Curtin Marketing Company Project Proposal Prepared for: Ric Forlano, Executive Director & Karen Giles, Tutor Prepared by: Monasha TJayagopal (14062023), Elita Chandra (13742463), Saggar Shah (14053933), Wahyu Suryadinata (14181724) & Johan Iskandar (13856160) 12 October 2009 Tutorial: Monday, 12.30pm Marketing Professional Practice 300 Curtin Marketing Company Executive Summary Objective Charity events can be effective means of raising funds and building the organization's profile. It can attract new sponsors and volunteers and promote group works or area of interest. “BidCause” is an event specially design to create awareness not only to the organization but also for the cause of the foundation and to raise funds for Arthritis WA. Our mission is to design an event that is unique and attractive that will be appealing to the specified target audience in Western Australia. With the limitation of budget of $33,000 a year the event is precisely design with a strategy to minimize cost and to increase appeal to wider audience. Arthritis WA will have a special and rather unique event conducted in The Forum, Curtin University. Students will be the most potential target market in order to achieve Arthritis Foundation of WA’s goals. With over 41,000 students at Curtin University of Technology, Arthritis WA will be able to reach an enormous audience who are less educated about Arthritis. In the consecutive years, the plan is to expand into other universities in Perth, Western Australia. Through this event there is an opportunity to set awareness for the Arthritis Foundation of WA and briefly educating the audience about Arthritis. However this has to be done in a subtle manner because the main focus is to raise funds to keep the event fun and exciting. A new idea of auction style is developed to create a buzz like a reverse auction that is manipulated to suite the event. Funds are not raise through the highest bidding value instead from the number of bids taken place. This auction style allows more contributions from students who earn a lower income. In the first year, the estimated maximum expenses are approximately $26,500 with an estimated minimum income of $28,500. With the cost budget and potential of this event, enables the organisation to reach 1/3 of total expenditure from the total income in the third year. The time needed prior to executing this event is approximately six months. The heaviest duty will be attempt in the first 2 months with signing-up sponsors. The initial advertising will take place in the first week of February. Advertising mainly includes, posters, banners, Oasis Curtin news letter and internet social networking sites such as Facebook. The event will take place in the second week of March on the 9th year 2011. Marketing Strategy Proposal Curtin Marketing Company Table of Contents Introduction 2 Target Market & Sponsors 3 Event Strategy 7 Budget Forecast 11 Timeframe 15 Conclusion 18 References 19 Marketing Strategy Proposal 1 Curtin Marketing Company Introduction The purpose of the report is to come up with an original fundraising event that both raises money and engages the corporate community. Break even or a small profit in the first year will be expected, and the ratio should come into effect by 3rd year of the campaign. With a budget of $33,000 a unique event is designed whereby the first year it should break even and start raising income from the second year onwards. It is expected that the expenditure cost would be 1/3 of the amount raised in the third year. The marketing strategy outlined in this report has been tailored to fit in with the organization’s mission and goals. Ultimately the report will aim to create a feasible event, which will raise funds, create awareness & recruit volunteers. Marketing Strategy Proposal 2 Curtin Marketing Company Target Market & Sponsors Objective Grouping people with similar characteristics, needs and wants and then concentrating those marketing efforts on the few segments chosen is known as target marketing (Ward 2009). To identify and select target markets is a key marketing decision. It has a major influence following decisions regarding types of services, their distribution, pricing and communication (Crompton 1983, 7). We have chosen both local and the overseas students as our target market segment as they are suitable in helping us to raise awareness about Arthritis Foundation and they may also help bringing in new members or participants to the event. Local Students Overseas Students Geographic Curtin University Curtin University Population 20,000 20,000 Age 17-30 17-30 Generation Generation X&Y Generation X&Y Dependent None None Low - Moderate Income Low - Moderate Income Postgraduate/Undergraduate Postgraduate/Undergraduate Middle Class Middle Class Esteem Seekers & Thinkers Esteem Seekers & Thinkers Socialite Socialite Openness Conscientious Quality/Comfort Quality/Branded Informed Informed Income Education Social Class Values Lifestyle Personality Benefit Sought Product Knowledge Marketing Strategy Proposal 3 Curtin Marketing Company