Marketing Communication Plan - Essay Example

?Marketing Communication Plan for Oxfam Background of the Organisation/Current Situation: Oxfam is a charity group, registered in England & Wales andScotland, whose motto is to “fight poverty at its roots” and they undertake different missions from “life-saving emergency responses” to “life-changing development projects and campaigning” (Introduction to Oxfam, 2013). They have branches on a global level including Europe, Canada, Australia, North and South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The organisation still has ambitious plans for further expansion and to reach out to the world by conducting a variety of campaigns to fight poverty and injustice. Objectives for Future: In order to sustain the organisation’s reputation and to enhance it in the future, they will need to launch new and innovative campaigns in target nations that really have problems, which affect a major share of the population. By doing this, Oxfam can garner a lot of media as well as public attention that will further promote their good will on a global level. In the recent years, the youth oriented programs of the organisation have attracted attention and they are receiving good support for such endeavours. These campaigns are being promoted through Youth Action Group, which provide youngsters to be innovative and orient their actions for fighting against issues that “matter to them” and thus come under the umbrella of “active global citizens” (Teachers’ Guide: A Guide to Support Youth Action Groups, n.d.). Developing nations do offer a wide range of options for action with regard to improving the quality of life of youngsters, solving a variety of problems that they encounter, providing them better educational and employment avenues etc. Thus, it transpires that the best strategy at this juncture for Oxfam is to focus their attention to some major problem in a developing nation that will offer the scope for excellent PR work. Strategy: In order to sustain their reputation as a high profile charitable organization, Oxfam needs to focus on the problems on developing nations and take action for supporting the novel causes in those countries. This will enable them to tap the potential of garnering support from these countries as well as create an impression in the international community that the organization is intervening with the real problems that need to be tackled in the modern day. There are many countries in the world where resources are plenty and human talent is available in abundance. However, due to a lack of a proper sense of direction or the absence of resourceful leadership, many aspects may get ignored thus causing internal problems in the country. Organisations like Oxfam have a key role to play in such nations and by doing so, they will be offering valuable services to such countries. In order to raise funds and promote their reputation as a short term objective, one of the ideal strategies will be to fix a novel price for the Oxfam Anniversary Party and Gathering and to promote its sale through active campaigns, with the propaganda focused on the key issue for which the income will be spent on. In addition, a fund raising endeavour can also be made on the day of the event, with some specific offer as media coverage or advertisement for the donors to the cause. Similarly, parties can also be organized in major cities of the country where the focus campaign is to be conducted, wherein similar special offers may be floated to industries and other interested parties. Thus, Oxfam will be able to generate high revenues from the Annual Party and Gathering. Target: India is a developing nation, with its economy poised for high growth and it is also one of the major destinations for foreign investment as the country has a high “potential for achieving sustained growth” and development (Current State of the Indian Economy: A Balancing Act, 2012, p.7). The country, despite being agriculture based traditionally, has a lot of industries both in manufacturing and service areas as well as other business entities that may be willing to take part in social reform activities. On the flip side, the country has a lot of pressing problems though it is technically, educationally and economically advanced. It has currently gained a lot of media attention in the context of a spurt of reported rape and molestation cases, especially those against minor children. This, apart from being a major issue to be tackled, is also a matter that must be seen from humanitarian grounds. In the modern day, when countries claim women’s and children’s rights as the top priority, such incidents become a blemish not only of the country of occurrence, but also on human conscience in general. Therefore, this is an urgent issue that should be attended to immediately. Any action taken by Oxfam in this regard will have excellent scope from a PR point of view apart from the prospect of garnering a lot of media attention. Thus, it will be a good idea to launch some programs to support the female and child victims of molestation. Tactics: The specific plan will be to announce special campaigns and packages for India, to be declared on the day of the Annual Party and Gathering. The package will mainly focus on the rehabilitation of the victims of such atrocities and providing them job opportunities so that they can become financially independent. Additionally, minor victims will be offered educational opportunities in best schools apart from financial support. In this context, reports suggest that the female rape victims who go to a police station to complain are often “intimidated out of filing a report” (Khazan, 2013). The Oxfam campaign can highlight this aspect and also, in collaboration with other women’s right organization and college students, organise awareness campaigns. In the present day there is too much public resentment against the problem as revealed through the article of Khazan (2013) and the young generation will be only too willing to cooperate in any initiative against this menace. Thus, the campaigns being launched by Oxfam in this context will definitely receive massive public support. Staff, Budget and Time Scale: The staff can be pooled out from the existing resources of Oxfam in India as well as UK for the activities involved in these locations. Additionally, in India, Oxfam can enlist the services of volunteers, especially college students and other youngsters who will be willing to dedicate their time and energy for noble cause. The expenditures involved can be met from within the funds available with the organization and, where necessary, from the revenues that accruing from voluntary donations for the cause. The main campaign will be an ongoing one but the short term campaign of selling the tickets for the event may require three or four months of marketing and propaganda. Marketing Objectives: The primary long term marketing objective is to establish a strong foothold for Oxfam in India by creating a campaign most appropriate to the country’s present situation and sustaining its presence in the nation. The short term marketing objective is to promote ticket sales for the Annual Party and Gathering and to rise maximum funding for the said campaign. For the former objective, sustained marketing activities focused on long term goals are necessary while for the latter intense and aggressive marketing initiatives are called for. The objectives of short term