Three Ways in Promoting Healthy Eating Habits to Children - Essay Example

1. You are the marketing director of a nonprofit organization focused on promoting healthy eating habits of young school-aged children. How would youdo this? As a marketing director, there could be three ways in promoting healthy eating habits to children of young school age: a social intervention program; television advertisement; and online marketing. This marketing strategy targets children within the specified age bracket together with their respective parents. Social Intervention Program Non-profit organizations usually hold events or programs to relay their cause to a mass or a specific audience. However, social interventions can be very costly which is why as per the mission of the organization, the social program being proposed are mainly intended for school children and children within areas with high statistics of undernourishment. Schools which lack funding or government support usually welcome these marketing efforts (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2008). In in-school marketing, a consistent and strong proposition regarding healthy eating can be integrated through informative contests; distribution of educational materials; correspondence with canteens or cafeterias; and feeding programs. While in-school marketing may not need any demand-specific strategy, in marginal sectors, there is an urgency to do so. It is presumed that low income families represent the marginal sectors of the community therefore nutritious food intake appear unreasonably expensive for them (Department of Human Services n.d.). A very important objective in this outreach is to eliminate such mindset. To achieve this, the organization can instead endorse a dietary scheme which involves nutritious but affordable food and beverages for regulated daily food consumption. An example of an exact promotional strategy is the FoodCent$ program sponsored by an Australian nonprofit (Department of Human Services n.d.). The entire program may be implemented for at least three years or more when necessary. Television Advertising There can be no doubt to the efficacy and conventionality of television advertising as a method of promoting a product, service, or image. It sends a message to a massive or target-specific audience within seconds. The same principle is true when promoting the cause of the charity. The television advertisement should contain the advocacy in the most creative but informative structure. With local or international child celebrities and hit characters, the organization could use television endorsers to promote it. Then, the ad should be slated during children-viewing periods, that is, within children programs. Media networks can supply the said information since they develop a programming schedule designed for different types of audiences. Internet Marketing The increasing Internet consumption made online advertisement particularly attractive for use to marketers today (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2008). Not only is online promotion easy to produce, it is also a lot less expensive than television advertising. Furthermore, the consumers of the Internet are also becoming younger. In fact according to a 2008 statistical research, in USA alone, fifty-eight (58) percent of the forty (40) food and beverages corporations allocate an area for children in their sites (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2008). So, Internet marketing is also an option for promoting the said advocacy. There may be two types of advertising techniques: advergames (for children) and informative ads (for parents). Advergames are tactics wherein sponsors incorporate their messages in an entertaining manner into video games commonly played by children (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2008). Informative but persuasive ads are appropriate for parents or adults since they have a mature comprehension. Informative ads can be posted in any relevant sites such as parenting guiding sites and/or even social networking sites. 2. Would you ever use spam as an email strategy to promote a fundraising effort for the Cancer Society. Why or why not? A spam is widely known as any unsolicited, often commercial bulk email. By definition, it is unwanted, hence annoying. Spamming is typically easy to do -- in fact, anyone can be a spammer for whatever purpose without significantly losing anything. A spammer can instantly acquire a mailing list through spambots that gather email addresses across the web (Brain n.d.). This quick access is the reason that as the Internet consumption increases, spammers steadily grow in number as well (Brain n.d.). Like a virus infiltration, spamming has always been a problem in the Internet. Regardless of intentions, spam reduces the processing speed of “real” emails. Without being a goody-two-shoes or something to that effect, I wouldn’t resort to spamming only to garner sympathy from people who most likely don’t know the core of the foundation’s advocacy anyway; that said, is merely a minor reason. A major reason to such avoidance is that spamming, as implied, is unethical intrusion in any respect. More so social construction has it that spamming eliminates the ethicality of marketing or largely, of doing business. For a Cancer Foundation, spamming would be ironic to the integrity of the organization itself and the essence of the cause it wants to impart. Excluding the fact that spam messages appear substandard and desperate (since most spam messages are fraudulent in nature), spamming is blatantly a dirty and cold-hearted trick for exacting a pure and upright campaign. More than that though, it has already been made illegal in most countries (i.e. United Kingdom, Australia, and United States). Should the organization use spamming as a marketing strategy, not only will it be adding to the billion of spammers per day or gather indifference for a ruined reputation, it could also spawn another unethical behavior among its constituents. With technology becoming more intelligent these days, spamming is also becoming futile mechanisms in web marketing. Aside from simple methods of avoiding spams, more comprehensive and effective spam filters are now being developed to impede the deluge of spams in people’s private inbox. Most spam filters are now using “adaptive and statistical data compression models” that allow them to block spam messages in a more effective and comprehensive manner (Zdziarski 2005, xviii). Spam filters based on these models classify texts according to the character-level or binary sequence so that any message which does not fall under the judgment of the filter will not get through the would-be recipient’s inbox (Bratko et. al 2006, 2673). As it appears, spamming just to cumulate financial support would generally be counterproductive for the foundation. It should rather use ethical means to live up to its name. There are a number of almost costless ways to gather funds for the foundation like asking sponsorships and/or donations from large corporations. This is a common elusive method of corporations to reduce their tax obligations. 