Local Students Segment Local students mainly range in ages between 18 up to 30 years old. Both male and female students may attend the auction. Local students may be working and earning an income of around $25,000 to $50,000 per annum as they do not have any kind of work restrictions by the government. Students may be post graduate or under graduate. And they are mainly Australians. Their attitudes and their lifestyles are common. They always like doing something new which is fun and exciting and they like to experience new things at all times. Well steady people as they receive high income and can afford to pay rent for their housing and other household items. Local students need to be aware about arthritis and also need to know why people suffer from this kind of diseases. It is important for local students to know that they should keep on continuing their daily physical activities that will help them with continuous movement for the joints which enables the bones to become strong and healthy. They also need to know what minerals and antioxidants are needed for their daily intake in order to keep their body in the best shape possible. Overseas Students Segment International students may range from ages from 18 up to 30 years old as well. Both male and female students may attend the auction. Some international students may be non working and those working may be under working restrictions by the government whereby they are only allowed to work for not more than 20 hours per week. Those students who are working may earn casual or part time salary which may be less than $30,000 per annum. Students may be either post graduates or under graduates. In this category students will be mainly from the Asian population and other countries round the globe (Veda advantage n.d). Their lifestyle is mainly to socialize with friend and family members. They pay rent for their housing and their household and personal incomes are very low due to the problems in unemployment and therefore they receive some accommodation provided by housing authorities (Veda advantage n.d). International students are chosen for the bidding as they need to know about arthritis and the causes of arthritis. They also get a chance to win items while bidding for Apple items. Utopia being a corporate sponsor enables many Asians to come to the bidding event. At the event, they will also be given ideas on how to keep themselves healthy as they will be provided information on boost juice as well as they are going to be one of the main targets in the event. Marketing Strategy Proposal 4 Curtin Marketing Company Apple inc. Apple inc. is one of the most popular company right now, it has grown over the years from making computers to making consumer electronics. It designs and creates products such as the iPods, iPhones & Apple laptops (Crunch Base n.d). They are going to help by providing items to be auctioned off, such as iPods, iPhones, Apple laptops and iTunes gift cards. We chose apple as one of the corporate sponsors as it deals with products that students are willing to buy. As students find out that Apple products are being auctioned off, they will tend to buy at least a few bidding tickets in order to try and win their product of choice by having the lowest unique bid. The main idea of having Apple to sponsor the Arthritis foundation was that by giving students the chance to win items that they wish to have, they are able to raise funds for their foundation in order to support those suffering with arthritis. Apple inc. Boost Juice Boost juice is an international chain of retail outlets that sells fresh fruit juice. Their products include juices, different kinds of smoothies, crushes, boosters, wheatgrass and many more varieties in their smoothies (Boost Juice n.d). We have chosen Boost juice as one of our corporate sponsors as it provides fresh and healthy products. Its products are good for the body, thus helping people with arthritis. Due to the fresh products, they can provide many body minerals and other antioxidants that human body requires for daily intake. The main idea of having Boost juice at the event is for people to understand that it is important to be healthy and to exercise regularly in order to maintain healthy bones and joints due to them supporting the Arthritis foundation. Boost Juice Marketing Strategy Proposal 5 Curtin Marketing Company Utopia Bubble Tea & Karaoke Utopia bubble tea is a retail market that provides customers with unique drinks that are made from tea. They also provide customers with other different drinks like coffees, cakes and breads (Wandering Gourmet n.d) We have chosen Utopia bubble tea as one of our corporate sponsors as it may be the highest target for the Asian population in terms of bubble tea, therefore having more international students coming to the auction. This will help us, as many international students will attend the auction and as they see products being auctioned off they will more likely to participate in the auction, thus raising more funds for the Arthritis foundation. Utopia Ikea Australia