Proposal to West Bloomfield Public School District

Avery Zimmerman, Carrie Paveglio, Denise Reece-Jennings, Nick Zander

COM 5130 Fall 2019

Letter of Proposal 
Dr. Gerald Hill
West Bloomfield School District
5810 Commerce Rd
West Bloomfield Township, MI 48324

December 5, 2019

Dear Dr. Gerald Hill,

We present a proposal to increase water intake in youth and decrease their sugar consumption.
Our campaign will influence school-aged children in Michigan to choose water over sugary
drinks by informing them of the health benefits of water and the health risks associated with
sugary drinks—such as obesity and heart disease.

A report conducted by the Center of Disease Control in June 2015 stated that youth are not
consuming enough water, which can lead to significant health risks. We also know that youth are
disproportionately targeted by ads for sugary drinks. Because of this, we chose our target
audience to be school-aged children in West Bloomfield Public School District.

Our distribution of free reusable water bottles along with placing promotional and informational
flyers and pamphlets around the school will encourage our audience to increase their water
intake. Our campaign will bring together healthy living trends and messages relating to youth to
encourage making healthier decisions.

Through a partnership with the Brita GmbH manufacturing company, the opportunities to
provide reusable and filtered water bottles will encourage our audience to drink water and also
promote staying hydrated in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.

Our campaign will tell students that the time is now to start making healthier choices. This
campaign is needed and our audience is ready to hear, “Make the Switch. GoH2O.”

Sincerely,

Avery Zimmerman, Carrie Paveglio, Denise Reece-Jennings, Nick Zander

Oakland County Health Department, Communications and Outreach

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Index 
 
Executive Summary 4 
 
Background 5 
 
SWOT Analysis 6 
 
Goals & Objectives 7 
 
Overcoming Barriers 9 
 
Marketing Plan 10  
 
Implementation 12 
 
Evaluation 13 
 
Budget 14 
 
Appendix 15 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
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Executive Summary
On June 11, 2015 HealthDay reported that children and teens are not consuming enough water
especially, which could affect their physical and mental health because of dehydration. It is
important for children and teens to start drinking water now so they can break the habit and not
become addicted to sugary, caffeinated drinks
 
Mission:​ ​“We want children and teens to make it a habit of drinking water over sugary
substitutes and to be aware of the effects of not drinking enough water as well as the negative
health outcomes of consuming large amounts of sugar.”

Goal:​ ​To increase the amount of water school children drink in West Bloomfield Public Schools
and reduce the number of sugary drinks they consume.

Objective 1:​ ​To increase knowledge of the benefits of water and the risks associated with sugary
drinks​.
Objective 2:​ ​To increase the amount of water children in West Bloomfield drink to 30 to 48
ounces a day.
Objective 3:​ ​To increase the chances that children in West Bloomfield will replace a sugary drink
with water each day.
Objective 4:​ ​To partner with the Brita manufacturing company to encourage water intake by
providing access to filtered water bottles.

Audience:​ ​Our target audience is students in the West Bloomfield public school district. Our
target audience is approximately 5,400 students across multiple schools. U.S youth drank an
average of 15 ounces of water a day, which is much less than the recommended 64 ounces. U.S.
youth who drank less water also tended to drink less milk, eat less fruits and vegetables, drink
more sugary beverages, eat more fast food, and get less physical activity (CDC, 2018). We also
found that youth are disproportionately targeted by advertisements for sugary drinks (Harris,
Schwartz & Brownell, 2011) For these reasons, targeting school children is the most impactful
because they are the most likely to consume large amounts of sugary beverages and develope the
health problems associated with that behavior. Furthermore, by targeting school-aged children
we hope to help them break these unhealthy behaviors before they become a life-long habit.
 
Partnerships:
1. Brita GmbH, a manufacturing company that produces filtration systems and filtered water
bottles.
2. West Bloomfield Public School District

4
Background 
The Problem 
The CDC published a study in 2016 and found Americans are not consuming adequate
amounts of water. They also found that only a small portion of that amount was actually from
pure water: 34% for women and 30% for men (Rosinger & Herrick, 2016). The rest of their daily
water intake comes from food and other liquids, like soda and juice, which all have higher
calories and sugar content than water. Drinking sugary drinks instead of water can lead to serious
health complications, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Furthermore, many individuals
are not aware of how much sugar and calories they are consuming through these liquids.

