Developing a Marketing Mix - Term Paper Example

Marketing Planning and Marketing Mix for Not-for-Profit Organisation With many non-profit organizations wanting to expand their geographical reach and make an imprint in various markets/regions/countries, there will be enough opportunities for it, to initiate an entry into a new country. To initiate and actualize the entry, firms have to formulate various strategies especially marketing strategies as part of synergistic planning process. While formulating the strategies, the organizations will firstly look at the factors including segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) strategies that may aid them to make a successful entry. After analyzing the positive factors, the firms should also analyze the challenges that may impede its entry through optimal marketing mix. So, this report will analyze how the non-profit organisation, London Children’s Connection (LCC) can capitalise on the existing opportunities in India by entering it, with the aid of effective marketing strategies. Background London Children’s Connection (LCC) is a London based non-profit organization, which focuses on child care and their education, from infancy till their school age. “We provide high quality child care programs and related services that encompass the care, education and guidance of children, from infancy to school age.” (lcc.on.ca). The main customer base are the working parents, who are offered a variety of services. “home-based child care, centre-based child care, school-based care, and before and after school care” (lcc.on.ca). So, LCC positively supports the parents and importantly the children, by providing them safe and quality care as well as good basic education. Synergistic planning process LCC operates in London and the surrounding areas, but opportunities for it exist in other parts of the world as well. That is, the already successful LCC could be optimally utilized, if it concentrates on Third World countries like India. When it decides to enter the prospective country like India, it has to analyze few aspects. Although, nowadays India is developing economically, many people are still living below the poverty line. Among this proportion of downtrodden people, children are the main sufferers. In India, children living under the poverty line, orphans and also street children are all living in hazardous, vulnerable and unfavourable situations. That is, they live without proper parental care and without any basic education. “Nearly one-fourth of Indias population is below the poverty line. India accounts for more than 20 percent of the worlds out-of-school children. There are about 84 million orphaned and abandoned children in India.” (kalgidharsociety.org). These distressing but important facts about Indian children can be analyzed by LCC before deciding to enter India. Then, LCC as part of Synergistic planning process can plan the entry. In the initial stages of entry, it should focus on few target areas, specifically one big city. They should select a big at the same time most vulnerable city for children to start their centre for care. So, LCC should plan to start their centre for child care and education firstly at a big city like Mumbai. “The problem of street children is growing in big cities.” (mscen.org). Then, it should focus on the implementation part by selecting an infrastructure that can hold a good number of children. This infrastructure or building should be located in an area, where maximum children in unfavourable conditions could be found. After selecting and setting up the infrastructure with all the necessary things, LCC can control their functioning by bringing in children in the under-12 age group, who needs care and education. That is, it can use its employees and also local volunteers to bring in ‘prospective’ children to the centre with their parents or without their parents. STP strategies After entering India and setting up its first centre in Mumbai, LCC can recruit the children based on STP strategies. That is, it can first segment the prospective children based on their ‘background’. That is, in Mumbai, children of parents living under the poverty line, orphaned children living with caregivers or in some non-academic care ‘homes’ and street children, are the ones who need care and education. So, LCC can segment the prospective children under the above mentioned groups. After segmentation, it can target them by adopting various measures. That is, for children with parents, LCC’s employees along with local volunteers can directly approach the parents, and discuss with them. By positively tuning the mindset of those parents towards care and the educational needs of their children, it can admit the children. “Parents were apprised about the child labor situation and the need to educate their children was emphasized. Success was seen instantly as parents vowed not to send their children for such work.” (pratham.org). For orphaned children also, LCC can approach their caregivers. When it comes to the street children, the targeting has to be done in a careful and patient manner. As the street children will be comfortable with their carefree life on the streets and would abhor life within the closed walls of the centre, they have to be counselled about the positive effects of education. When it comes to positioning part, LCC should position the centres as a wholesome place for younger children, where they could reside happily and at the