Blood Donation Marketing analysis - Research Paper Example

?Blood Donation SWOT Analysis SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats) analysis is a strategic management tool which helps in the evaluation of the company’s strength, weakness, opportunity and weakness (Griffin, 2011). Strength Blood donation is perceived as a noble cause as it helps in saving lives of millions of people. The collected blood will be supplied to the military camps, churches, community organizations etc for emergency purposes ( American Red Cross, 2010).The guidelines, benefits of the blood donation camp are available for free through social media networks like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (Donate Blood, 2013d). Weakness Recruitment of first time blood donors require extensive identification, education and motivation. Training, educating and motivation these first time blood donors consumes a lot of time (Red Cross, 2010). The trainers have to maintain a record of the first time blood donors since the repeat donors are already provided with an identity card by the blood organizer camp. Apart from time consumption, the blood organizers have to deal with the pre donation anxiety and nervousness of the first time blood donors. Opportunity The benefits about blood donation are being taught to the college children, this has eased the task of the blood donation camps to communicate the benefits of blood donation. Technological development has made it easier for the blood donors to schedule their appointments online (Donate Blood, 2013e). Threats Blood donation is usually perceived as painful task and creates nervousness and anxiety within the blood donors. People tend to make money donations for damages caused by natural disasters like Tsunami, drought, floods etc rather than blood donations (Red Cross, 2010). Donors tend to make blood donations in reputed hospitals and bio medical institution to save time and hassle. Objectives and Issue Analysis The objectives for your marketing plan are: •To raise public awareness of the importance of blood donation in the non-donor and lapsed donor segment of the 18-24 year-old age group in 2013-14. •To increase the number of voluntary non-donors in the 18-24 year-old age group by 15% in 2013-14. •To maintain and increase the number of regular blood donors in the 18-24 year-old age group by 10% in 2013-14. •To develop an integrated marketing communication strategy which motivates current, non and lapsed donors in the target market to increase their blood donations in 2013-14. •To improve and increase blood donation accessibility for the 18-24 year-old age group in 2013-14. Issue Analysis In Australia, marketing effort is aimed at attracting and maintaining sufficient numbers of regular, volunteer blood donors in the under-represented age group of 18 to 24 year-olds. It is essential that the Australian Red Cross Blood Service ensures are reasonable and safe blood supply throughout the year. Each week, at least 27,000, blood donations, are required to assist people with serious blood illnesses (e.g., cancer, blood diseases), surgical patients (e.g., open heart surgery, burns), kidney disease patients, pregnant women and traumatic accident patients (Australian Red Cross Blood Service, 2013). Only a relatively small percentage of the eligible population within the 18-24 year-old age group donates blood on a regular basis. Furthermore, eligible donors often lapse in their blood donating behaviour after their blood donation. Marketing Strategy Arranging for a blood donation campaign is a challenging task and requires intensive market study, planning and psychological analysis of the blood donors. An effective marketing strategy needs to be developed to ensure the smooth functioning of the blood donation campaign. Marketing Objective To encourage blood donation among individuals aged between 18 to 24 years old from the period 01 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. Budget Allocation The allocated budget for the blood donation campaign would be AUD20 million which would be required to cover the research process, media, medical equipments, advertising campaign and other campaign expenses. Target Market The target population of the blood donation campaign would be the young adults aged between 18 to 24 years old. The youth population aged between 18 to 24 years old are usually seeking an educational degree at a college or university, working at an entry level job position, full time or part time student or working for few hours to earn for the their disposable income. Youth engagement in blood donation camps is necessary as unlike the individuals at salaried position they would be able to dedicate a lot of time for the campaign and also work as volunteers. The youth would work as volunteers in the blood donation campaigns and would not be paid (American Red Cross, 2013). The youth population is targeted because their zeal and awareness about the blood donation procedure would help in smooth functioning of the campaign. The youth would be able to communicate to the blood donors with ease about the blood donation procedure, benefits about blood donation etc. For example in the aftermath of the Queensland flood, personal assistance was required in the evacuation and recovery centres to help the injured people. The youth volunteers donated their blood and also assisted in curing the people (Australian Red Cross, 2011). The emergency made the youth realize that blood donation is of utmost importance and there should be sufficient storage for blood for emergency purposes. Location Blood donor and volunteers of all geographic locations would be welcomed in the blood donation campaign. The main objective of the blood donation campaign