IKEA are the main leaders in do-it-yourself furniture products. It specializes in home decorations and provides interior designing ideas and home wares (IKEA n.d) We have chosen IKEA as our corporate sponsor as they provide with products that would help the students. Students will be interested in products such as study tables, chairs, office equipments and much more, thus having more students attend the auction. This will help us in the way that many students will be looking for furniture at all times, but mostly in the beginning of a semester, and this will give us a great opportunity to raise funds by auctioning furniture. Marketing Strategy Proposal 6 Curtin Marketing Company Event Strategy Overview Short term goals in the 1st year the fundraising event will be held at Curtin University of Technology at the Forum. Here the event will gain awareness, as many students will pass by and due to their curiosity the students will be interested to see what is taking place, which lead them to participate in the event. According to ideacenter.org “School nights are usually the best times to host big events on campus as people are already on campus. Somewhere in the start of the 1st semester is the best time of the year to plan events, as people won't be studying as hard for tests and you'll have plenty of time for publicizing your event. Try avoiding times of the year when many people are taking tests, such as close to finals week. Also, try to avoid the very beginning of academic terms, as you will need at least a couple of weeks to publicize the event.” (Idea Centre N.D). The event will be held during the early weeks of the 1st semester on a Wednesday because during the hours of 12pm till 2pm is known to be common free time at Curtin University of Technology, where the main event can be held. If the event is successful, similar events can be spread out to other colleges such as University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University as medium term goals (2nd and 3rd year of the campaign). As for long term, the idea of the event is to be brought up to greater public, but local celebrity will be used instead of using young adults to be auctioned off. Marketing Strategy Proposal 7 Curtin Marketing Company Lowest Unique Auction The Unique Bid auction can be considered as a reverse auction. This unique auction method is similar to that of a traditional auction, with multiple buyers who compete against one another to win a particular item. However in a unique auction the competition between the buyers is to drive the price of a product down, which is completely opposite of what you will find in a traditional auction. This usually occurs as a silent auction. The winner of a Unique Bid Auction is the person with the lowest unique bid. The more time you bid the more chance you have in winning the item. In simple, a "Unique Bid" means a bid with a value different to any other bid placed in the auction. How it works? In order to participate in a Unique Bid Auction, the participants are required to purchase tickets worth AU$2 a piece and use the tickets to bid on their chosen products. Every item requires either AU$2 to participate and behind the ticket participants have to write in their lowest unique bidding price behind the ticket and drop in a box beside the bidding item. The lowest bidding price will not necessarily to be the successful bidder as the successful bidder is the participant who has mark the lowest unique bid for that item behind their ticket. As the successful bidder will be the sole single bidder of a particular value, and the successful bidder will also have to make the payment of the value of their bid to obtain the auctioned item. How to place a bid? In order to stand a chance of winning an item, participants need to buy a ticket. For example, if you wish to get the Apple Macbook Pro auctioned, you need to buy AU$2 ticket each. You can either place a single bid on an auction item, or multiple bids. Then behind the ticket you write your bidding price while taking into consideration the winning lowest unique price. There is also bulk bidding ticket purchase such as AU$10 will provide the bidder with six bidding ticket and AU$20 will grant the bidder with thirteen bidding tickets. These bidding tickets will allow the bidder to bid for more than one auctioned item. It can often make sense to bid below the current lowest unique bid. There could be a gap in the bids below the current winning bid that no one has placed a bid on yet, and if the bidder were to place a bid in that gap, it will then become the lowest unique bid. For this reason, the current lowest unique bid can go up and down over the life of the auction. Therefore the bidder should not assume to always bid higher than the current winning bid, even though the bidding process is silent. Bidders are able to make as many bids for a single object auctioned. How it works? For this particular event, products such as electronics from our corporate sponsor such as apple will be auctioned off. And other electronics from Harvey Norman will be purchased at discounted price, with help from the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia. Electronics goods will not be the only products that will be auction off. Other goods may include sporting goods, such as sport club jerseys and gift vouchers from major department stores, restaurants and cafes. Curtin bookshop gift vouchers may also be included. IKEA products may also be auctioned off. Marketing Strategy Proposal 8 Curtin Marketing Company Bachelor & Bachelorette Auction The main auction will consist of 10 male and female participants who are willing to auction themselves off, and will go to a social gathering with the bidder to one of the recommended place by the event holder. This auction will proceed like a regular normal auction. Therefore the highest bidders will win. Of course the bidders will have to make a payment of the sum they bid for. This will take place at the Forum where there will be stage for the male and female participants and the Master of Ceremonies or Microphone Controller (MC) will precede the bidding process. Each male and female participant will be allocated five to ten minutes to be auctioned off, during the hours of 12pm till 2pm where Curtin University of Technology have their student common free time. For this particular event the MC can be hired or it can be a volunteer, either from the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia or a Guild member of Curtin University of Technology. The MC must be capable of speaking in a large audience and also must be capable of conducting auctioning procedures. Finding Participants The participant will be young adults’ volunteers who are sociable. These participants will benefit some sort of payment from one of the corporate sponsors, such a gift vouchers or an iPod from Apple. The participants will also have to agree on to go to a social gathering event with the winning bidders, which will be organised by the event holder. The participants can be gathered from the metro district area, or around campus. In order to obtain these participants the event holder will need to get volunteers who are able to scout out potential participants who are willing to participate in the auction. Why it will work? As a fundraising event, that needs to appeal to corporate community and to raise awareness of Arthritis. The event needs to be unique and easily identifiable as an upcoming event. The event is also fun and entertaining for auctioneers, bidders and bystanders who take part in the event. It also eliminates the cultural difference that occurs around campus, where both male and female participants from different cultural upbringing will be ideal to take part in this event. Marketing Strategy Proposal 9 Curtin Marketing Company Other Activities There will be show bags provide for bidding participants who spends more than AUAU$10, when they purchase their bidding tickets. The show bags will include a stress ball, a pen, products or goodies from the corporate sponsor who take part in the event and pamphlets about arthritis. Corporate sponsor such as Boost Juice will be selling their products at the event. With each product sold, a small donation will be given to the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia, and the majority of the sale made with Boost Juice products will be retained as their profits, e.g 10cent for each product sold will be given to the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia. Utopia Bubble Tea will also take part as the corporate sponsor for the event. Even though Utopia Bubble Tea will be compositing with Boost Juices for sales, but their products will appeal more towards the international market for the charity auction event. With each product sold a small donation will be given to the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia, and the majority of the sale made with Utopia Bubble Tea products will be retained as their profits, e.g. 10cent for each product sold will be given to the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia. IKEA products will also be displayed for auction, as their goods will make profitable income and will be good use for the students. The products from IKEA will not be brand new and paid fully, but the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia will be seeking the products that are factory seconds. Minor sponsors will participate in the fundraising event. Retail stores such as Harvey Norman, Fitness First, AMart, Nike Factory, Adidas Factory, and Rebel Sports. This is because they may not be willing to provide goods for charitable organisation. Instead the organisation will seek a discounted price for their goods. 