Our Purpose 
The purpose of this campaign is to increase daily pure water consumption, increase the
likelihood that our target audience replaces sugary drinks with water, and to inform of the health
risks associated with consuming sugary beverages.

Our Target 
Youth are disproportionately targeted by advertisements for sugary drinks. In 2010,
Coca-Cola advertisements accounted for 24.8% of target children’s ad exposure, with PepsiCo at
13.7% and Dr. Pepper and Snapple Group at 10.2%. This places children at the most at risk for
drinking sugary drinks instead of water and therefore developing the potential health risks
associated with them.

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SWOT Analysis 
In order to conduct a highly effective campaign, it is necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of
the strengths and weaknesses within our own organization and the environmental opportunities
and threats that can affect our campaign.

Strengths 
● Our partnership with the Brita manufacturing company. Through this partnership, we will
distribute free filtered water bottles to encourage water consumption in a sustainable way.
By providing a reusable water bottle we can help ensure GoH20 will have a sustained
impact while also being environmentally friendly.

Weaknesses 
● Ensuring all faculty and staff members will help promote our campaign to their students.
● Ensuring information materials—like the informational sheets and pamphlets— will be
taken home to the students’ parents.

Opportunities 
● Recent studies have gained media attention showing connections between sugary drinks
and obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other health concerns (Harvard T.H Chan School
of Public Health, 2019). Due to this publicity, we will not have to prove that sugary
drinks have a negative impact on health. It is likely that parents and students will see the
benefits without much opposition.
● New technology like the Brita filter and other filtration systems and water bottles have
made access to filtered water bottles easier than ever.

Threats
● Companies that produce sugary drinks like Coke or Red Bull frequently advertise with
huge, well funded, and identifiable campaigns. We cannot prevent our audience from
seeing their advertisements.
● Some may find purchasing a sugary drink more convenient than carrying a water bottle.
● Sugary drinks are likely available in school vending machines.
● Parents might still offer sugary beverages at home, making it difficult for students to
break the habit.

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Goals 
The goal of our campaign is to increase water intake of school children in West Bloomfield
public schools to 30-48 ounces a day and to increase the likelihood that they will replace a
sugary drink for water. We also want students to be educated on the negative health benefits of
choosing sugary drinks over water.

Objective 1: To increase knowledge of the benefits of water and 

the risks associated with sugary drinks​.
Our campaign will work to educate students on the health benefits of drinking water and the
health risks of drinking sugary drinks. Sugary beverages can lead to an increased risk of obesity,
diabetes, heart disease, gout, bad bone health, and dental cavities (Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health, 2019). Through our informational posters and brochures, our audience will
understand the risks associated with drinking sugary drinks and encourage them to opt for water
instead.

Objective 2:​ To increase the amount of water schoolchildren in 

West Bloomfield drink to 30 to 48 ounces a day.  
Our campaign is working to increase the amount of water that school children in West
Bloomfield are drinking. The CDC reported that United States youth drank only 15 ounces of
water a day, while the recommended amount is 60 ounces (CDC, 2018). We chose our range of
30 to 48 ounces because it is double the amount of water school children are currently drinking
and more attainable for children than 60 ounces. Increasing the amount of water schoolchildren
drink will bring health benefits and decrease the chances that they are drinking a sugary drink as
well as the negative health outcomes associated with them.

Objective 3: To increase the chances school children in West 

Bloomfield will replace a sugary drink with water each day.
After our campaign works to increase the knowledge of the health risks of sugary drinks and the
health benefits of drinking water, we will urge students to replace one sugary drink with water
each day. Framing our behavior change as a replacement behavior will make it more
understandable and attainable for school children to do. This is an important aspect of our
campaign because choosing what to drink is a decision that our target audience has to make

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every day. By doing this, it will increase the amount of water school children are drinking and
reduce the health risks associated with drinking sugary drinks.

Objective 4: To partner with the Brita manufacturing company 

to encourage water intake by providing access to filtered water 
bottles. 
Our campaign is different than past campaigns focused on hydration because we are focused on
more sustainable practices of drinking water. Instead of partnering with water companies like
Nestle or Aquafina that promote single-use plastics, we are partnered with Brita. Brita’s
manufacturing company produces filtration systems and filtered water bottles, which is a more
sustainable and environmentally friendly option than drinking single-use plastic water bottles.
We want our target audience to drink more water without environmental waste. Partnering with
Brita also helps us with ensuring that the water school children are drinking at school and at
home is safe and filtered.

