MKTG 2P91 Brock University Airbnb Marketing Report I need someone could help me write part of marketing report. I need marketing strategy like this 4. Mark

MKTG 2P91 Brock University Airbnb Marketing Report I need someone could help me write part of marketing report. I need marketing strategy like this 4. Marketing Strategy,Objectives, 4.1.1 Website and Social Media 4.1.2 Publications 4.1.3 E-Newsletter 4.1.4 Annual Lecture 4.1.5 Business Development 4.1.6 Mailing list, and I posted example and requirements on the Word.doc. I posted the example and requirements on the Word.doc. Deaf Action
Marketing Plan
A marketing plan for the management of Deaf Action
By
STUDENT 1 NAME (Brock ID)
STUDENT 2 NAME (Brock ID)
STUDENT 3 NAME (Brock ID)
STUDENT 4 NAME (Brock ID)
MKTG 2P91 – “Introduction to Marketing”
Lecturer: Dr. Abdul R. Ashraf
Brock University
Date
Table of Contents
Contents
Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Challenges: The marketing issues faced by Deaf Action ………………………………………………….. 5
1. Situation Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
1.1 Company Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
Financial Health ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
1.1.1 SWOT Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
1.2 Competitor Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
1.3 Customer Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
2. Macro-Environmental PEST Analysis …………………………………………………………………………. 9
2.1 Political ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
2.2 Economic ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
2.3 Social……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
2.4 Technological ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
3. Market Segmentation……………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
3.1 Private customers (hearing-impaired individuals) ……………………………………………….. 10
3.2 Corporate Sector …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
3.3 Government Bodies …………………………………………………………………………………………. 11
4. Marketing Strategy ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
4.1 Objectives ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 11
4.1.1 Website and Social Media ………………………………………………………………………….. 13
4.1.2 Publications ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 16
4.1.3 E-Newsletter …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
4.1.4 Annual Lecture………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
4.1.5 Business Development ………………………………………………………………………………. 18
4.1.6 Mailing list ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
4.1.7 Promotion / Press ……………………………………………………………………………………… 20
4.1.8 Fundraising – £ 3,000 from marketing activities …………………………………………….. 22
4.2 Budget …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24
4.3 Long-term strategy ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24
4.4 Contingency Plan …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
5. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
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6. Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
7. Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31
Appendix I: Make up of Deaf Action’s income during the Financial Year 2012 ……………… 31
Appendix II: SWOT analysis graph …………………………………………………………………………… 31
Appendix III: Competitor Analysis …………………………………………………………………………… 33
Appendix IV: Customer analysis ……………………………………………………………………………… 34
Appendix V: PEST Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………… 34
Appendix VI: Social Media Use ……………………………………………………………………………….. 35
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Executive Summary
Deaf Action, founded in Edinburgh in 1835, is a Scottish charity catering to the needs
of the hearing- and vision- impaired. Their mission is to: raise awareness of the needs
and rights of deaf people, challenge discrimination, and provide services improving
quality of life as well as promoting independence. This paper identifies the most
important marketing challenges they face (a decrease in government funding and
donations, the Self-Directed Support scheme necessitating their competing with other
charities and too little brand awareness) and analyses Deaf Action’s current situation.
Drawing on multiple methods of marketing analysis, this paper will recommend a
number of strategies that Deaf Action should employ to raise awareness, increase the
number of volunteers, and drive donations within the realm of the nine objectives laid
out in their presentation to the group. If implemented, this plan will create a more
recognisable brand image for Deaf Actions, encourage higher numbers of volunteers,
and, most importantly, increase higher levels of donations.
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Introduction
Established in Edinburgh in 1835, Deaf Action seeks to assist the hearing- and the
vision-impaired in a number of ways. However, various obstacles such as declining
donations and a decrease in government funding have made it more difficult for the
charity to raise the funds necessary to continue functioning as effectively, as
previously. This marketing plan examines Deaf Action’s current situation, identifies
the challenges faced by the organization, and provides a number of recommendations
as to how those challenges could be addressed.
Challenges: The marketing issues faced by Deaf
Action
Firstly, government funding from Westminster for charities will continue to decline
(Bennett 2011; Bennett 2014) as public spending cuts are still being implemented
(Mason 2014). This could result in a financial predicament for Deaf Action.
Secondly, the Scottish government continues to implement Self-Directed Support, a
policy to improve social care (Manthorpe et al 2014). This means that all charities
have to compete with each other in persuading impaired individuals in need of their
services to choose them. People naturally gravitate to well-known and larger
organisations when choosing a product or service; consequently, Deaf Action as a
small charity stands to lose out against bigger charities if they fail to actively target
both donors and individuals in need of support to choose their services over those of
other charities.
