Strategic Marketing Management 1 Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Strategic Marketing Management

Marketing Plan

Executive Summary

The report below highlights the marketing strategy of the Interchange IE, an NGO dealing with young disabled people and their family members. The report discusses the scope and limitations of the NGO. Further the marketing objectives of the Interchange IE is mentioned. The NGO positions and targets the people of Melbourne, Australia. Further marketing strategies of the NGO is mentioned. The marketing strategy is also threw light on. The NGO is suggested to regulate its pricing and expand its services to more people. Further the NGO is given the strategy to expand the brand to more audience to increase its funding.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Problem Statement

Recommendations focusing on quality and justification of selection:

Proposed Strategies

Conclusion 

Reference

Introduction

Interchange IE is also termed as Interchange Inner East. It is a 40-year old non-profit organization that supports young individuals with disabilities to lead a smooth regular life. The company not only helps the young disabled but also provides aid to their family. A local family began this through a volunteer host program. They provide those disabled individuals with various options for community ventures, center-based projects, support, and breathing space. The organization supports almost 400+ families with its amenities. The two offices of the organization are situated in Surrey Hills and Canterbury. The organization consists of 200 staff members, which include full-time, part-time, casual staff, and also a team of more than 50 volunteers. They help individuals suffering from autism, physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, etc.

The main objective of the organization is to support and provide all sorts of necessities to disabled individuals and their families. To accomplish this, the organization ensures the implementation of high-quality, innovative help and support to them (Lu et al, 2019). It is done so that these individuals can live comfortably in society as well as in their houses. The purposes of the organization have been stated below (Ferguson, 2018):

• To deliver individual preferences for the empowerment of young people and their families.

• To provide innovative services to them so that they have a satisfactory experience. It would enhance the participation of the community and influence the society to accept them and their services.

• To promote and encourage disabled people and their families throughout the entire community to include themselves.

• The inclusion of immensely capable, highly skilled, and trained staff members and volunteers are essential for strengthening the safety and services provided by the organization.

• It also aims at attaining sustainability through effective management policies. It utilizes resources systematically and logically to provide maximum support to the young people suffering from disabilities and their family members.

In the report, the various marketing strategies for enhancing the growth and expansion of Interchange IE have been discussed along with the risks and issues attached to its implementation.

Scope and Limitations of The Report

The report has tried to enlighten the strategic recommendations for Interchange IE. The organization must adopt them to conduct their operation smoothly and successfully. It can also expand its business in the Australia. However, the financial crisis and lack of volunteers and participants still remain a big issue which needs focus. To a certain extent, the report has provided a recommendations to sort it out. Although the issues related to volunteers and participants can be solved by adopting proposed marketing plan. It could not provide a permanent and constructive solution to the financial issue.

Problem Statement

Interchange IE has been working as a non-profit organization and aims to help and support young disabled people and the members of the family. However, the organization has faced a few challenges in attaining such a goal set by them. Firstly, the organization is a company with a limited amount of funds; the resources of the company are limited. Because of such a reason, the high set goals by the company is a difficult task to achieve. While achieving greater targets, it is essential to have high funding that would benefit the company, but Interchange IE lacks such funds.

Secondly, the company has aimed to attract a large number of volunteers for the social program initiated by the company. For such a purpose, the companies have adopted a few strategies that would attract a large number of interested volunteers, but they failed to attract the desired number of people. Interchange IE has tried many methods for promoting the program, but the company did not succeed in it. The promotion strategy adopted did not reach out to many, and this is why the company is facing difficulties with its human resources and has a lack of volunteers.

Recommendations focusing on quality and justification of selection:

The organization is focusing on targeting and improving its quality in Melbourne, Australia. The reason is that the individuals over there are enthusiastic regarding volunteering for this purpose, and the participants are also eager to join these services.

A non-profit organization like Interchange.ie focuses on providing services to the people who are disabled. The method of a non-profit organization is the enactment of the services offered by the company to the people. Interchange.ie is an organization that needs beneficiaries and funds to work on. For the efficient working of the organization, there must be sufficient funds, which can be gained by beneficiaries and brands supporting the organization. Certain brands collaborate with the organization to raise funds for the people for whom the organization is working. (Slack, et al, 2018) .The Process, although, involves risks of a proper method of conveyance.

The brand and beneficiaries require adequate conveyance for the message to the people, and good use of their funds for the benefit of the people. The risk in the Process lies whether the information is conducted in a proper method or not. The beneficiaries want their brand positioning as well. Moreover, the appropriate investment of the funds is one of the significant risks which a non-profit organization goes through. The people should get their share from the funds. Interchange.ie focuses on the proper investment of the funds which they are getting from the beneficiaries.

They expand the fundraising programs via advertisements and banners where the beneficiaries and the other stakeholders could lay their eye on and donate to the organization. Moreover, Interchange .ie keeps itself updated in all the social media platforms and the telecommunications where they spread the message about their organization. Along with the funds and processes, Interchange.ie also opts for volunteers in their organization who could have a great learning experience while working there. With this, Interchange maintains its own culture in the delivery of their services with proper management of their resources.