same time educate themselves without any fee and restrictions. Extended Marketing Mix The marketing mix is the blend of marketing activities that LCC can engage in, so as to optimally satisfy the needs of its targeted market and importantly its organizational objectives. (Lake). In the case of LCC, the services offered by it for the children under the age of 12, are the product. This product or service includes providing care and fulfilling the educational needs of the admitted children. As it is a non-profit organization, the factor of Price does not come into the picture. With no price or fees charged for any services, it is advantageous to the intended target group of downtrodden people. It can select Mumbai as the place to start its first centre. As Mumbai is the place with maximum number of vulnerable children in the streets, it can pick it is as the perfect place to start its initiative. “An estimated 35,000 street children live in Mumbai” (Hassani 2008). As far as promotion is concerned, it can promote the centre’s activities through local volunteers and also by organizing mass meetings near target areas. That is, as the local volunteers would know the locations of the prospective children, they can be asked to go to those places and promote the centre’s positive activities to the children and their parents, in an interesting and enticing way. In addition to these traditional four Ps it is now customary to add some more Ps to the mix to give Seven Ps (thetimes100.co.uk). The 5th P of Physical layout is a key one to bring in maximum children. That is, children should not be isolated within the four walls of the centre, there should be open spaces and gardens with play tools for the children to play and learn. If this mix is incorporated, it can interest as well encourage the children to involve in educational activities. The provision of customer service can be handled by appointing local counsellors or liaison officials, who will understand the local sentiments and can converse in the local language. As the intended customers will mostly converse in the local language of Hindi or Marathi, it would be better to appoint locals. Likewise, among the various processes that take place inside the centre, customer centric processes should be given extra care by appointing specific liaison officers for that. Only if the customers are cared and given confidence, they can bring in their children thereby making LCC’s expansion strategy a success Marketing Communications mix with the extended marketing mix LCCs should carry out the various aspects of the marketing communication mix in a localized and personalized manner, by using both ATL and BTL form of promotion. That is, it can promote its services by first advertising about it in local newspapers. As the local newspapers are read and used (for other reasons like packing) by the target group of low income parents and other caregivers, LCC ATL advertising can reach the targeted customers. Apart from this promotion, its employees and local volunteers can personally sell or promote its services by personally meeting the intended customers and talking to them about the positive benefits. This personal or interactive approach as part of BTL communication or promotion can gain the confidence of the customers and will yield effective results. As part of short-term sales promotion, London Children Connection can give small household and playful gifts to the targeted group of parents as well as children to entice them to the programs. These gifts as part of BTL promotion, apart from enticing them will also allow the employees and volunteers to get close with them. Another important aspect of the mix is Public relations and LCC can handle this aspect by appointing local public relation officers at the centre. These officers as part of BTL promotion can liaise and build good relationships with the local customers and people, who visit the centre, creating awareness about their services. Finally, LCC as part of Direct marketing can print and give pamphlets, containing all the details about the services and the benefits that can be incurred, to the intended customers in their local language as well as in English. This form of BTL promotion will enable LCC to reach the customers personally, even eliciting their responses quickly. Bibliography Hassani, S, 2008, Street children struggle to survive in Mumbai, accessed November 24, 2008 http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=135153 kalgidharsociety.org, Why we do it, accessed November 24, 2008 http://www.kalgidharsociety.org/cause/cause.asp Lake, L, Developing Your Marketing Mix, accessed November 24, 2008 http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingplanandstrategy/a/marketingmix.htm LCC, Our Mission Statement, accessed November 24, 2008 http://www.lcc.on.ca/about.html Mindtool.com. Introduction: Why you need to get your message across, accessed November 24, 2008 http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicationIntro.htm#Process mscen.org, Charities: Hamara Foundation: Development Initiative for Street Children, accessed November 24, 2008 http://www.mscen.org/general_charity.php?title=Hamara%20Foundation pratham.org, The Genesis of the Outreach Program, accessed November 24, 2008 http://www.pratham.org/documents/childatrisk.doc thetimes100.co.uk, The extended marketing mix (7Ps) http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--the-extended-marketing-mix-(7ps)--319.php Read More