92.9FM or NoVa FM will also be there to take part in the event by promotion both Curtin University of Technology and Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia. There will be a DJ present playing at the event, who will be volunteering themselves, in order to attract and retain interest. There will also be entertainers such as dancing groups as Fuzion from a local church. Marketing Strategy Proposal 10 Curtin Marketing Company Budget Forecast Overview The purpose of this event is to raise money, mostly from the main strategy, which is to auction off students to the highest bidders. Other products that will be auctioned off to the lowest unique bidders will be purchased in bulks and should not cost more than the given budget. For the first year, around 1,000 people are expected to come through out the event, and purchase an average of 10 bidding tickets per person. The miscellaneous include walkie-talkies, name tags and show bags. In the first year, the estimated expenses will be $26,500 with income $28,500 with profit of $2,000. Products that will be purchased for the ‘lowest unique bids’ will be around 200 items, and estimated to be sold with an average of $10 per item. In the second year, the estimated expenses will be $26,000 with income of $46,000, having a profit of $20,000. At this time, it is expected that more sponsors will be achieved because the popularity of the event along with the bidding tickets sold and donations. However, higher number of products will be purchased and sold. The renting venue will cost more than the first year, given that the place will not be the same. In the last year, the estimated expenses will be $24,500 with the income of $75,000, having profit of $50,500. Other than that, similar to the second year, more sponsors, bidding tickets sold and donations made in the event are expected. Also, number of products purchased and sold is higher. Marketing Strategy Proposal 11 Curtin Marketing Company First Year Budget Description Credit Debit Income Bidding tickets ≈10,000 tickets @ ±$2 $20,000.00 Auction Items (Lowest Unique Bid) $2,000.00 Student Auction $4,000.00 Sponsors $1,000.00 Donation Made at Event $1,500.00 Estimated Income $28,500.00 Expenses Auction Items Purchased $10,000.00 Event Venue & Facilities $2,750.00 Support Materials $550.00 Advertising & Promotion $1,500.00 Entertainment $6,500.00 Decorations $1,500.00 Insurance $1,500.00 Miscellaneous $2,200.00 Estimated Expenses $26,500.00 Total Marketing Strategy Proposal $2,000.00 12 Curtin Marketing Company Second Year Budget Description Credit Debit Income Bidding tickets ≈15,000 tickets @ ±$2 $30,000.00 Auction Items (Lowest Unique Bid) $5,000.00 Student Auction $5,000.00 Sponsors $4,000.00 Donation Made at Event $2,000.00 Estimated Income $46,000.00 Expenses Auction Items Purchased $10,000.00 Event Venue & Facilities $2,750.00 Support Materials $550.00 Advertising & Promotion $1,500.00 Entertainment $6,000.00 Decorations $1,500.00 Insurance $1,500.00 Miscellaneous $2,200.00 Estimated Expenses $26,000.00 Total Marketing Strategy Proposal $20,000.00 13 Curtin Marketing Company Third Year Budget Description Credit Debit Income Bidding tickets ≈25,000 tickets @ ±$2 $50,000.00 Auction Items (Lowest Unique Bid) $8,000.00 Student Auction $6,500.00 Sponsors $7,500.00 Donation Made at Event $3,000.00 Estimated Income $75,000.00 Expenses Auction Items Purchased $10,000.00 Event Venue & Facilities $2,750.00 Support Materials $550.00 Advertising & Promotion $1,500.00 Entertainment $4,500.00 Decorations $1,500.00 Insurance $1,500.00 Miscellaneous $2,200.00 Estimated Expenses $24,500.00 Total Marketing Strategy Proposal $50,500.00 14 Curtin Marketing Company Timeframe Overview Timeframe of this event will take approximately 6 months for pre planning, preparation and day of event. It details the key activities and the duration each activities. The timeframe is one way to ensure that, targets are met – things happen when they are supposed to, nothing is overlooked or forgotten – no details are missed out, all the work is not left until the last moment &the event runs smoothly Marketing Strategy Proposal 15 Curtin Marketing Company Final Planning (Oct, 2 Weeks) A meeting will be setup, to present the event proposal to the board of directors and the executives of Arthritis Foundation WA. The final planning would roughly take 2 weeks for approval of the event, and for the treasury to approve the budget. Upon approval volunteers will be recruited on the event team. Sign-Up Sponsors (Oct-Nov, 1 Month) A sponsor liaison will contact and arrange a meeting with the chosen corporate sponsors. Sponsors want to exploit the commercial opportunities associated with an event, cause or organization, the meeting will give an opportunity to present about Arthritis Foundation, the event, how they could help the event and how they can benefit from the cause. This will take approximately 1 month, as the corporations and the marketing consultant need to arrange sponsors involvement in the event. Booking Venue (Nov, 1 Month) All necessary administrative approvals for securing the venue must be booked at least 2 months prior to the event. Once the application is approved, a deposit will need to be paid. Ample time has been given to book the event, other arrangement include making security arrangements and contact the office of insurance and risk management to discuss insurance coverage Hiring Equipment (Nov, 1 Month) Marquees, furniture and