Marketing Management Plan

The importance of market research cannot be overemphasised. Market research provides crucial information about the needs of the market and facilitates an understanding of how to best serve the needs (ESOMAR, 2007). Market research is relevant for not only profit-oriented, but also non-profit organizations (Lewis, 2017). This paper provides a market research plan for Health through Walls (HtW). HtW is a non-profit organization that works with low income countries to improve the healthcare of their inmates. The organization assists resource-constrained countries to provide better health care services in their prisons, focusing primarily on disease identification, management, and prevention (Health through Walls, 2014).

Market Research Plan

Due to resource constraints, low income countries face significant challenges in providing quality healthcare to the prison population. Indeed, prisoners in these countries tend to be disproportionately affected by infectious diseases compared to the rest of the population, particularly tuberculosis and HIV (Health through Walls, 2014). This problem is created by factors such as prison overcrowding and lack of proper health care services, especially targeting disease identification, prevention, and management. Without measures to address this problem, there are increased health risks for not only the prisoners themselves, but also prison staff, visitors, as well as the communities where prisoners live upon release. The first step in addressing this problem is to have a more comprehensive understanding of the problem, hence the importance of market research.

The objectives of the research are:

1. To understand and raise awareness of the plight of prisoners in low income countries, specifically in terms of healthcare

2. To understand major healthcare issues faced by prisoners in low income countries

3. To examine factors that hinder low income countries from providing quality healthcare to their prisoners

4. To recruit more donors

5. To market the organization

Deliverables

The research will yield a market research report majorly detailing:

• The prevalence of infectious diseases in prisons in low-income countries

• Healthcare interventions used in prisons in low-income countries

• Challenges of providing healthcare services in prisons in low-income countries

• Recommendations for improving healthcare services in prisons in low-income countries

Target Audience

Prisons in low income countries comprise the target audience for the market research. Low income countries encompass resource-constrained countries across the globe, especially in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia.

Generally, market research may be based primary or secondary data (ESOMAR, 2007). Primary data is data collected for the first time, while secondary data is data that already exists. Since the target audience includes prisons in low income countries, using secondary data may be a daunting challenge since most of these countries lack properly documented data about healthcare provision in prisons. The research will, therefore, rely on primary data. More specifically, the research will involve a descriptive survey aimed at understanding the state of healthcare in low income countries. A survey is advantageous as it facilitates the collection of data from a large number of respondents with relatively little time and effort (ESOMAR, 2007). The survey will be administered to prison officials in the target countries, especially officials dealing with healthcare matters.

There are many low-income countries around the world, meaning that including all of them in a single study can be quite difficult. In this regard, a representative sample will be selected. More specifically, out of the listed countries, 30% will be selected. This would be a sufficiently representative sample. In each country, there are several prisons. Since it may not be feasible to include all prisons from every selected in the research, two prisons will be purposively selected from each country. After sample selection, the survey will be sent to the recipients through email. In some cases, however, it may be important for the researchers to deliver the survey in person.

The research would involve a number of activities, including board approval, acquisition of research assistance, collection of data, analysis of data, and report presentation. These activities would take approximately 11 months. The timeline of the research is described in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Research timeline

Activity/Timeline

2017

2018

June

August

September-December

January-March

April

Board approval

Acquisition of researchers

Data collection

Data analysis

Presentation of report

Budget

As mentioned earlier, the research will involve primary research. Conducting primary research is not only a time-consuming, but also a costly affair (ESOMAR, 2007). The affair may be even costlier when it involves collecting data from respondents spread out in several countries. Table 2 below summarises the budget of the research.

Table 2: Research budget

Item Amount ($)

Hiring research firm 150,000

Data collection and analysis 80,000

Administrative costs 30,000

Logistics and travel 40,000

Miscellaneous 20,000

Total 320,000

In-house Resources and Outside Vendors

Conducting a market research often requires a great deal of resources. Presently, HtW does not have adequate internal resources to conduct the research. Resources in this case denote both human and financial resources. Though the organisation has a number of research experts, the assistance of an external entity would be valuable. An entity with extensive experience in market research, especially within the context of non-profit organization, would enable the organization execute the research more effectively, hence the need to outsource the task to a research firm. Outsourcing an external entity would without a doubt require a considerable amount of financial resources. $320,000 may be a lot for the organization given its numerous competing needs. With the help of its partners, however, the organization can get the financial resources required to conduct the research.

An important aspect of marketing is to evaluate what other entities involved in the same offering are doing. This is crucial for staying ahead of rivals. It is important for not only profit-oriented organizations, but also non-profit organizations. Each segment of the non-profit sector comprises several organizations with similar or nearly similar offerings. Besides HtW, there are other non-profit organizations that deal with prisons in low income countries and elsewhere. In such an environment, tracking one's rivals is important. Joseph (2013) provides useful guidelines for tracking the marketing strategies of rivals. He recommends the use of Google Alerts, connecting with rivals on social media, subscribing to rivals' mailings and promotions, and monitoring rivals' websites. These techniques will be useful in this case.