Proposed Strategies

• Improving services:

In the marketing theory, the product is the main item that attracts customers. The traditional theory of product revolves around three levels of a product, namely, the core, actual, and augmented product (Brown, 2006). In the case of Interchange IE, the product that is offered is the services of the NGO. The company must highlight the potential benefits attached to the companies or the people investing in such services. The details of the activities arranged by the company like camps, family events, and support to the family must be informed to the investors. The positive impact attached to such investment much be highlighted so that the investors show interest in the services (Prynko, et al, 2017).

Further, the social credibility and social recognition that the investors will have from such funding must be communicated to them. For product marketing, it is also necessary that the branding is done. The goals, the behavior, and the values of the organizations contribute to its branding. The brand value of the NGO must be effectively communicated so that more people are interested in contributing to the funds of Interchange IE. An individual will be interested in a service having a greater brand value than the one with a lower one.

Therefore, the branding must be focused on by the organization. However, it is also a fact that with the product being marketed, there is a certain amount of risk attached as well. The main risk that will be faced by Interchange IE is the number of competitors they have in the market. Many NGOs are operating in the market performing similar work, and this is why it will get challenging to compete with those organizations. It will be difficult to promote the services that are performed and to attract more people.

• Costing:

Price is a key element in the marketing strategy. In the traditional form of marketing, the price is said to be that, a cost that must be paid for the purchase of a product or a service.In the promotion of a commodity, the pricing strategy must be fixed in such a way that they attract more consumers. In this case, price is referred to as the donations, and the product is the services. The pricing motive of the company must first be assumed to give the pricing strategy (Kumar, et al, 219). Interchange IE must adapt the motive to reach out to the maximum of the targeted audience.

The company has a low operating fund and volunteers, so the company must expand its targeted audience.For such a reason, a theory must be adopted by the Interchange IE, where the services provided are of greater value than the cost invested.Certain expenses are incurred with the campaigns and activities that are promoted by the NGOs. The cost involved in those activities like the services provided and the time, efforts, and other non-tangible services must be kept low. The price that must be invested to purchase the items for the campaign must be kept low, the cost to arrange the activities must be reduced, and focus must be made on increasing the number of activities that are done by the organization.

• Approaching Corporate Organizations for Funding

An increased number of services performed by the company will help in attracting more individuals and companies who would show interest in donating to the organizations. By such a method, not only will the funds be raised, but the involvement of the people will also grow. However, it is also a fact that lowering the cost incurred in the activities is an effective method to control the pricing, but adopting such a technique by the organizations is a challenging task.

• Promotion Strategies:

Promotion is an effective strategy that must be adopted by an organization to reach out to the audience and to make more people aware of the brand (Zafeiriou, et al, 29016). An effective medium of promotion adopted by the Interchange IE will help the company to reach a vast number of targetted audiences and to acquire funds and volunteers for their campaigns. The organizations should choose the online platform for the promotion of their services and activities provided to the young disabled people and their families. The main reason behind the adoption of such a strategy is the crisis of funds of the company. Online advertisements require a low cost, which will benefit the company to save money.

Moreover, the trend for online promotions is increasing with every passing day. Interchange IE can reach a larger audience through advertisements in social networking sites and other online platforms. For the promotion, Interchange IE must opt for methods by which the audience will be able to connect with the activities that the NGO does. The company must create accounts on websites and different other social media platforms where they must upload pictures and videos of the campaigns that they organized. Moreover, videos interviewing the disabled and their families must be uploaded by which the audience will be able to connect with them. The organizations can also opt for online campaigns and fundraisers (Freundlich, 2019). By such a method, people can be made aware, and funds and volunteers can be gathered as well.

• Target Market:

The organization is anticipating to start its program in the City of Boroondara. It is, therefore, essential for them to target the local participants and local volunteers. It will make the program to be conducted more effortlessly, and the volunteers can also regularly participate in the program and reach the people easily. The distance of the selection of place mustn't be too far. Moreover, it can also target the inner and outer suburban Melbourne to expand their scope and reach. The main objective of the organization is to provide maximum aid and support to the maximum number of individuals. Therefore, it can make a collab with other local city councils and thus can run their program in and around Melbourne. However, all these will require an investment of an adequate amount of resources.

The organization, therefore, must collect more donations to enhance its resources or approach various corporations for sponsorship. It will enable them to increase their financial stability. After that, they can utilize those funds to promote their brand within the targeted group of individuals (Freundlich,2019.).Hence it would help the Interchange it to develop its brand value. It would also help the organization to increase its staff members as well as participants in the local community. Therefore your organization must adopt the said marketing strategy by mitigating the financial risk.

The necessity of operating its programs and campaigns in areas nearby is that monitoring the volunteers and other employees for the organization will become easy. Moreover, it is also cost-effective and beneficial for the organization to conduct their programs for the society within the targeted location and collect donations from a particular area which can be easily accessible.

