Marketing in the Third Sector - Essay Example

Section/# Marketing in the Third Sector For the most part, not-for-profit organizations have not directly seen the benefit or usefulness that marketing can provide for them. For instance, charities, schools, hospitals, government organizations/institutions and others have viewed marketing from the context of its application in the business world. Although it is inherently true that marketing provides for awareness of products and services so that consumers will be more likely to engage with them and/or purchase them, it is also true that marketing has a distinctive role in increasing awareness, solidifying core mission and key goals internally, formulation of identity, and increasing overall community engagement. Within such an understanding and determination, it will be the role of this particular analysis to indicate why marketing should play a prominent role with respect to organizations and entities that are not specifically profit oriented and seek to promote alternative goals within their respective scope of application. It is the hope of this student that such a level of analysis and discussion will be beneficial in providing the reader a further determination of how marketing can be used across the board; and should not necessarily be constrained to “for profit” institution/organizations only. For the first benefit that marketing for third-party organizations or institutions has is oftentimes not discussed or analyzed by stakeholders. Issues pertaining to management and the creation of culture and identity Oftentimes promoted the understanding that third-party institutions have a particularly difficult time in crafting identity for themselves. This is oftentimes the result of the fact that their key mission within a given demographic or region is unknown to many of the stakeholders that work within the organization. For instance, whereas a school or hospital might understand it is broad and overarching mission is to educate and/or treat health issues within their respective communities, how this can be accomplished and what best practices should be instrumental in defining these approaches is oftentimes not reference. Within such an understanding, marketing becomes a powerful mechanism through which the identity of the firm can be solidified within its internal stakeholders as they come to accept the message of marketing that is represented to the outside world. Taking the example of a school one step further, whereas teachers and educators may be fully aware of the need to promote education in terms of how it can benefit the individual student, the best practices of how the school seeks to exhibit this particular task as compared to other schools, can help to create and effectively market and identity that might not otherwise been realized through cultural osmosis. Not only does this help to solidify core missions and key goals, it also assists in effecting the creation of identity within the stakeholders and furthers the marketing message that is represented to the target market. As individuals within the community come to recognize and identify with the good or service provider based upon the definitions that are provided within the marketing, these service providers also inherently come to reflect these norms as a function of viewing their own utility and identity within the community and the role in providing services in question. A secondary issue that needs to be discussed has to do with the importance that marketing can have upon increasing overall awareness. As compared to firms that are interested in selling their goods or services, the nonprofit organization does not have this focus. Instead, he seeks to provide services, or even potentially goods, to a specific subset of individuals within a certain area (Thaler & Helmig, 2013). Accordingly, the ultimate utility of such a quest is inherently affected by the overall level of awareness that individuals within this region may have concerning the opportunities that this third-party is able to effect. In simpler terms, if an individual is clueless as to the approach that a particular hospital take patients, the way in which a particular charity works within the community, or the unique approach to education and furtherance of scholastics studies they school is able to provide, they will inherently not be able to capitalize upon the service and will be unable to appreciate its benefit (Curtis et al., 2007). Therefore, the need for raising awareness in terms of these third-party organizations is of parent importance and underpins their overall success. Examples of this can be seen with regards the way in which public service announcements by the United States government continually sought to raise awareness in terms of the way in which stakeholders within the nation understand the role that specific government organizations play (Pykett et al., 2014). Not surprisingly, marketing also has the indirect potential to encourage individuals to participate within whatever nonprofit focus a given organization or institution seeks to effect. For instance, if an individual charitable organization markets the fact that it assists individuals within various communities and attempts to address relevant needs, the overall number of people that will utilize this charitable organization and seek to leverage its resources will likely be commensurately matched with individuals within the community that recognized the importance of such a charitable organization and donate to it (Muryjas & Muryjas, 2013). In much the same way, even though a given hospital is seeking to promote the benefits of its patients, marketing within the community can provide a situation in which the ability to address the unique needs and affect patient efficacy is also increased. Keeping in line with the examples that have thus far been analyzed, the