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Overcoming Barriers 
Barrier: ​ Not having access to clean water or no economic ability to purchase water filtration
systems.
Solution:​ Providing free, filtered water bottles.

Barrier:​ ​Not knowing the health benefits of water or the health risks of sugary drink. Not
knowing how much sugar is actually in their favorite drinks.
Solution:​ Our campaign materials and efforts will be focused on highlighting statistics and facts
to reduce this lack of knowledge.

Barrier:​ ​Not liking plain water or having a sugar or caffeine addiction

Solution:​ Suggesting tasty, low-sugar alternatives to sugary drinks and tips for breaking caffeine
and sugar addiction.

Barrier: ​The attitudes of school children not being concerned with being healthy or long term
benefits of drinking water.
Solution:​ Our campaign will highlight the immediate health benefits of water and health risks of
drinking sugary drinks. Examples include: the increased risk of having to go through painful
cavity filling procedures at the dentist because of drinking sugary drinks or the impact it has on
their physical appearance like blemishes on the skin.

Barrier: ​Students not taking informational materials home to parents

Solution: ​We will work closely with you to discern the most effective way to distribute materials.
This includes setting up a booth at parent-teacher conferences and scheduling a parent email
blast, we will ensure parents receive this information so they can support their children. Parents
will be able to talk with a representative to ask questions and learn more.

 
 
 

9
 
Marketing Plan 
 
Product 
● Influencing a change from sugary drinks to water and using reusable water bottles will be
the goal for our target audience.
○ Educating our audience on health benefits will help to influence change in your
choice of drink.
○ Water bottles with our logo.

 
Price 
● We will decrease the monetary cost of having to buy your own water filtration system or
bottle by providing access to free filtered water bottles.
● We will highlight the monetary incentives of:
○ Drinking water is cheaper than drinking sugary drinks.
■ Example: A 12 ounce Red Bull is $2.69, a 24 pack of bottled water runs
$9-10
■ Example: Refilling a filtered water bottle with tap water or water fountains
at school is very cheap for the child.
○ Treating the diseases caused by high sugar consumption is pricey.
■ Example: the price of insulin if someone develops diabetes.
○ The immediate health risks associated with sugary drinks are painful.
■ Example: getting a cavity filled at the dentist.

Place 
● Our campaign will be implemented in the moderately sized West Bloomfield Public
School District.
● Our promotional posters and information will be located around the school, focused in
and around the cafeteria, water fountains, and vending machines.
● We will position ourselves outside the cafeteria giving out free water bottles encouraging
school children to fill them up during their lunch period instead of buying a sugary drink.
● We will have materials and a booth at parent-teacher conferences.

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Promotion 
● Our key messages will focus on:
○ The health benefits of water
○ The health risks of sugary drinks
● Our key messengers:
○ Teachers and faculty to reiterate the messages of our campaign
○ Teachers of extra curriculars like band teachers or coaches.
○ Other students who run morning announcements or are a part of student council
or other student organizations.
○ Representatives will be present at parent-teacher conferences and one lunch
period distributing water bottles and answering questions
● Creative strategy:
○ Promotional posters and informational pamphlets
○ Stickers with our logo on it
○ Filtered water bottles with our logo on it to promote drinking water sustainably.

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 Implementation  
This campaign will be completed in two phases. The first phase is a shortened pilot located
in one middle school in the district. The second phase is a full implementation of the
campaign throughout all schools in the district.

PHASE ONE: Launch GoH2O pilot at one West Bloomfield Middle 

School 
● The first phase will take place at Orchard Lake Middle School for the Fall 2020-Winter
2021 school year.
● The pilot will function exactly like the final campaign, just on a smaller scale
● Students will receive free water bottles and promotional/informational material will be
hung around the school and taken home to parents.
● A survey will be conducted in June to measure the impact of the campaign

PHASE TWO: Launch the full GoH2O campaign at all schools in 
the West Bloomfield School District   
● The full campaign will take place at all schools during the Fall 2021-Winter 2022 school
year.
● Students will receive free water bottles and promotional/informational material will be
hung around the school and taken home to parents.
● We will focus and adjust our messages and goals based on the result of the pilot.
● We aim to meet, and ideally surpass, the success of the pilot.
● A survey will be conducted in June to measure the impact of the campaign

