Gendered Toy Marketing Strategic Plan

Communications Goal: Develop spaces on the website that encourage dialogue

Target Deadline: Month of April when the project is published online but not completely finalized. Should have this goal accomplished by 5/1

1.  Create applications that allow for reader annotations in the writing
2.  Develop a comments section and encourage people to respond by having a question(s) at the end of every page. Possibly have prizes for those who engage?
3.  Have a competition for readers to make a de-gendered advertisement of a toy product that has been unnecessarily gendered. Feature the winning advertisement.
4. Make places for people to see themselves on the website so that they and others can see who is part of the conversation. One way to do this is with an art gallery of childhood photos with favorite toys throughout the years.

Content Goal: Put forward new information and (hopefully) a theory about why/how gendered toy marketing has developed throughout time.

Target Deadline: 4/2 – same time that prototype 1 is due 

1. Research the history of toy marketing in the U.S. since 1950 and align this with patterns found in childhood photos throughout the years.
2. Three interviews with toy store managers and people in marketing agencies that promote toys. Disney?
3. Compare advertisements for toys and adult products, as well as how people react to them on social media.
4. Conduct survey on people’s experience with toys/ads in their childhood, and interview parents buying toys for their kids. 

Impact Goal: For this project to reach our intended audience 

Target Deadline: 4/27 – finish this by the time we are showing our close to final product to an expert in the field. 

1. Sharing the project with 10 marketing firms and marketing departments.
2. Achieving a 50% response rate with those we share the project with. 
3.  Make sure the interface and design of the website is something that people enjoy engaging with and can easily engage with in order for the audience to be able to interact with it. 
4. To add to #3, use design principles in order to achieve this. 

Design Goal: For this project to use the principles of UX-design in order to be user friendly and pleasing to the eye design wise 

Target deadline: 5/1 – when project is near completed. 

1. Sharing the project design with 10 other people that aren’t involved in the project to get opinions on the design 
2. Ask these people about accessibility of the site and if they enjoy interacting with the site. 
3. Keep design principles in mind while working on the project. 
4. Make sure the colors and images used fit with the overall theme of the project. 

Schedule:

Month	Week	Writing/Research/Design	Other factors
FEB	Week 12/10-2/15	Brainstorm ideas for content and build collection of resourcesBrainstorm design ideas for website – create wireframe (2/20)Schedule weekly meetings
	Week 22/16-2/22	Wireframe (2/20) (in class)Meeting Tuesday 2/18 8:15-9:15pm, meeting to begin brainstorming website pages and networking → break up pages of website to work on content draft individually
	Week 32/24-2/28	Meet once this week to develop daily scheduleStart working on content draft individually based on topic/pageEach person has 2 meetings with Davidson faculty in a different department (child development, business career center, etc.)Develop and publish Strategic and Outreach/Sustainability plans	Strategic plan  Outreach and Sustainability plan
	Week 42/29-3/7	SPRING BREAKDevelop instagram page for content and create strategic plan for posts – at least 3 times per weekNetworking through DCAN to gain perspective of marketing professionals
March	Week 53/9-3/13	Meet once this week to discuss progress on the content draft in order to create a daily schedule addressing areas that need more workThree interviews with toy store managers/ advertisers by this week
	Week 63/16-3/20	Meet once this week to discuss progress on the Lit Review, create transitions between material that we worked on separatelyMeet with digital design studio and experts to experiment with design concepts	Content Draft
	Week 73/23-3/27	Publish literature reviewMeet once this week to create basic layout of the website	Lit Review (3/27)
April	Week 83/30-4/3	Develop materials for interactive elements – survey and gender neutral toy ad competitionExperiment and individual research on website design	Prototype 1 (4/2)
	Week 94/6-4/10	Meet with professors to brainstorm areas of improvement for prototype 2
	Week 104/13-4/17	Work on Prototype 2 this weekBegin thinking about the white paper and finalizing the project
	Week 114/20-4/24	Begin work on White paperFinish prototype 2 by the 23rd.	Prototype 2 (4/23)
	Week 124/27-4/30	Apply comments from prototype 2, show the final draft to an expert in the fieldPublish final project
May	Week 135/4-5/8	Verna Miller Case Symposium (5/6)Turn in final project by 5/5	FINAL PROJECT DUE NO LATER THAN 5/5
	Week 14 Ends 5/11	Finish everything and white paper Project Over!	WHITE PAPER IS DUE ON 5/11

Roles and Responsibilities:

ROLE	PERSON
Design	50/50 split
Outreach	50/50 split
Calendar	Amelia
Bibliographer	Marion
Proof-reader	Marion
Secretary	Amelia
Tech Explorer	Marion
Photography and graphics	Amelia
Surveys and interviews	Marion

Pledged: MCM, AT