Finally, Deaf Action feels brand awareness could be higher; indeed from the people
we spoke to around university hardly any knew of Deaf Action. Marketing themselves
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and their services effectively and efficiently to both donors and impaired individuals
will therefore be necessary for Deaf Action to increase brand awareness, encourage
more volunteers, and raise donations.
1. Situation Analysis
This paper will apply the 3C model to analyse Deaf Action’s current situation.
1.1 Company Analysis
Headquartered in Edinburgh, the charity provides services for the hearing-impaired as
well as the blind and partially sighted across all of Scotland (Deaf Action 2014a). The
four core values Respect, Achievement, Equality and Transparency have been
informing Deaf Action’s endeavours since 1929. Their mission is “to raise awareness
for hearing- and vision-impaired people’s needs and rights, challenge discrimination
against them and provide services to advocate independence and an improved quality
of life” (Deaf Action 2009). Today, they provide support to around 855,000 people in
several regions around Scotland (Deaf Action 2014c) where their services are mainly
provided under Service Level Agreements with local authorities. In helping and
advancing the cause of vulnerable populations, Deaf Action acts according to
Rawlsian ethical principles that revolve around protecting the most vulnerable in
society by maximising benefit to them. This theory is essentially centred around
practice and actions rather than outcomes (Murphy et al 2012).
In terms of ethical marketing theories, all charities walk a thin line between
maximising their positive impact (Utilitarian), maintaining a virtuous appearance
(Virtue-based), and protecting the most vulnerable (Rawlsian). These marketing
theories apply to all charities, but charities in the public eye must demonstrate more
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Virtue-based and Rawlsian characteristics. Smaller, lesser known charities tend to be
able to afford a more Utilitarian approach towards their marketing. However, in
expanding their reach/market share, growing charities must always be vigilant against
being seen as too “money grabbing”.
An effective marketing strategy for any charity will utilise a combination of all 3 of
these theories; generating the maximum return on investment, whilst acting
virtuously, and not targeting vulnerable populations.
Financial Health
Deaf Action generated an income of £1,943,083 for the financial year 2012, but had
an expenditure of £2,204,636 (OSCR 2014b), constituting 113% of the income1,
which is slightly more than the year before. In the financial year 2011 the charity
spent 110% of its income, a target Deaf Action should aim for in future years.
1.1.1 SWOT Analysis
Strengths
? Long-standing history of experience
?
Fulfil their mission
?
Fairly high level of income compared to other Scottish charities catering to
hearing- and vision-impaired people (OSCR 2014b)
o Suggest that they are fairly well known and successful
Weaknesses
? Do not offer services other than communication support and training in all of
Scotland but only in certain areas (Deaf Action 2014c)
1
Please see Appendix I for the make up of Deaf Action’s income during FY 2012.
7
o They might be less visible than bigger charities that operate in more
areas of the UK, which means that Deaf Action’s competitive value
may not compare as well as it could to similar charities.
?
Spent more money than was generated during FY 2012
o Potential financial constraint2
?
Website and social media presence do not compare well to competitors
o Links to external websites do not open in new tabs
o Subpages on the website lack sound content
o Infrequent use of social media websites
?
Logo lacks association with hearing loss
Opportunities
? Improve the website as it is the first source people consult when trying to find
out more about the charity
o Improve the visual appeal of the website (e.g. colour scheme
improvement)
o Create new logo associated with hearing-impairment
o Links to external websites, even their own Facebook and Twitter
pages, should open in new tabs so as to not navigate the user away
from Deaf Action’s website
?
Make more frequent and more effective use of social media
o Great advantages: increased awareness, particularly among younger
people, which should translate into an increased number of volunteers
Threats
? Reduction of charity funding (BBC 2011)
2
Although Deaf Action has £3m in savings (Deaf Action 2013) they should nevertheless aim to cap
their expenses because the financial situation for charities will become more difficult in the future (see
PEST analysis below).
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?
Many challenges associated with transferring marketing knowledge from the
private sector to the non-profit sector
?
Continuous implementation of funding cuts (Mason 2014)
o Charitable organisations find themselves competing for funds with
private sector challengers in education and healthcare (Andreasen et al
2005)
o Potentially lose out against bigger charities that are more present in the
public eye, in terms of donations and large sums of funding
For a more detailed SWOT analysis, please see Appendix II.
1.2 Competitor Analysis
Deaf Action faces both direct and indirect competition. They directly compete with
other Scottish charities that cater to the needs of hearing- and vision- impaired people.
Additionally, they compete with all other kinds of charities as well as all other nonessentials people spend money on. For a more detailed competitor analysis, please see
Appendix III.
1.3 Customer Analysis
Deaf Action has two types of “customers”, those who make use of the charity’s
services (hearing- and vision-impaired individuals) and those who contribute to the
charity in terms of donations. For a more detailed customer analysis, please see
Appendix IV.
2. Macro-Environmental PEST Analysis
This PEST analysis will identify political, economics, social and technological issues
that affect Deaf Action.
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2.1 Political
?
Council representatives have to be approachable by handicapped people
(Action on Hearing Loss 2014b), which means they constitute a potential
customer of Deaf Action’s services and equipment
2.2 Economic
?
Only half of the government’s Third Sector spending cuts have come into
effect thus far (Mason 2014), which will negatively impact funding for Deaf
Action
2.3 Social
?
An aging population (The Scottish Parliament 2013) and an increase in deaf
children (Robertson and Emerson 2010) means an increase in the number of
people that demand the services Deaf Action offers.
2.4 Technological
?
New technological advances in hearing aid could prolong hearing, which
might mean that people will need Deaf Action’s services later in life. This will
reduce workload as well as income for Deaf Action.
For the complete PEST analysis please see Appendix V.
3. Market Segmentation
Deaf Action’s target market consists of various segments. The three most important
ones are: private customers, the corporate sector and governmental bodies. All of
these will be discussed below.
3.1 Private customers (hearing-impaired individuals)
People who use Deaf Action’s services and rely on Deaf Action to maintain a certain
quality of life cover a plethora of ages. All of these have different needs, which
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suggests that Deaf Action should tailor their services to various age groups instead of
to the entire deaf population of Scotland.
3.2 Corporate Sector
Both the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (UK Government, 2014), and the 2010
Equality Act (UK Government, 2013) state that private companies are required by law
to enable the employment of handicapped people. Under these acts, businesses are
encouraged to have an accessible working environment, which includes the education
and understanding of British Sign Language (BSL) that Deaf Action offers
interpreters for. Private sector companies hence constitute a market for Deaf Action’s
BSL interpreters.
3.3 Government Bodies
Laws enacted by Westminster and Brussels require every government in the EU
facility to be accessible to all members of society (Clifford, 2011); this includes wheel
chair access as well as the option to converse with a representative in BSL. By
contacting local MSPs Deaf Action would be able to offer their services for day-today activities, and also one-off events, which may require designated interpreters.
Government bodies are potentially more willing to use the services of a long
established Scottish charity.
4. Marketing Strategy
4.1 Objectives
Following the objectives laid out by Deaf Action, this section will outline the
marketing strategy by suggesting how the various objectives may be achieved.
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Importantly, within the realm of attaining those strategies Deaf Action needs to focus
on four spheres in their marketing campaign, in each of which they target specific
population groups:
?
Awareness raising
o Adolescents and young people
o Middle-aged people
o Elderly
?
Donations
o Young People
o Middle-aged people
o Elderly
?
Services
o Deaf children
o Deaf and hearing-impaired elderly people
?
Volunteers
o Adolescents and young people
Andreasen et al’s (2005) study has found that charitable organisations often make the
mistake of trying to find “one best strategy” (p64) while ignoring plausible
alternatives they could test. This marketing plan seeks to counteract this common
mistake and proposes a multifaceted approach addressing all four spheres by fulfilling
the 9 objectives laid out by Deaf Action: Website (and social media), publications, enewsletter, annual lecture, business development, mailing list, promotion / press,
fundraising, and Self-Directed Support. The last point will not have a separate
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subheading because the marketing plan will continue to make reference to it
throughout the other points.
All strategic recommendations were chosen according to the SMART principles3.
4.1.1 Website and Social Media
Website
Firstly, a number of improvements can be made in regards to website content. On the
“What’s On” page, for example, there should be some text; if there are no events
planned for now, a little text could inform people what future events are planned and
when visitors can expect more detailed information to be uploaded. Also, the text on
the “Get involved” section of the website should start with a more inviting message4
and the text on the “Gifts in your Will” page should be worded more delicately.5
There should also be a kid’s section on the website advertising Deaf Action’s services
to the children’s parents; advertising to the children themselves would be unethical as
they are unable to resist online marketing campaigns (Austin and Reed 1999), hence
marketing to their parents is according to Rawlsian values. These recommendations
are relevant and attainable.
Links to external websites should open in new tabs so as to not navigate the user away
from Deaf Action’s website. This way users are more likely to visit Deaf Action’s
3
A mnemonic acronym for: Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely
For example “We greatly appreciate all the time and effort our volunteers make in order to help us
support deaf and hearing-impaired people around Scotland” instead of a negative phrasing like “Deaf
Action cannot keep on doing our work…”.
5 The text could read, for instance, something to the effect of “Thank you for contemplating benefiting
us in your will. We understand that this is a sensitive subject for many people and greatly appreciate
you taking action in finding out more about donating to our charity. Will donations are an important
part of our income and your donations will enable us to offer the best benefits possible to Scots
suffering from hearing loss.?…
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