Marketing and value creation

¶ … Value Co-Creation

Promise or Pay's marketing strategy

The aim of Promise or Pay program is to use minor and personal promises to instigate real life and widespread social transformation. It's an accepted fact that self-improvement promises are hard to keep. As matter of fact, 45% of the people finalize New Year resolution from which 8% fulfill them. Last year, the self-help industry compiled a mammoth $11 billion. According to research, goals are achieved by a percentage of 33% when they are openly shared with others. That percentage increases by 72%, when there is money at stake. Promise or Pay unites these two methodologies as they oblige the clients to secure a promise publicly and fulfill it. In case, the clients are unable to fulfill their promise, they have to compensate it to a charity. Promise or Pay guarantees that a win-win situation is achieved as the clients have a satisfied feeling about themselves. The clients have two course of action, either they fulfill their desired promise or otherwise, join hands in a concrete social issue by donating money to charity. The clients can promise about anything such as:

Save more cash

Quit smoking

Bonding with friends

Reach a mountain peak

Promise or Pay wants the promises to be family friendly for that matter (Promise or Pay, 2014).

Market Analysis Summary

The population base for Promise or Pay are Americans, who in 2013 totaled to 317,297,938 (37 million people approximately) (Schlesinger, 2013). The chart below is of 2012 calendar year and the market segmentation therefore will be based on 2012 figures.

Market Segmentation

Promise or Pay will target Americans aged between 25 and 50 years. The assumption here is that they are at a stage in their life where they work full time and probably do not have the time or perhaps the inclination to spend time in their local communities for social change.

With the help of Promise or Pay, the clients can a promise public to attain a goal but in any case otherwise, the clients will donate some amount cash to a charity. Promise or Pay guarantees that a win-win end result is attained as in both cases the client leaves with a satisfied feeling. The clients can attain an objective they wanted to attain else pay to a genuine cause.

Segmentation Profile:

The market size: 102729000 (around 120 million market size)

The annual growth rate: 0.7%

Proportion of the overall market: 33.6

Geographic Spread: Throughout the borders of United States

Demographic Description: this group can be classified as young and middle-aged, between 25 and 50 years; it includes a blend of middle-class professions, and normally wedded as well as manifold have kids at home

Psycho-Graphic Description: the target market's life's main concern happen to be career as well as family; they are inclined to be poor managers of time; and as a result probably less inclined to focus on their daily and short-term goals and more inclined to procrastinate.

Table 1. Population by Age and Sex: 2012: (Numbers in thousands. population)

Age

Both sexes

Male

Female

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

All ages

308,827

151,175

157,653

.Under 5 years

20,110

6.5

10,273

6.8

9,837

6.2

.5 to 9 years

20,416

6.6

10,427

6.9

9,989

6.3

.10 to 14 years

20,605

6.7

10,529

7.0

10,076

6.4

.15 to 19 years

21,239

6.9

10,840

7.2

10,399

6.6

.20 to 24 years

21,878

7.1

10,987

7.3

10,891

6.9

.25 to 29 years

20,893

6.8

10,430

6.9

10,464

6.6

.30 to 34 years

20,326

6.6

10,034

6.6

10,292

6.5

.35 to 39 years

19,140

6.2

9,421

6.2

9,719

6.2

.40 to 44 years

20,787

6.7

10,255

6.8

10,532

6.7

.45 to 49 years

21,583

7.0

10,584

7.0

11,000

7.0

.50 to 54 years

22,372

7.2

10,906

7.2

11,466

7.3

.55 to 59 years

20,470

6.6

9,879

6.5

10,592

6.7

.60 to 64 years

17,501

5.7

8,278

5.5

9,223

5.8

.65 to 69 years

13,599

4.4

6,461

4.3

7,139

4.5

.70 to 74 years

9,784

3.2

4,519

3.0

5,265

3.3

.75 to 79 years

7,331

2.4

3,122

2.1

4,209

2.7

.80 to 84 years

5,786

1.9

2,421

1.6

3,365

2.1

.85 years and over

5,006

1.6

1,809

1.2

3,196

2.0

.Under 15 years

61,131

19.8

31,229

20.7

29,902

19.0

.15 to 17 years

12,977

4.2

6,666

4.4

6,311

4.0

.18 to 20 years

12,756

4.1

6,535

4.3

6,221

3.9

.21 to 44 years

98,530

31.9

48,765

32.3

49,765

31.6

.45 to 64 years

81,926

26.5

39,646

26.2

42,280

26.8

.65 years and over

41,507

13.4

18,332

12.1

23,174

14.7

Median age

37.3

36.1

38.5

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, 2012. Internet release date: December 2013

Target Market Segment Strategy

Promise or Pay will be targeting all these age groups by cultivating alliances with charity organizations and aid organizations. By cultivating an alliance with such nonprofit organizations, Promise or Pay will expand their clientele who are unable to serve their local communities or perhaps wish to exert monetary pressure on themselves.

The key factor here to note is that, organizations, companies and agencies should value Promise or Pay's dedication, from then onwards, it will be quite straightforward to obtain new clients as demand is huge while supply is short ( shown above in the research).

Understanding of Decision-Making Psychology of these Target Markets

Studies have shown that while 45% of the people finalize New Year resolution from which 8% fulfill them. Last year, the self-help industry compiled a mammoth $11 billion. According to research, goals are achieved by a percentage of 33% when they are openly shared with others. That percentage increases by 72%, when there is money at stake. Promise or Pay unites these two methodologies as they oblige the clients to secure a promise publicly and fulfill it. In case, the clients are unable to fulfill their promise, they have to compensate it to a charity. Promise or Pay guarantees that a win-win situation is achieved as the clients have a satisfied feeling about themselves (Promise or Pay, 2014).