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 Evaluation 
Our organization will do an evaluation to determine if course corrections are needed, our
messages need to be refined, or if our delivery needs to be rethought. We will be evaluating the
success of our pilot program at one West Bloomfield Middle School and use these results to
determine if corrections are needed before we implement the campaign through the entire
district. This evaluation will benefit our organization in making sure that our campaign strategy
is effective. We will present our evaluation findings and potential corrections to the
superintendent of West Bloomfield Public Schools, Gerald Hill, to justify the expansion of our
campaign into every school in the district. We will also present our evaluation to our partner,
Brita.
We will be measuring the outcome of 4 goals:
● That students water intake increased to a range between 30 to 48 ounces of water
a day.
● That 75% of students in the school will be able to recall our campaign from
posters and informational flyers.
● That 60% of students in the school will be able to identify the benefits of drinking
30 to 48 ounces of water a day.
● That 50% of students will report they switched out a sugary drink for water at at
least one of their meals this week.
We will be measuring these outcomes by conducting a survey that will be given out to the
students by their teachers in first period classes. The survey will be self-reported by our target
audience, the students in West Bloomfield Public Schools. See Appendix D.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Budget 
 
The overall estimated cost for the “GoH2O” is $102,480.00. Below is a complete budget
breakdown:

Cost associated with product-related strategies:

Product Quantity Estimated Per-Unit Cost ($) Total Cost ($)

Tee Shirts 5,400 $5.00 $27,000.00

Brochures 5,400 $0.20 $1,080.00

Water Bottles 5,400 $8.00 $43,200.00

SubTotal: $71,280.00

Costs associated with promotion-related strategies:

Product Quantity Estimated Per-Unit Cost ($) Total Cost ($)

Flyers 800 $0.20 $160.00

Posters 400 $0.80 $320.00

Sub Total: $480.00

Labor Costs:

Product Quantity Estimated Per-Unit Cost ($) Total Cost ($)

Laborers 4 $7,680.00 $30,720.00

SubTotal: $30,720.00

GO H2O Estimated Overall Cost ($):

Estimated Overall Cost ($) = $102,480.00

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APPENDIX 
A. Poster 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 B. Poster 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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C. Water Bottle 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
C. Sticker  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Make The Switch 

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D. T-shirt 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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E. Survey  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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F. Creative Brief (External) 

GoH20 
Creative Brief
Project Title:  Details:  Responsibility 
Overview The goal of this campaign is to increase All team members
water intake for students at West Bloomfield
School District and have them be more likely
to switch out a sugary drink for water. We
also want them to understand the risks of
drinking sugary drinks and the benefits of
drinking water. Because we are working
within schools, we will have teachers give
surveys to the children, which is how we will
measure results.
Deliverables Needed logo and slogan design; designs for Avery Zimmerman
pamphlets, infographics and posters; printed
logo and slogan on reuseable, filtered water
bottles, T-shirt design.
Primary Audiences Target audience is school-age children. We All team members
will work with the district to place promotional
materials and make sure parents recieve the
message. We will provide reusable water
bottles to promote sustainable, clean, and
convenient water consumption. We should
avoid mentioning that many of these health
problems do not occur until later in life as this
may cause some students to not take sugar
consumption seriously. We should instead
stress the seriousness of the issues and the
huge role that sugar plays in their
development. We will also stress more
immediate consequences, such as cavities.
Tone and Image The tone of our campaign is informational Carrie Paveglio
and serious, but simple enough for children,
young and old, to understand. The target
audience believes that sugary drinks are not
a negative behavior and may not think they
are capable of drinking 24 to 48 ounces of
water a day. The imagery and visual goals
are to compare the contents of sugary drinks
and water and the different effects of drinking
both. We will also highlight the immediate
consequences in our materials. If the primary
audience sees the comparison in a visual
way, the facts of our campaign will be easier
for them to understand and learn.
Messages: Features, Water is healthier and cheaper than sugary
drinks. Switching to water will make the
Benefits and Value priority audience less likely to develop health
problems such as obesity, heart disease,
diabetes and more. Statistics show that

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 sugary drinks are highly marketed towards
children, and many children and parents to
not realize the adverse effects. Our campaign
will educate and promote healthy behaviors.
Schedule A pilot will take place during the 2020/21 Denise
school year. Reece-Jennings
The full campaign will take place during
during the 2021-2022
The Deadline The beginning of the 2020/21 school year. All Team
Members
Budget Our full budget for all materials is Nick Zander
$102,480.00

