Context
I interned with UW Provision, a family-owned wholesaler and retailer of meat products, in Summer 2016. As UWP’s Retail Promotions & Marketing Assistant, my responsibilities included creating weekly flyers for the wholesale and retail divisions, promotional flyers for new products, and fundraiser flyers. I was asked by the wholesale division to redesign last year’s fundraiser flyer for UW Provision’s partnership with Stonie’s Sausage Shop.
Together, they promoted Stonie’s Quick Sticks which are smoked and flavored pork snack sticks. UW Provision’s wholesale division sends these flyers to local schools’ sports teams and student clubs as well as community organizations who may be interested in fundraising for new sports equipment, field trips, or events.
Objectives
- Redesign last year’s fundraiser flyer for UW Provision’s partnership with Stonie’s Sausage Shop.
- Update the flyer with current information.
- Combine Stonie’s two fundraising documents, a flyer and a letter, into one flyer.
Determine Essential Information
Before I could redesign the fundraiser flyer, I first had to determine which information was out-of-date and which information was essential to include in the updated flyer. In order to do so, I printed a copy of last year’s fundraiser flyer and letter to highlight essential information and cross out out-of-date information.
The wholesale division informed me that the Peppered Bacon and Pepper Cheese & Jalapeño flavors would not be available this year, so I cross out those flavors. I highlighted the remaining flavors still available, the package size, and nutrition information on the fundraiser flyer. On Stonie’s fundraiser letter, I highlighted the company’s background information as well as their recent fundraiser success stories to add ethos to my fundraiser flyer.
Adapt for UWP’s Audience
After determining the essential information, I then adapted this content for UW Provision’s audience. This included adding UWP’s branding, such as their logo, colors, and typefaces as well as their contact information. I also utilized UWP’s other recognizable branding characteristics like a red page border, red bolded section titles, dividing lines, and a red featured section.
Effectively Arrange Content
Once I determined the essential information and adapted it for UW Provision’s audience, I then redesigned the fundraiser flyer into an effective arrangement. I placed UWP and Stonie’s logos at the top of the flyer with a dividing line in between to symbolize the companies’ partnership. Underneath the logos, I placed the name of the fundraiser and Stonie’s slogan “Made in Missouri since 1959.” This phrase will appeal to the audience as they will be reassured that the products are made in the United States and the company has been in business for numerous decades.
The next section of the flyer features a high-quality photo of Stonie’s Quick Sticks and a list of all the available flavors. This section has a red background to stand out amongst the text as the audience is most interested in the different types of products and what they look like. Next, I separated the essential information into titled sections based on their topic.
The first text section is titled “Award-Winning Flavor Assures Success” and includes Stonie’s background information as well as their recent fundraiser success stories. This title and content assures the audience of any doubts they may have regarding Stonie’s Sausage Shop, their products, and the fundraiser. The second text section titled “A Healthy Snack” features a bulleted list of the Quick Sticks’ nutrition information. The third text section is titled “Start Your Fundraiser Today!” which acts as a call-to-action. Within this section, the Quick Sticks’ package size and UW Provision’s contact information is given.
I included my redesigned fundraiser flyer for Stonie’s Quick Sticks Fundraiser for you to view.
What I Learned
- When partnering with another company that your audience may be unfamiliar with, it’s important to use your company’s branding on the documents explaining the partnership. Your audience will recognize your logo, colors, typefaces, and other branding characteristics and therefore find the document credible.
- To help your audience trust an unfamiliar company, include content that provides ethos and use positively connotated language, such as “award-winning,” “assure,” “top-quality products,” “unlimited earning potential,” and “success story.”