same can be said with respect to a given school (Borrie et al., 2002). As the underlying desire is to provide a higher level of education within a given demographic or geographic area, this can be affected by employing marketing and encouraging individual stakeholders to incorporate with this service or program as a means of benefiting themselves or their loved ones. In much the same way that marketing within the private sector can ultimately the line, marketing within these third party sectors increases the potential for these firms to engage with the communities that they most seek to serve and encourage participation from stakeholders that views the marketing and positively engage with the message and focus that the specific entity is attempting to replicate (Kao, 2009). Further research into whether or not nonprofit organizations and/or government organizations to engage in marketing indicate that the community engagement aspect of what marketing is able to achieve stands as a relevant benefit that these entities should necessarily consider (Lu et al., 2012). The obvious drawback to all of the fact that organizations that do not have a particularly large amount of disposable resources upon which they can base marketing plans and ultimately engage with a specific community or populace. In this way, many nonprofit organizations and government entities have chosen to forgo marketing; in lieu of the understanding that they will ultimately be able to provide more assistance to more individuals if they save the money and focus upon their core needs/goals. Although this approach is rational, it should also be understood that many marketing outlets are willing and able to offer marketing space, whether television, radio, or print media, at a discounted rate to organizations that are nonprofit and are not seeking to raise money for their individual focus (Bernard et al., 2011). However, rather than even considering the potential for marketing and how it might ultimately benefit them, the majority of these organizations strictly assume that marketing will be inherently expensive and will not maximize the ultimate goals towards which they strive. Finally, from the information that has thus far been provided, it is clear and apparent that marketing is not something that should solely be relegated to for-profit industry. Instead, it has a level of relevance to nonprofits and organizations that seek to promote positive change within the communities they serve. Naturally, unique considerations must be analyzed and the potential for marketing campaign to exceed the cost that such organizations are able to provide still should remain as primary considerations. Nevertheless, leveraging these opportunities in understanding the determinate inns of how marketing can benefit such organizations and institutions is an ineffective aspect of understanding how the overall scope and benefit that such organizations attempt to establish can be maximized within the area that they are currently working within. From a review of the elements that have been analyzed within this discussion, as well as a review of existing literature on the topic, it is clear and apparent that the majority of nonprofit organizations are not utilizing marketing to its full and effective potential. Not only does this increase their overall scope and reach within the communities that they serve, it reduces their potential for maintaining relevance within the immediate future. As marketing in all its forms is more pervasive and defines the way in which identity of organizations, businesses, and individuals is crafted, it will inherently be true that the success of nonprofit organizations or institutions will ultimately be predicated upon whether or not they have chosen to engage with marketing whether or not been shunted in favor of an alternative approach. Bibliography: Bernard, E, Osmonbekov, T, & McKee, D 2011, Customer Learning Orientation in Public Sector Organizations, Journal Of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 23, 2, pp. 158-180, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Borrie, W, Christensen, N, Watson, A, Miller, T, & McCollum, D 2002, Public Purpose Recreation Marketing: A Focus on the Relationships Between the Public and Public Lands, Journal Of Park & Recreation Administration, 20, 2, pp. 49-68, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Curtis, V, Scott, B, & Garbrah-Aidoo, N 2007, Masters of Marketing: Bringing Private Sector Skills to Public Health Partnerships,American Journal Of Public Health, 97, 4, pp. 634-641, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Kao, DP 2009, What can we learn from drug marketing efficiency?, BMJ: British Medical Journal (Overseas & Retired Doctors Edition), pp. 141-144, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Lu, W, Wang, W, Hung, S, & Lu, E 2012, The effects of corporate governance on airline performance: Production and marketing efficiency perspectives, Transportation Research: Part E, 48, 2, pp. 529-544, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. MURYJAS, P, & MURYJAS, M 2013, USAGE OF IT TOOLS IN E-MARKETING CAMPAIGN DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES, Studia I Materialy Polskiego Stowarzyszenia Zarzadzania Wiedza / Studies & Proceedings Polish Association For Knowledge Management, 67, pp. 70-83, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Pykett, J, Jones, R, Welsh, M, & Whitehead, M 2014, The art of choosing and the politics of social marketing, Policy Studies, 35, 2, pp. 97-114, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Thaler, J, & Helmig, B 2013, Theoretical Framework of Social Marketing Effectiveness: Drawing the Big Picture on its Functioning,Journal Of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 25, 3, pp. 211-236, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 November 2014. Read More