marketing will include accrual of maximum revenues from the ticket selling for the event and forging alliance with organizations working in the field, corporate entities as well as prominent individuals, who can contribute to the cause. Communication Objectives: In the backdrop of the strong waves of resentment sweeping across the nation against the atrocities being committed against women and especially against female children, Oxfam has an excellent opportunity to communicate with the public and appeal to their emotions. Thus, this is the right opportunity for the organisation to launch a campaign in India and tap its potential for sustaining its reputation in the country as well as enhancing it. Besides, the intended campaign of creating awareness in women about the need for lodging complaint with the police will fetch a range of long term benefits for the company as it will give them an opportunity to reach out to the public directly and influence them. Thus, for the short term of ticket selling, Oxfam will start their campus campaigns immediately. Similarly, the endeavours for enlisting the support of the corporate entities, celebrities etc will also begin immediately and will continue for three to four months to garner maximum support from them for the ticket sales. The communication strategies for long term objectives will be an ongoing process with appropriate modifications and additions at each stage as the campaign progresses. Advertising, Sales Promotion, Public Relation and Publicity: The ad for the ticket selling will be given both in UK based media as well as the Indian TV, with a special focus on channels that telecast the Indian Premier League T-20 Cricket Tournament, which is a major event that will be watched by people from all segments within the Indian community both in the native country as well as overseas, especially in UK. Oxfam can also explore the possibilities of enabling the participation of some of the cricket celebrities for the Annual Party and Gathering and also make them endorse the campaign in this regard. This will definitely help in facilitating public support as well as fund-raising. It is also relevant here that most of the big companies in India honour the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and will be prepared to associate with the campaigns of Oxfam, especially due to the fact that the issue at hand has attracted so much media and public attention. Similarly, most of the Indian celebrities believe in charity and do undertake a lot of social service charitable activities. Hence, Oxfam can also explore the possibility of getting the campaigns endorsed by some celebrities so as to gain maximum support for the campaign. In addition, the youth in India, especially college students, have been strongly moved by the incidents of increasing rapes and it has forced them to recognize this as a major threat to the society. Therefore, they will be willing to do volunteer work for the campaigns being launched by Oxfam. Additionally, their services can be used for marketing the concept through college campuses across the country. Ads in Internet and Exhibition: India being a country of technological advancements, most of the Indians use computers and internet and estimates suggest that out of the 80 million internet users in urban areas of the country “72%” engage in some or other “social networking” activities (Social Media in India – 2012, 2013, p.4). Thus, the internet and social networking offers great potential to reaching out to a large audience in the country. From Oxfam’s point of view, this can be extremely cheap, fast and easy while being highly effective at the same time. Obviously, college students constitute a major portion of the networkers and thus social media offers great potential for marketing of this nature. As mentioned earlier, youngsters in the country have a strong resentment about the recent instances of rapes and as such they will readily spread the new about any campaigns that aims to address the problem or to provide solace to the victims. Thus, social media networking will offer a very effective tool for Oxfam to market their campaign and the student will provide it wide popularity through word of mouth also. Similarly, the proposed campaigns in colleges campuses will also will be potential opportunities of communicating through word of mouth. In addition, corporate entities and other organisations will also be willing to sponsor or associate in different campaigns that Oxfam may launch. Thus, overall, the existing setting, environment as well as the mindset of the target audience is quite ripe for the proposed campaign. The plans regarding the campaign will be implemented immediately and the progress closely monitored to derive the best results and to tape its relevance at this stage. Measurement of the Effectiveness of the Campaign: In order to measure the effectiveness of the campaign and to monitor its progress, it is necessary to devise a proper system of feedback on a regular basis. This activity can be primarily coordinated from the UK headquarters and the Indian branch will monitor the status in there through social networking as well as feedback from field agents and volunteers working on the project. Conclusion: Oxfam being an organisation of high repute with a global presence, it has high credibility in all nations where it operates, including India. The Indian Chapter of the organisation has also established considerable reputation in the country. India has been currently encountering a spate of brutal sexual assaults on women, especially atrocities committed on female children. This has aroused a high degree of public resentment and women and students have taken to the street, organising demonstrations and protest marches in front of the parliament. People in the country are demanding immediate action and enactment of specific laws for the eradication of this social problem. At this stage, a campaign aimed at addressing the issue and helping the rehabilitation of the victim has high potential for success. In addition, various organizations in the country both in the business segment as well not for profit entities will support the cause. Besides, celebrities in the nation and college students will also be willing to volunteer for any endeavour in this regard. Thus, the proposed campaign stands to receive a high amount of public support and it will offer a great opportunity for Oxfam to raise funds for this purpose. In addition, the environment in India also provides immense opportunities for fast and cost effective marketing activities including social networking, to tap the full potential of the situation. Thus, the proposed campaign is an ideal choice for Oxfam for implementation in a country like India. Reference List Current State of the Indian Economy: A Balancing Act. 2012. Deloitte. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from Introduction to Oxfam. 2013. Home Page, Oxfam Charity Group. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from Khazan, Olga. 2013. This could be the Most Important Part of India’s Anti-Rape Law. The Atlantic. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from Social Media in India – 2012. 2013. Internet and Mobile Association of India. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from Teachers’ Guide: A Guide to Support Youth Action Groups. n.d. Oxfam Charity Group. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from Read More