to raise funds
Tactics:
Steel City FC covered food, supplies, and venue costs
76 guests attended the spaghetti dinner fundraiser at $10 per person
Flyers were posted as well as a Facebook event was made to advertise the fundraiser to potential donors and local soccer enthusiasts (see page 14)
The founder of Steel City FC, Stephanie Harrison, spoke on behalf of the team to express their
gratitude to those who attended the event. Miss Harrison continued to also express her enthusiasm for the upcoming season
- To encourage donations a 50/50 raffle was held. In addition, Steel City FC T-Shirts were also
available to be bought.
Goal Two: Create awareness about Steel City FC in the City of Pittsburgh and surrounding communities.
Objective Two: To see a 20 percent increase of “likes” on Steel City FC’s Facebook page from local soccer
enthusiasts and friends.
Strategy 1: Local soccer enthusiasts were invited to “like” Steel City FC’s Facebook page
Tactics:
-Each PR team member was responsible to invite 20 people by the end of March 27th.
Strategy 2: The activity on the Facebook page was increased.
Tactics:
- A “Caption This” contest was held to encourage their Facebook fanbase to interact with the team. The winner of the contest won a free Steel City FC T-Shirt.
- Two “Fan of the Day” photos were posted two weeks before the event.
- Reminders of the spaghetti dinner fundraiser were posted along with photos of spaghetti and links to the Facebook event page.
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THE CAMPAIGN
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Facebook- On February 28th, when the campaign began,Steel City FC’s Facebook page had a total of 277
likes, and by the end of the campaign their facebook likes increased to 480. During that time, we exceeded
our first objective by encouraging local soccer enthusiasts to like Steel City FC’s Facebook page. Originally, we aimed to increase the likes on facebook by 20 percent, but by March 27th we exceeded our goal by
increasing 43 percent.Each PR team member was responsible to invite 20 individuals to like the page and
encourage them to comment on the “Caption This” contest.
The “Caption This” contest ran from February 28th until March 6th. Our PR team posted a goofy photo of
Stephanie Harrison, Founder of Steel City FC, and Betsy Warren, Founding Committee member on Steel City
FC’s Facebook page. We encouraged Steel City FC’s fanbase to interact with the team, and post a comment
that embodied the photo. The winner of the contest won a free Steel City FC T-Shirt. For example, a fan won
the first contest by captioning “You think THIS is bad? Last time they served a fish with the eyeballs still in
it!” to the photo below. In addition to encouraging them to participate in the”caption this” contest , we also
used Facebook to invite the fans to Steel City FC’s Spaghetti Fundraiser.
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BUDGET
Figure 3. Representation of money that was donated and money that was spent for the spaghetti dinner
In total,
$1,109
was donated to Steel City FC at the spaghetti dinner fundraiser.
- 76 adults attended the spaghetti dinner. We charged $10.00/person, which grossed $760.00.
- 50/50 raffle tickets were sold at 3 tickets for $1.00 or an arm’s length for $5.00
The 50/50 made $101.
- $268 were from in kind donations.
- $340 was spent for the spaghetti dinner.
EVALUATION
Our public relations team began conducting research by passing out surveys to gauge the awareness of Steel
City FC’s presence. The surveys asked participants about local sporting events and their knowledge of existing
soccer teams in Pittsburgh. Secondary sources provided additional research in areas of women in sports, how
to market sports to the community, and how to have a successful relationship with a sponsor.
In the primary research, we found that only 35 percent of the people had heard of Steel City FC, but most
of them had heard of the Riverhounds, the local men’s soccer club. This showed that there was interest in
the sport, leading to a potential fanbase for Steel City FC. We decided that the most important goal was to
increase the recognition of Steel City FC in the city of Pittsburgh. With this goal in mind, we set out to get
more Steel City FC Facebook page “likes,” and hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser. Our campaign for Steel City
FC began February 28th, 2015 and ended March 27th, 2015.
By March 27th, 2015 we increased the “likes” on Steel City FC’s Facebook page by 43 percent. On March
27th, 2015 we held a spaghetti dinner fundraiser which was marketed through flyers, word of mouth, and
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social media. Our goal was to raise $1,000 and we succeeded by raising $1,109. Based on surveys taken by
those in attendance of the fundraiser, 100 percent of the attendees enjoyed the event and would come back
to another Steel City FC fundraiser (see page 13).
Our PR team was successful in accomplishing the goals we set out for Steel City FC. With the strides made in
just a few weeks as indicators for Steel City FC’s future success, the team has the potential to become a part
of the Pittsburgh sports tradition.
Successes: Based on meeting our social media outreach and fundraising goals, our overall public
relations campaign can be considered an overall success. After March 27th, Steel City FC’s Facebook “likes”
increased and the survey feedback from the fundraiser dinner attendees read that 100 percent of the
attendees said that they would come back to a Steel City FC fundraiser. A total of $1,109 was raised at the
spaghetti dinner fundraiser. The amount was reached by selling dinner tickets, t-shirts, and 50/50 raffle
tickets. It is also important to note that select attendees at the dinner donated more than the suggested
$10.00 dinner ticket price. The food was very well liked and the dessert table was full of home baked goods
from volunteers who attended. Steel City FC can continue to build a relationship with Chatham University, with
the possibility of holding another fundraising event in collaboration with Chatham in the future. In the
meantime, the recognition of Steel City FC has increased since the our public relations campaign has ended,
as evidenced by Stephanie Harrison’s upcoming apperance on a Comcast Newsmakers segment and Councilman Dan Gilman’s annoucement of granting Steel City FC with a proclamation on behalf of the City of
Pittsburgh.
Challenges: Raising awareness and funds for Steel City FC concurrently proved to be challenging.
There is a double bind in getting sponsorships for Steel City FC, because they are not established, yet they
are just getting their start. Hence, we decided the best way to raise awareness and funds was to target the
immediate local community. Five weeks is a short time frame to organize a successful fundraising event. We
did not have a good system to estimate how many people would come to the fundraiser, so we ran out of
spaghetti at 6:30pm, while the event was scheduled to be over at 7:00pm. Rather than letting attendees have
second or third helpings, we should have better regulated attendees’ portion sizes. Attendees that arrived after
6:30pm were offered free salad, garlic bread, and dessert. The venue parking was difficult for some of the
attendees, and we encourage Steel City FC to hold large scale events at a venue with a larger parking lot. In
addition, our survey design could have been improved. The survey used for primary research and the survey
used at the fundraiser dinner did not have the same questions, inhibiting our ability to track out direct impact
with solid data. With the same survey questions asked before and after our campaign, we could have had a
better gauge on the awareness raised about Steel City FC. Lastly, the event could have been better attended.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Our recommendations for Steel City FC are based off of the ideas and issues that we were not able to focus
on during our five week campaign. These include youth outreach, press attention, and larger scaled fundraisers. We believe that with Steel City FC’s new fanbase and the money that was raised at the spaghetti dinner
fundraiser, that Steel City FC will be able to further their popularity and sponsorship. To do this, they will need
to continue to fundraise and integrate into the Pittsburgh community.
Recommendation 1: Volunteer with local youth programs or schools. The school year is coming to a
close for most elementary and high schools, but there are still summer camps and other youth programs
that the team members could volunteer at. Being guest coaches, giving speeches, or holding their own soccer
camps will show the community that they are dedicated to helping the youth in the area. This will also increase their fanbase. By making an impact on the youth’s lives, they will more likely become fans and want to
go to the games. 10
Recommendation 2: Send out press releases. During our campaign we sent out one press release to
the local City Paper about the spaghetti dinner fundraiser. The press release did not get picked up. The fact
that Steel City FC is the first of their kind is a large press opportunity. The marketing team for Steel City FC
should write up a press release before their first game so the community can read their story and also find
out when the first game is. This will draw more attention to their team and could attract other sponsors. It will
also market the first game and increase the amount of people who attend.
Recommendation 3: Hold a larger scaled fundraiser. Although the spaghetti dinner fundraiser was a success, it was also organized in only five weeks. With the money made by our fundraiser, they could organize a
larger fundraiser. We believe that a dine and donate, or a mixer fundraiser would be successful. A dine and
donate could be held at a local restaurant where a certain percentage of their earnings that night would go
to Steel City FC. This would be a more formal fundraiser, and there would be less work involved in planning it.
A mixer would also be a successful idea. This type of event would be specifically targeting young adults. We
think it would be a good opportunity for the team to meet and greet their fanbase, and also raise money by
selling tickets to get into the event.
CONCLUSION
Before the campaign, Steel City FC was a relatively unknown sports team in Pittsburgh. Throughout the five
week campaign, our public relations team exemplified social media skills that encouraged more activity on
Steel City FC’s Facebook page, while campaigning for a spaghetti dinner fundraiser that resulted in a profit of
about $1,000.v By doing this, Steel City FC’s fanbase has grown, and they have raised enough money from the
fundraiser to go on and hold more events that could increase the awareness about their organization.
Steel City FC is on the right path to obtain the type of coverage and awareness that they deserve. If they
continue to hold fundraising events, reach out to the community, and be active on social media they will continue to build a loyal fanbase that will grow throughout their premier season this summer.
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