would be to arrange for blood donation campaign near universities, colleges and office areas. The blood donation campaign would be carried out in cities of Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria. Management and Distribution strategy Apart from volunteers, medical staff the blood donation campaign needs to be looked after by a series of managers who will look after activities like advertising, schedule preparation, medicinal needs of the campaign etc. These managers will be salaried and the campaign organizers need to allocate AUD1.5 million for their salary, expenses and other needs. The below chart shows the managers who will help in assisting the campaign. The campaign head will allocate the budget for the senior marketing managers; approve the budget required by the marketing managers, doctors and human resource department (HR). The advertising managers will prepare a marketing schedule and allocate budget for the different advertising modes required for the campaign like billboards, radio, pamphlets etc. A total budget of AUD 3 million will be required for advertising purposes. The main task of the marketing managers would be to arrange for meetings with companies who would be ready to sponsor the campaigns without charging any fees. The main task of the senior medical practitioner would be to train the medical staff under him; the medicinal needs and requirements of medical equipments would be arranged by the senior medical practitioner. The HR manager would arrange for training programs for volunteers and other staff of the campaign. The HR manager would appoint few HR staff who would guide, train and advise the volunteers. The HR managers would ensure that the campaign has adequate amount of assistance. Communication Strategy On of the main objectives of HR manager would be to arrange for communication programs for the volunteers and the blood donors. Training and Awareness programs would be arranged by the HR managers to communicate about various topics related to the blood donation programs. Training Programs Training programs arranged by the HR manager for the medical staff and volunteers, the training programs would focus on educating the staff of the campaign about the benefits of blood donation, essential food requirements by the blood donor before and after blood donation (Donate Blood, 2013a), motivating the blood donors and filling up the blood donation forms (Australian Capital Territory, 2012). Most importantly the volunteers will be trained to deal with the anxiousness and nervousness of the donors. A budget for AUD 25000 would be required for the training programs. Awareness Programs An awareness program would be conducted across the major cities of the Australia which would focus on educating the young population on topics like the need of blood donation in Australia, types of blood donation which includes plasma, whole blood and platelet donation (Donate Blood, 2013b), and eligibility criteria for blood donation (Donate Blood, 2013c). A total budget of AUD 2 million would be allocated for the arrangement of the blood donation awareness programs. Schedule of Blood Donation Campaign S.no Event Start Date End Date Budget 1 Arrangement of Volunteers and assistance staff July 01 2013 August 15 2013 N/A 2 Arrangement of aid from sponsors and from government July 01 2013 October 23 2013 N/A 3 Arrangement of medical equipments and medicinal needs July 15 2013 05 May 2013 AUD 5 Million 4 Arrangement of Doctors and Medical staff August 02 2013 n/a AUD 75000 5 Arrangement for training programs July 23 2013 August 29 2013 AUD 25000 6 Arranging for awareness programs August 15 2013 January 2014 AUD 2 Million 7 Salary to senior medical practitioners, and marketing managers AUD 1.5 million 8 Advertising July 15 2013 September 15 2013 AUD 3 Million The schedule was prepared keeping the allocated budget and objectives of the blood donation campaign in mind. However, it should be noted that the schedule needs to be revised and monitored regularly to check whether the actual plans are being executed as per the schedule. References American Red Cross, 2010. Be bold donate blood [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 10 April 2013]. American Red Cross, 2013. Volunteer opportunities [online] Available at: < http://www.redcross.org/mn/minneapolis/volunteer/opportunities > [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Australian Capital Territory, 2012. Blood donation (transmittable diseases) [online] Available at: < http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/di/2012-68/current/pdf/2012-68.pdf > [Accessed 10 April 2013].? Australian Red Cross, 2011. The power of humanity [pdf] Available at: < http://laurennp.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/campaign_americanredcross.pdf > [Accessed 10 April 2013].??? Donate Blood, 2013a. Am I eligible to donate blood? [online] Available at: < http://www.donateblood.com.au/who-can-give/am-i-eligible > [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Donate Blood, 2013b. Three types of blood donation [online] Available at: < http://www.donateblood.com.au/about-blood/three-types-of-donation > [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Donate Blood, 2013c. Am I eligible to donate blood? [online] Available at: < http://www.donateblood.com.au/who-can-give/am-i-eligible > [Accessed 10 April 2013].? Donate Blood, 2013d. About us [online] Available at: < http://www.donateblood.com.au/about-us > [Accessed 10 April 2013].?? Donate Blood, 2013e. Arranging an appointment [online] Available at: < http://www.donateblood.com.au/ready-to-donate/faq#faq_238 > [Accessed 10 April 2013].?? Griffin, R.W., 2011. Fundamentals of management.6th ed. London: Cengage Learning. Read More