Marketing Plan for Veterans Association of Australia Inc - Case Study Example

Executive summary This marketing plan introduces a new product for Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc., a non-profit making entity established 14 years ago to cater for the welfare of partners of veterans and current defence forces officers in Australia. The report outlines the external and internal environments facing the organisation and goes ahead to analyse the marketing mix of the new product and how it will be marketed to the target market to raise funds for the organisation. The product is unique in that it is a quality product with Australian flag colours to appeal to patriotic Australians who might want to support the organisations course. Table of Contents Executive summary 1 Marketing Plan for Partners of Veterans Association Australia (PVA) Polo Shirt 3 1Introduction 3 2Situational analysis 4 2.1Political 4 2.2Economic forces 4 2.3Social cultural 4 2.4Technological forces 5 2.5Legal forces 5 3Swot analysis 5 3.1Strengths 5 3.2Weaknesses 6 3.3Opportunities 6 3.4Threats 7 4Marketing objectives 7 5Overall marketing strategy 8 5.1Segmentation 8 5.1.1Demographically 8 5.1.2Geographically 8 5.1.3Behavioural 9 5.2Positioning 9 6Marketing mix 9 6.1Product 9 6.2Price 10 6.3Place (distribution) 10 6.4Promotion 10 7Budget 11 8Implementation 11 9Evaluation 11 References 12 Marketing Plan for Partners of Veterans Association Australia (PVA) Polo Shirt 1 Introduction Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. is a non profit oriented voluntary organization which offers support, encouragement and assistance to partners, widows and children and descendants of Australian veterans. The organization is focused on alleviating any form of suffering by these partners and their families not only for the current generation but also for future generations. Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. was founded in the year 1999 by unaffiliated partner groups across Australia whoop saw the need to unite and form one huge association of partners in order to have a much bigger impact in the lives of partners and their families all over Australia. In the few years that the organization has been in existence, it has been able to offer assistance for the welfare, health and special needs such as counselling and education support[ CITATION Vie11 \l 1033 ]. The main sources of funding are membership fees, donations and fund raising. As such it has to rely on innovative ways of raising funds to conduct its activities in line with its chief mandate of helping out partners and children of veterans of Australia and their descendants[ CITATION Vie11 \l 1033 ]. 2 Situational analysis 2.1 Political Australia has a functioning democratic political system with a very high degree of political freedom and maturity[ CITATION Saw09 \l 1033 ]. It is less unlikely to have political instability in this mature democracy where people exercise their political will through democratic means provided for by the laws of the land. As such Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. should not be in any way be threatened by political forces in Australia,. 2.2 Economic forces Australia’s economy is one of the strongest in the world mostly supported by huge agricultural and mineral exports. The economy has also rebounded strongly after the macro-economic reforms of the late 1980s up to the new millennium. This means the economy is quite strong even after the 2008 global economy hitches that were made worse by the euro zone crisis that followed after (Deloite Economic Survey Australia, 2012). The improving economic situation means Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. can bet on the economic strength to predict an optimistic outlook into the future of the organization. 2.3 Social cultural Australians take great pride in their veterans and are very supportive of efforts to help veterans whenever they are faced with difficulties. This positive attitude may serve to make Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc.’s work very successful as it relies on fundraising events to cater for its projects and expenses. 2.4 Technological forces As technology such as computing and mobile based technology become part of Australians daily lives, Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. needs to understand how it can utilize technology to its advantage in reaching out to its members. The internet is particularly a very important tool that can be used to disseminate knowledge and also deliver services to the members as well as collect vital information for policy consideration and future planning. 2.5 Legal forces Every organization in Australia and in any other civilised nation must be approved by the law and adhere to the regulations as set out[ CITATION Ver01 \l 1033 ]. Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. is also a duly registered non-profit organization which must stick to the regulations set out for such an organization. As such the organization might find itself being restricted in some way especially when it comes to revenue generating activities. Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. can also lobby law makers to provide for more funding revenues under the law to boost its funding so that it can conduct its activities smoothly without much constrain. 3 Swot analysis 3.1 Strengths The organization is a united family of partners’ organizations all over Australia thus giving it a more nationalistic outlook that puts it at a better position to attract more members and funding from the mentioned sources. The organization has the goodwill of Australians as it is engaging in an activity meant to assist the veterans of the country and alleviating the suffering of partners and their children. Every patriotic Australian will therefore be willing to assist the organisation wherever possible. 3.2 Weaknesses The organisation relies on volunteers to conduct its activities[ CITATION Vie11 \l 1033 ]. In as much as this may seem inexpensive, it also means that the workers are not very motivated to work and can only give an average contribution and not give maximum contribution towards helping the organization meet it objectives The organization does not have a clearly spelt business model that can help it generate money to run its activities. this means that the organisation has to rely on fund raising activities and grants which are not certain thus hurting the planning and strategizing efforts within the organization. The organization is limited by law when it comes to engaging in revenue generation activities, as such profit generating options are limited and in a way that reduces the organizations capacity of generating funding for its activities. 3.3 Opportunities The growth or digital media and internet in Australia means there is an opportunity to reach as many Australians as possible to persuade them into contributing into the organizations fund. The platform also allows Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. to conduct fund raising project s such as lotteries and sales of souvenirs. This increases the visibility of the organization and takes advantage of the opportunity to market the organizations agenda to Australians who are its main source of funding to conduct its activities. 