Process All processes will be signed off by all All Team

campaign facilitators: Avery Zimmerman, Members
Carrie Paveglio, Nick Zander, Denise
Reece-Jennings. Final sign off by John
Feignburg, the head of the Oakland County
Health Department
Client
Signature
Carrie Paveglio
586-915-5546

Date 12/1/2020
Communications Signature
Carrie Paveglio
Manager
Date 12/1/2020

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
F. Creative Brief (Internal) 

21
 

GoH20 
​

Creative Brief

Overview: The goal of this campaign is to increase water intake for students at
West Bloomfield School District and have them be more likely to
switch out a sugary drink for water. We also want them to understand
the risks of drinking sugary drinks and the benefits of drinking water.
Because we are working within schools, we will have teachers give
surveys to the children, which is how we will measure results.
Deliverables Needed logo and slogan design; designs for pamphlets, infographics and
posters; printed logo and slogan on reuseable, filtered water bottles,
T-shirt design.
Primary Audiences Target audience is school-age children. We will work with the district
to place promotional materials and make sure parents recieve the
message. We will provide reusable water bottles to promote
sustainable, clean, and convenient water consumption. We should
avoid mentioning that many of these health problems do not occur
until later in life as this may cause some students to not take sugar
consumption seriously. We should instead stress the seriousness of
the issues and the huge role that sugar plays in their development.
We will also stress more immediate consequences, such as cavities.
Tone and Image The tone of our campaign is informational and serious, but simple
enough for children, young and old, to understand. The target
audience believes that sugary drinks are not a negative behavior and
may not think they are capable of drinking 24 to 48 ounces of water a
day. The imagery and visual goals are to compare the contents of
sugary drinks and water and the different effects of drinking both. We
will also highlight the immediate consequences in our materials. If
the primary audience sees the comparison in a visual way, the facts
of our campaign will be easier for them to understand and learn.
Messages: Features, Benefits and Water is healthier and cheaper than sugary drinks. Switching to
water will make the priority audience less likely to develop health
Value problems such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and more.
Statistics show that sugary drinks are highly marketed towards
children, and many children and parents to not realize the adverse
effects. Our campaign will educate and promote healthy behaviors.
Schedule A pilot will take place during the 2020-2021 school year.
The full campaign will take place during during the 2021-2022
The Deadline The beginning of the 2020/21 school year.
Budget Our full budget for all materials is ​$102,480.00
Process All processes will be signed off by all campaign facilitators: Avery
Zimmerman, Carrie Paveglio, Nick Zander, Denise Reece-Jennings.
Final sign off by John Feignburg, the head of the Oakland County
Health Department.
Client Signature
Dr. Gerald Hill
Gerald.hill@wbsd.org
248-865-6480.

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 Date 12/1/2020
Communications Manager Signature
Carrie Paveglio

Date 12/1/2020

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

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Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018.) Get The Facts: Drinking Water and
Intake.Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/plain-water-the-healthier-choice.html
Corliss, J. (2019, August 27). Eating too much Added Sugar Increases the Risk of Dying with
Heart Disease. Retrieved from
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/eating-too-much-added-sugar-increases-the-risk-of-
dying-with-heart-disease-201402067021​.
Harris, J., Schwartz, M., Brownell, K. (2011). Evaluating Sugary Drink Nutrition and Marketing
to Youth. Retrieved from
http://milfordyouthcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SugaryDrinkFACTS_ReportS
ummary.pdf
Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. (2019). The Nutrition Source: Sugary Drinks.
Retrieved from
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/sugary-drinks/​.
Quench Water Services Survey. (2018). Nearly 80 Percent of Working Americans Say They
Dont Drink Enough Water. Retrieved from
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-80-percent-of-working-americans-say
-they-dont-drink-enough-water-quench-survey-300668537.html
Rosinger, A., & Herrick, K. (2016). Daily Water Intake Among U.S. Men and Women,
2009–2012. ​NCHS Data Brief​, ​242​. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db242.htm
The Nielsen Company. (2015). The Drink Up Campaign Is Improving America’s Health, One
Water Bottle At A Time. Retrieved from
https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2015/the-drink-up-campaign-is-improving
-america-s-health-one-water-bottle-at-a-time/​.
 
 

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