The Southwest Marketing Advisory Center

Located on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University - Marshall, MN
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SMAC in the news

October 2007 - Headline
Flunking Finance
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New Hires


Tegan Gullickson
Tegan has really stepped up for smac after joining our ranks in Fall 07... more....


Laura Meath
Laura has stepped in to fill a much needed graphic artist here at SMAC more...

Current Projects

NAMIC
SMAC is currently partnering with the National Association of Mutual Insurance agencies to develope a "Marketing Roadmap."

The Laura Ingles Wilder Pageant

Executive Summary

The results of this study indicate that there is strong support for the overall concept of the Laura Ingles Wilder Pageant and its place in activities conducted in southwest Minnesota. The focus group and survey responses suggested changes that would enhance the pageant, including a minor name change, additional activities to be conducted in concert with the play and expansion and annual changes to the play's content. Many of the respondents are repeat attendees and have indicated a loss of interest based on the content never changing.

The Wilder event has a future with some marketing emphasis and modifications to the traditional delivery of the event.

Recommendations

  • Develop additional attractions to complement attendance during the play.
  • Conduct additional research to determine a name configuration that embraces new activities and eliminates the word, “Pageant.“
  • Expand the content of the play to embrace additional aspects of Laura's life experiences.
  • Consider scheduling the performances earlier in the day to reduce the mosquito population.

Conclusions

  • Many residents attend community activities during the year throughout the area.
  • The Pageant needs broader appeal to attract entire families to the event.
  • The term, “Pageant“ evokes connotations of either a beauty pageant or a talent competition.
  • It is important that activities continue to educate attendees on the history of the area while raising money for local needs.
  • Past years' popularity was based in large measure on the television series, “Little House on the Prairie.“
  • Newer generations are not familiar with the books or the television series.
  • Repetitive viewing of the Pageant creates a level of disinterest for attendance in subsequent years.
  • Mosquitoes and bugs are the major detraction of attendees.

This information along with a detail of findings section was all given to the client in the form of a written report. A PowerPoint report was presented to the Wilder Pageant Board of Directors.