Welcome to the Borough of Midville, PA, population 15,147. Midville is located approx. 50 miles north of Johnstown on US Rt. 119 near the intersection with I-80. Residents seeking services not found in Midville can take US Rt. 219 south to Johnstown, PA Rt. 28 to Pittsburgh, or I-80 to Youngstown, OH.
Demographics: Midville has an aging population, 54% men, 46% women. The age ranges are shown below.
-12 12-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ 15% 9% 8% 13% 15% 12% 28%
Employment: Midville has traditionally been an agricultural community with some light industry which has mostly shut down. The newest employer in town is the Zykor Corp., a high-tech engineering firm employing about 150 professionals and support personnel and known for developing exceptional high speed data switches. Cisco Systems is one of their biggest clients. Zykor was established in the late 1980s in Pittsburgh by some whiz kids from Carnegie-Mellon University. The headquarters was re-located to Midville in the last year to take advantage of clean air, good schools, and low business taxes.
The Media
Midville is part of the Johnstown-Altoona television market which includes affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS. It is very difficult to get a good signal without cable or satellite service.
The locally-owned Midville Cable Company has recently been bought out by Cosmos Cable, the largest MSO in the country, and it is being re-built as a digital service with stations imported from Pittsburgh as well as Johnstown and Altoona. Advertiser-supported networks include:
A&EMidville has two radio stations, both owned by the same local company, Midville Broadcasting. These include-
CNN
Discovery
E!
ESPN
History
Spike
We
WMID-AM, 1 KW, Good Time Oldies format, 35+ target audienceThe ClientWMID-FM, 1.6 KW, Classic Rock format, 21-41 target audience
Sam's Appliance Store, founded in 1945 by Sam Wendel and currently managed by Sam's son, John Wendel. Some pertinent information includes:
1. Located at 123 Main St., across from the Borough HallThe Campaign2. Dealer for a variety of appliance lines including-
a. GE3. More recently has become dealer for a variety of electronics lines including-
b. Westinghouse
c. Maytag
d. Whirlpool
a. Panasonic (phones, TVs, DVD players/recorders, VCRs, etc.)
b. Verizon wireless phones and service plans
c. HP/Compac computers and PDAs
d. Cable modem sales and installation as subcontractor for Cosmos Cable
4. Now offers a large selection of video tapes and DVDs for rent or purchase
5. Known as a provider of reliable service for all the products they carry
Recently John Wendel hired a marketing firm in Pittsburgh to analyze the market and develop a coordinated advertising campaign for Sam's Appliance Store. The result is a campaign designated Hometown Cool and targeted at younger residents who tend to travel to Johnstown or even Pittsburgh to purchase electronic devices. The rationale for the campaign is:
1. Older residents already purchase most of their household appliances at Sam's. For this segment a few spots emphasizing loyalty, convenience and service are all that is necessary to retain market share.2. Younger residents and especially the young professionals attracted to the area by Zykor are unlikely to even visit Sam's, thinking that cool electronic gizmos exist only in larger urban markets.
3. It was suggested that John Wendel participate in some of the commercials in the Hometown Cool campaign to emphasize the personal attention and service available from a hometown, family-owned business.
4. The goal is to convince this younger demographic that a store can offer "hometown convenience and service" and still be "cool." Hence the campaign is called Hometown Cool. (Please note that this is the title of the campaign and your individual spots will have to have individual titles related to this in some way.)