3. You have been recruited by the actress Julia Roberts to head a new charity that she is funding with $10 million of her own money and a further $10 million from friends and business associates. How would you set up the charitable foundation to ensure that it secures more funds in the future? A good value proposition is integral to positioning a brand or image in the marketplace. Value proposition is any emphasis on the difference (or added satisfaction) a brand offers (Allen et al. 2008, 218). A strong value proposition is the vantage point where the marketing plan is developed. Though a value proposition is a common marketing tactic among for-profits, the same principle goes with nonprofit organizations which often sell intangible products such as convictions or expertise to potential donors, volunteers or clients. A mission or vision statement is commonly the value proposition of a charitable institution (Nissim 2004). An example is Oxfam America’s mission statement: to create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice. From the given scenario, I would first position the organization through a powerful value proposition. This requires identifying the scope of its cause and how such a cause is different from the missions of hundreds of other charitable organizations. The value proposition should be integrated in all types of promotional materials distributed or posted to develop a consistent message and image. In a dynamic market, it is significant to remain adaptive and important to the community through donor education and engagement (Guide Star n.d.). By informing the public about the current issues, fund raising programs can be easily implemented and accepted within the locality or even outside it. An equally important task is to correspond with other social groups where knowledge about managing a charitable institution would be of use. More publicity may mean more traffic which is why public relations such as press releases and interviews will be important tactics to introduce the charity into the community. Public relations can be avenues of spreading the truth about the foundation rather than of its commercial purpose (MBA n.d.). While some forms of publicity or public relations are not within the control of an organization, it doesn’t significantly require financial resources and positive publicity is as effective as advertisements nonetheless. Another tool to which the foundation can be positioned in the market is through advertising. An advertisement is any form of paid mass communication by an identified sponsor (MBA n.d.). It can be conveyed through all types of media specifically television, radio, print, or web. If the charity is engaged in international affairs, web marketing is especially appropriate and comprehensive for use. Websites are not only cost-efficient, but they can be designed and developed according to the needs of all constituents of the organization. The website is where any person anywhere in the world can participate, interact and/or donate to the charity. Web advertisements could also be posted on social networking sites or online shopping sites which are popular nowadays. On the other hand, if the charity only is involved within a certain community alone, flyers, signages, brochures, TV ads or even sponsoring or producing TV programs just to relay the philanthropic cause would be enough promotional effort. Generally, a strategic marketing and promotional plan is a headstart to secure more funds for the further operations of the foundation. Bibliography Allen, Chris, Thomas O’Guinn, and Richard Semenik. 2008. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning. Brain, Marshall. n.d. “How Spam Works.” Accessed Oct. 28, 2010. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/spam4.htm. Bratko, Andrej, Gordon Cormack, Bogdan Filipic, Thomas Lynam, and Blaz Zupan. 2006. “Spam Filtering Using Statistical Data Compression Models.” Journal of Machine Learning Research 7: 2673-98. Department of Human Services. n.d. “Promoting Healthy Eating for Children: A Planning Guide for Practitioners.” Accessed Oct. 27, 2010. http://www.health.vic.gov.au/healthpromotion/downloads/phe_full.pdf. Guide Star, n.d. “Community Foundations in the New Marketplace.” Accessed Oct. 27, 2010. http://www2.guidestar.org/rxg/news/webinars/11-4-10-donor-edge-webinar.aspx?utm_source=Alert&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=10.19.10_DEWebinar_Landing. MBA Knowledge Base, n.d. “Introduction to Advertising.” Accessed Oct. 27, 2010. http://www.mbaknol.com/marketing-management/introduction-to-advertising/. Nissim, Bill. 2004. “Not Just for Madison Avenue: The Basics of Nonprofit Marketing.” Accessed Oct. 27, 2010. http://www2.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2004/not-just-for-madison-avenue-the-basics-of-nonprofit-marketing.aspx?articleId=835. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 2008. “Food and Beverage Marketing to Children and Adolescents: What Changes are Needed to Promote Healthy Eating Habits?” Accessed Oct. 27, 2010. http://www.healthyeatingresearch.org/images/stories/ her_research_briefs/her%20food%20mktg_brief110308final.pdf. Zdziarski, Jonathan A. Ending spam: Bayesian content filtering and the art of statistical language classification. San Fransico, CA: No Starch Press, 2005. Read More