• Hiring professional and skilled volunteers:

Every organization is build up with a lot of people working for it. An essential element to run an organization is the teamwork. Keeping the non-profit organization in mind, these organizations require a greater number of people, as they provide services to people in a human form, at times. Interchange.ie is an organization that deals with young disabled people. The organization also deals with the families of such people to develop better relations and bonds with them, which can be a better environment for disabled people. Dealing with disabled people requires a lot of skills in every aspect. For such dealing,patience must be maintained. They have to deal with psychologically, weak people. Interchange.ie involves a lot of volunteers for their organization.

Methods must be opted by which the hiring of employees can be maximized. They always send messages and put if advertisements and notices regarding the hire of volunteers. These volunteers can be students as well. However, there must be certain skills, and the volunteers must be qualified to get employed. The volunteer who must be hired must at least have primary education. They must know the psychology regarding disabled people and their state. They must have a basic idea of the ways of dealing with the people. The volunteers must also have an idea about social work and must have some experience regarding it. This will help in the proper functioning of the organization and will also be easier for the volunteers to know their work as well. (Akingbola, et al, 2019) Interchange.

IE ensures that their volunteers get a better environment to work and a fantastic experience. Such an approach of the organization helps to improve themself professionally through the training sessions and workshops which are held for the volunteers by the organization. Interchange.ie also makes sure that they extend their gratitude towards their employees and volunteers so that they, too, develop a better bond with the organization.

• Objectives:

The main agenda of the organization is to make it's brand popular so that more individuals join them to serve the society, more number of individuals seek their support, and they can expand their staff service. They aim at helping the young disabled individuals and their families

• Risk and Issues:

The organization being a small one, suffers from the financial crisis, and as a result, they face a various number of challenges in expanding their reach. The organization must target the donors of the targeted place and convince them that their donations are being used for the benefits of the young people and their families. It will enable them to get satisfaction and rely upon the organization. As a result, they will come out to provide more help and support to the community. By this strategy, the organization can enhance sustainability in the market and continue with their service of delivering necessary facilities and other amenities to the disabled individuals.

• Justification:

Physical evidence the services offered by the Interchange IE is intangible in nature. Therefore the organization needs to convince or persuade the Donor that day donations are being used effectively and appropriately. It will not only create trust and faith in the organization. Still, it will also encourage the donors to provide more offerings and help the organization to conduct its services campaigns and other activities for the betterment of the young people suffering from disabilities and their families in every possible way (O'Connor, 2017).

Therefore the marketing strategy of Interchange IE shall focus on developing and manifesting the physical evidence of the services provided by the organization. As a result, individuals eager to do social service will be encouraged to volunteer with the organization and help the people requiring financial support amenities and facilities to run there livelihood without any hindrance. Also, show the participants of the community will trust the organization to seek there help. Thus, the organization will recover its financial condition and can receive brand exposure and, therefore, will be able to reach more needy young disabled people and help them to deal with their difficulties(Aboramadan, 2018).

Conclusion

The above discussion it can be concluded that the interchange IE organization can adopt the said marketing strategies to succeed in its mission and achieve its vision without any obstruction. With the application of correct and appropriate marketing strategies that are making the community aware of their various services, their intention will help them Tu to effectively done their business. Moreover, they need to overcome the financial crisis by collecting more donations and approaching various organizations to support and sponsor there campaigns and programs. Therefore, they can incur more expenses on promotions and advertisements. Through promotions, they can reach masses and convince them to volunteer and participate in their programs.

Reference

Aboramadan, M., 2018. NGOs management: a roadmap to effective practices. Journal of Global Responsibility.

Akingbola, K., Rogers, S. E., & Baluch, A. (2019). Employees and Change Management in Non-profits. In Change Management in Non-profit Organizations (pp. 95-126). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Brown, K.M., 2006. Defining the product in a social marketing effort. Health promotion practice, 7(4), pp.384-387.

Freundlich, M., 2019. Diversifying fundraising and marketing activities online in an NGO: Case: Dalit Women Forum.

Ferguson, D.P., 2018. Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Communication. The International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication, pp.1-13

Kumar, V. and Sun, Y., 2019. Designing Pricing Strategy for Operational and Technological Transformation. Management Science.

Lu, S.K., Elliott, S.J. and Perlman, C.M., 2019. Perceived Facilitators and Barriers to Evaluative Thinking in a Small Development NGO. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 34(1).

O'Connor, T., 2017. Great flexibility working for an NGO. Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand, 23(5), p.16.

Prynko, M. and Chudzian, J., 2017. The features of marketing mix for non-profit organizations.

Slack, N., & Brandon-Jones, A. (2018). Operations and process management: principles and practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.

Zafeiriou, G., Siatri, R. and Garoufallou, E., 2016, May. Academic libraries and the marketing mix. In International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues (ICCMI).

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