audio/visual equipment have to book simultaneously with the venue. It is important to book marquee early because there will be a high demand for people hiring marquees for weddings, birthday parties, garden parties and corporate events in the summer months. Buying Items (Dec-Jan, 2 Months) Finding the auction items is one of the most important part of the entire planning process, sufficient time is given to procure interesting items that people want to bid on. The sponsorship liaison will contact the various businesses to get discounts for buying the items. Marketing Strategy Proposal 16 Curtin Marketing Company Signup Participants (Jan, 1 Month) A group of volunteers from the event team will go out to places like shopping centers, cafes, restaurants and universities to sign up participants for the main auction event and the live performance. One of the most important entertainment elements to an event is selecting the best keynote speaker, a master of ceremonies or the auctioneer will be hired or invited to be the MC at the event. Other participants include getting a professional photographer and videographer for the event. Advertising (Dec-Mar, 4 Months) Publicizing the event is important, because the more people that attend, the more chance to attract higher bids on the auction items. Advertising will be needed to be planned in December to January as several media organization. The promotion will be conducted by February to March, this would include, putting up event fliers at on the billboard in Curtin, local and community newspaper, advertising the event online (Facebook, twitter and MySpace), local radio and television stations about possible mentions on air. Event Setup (Mar, 2 Weeks) 2 weeks before the event, it would be important to finalize and confirm the time and date for equipments delivery. Speeches and introductions have to be written up and get them approved. A production schedule outlining all deliveries, cues, and timing for the event will be needed to be drawn up. Event Day (Mar, 1 Day) On the big day, the event team and volunteers would have to arrive early to check all facilities and grounds. A logistical outline will be passed out to the volunteers so that they can be coordinated. Conduct sound and equipment checks so they are working properly, and the event should be ready 30min before the event. After Event (Mar, 1 Day) Once the event has been concluded, it is courteous to send thank you notes to staff, volunteers and sponsors. Conduct meeting for an event debriefing to determine success or ways to improve in the future and survey attendees, if appropriate. Marketing Strategy Proposal 17 Curtin Marketing Company Conclusion The BidCause is chosen, because if successful, it will raise money and engage the corporate community. The time needed to prepare for the event is around six months in total, with quite spread out operations all the way through; this is done in a way that considered the limited number of staff and administrators that Arthritis Foundation of WA has. This event is also expected to bring profit more than other events that Arthritis Foundation of WA had done before, with $24,000 profit at the end of third year. The event will be recurring for three years in a row; therefore, the popularity will increase, resulting in higher sponsors and participants – both volunteers and guests. At the end of each events, ‘Thank-you’ notes will be given out to corporate sponsors. Marketing Strategy Proposal 18 Curtin Marketing Company References Andreasen, A. R and Kotler, P. (2008) Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations (7th Edition), Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jeersey, 07458 Boost Juice. n.d. History: A Boost is born. http://www.boostjuice.com.au/ (accessed 7 October, 2009). Chong, L. 1986. A market of segmentation analysis of a retail financial service market:Journal of Application of Attribute Importance and Financial Lifestyles as Segmentation bases 0227 (0338): 239. http://www.proquest.com (accessed 6 October 2009). Crompton, J. 1983.Selecting target markets: A Key to Effective Marketing 7. https://www.sagamorepub.com/ebooks/ (accessed October 8, 2009). Crunch Base. n.d. Apple: Company Profile. http://www.crunchbase.com/company/ (accessed 8 October, 2009). Hibbert. I, and Horne .S. 1996. Giving to charity: Questioning the donor decision process The Journal of Consumer Marketing. 13(2). 4 - 15http://proquest.umi.com. (accessed October 9, 2009) Idea Centre N.D http://www.ideacenter.org (accessed October 8, 2009). IKEA. n.d. History: About IKEA. http://cebas.ikea.com.au/Template (accessed October 9, 2009). Mahalo N.D. http://www.mahalo.com (accessed October 8, 2009). Veda advantage. n.d. Segment 23: Aspiring ethnic high rise. http://lws.vedaadvantage.com/landscape_au/ (accessed 9 October, 2009). Wandering Gourmet. n.d. For the love of Bubble Tea. http://wanderinggourmet.net/ (accessed October 9, 2009). Ward, S. n.d. About.com: Target marketing definition. http://sbinfocanada.about.com/ (accessed October 8, 2009). Marketing Strategy Proposal 19