3.4 Threats The organization does not offer a necessity product or service to raise funds but rather relies on the goodwill of the Australians and several donor organizations. This funding strategy might not work so well when the economy is not at its best. As such there is the likelihood that funding slows down with slight inflation or rise in cost of living leaving people with little disposable income to contribute towards such efforts. There is also the likely contention by Australians that the government ought to support such initiatives; as such the common Australian might be reluctant to contribute towards the Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc.’s activities expecting the government to fund the initiative itself 4 Marketing objectives The overall mission of Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. is providing every support and assistance practicable for the welfare of the past and present members of the Australian Defence force (ADF), their allies and their families[ CITATION Par11 \l 1033 ]. To achieve this, the organization should have the following marketing objectives to guide marketing efforts. Increase funding through the fund raising option by 10% Ensure the member base increases by at least 10% within one year. Increase funding from the existing channels by 5% 5 Overall marketing strategy The overall marketing strategy for the product (branded polo shirt) will be differentiation whereby a differentiated product will be the competitive edge over others in the market. This does not mean the price will have to be necessarily high to push buyers to other organisations but rather it will be the products attributes that will be used to attract the buyers while at the same time the price will remain moderately priced and in line with the market average. 5.1 Segmentation The shirt is intended for current and former defence members of the ADF. It can also be bought by family members of the veterans and friends of the organisation. This comprises the target market which can be segmented in the following ways 5.1.1 Demographically The product is targeted for both males and females aged between 20 and above. This is the age that is most likely to be more supportive of the organisations efforts as they are adults and have a high sense of empathy to help Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. meet its obligation. This age group is also likely to appreciate the low cost shirt designs unlike younger people who are more attracted to trendy clothing[ CITATION Poo02 \l 1033 ]. 5.1.2 Geographically The geographical market is primarily the whole of Australia as foreign populations might not identify with the obligations of the organisation and thus the product may not appeal to them. 5.1.3 Behavioural The target market is likely to comprise of people who are appreciative of the veterans’ contribution to the national call for duty. This group is thus inspired by products that show their support for the veterans and their families. 5.2 Positioning The product will be positioned as a high quality limited edition collector’s item with a ribbon for the Partners of Veterans Association of Australia. The high quality fabric and nice design will be additional attributes to sell the polo shirt to Australians. All the same it is important to position the product as moderately priced commodity within the reach of the average Australian citizen. It is a product meant to raise funds for Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc.’s activities and as such should not be too expensive 6 Marketing mix 6.1 Product The product chosen for this project is a polo shirt, beautifully designed with bright blue and red colours and scanty white. These are the Australian flag colours which are best suited for a product that is intended to provoke a patriotic feeling in the target customer. The product meets the expectation of the target market in that it is high quality and well designed produced through an inexpensive production process. The product has an emblem for the Partners of Veterans Association of Australia. The target market is most likely going to be pleased with the emblem to show their support for the organisation and it efforts. 6.2 Price The price of the commodity will be set at $50, which is relatively inexpensive for the average Australian. It will also be considerate of the pricing of similar products by another organisation. The Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia has a similar product going for $40[ CITATION Vie13 \l 1033 ]. Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc.’s product is of higher quality and well designed as compared to the competing product. The price also leaves a good profit margin for the organisation due to the inexpensive production plan thus leaving adequate margin for the organisation to keep as funding to its projects and activities. 6.3 Place (distribution) To get the product to the target market, the organisation will use their website as an online shop where page visitors get a chance of sampling the designs available and order for delivery upon payment. The organisation will also use its events as an opportunity to sell the shirts to raise funds. The shirt can also be distributed through gift and collectors items shops through out Australia in order to reach the target market. This distribution model is inexpensive as noted by Ward & Daniel (2012) and lets the organisation concentrate on its core mandate which is not actually doing business but rather caring for the partners of war veterans in Australia. 6.4 Promotion The organisation will use its website and events to market the shirt to the target market. National dailies are also a good opportunity to reach a wider audience. The website option is inexpensive since the website belongs to the organisation however it may not reach a wider audience as expected. The print dailies therefore provide an opportunity to reach the target market. 7 Budget The initial part of the project it to produce 10,000 pieces each going for a cost of 20 dollars. This means the overall cost of production in the initial phase is $200,000. The website will also be advanced to cater for online commerce at a cost of $10,000. Promotion cost is expected to cost $50,000 meaning the overall cost for the production and marketing plan will be $260,000. This is well within the financial capability of the organisation and thus can be executed without any financial hitch. 8 Implementation There shall be a three member team to coordinate the marketing of the product. The team shall include long-term volunteers in Partners of Veterans Association of Australia Inc. who understand the strategic outlook of the organisation. It will take three months to get the product ready and two months to publicise the product after which sales should kick start. 9 Evaluation The success of the plan shall be determined by the number of sales made and the customer feedback given. If customers give a positive feedback of the products quality, then the product will be regarded as successful in the market. If 5,000 pieces move within the first three months of opening sales, then that will be marked as a success. References CITATION Vie11 \l 1033 : , (Partners of Veterans Association of Australia, 2011), CITATION Saw09 \l 1033 : , (Sawer, Abjorensen, & Larkin, 2009), CITATION Ver01 \l 1033 : , (Vermeesch & Lindgren, 2001), CITATION Par11 \l 1033 : , (Partners of Veterans Association of Australia , 2011), CITATION Poo02 \l 1033 : , (Pooler, 2002), CITATION Vie13 \l 1033 : , (Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia , 2013), Read More