Research has shown that being involved in charitable causes in a society is useful for the human heart but also for the customers who are looking to spend some extra dollars wholeheartedly. The customers are putting more emphasis on business playing a pivotal role in social responsibility; it's become all the more important for businesses to involve themselves into a cause marketing campaign to broaden their clientele base. Everyone benefits from the strategy Promise or Pay has devised. It boosts client support, client base and boosts charity business. With the help of customer involvement, the clients can be kept engaged (Gordon, 2011).

Profile Development and Increased Participation

Basing on the present research, it's important for Promise or Pay to permit selecting their own organizations to donate as it will enlarge their nonprofit's portfolio. It could be a local nonprofit organization involved in cancer research and environmental cleanup. Choosing a local nonprofit is more beneficial and advantageous for the cause marketing initiative. The local clients would be emotionally attached to the local charity resulting in vast fund generation. A public relations officer must be attached with Promise or Pay as well. It will entail covering up the internet aspect of marketing and such as likes and tweets. Promise or Pay needs to cultivate a caring face to its fan base resulting in benefits to the company and society on the whole (Gordon, 2011).

Positioning Strategy in light of brand value competitors and value proposition

The aims of Promise or Pay are as follows:

Use social media to create awareness of a goal in public and help in fulfilling it

Ensures that charitable donations are given maintaining a win-win goal at all times enabling a satisfied feeling overall

The clients can fulfill their promise and be happy about it or resolve a social issue in society by donating some money and feel good at the same time. Hence, Promise or Pay will assist in preventing the depressive feeling of failure (Boolkin, 2014).

Promise or Pay is a noble cause yet its message is potent as it forces its clients to change themselves while working for charity causes as well (Boolkin, 2014).

Promise or Pay is involved in just more than pooling funds for charities. The basic aim of the website is to attain a personal objective. The young generation can make use of this charitable action. Apart from that, when the audience will share their promise with a larger audience, they will ultimately bring in more people from their circles and assist indirectly in generating more charity (Boolkin, 2014).

The mission of the Promise or Pay is to develop a platform for people to get inspired and follow the footsteps of the successful individuals as well as facilitating a large reservoir of funds for charity causes (Boolkin, 2014).

Marketing Strategy: Employment of Communication and Social Media Strategies for Competitive Edge

Non-profits are outpacing corporations and academic institutions in the adoption of social media (Nora and Eric, 2009). Social media has become a useful tool in the nonprofit business strategy devised for reaping maximum rewards. All the strategies employed must be used for completing the goals of the organization (Danah and Nicole, 2007). There are number of social media platforms available to make use of. Their relevance depends on the situation. The questions here are (Pacific Continental, 2010):

The amount of time needed to be allotted to social media?

What are the goals and objectives of the organization?

What's role of social media in fulfilling these objectives?

What is the organization's aim to achieve by social media?

Which websites is the public more active in? (Pacific Continental, 2010)?

Although the social media is a useful form of creating awareness, but it's not right to be active on every forum too. Given are some popular websites and tools to make use of: (Pacific Continental, 2010), which Promise and Pay should use in its communication and marketing campaign:

Facebook: Use Facebook to create a close community and share news with them (Pacific Continental, 2010), which engages in self-help and motivation.

Twitter: The followers need to be kept updated with news and updates regarding charity causes (Pacific Continental, 2010). For instance, Promise and Pay can inform its followers of the number of members who have achieved their goals and those who failed and subsequently donated to charity of their liking.

Flickr: It's a website to share and manage pictures along with loved ones and public. In case of Promise and Pay, it's a great method to create public awareness of event and efforts they conduct (Pacific Continental, 2010); specially those of donations that took place as a result of its members failing to meet their goals.

YouTube: Upload video clips and share them with the general public. Just like Flickr, it's a wondrous way to share events and efforts organized for charity (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Blog: Explain about the cause, ask for opinions and share new ideas and tips on it (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Podcasts: Podcasts are audio recordings which can be used for recording news and latest updates regarding the charity and create awareness among the audience (Pacific Continental, 2010).

LinkedIn: Make a profile on LinkedIn and work with other professionals. The board of directors can remain connected with their corporate donors this way and obtain new ones as well (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Apart from online presence on social media websites, they need to be active in groups as well. Expanding is the key idea here blogging, Facebook fan pages and videos will go a long way in attaining that goal. The audience and network will grow likewise (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Social media messaging: The nonprofit organizations need to have a messaging tool enabled to keep a competitive edge (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Brand awareness: Social media will keep the nonprofit organization in news and public's mind. Ensure that the aim and purpose of the Promise or Pay is made popular and common knowledge. Every platform has a noble purpose (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Education: With the help of social media, create vibe among the common public regarding the issues faced by the society. For instance, share stories, news and information regarding studies, research and share success stories of other organizations as well (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Marketing and raising funds: The audience shouldn't be bombarded with nonprofit organization's mission and fundraising efforts, it should be done in a light manner. Social media is a viable form of fund raising and creating awareness among the public (Pacific Continental, 2010).

Organizing / calling for action: Social media is a viable form of communication and pooling common public for a noble cause. It is highly imperative in case of natural disaster. In the year 2009, a twitter event called Twestival was launched for supplying pure water in poverty stricken countries such as: