Developing An Integrated Marketing Communication Plan For Run2Cure Neuroblastoma In Australia

Rationale for Run2Cure Neuroblastoma

Australia is one of the developed nations that have a history of hosting various small and major events. The country hosts different types of events like sports event, racing event, marathon, music festival etc. Population of the country shows very much interest in these events and percentage of their participation has been increasing every year. Effective management of an event is very important for the organization that conducts the event. It is very important to promote a particular event so that people can be aware about this and participate in this. This report is focused on a popular run of Australia i.e. Run2Cure Neuroblastoma. It includes different aspects which can be used by the event management organization to promote and advertise the event to its targeted audiences. The major aspects are such as identification of audiences, previous promotional campaign, communication objectives and promotion ideas.

For this discussion, the chosen event is a run event in Australia i.e. Run2Cure Neuroblastoma that is held by Neuroblastoma Australia. Neuroblastoma Australia is an organization that works with the mission that all kids with different types of neuroblastoma survive and live a healthy and long life that is free from side effects of treatment. The major emphasis of this organization is to enhance awareness and funds for research that is required to make treatments more impactful, targeted and less toxic for the children. Neuroblastoma Australia is a registered charity organization that is run by the friends and families affected by Neuroblastoma on volunteer basis (Run2Cure 2018, 2018). This firm is working with the objective to raise the profile of childhood cancer because it is a major reason of children’s death under the age of 5 but there are very few people who have heard of it.

To develop awareness and raise the funds, the organization conducts an event every year. This event is known as Run2Cure Neuroblastoma. The major aim of this run is to increase awareness of and significant funds for neuroblastoma cancer research. This event will have timed 3k, 5k, 10k runs and for younger runners. The organization organizes different types of runs for different age group. An entire family can participate in the run along with their children.

• 10k run: for children of 12 years and more and adults
• 5k run: children under 12 (Accompanied by adult)
• 3k run: children under 12 (Except part of school team)
• 1k little heroes fun walk: for children of 5 years and under
• 1k Junior Dash: for the kids aged 6 to 10 years

All the adults and children taking part in the run will receive the medals (Run2Cure Neuroblastoma, 2018).

Run2Cure Neuroblastoma is an event for the entire family who run for a social cause i.e. to raise the funds to conduct research for Neuroblastoma cancer and find the effective treatment for the disease. For this discussion, this event is selected because it is conducted to meet a social objective in Australia. This is to fulfill the need of marketplace and population in Australia. In this country, 719 children aged 0 to 14 years are newly diagnosed with cancer in the year 2107. It includes 322 girls and 397 boys (Run2Cure, 2018). The number of children in the country has been increasing every year so Neuroblastoma Australia is making efforts to raise funds to cure this disease in children.

Past Campaign Review

This year, the event will be holding on 3^rd June 2018 and it will be focused on fulfilling the needs of children who are suffering from cancer in Australia. This is the 6^th fun run of Neuroblastoma Australia for all the abilities and ages. It aims to increase the funds of $150,000 for conducting research into the disease (Run2Cure, 2018).

The promotion of this event should be very effective so that charity institution can develop awareness about this disease in children. With the help of market research, survival rates can be changed. The organization thinks that increasing awareness will assist raising funds for neuroblastoma research. Today, it is possible to change the current survival rate that is 50%. By applying the marketing principle of place and promotion mix, it can be stated that organization is holding this event in Australia because the rate of child cancer in higher in this country. This run is organized in the beautiful and iconic location of Domain in Sydney (Webster, 2017). Promotion plays an important role as it will develop more awareness among Australian population. Thus, spreading awareness and fundraising are major reasons behind selecting this particular event.

In Sydney, Australia, this is the sixth time when Neuroblastoma Organization is going to organize this event for the children. The organization conducts this event every year so that it can generate funds for treating cancer patients. To promote this event, the organization had conducted various promotional campaigns that assisted in creating awareness about this run and attracting more people as fundraisers and volunteers. Previously, the organization ran a promotional campaign to affect the people. In order to attract fundraisers and volunteers, the organization has organized promotional event where their volunteers had worn the outfit of superheroes to show that how fund raisers can become superheroes of cancer suffering children.

At the time of previous event, the organization enticed the fundraisers by giving different prizes. It was giving a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 that is valued at $300 to the top fundraising team. In addition to this, there were other prizes for second and third fundraiser (Run2Cure, 2018). This is the best way to generate the funds towards this run. In this event, the organization has used the slogan i.e. “Be Bold Go Gold for Children”.

Neuroblastoma Australia overlooked the past promotional activities that helped them to raise funds for research. Additionally, the organization had initiated a promotional campaign targeting the fundraisers that states that organization spends 80% of the funds on neuroblastoma research and treatment. Under this campaign, the organization offered different prizes to top three fundraisers so that it could attract more fundraisers for the event. The prizes for top three funders are stated below:

• First Prize (Value $2370): Under this, the company gave the chance to win 5 nights’ accommodation for 2 adults and 2 children at White Grass Ocean Resort and Spa in Vanuatu (Run2Cure Neuroblastoma, 2018).
• Second Prize (Value $500): Envy Jewelry to the winners
• Third Prize (Value $200): Hasbro Toy Bundle

Campaign Audience Profile

The people were able to get this opportunity by buying the Run2Cure raffle ticket booklets and assist the organization raise the significant funds for this childhood cancer. These booklets were available at 5$ each or 5 for $20 only. A single booklet includes 10 tickets and 80% of this funding go to researching Neuroblastoma (Run2Cure Neuroblastoma, 2018).  

The past campaign can be critically analyzed by using an effective marketing theory i.e. SWOT Analysis. Two of its components are given below:

Strengths:

One of the major strengths of this promotional campaign is the prize offering for top three fundraisers. Australian population loves to spend quality time with their family and loved ones so they made efforts to win the first prize in the list. It assisted the organization to develop awareness among public about the event and its objectives. This event has generated over $430,000 at Children Cancer Institute Australia. It has increased the number of participants in the Run2Cure Neuroblastoma. The promotional campaign is very attractive and innovative in comparison to past campaign of organization (Khan, 2011).

Weaknesses:

Apart from the strengths, one of the major weaknesses of this campaign is that organization spent a huge amount on the prizes to three highest fundraisers. It is only focused on the ticket purchasing not on fundraising (Sinapuelas, Wang & Bohlmann, 2015). It does not generate funds from sponsors that affected the budget of event organization.

From this campaign, the organization can learn that it should not invest this much amount on prizes to people. In addition to this, they should make the people understand that this is social cause and they should spend on this. It can learn that it can attract more people by using other activities and promotional processes.

The target audiences for Run2Cure Neuroblastoma will include the people from every age group. As mentioned above, the chosen even will be timed as 3k, 5k and 10k. The organization arranges the runs for different age group such as children of 12 years and more, under 12 years, children of 6 to 10 years, 5 years and under and adults as well. Considering this, the organization will target the audiences for this promotional campaign accordingly (Petersen, Kushwaha & Kumar, 2015). The target market and market segmentation profiles for this promotional campaign are stated below:

Geographic Profiles

Under geographic segmentation, the campaign will target the audiences considering their locations. For this, the organization will target the people from urban areas in Australia. The major focus will be on domestic people of Sydney who can participate in the run (Mihart, 2012). Moreover, it will target the people from New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.

Marketing and Communication Objectives

Demographic Profiles

In this segmentation profile, this promotional campaign of the event organization will focus on people considering some specific characteristics like income, age, gender and education. The promotional campaign will be planned to target the higher income level people who can invest the funds for this social cause. In addition to this, it will target the children and adults who can participate in the run event.

Psychographic Profiles

Under psychographic profile, the event organization will target the people from upper class of society. In addition to this, it will focus on the people who want to live a healthy lifestyle and who are concerned about the childhood cancer rate in Australia. It will plan its promotional campaign considering their psychographic characteristics (Masterman, 2014).  

Behavioral Profiles

Behavioral segmentation profiling evaluates different characteristics like price sensitivity, benefits of products and brand loyalty. It is very useful for determining purchasing patterns. Under this profile, the company will target the people who regularly assist Neuroblastoma Australia to raise the funds for cancer treatment research.

In this way, the organization will target the audiences considering the above profiles. It will ensure that these people will assist them to increase awareness and funds for Neuroblastoma research.

Apart from different benefits, the launch of this event can face various challenges due to the perception of targeted audiences towards event. These issues may affect the holding of this event in the country. The organization will promote this event considering the fact that neuroblastoma is a cancer that may lead the children to death (O’guinn, et al, 2014). So, it is very important for the organization to consider related issues or problems which can be generated due to perception of targeted audiences. It is necessary to analyze the issues and resolve them by using effective strategies and techniques.

The organization will be facing different issues like lack of people’s interest. The organization may face the issue that Australian population can show lack of interest towards this social cause race. If they will be less-interested then they will not make investment in the event. It will lead the organization to confront the issue of financial crunch. In addition to this, there will be lack of effective management due to fewer volunteers and team. Some of the parents will have fear to make their children participate in the run event (Keller, 2009).

The event organization will make additional efforts to overcome these issues. It will develop a fund account where it will save the money that can be spent on other activities like promotion, prizes to top three fundraisers. It will generate the funds from sponsor that will be used in marketing and other related activities. It will hire the trainers who can supervise the children who will be taking part in the run. It will assist the organization to win the trust of their parents. In this way, the organization can deal with the above issues in event launch (Liu, Sparks & Coghlan, 2017).

Campaign Idea

Before implementing the promotion and event in practice, the organization will develop some marketing and communication objectives which event will aim to attain in the future (Fill & Jamieson, 2015). The Marketing and communication objectives of this promotional plan are stated below:

• To increase awareness about the serious disease in Australia children i.e. Neuroblastoma.
• To raise the considerable funds from Australian population that will participate in the Run2Cure event.
• To engage more people in this social cause
• To decrease the percentage of childhood cancer in Australia

The above marketing and communication objectives of this event can be understood by considering dimensions of SMART objective framework:

Specific

The above marketing and communication objectives of this event are specific as they are very clear and precise. These objectives define what the event organization really wants to attain through its operations and processes for instance, the company aims to increase funds for Neuroblastoma research (Brown, et al, 2015).

Measurable

The objectives are totally measurable and they can be measured by looking at the sale of tickets for run, funds raised, number of volunteers and participators in this run event. It can measure the outcome by considering these key performance indicators.

Attainable

Yes, the goals of this promotional plan can be attained by using effective marketing and communication strategies. The objectives are realistic which can be attained by the organization. It will be able to develop awareness about Neuroblastoma and childhood cancer.

Relevant

The objectives of the organization are totally relevant to the operations and processes of event organization. It will be able to increase the considerable funds from Australian population that will participate in the Run2Cure event. It will aim to engage more people in this social cause (Shimp, 2008).

Time-Bound

The event organization will set a timeframe in which it will attain these objectives. This promotional campaign will be developed for 6 months. It will be able to achieve the objectives in next six months (Allen, et al, 2012).

Considering the targeted audiences, the event organization will develop an attractive campaign idea that will entice more and more fundraisers towards its operations. Moreover, the organization will use attractive and effective slogan to entice the people in Australia. It will promote the event with the idea of enriching Australian people, sporting spirit and environment. The company will use a slogan “Every Child Deserves to Grow Up” that will show the concern of organization and event towards children’s health.

Under its core marketing and communication strategy, the event management company will use attractive and creative execution styles (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). These execution styles will support the organization to attract people through images and animations. In order to convey its business and campaign idea, the organization will use below-stated images and layouts:

Marketing Communications Strategy and Tools

In order to attain above-mentioned marketing and communication objectives, the organization will use effective marketing tools, which are given below:

Internet Sources

Internet sources are the primary sources which will be used by event organization to promote the event. The organization will use different internet sources like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For the upcoming event, the organization will post the images and videos son its Facebook and Instagram page so that it can approach a larger population. The organization considers that most of the Australian population is active on these social networking sites so it will be the best way of promotion. In addition to this, it will use Google display ads and SEO marketing to make the people aware about the event (Blakeman, 2018).

Advertising

Advertising is the process that is used by an organization to promote its products and services to the population. In this case, the event organization will use both print and broadcasting media to reach the targeted population. The company will give advertisement in newspapers and magazines so that it can spread the news of this event. Through this, it will be able to reach to the people who are not available in internet and social networking sites (Andrews, & Shimp, 2017). Additionally, the organization will give ads on television and radio so that it can approach the women and older population in Australia. It can be used as a primary tool of marketing communication plan.

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is a secondary tool that can be used by this event organization to promote this upcoming event. It is the tool that will be used by event organization to encourage the people to buy the tickets of run event and fundraise for research. Under this, this firm will provide the offers and discounts to early birds (Alagoz, & Hekimoglu, 2012). To encourage funds, it will offer the prizes to winners. It will be considered as a secondary tool for the company because it will increase expenses of organization.

Direct Marketing

The chosen event organization will be using direct marketing that includes communicating brand message without any middleman. The organization will use this marketing tool as primary tool. Under this, the organization will use and distribute its flyers, brochures, newsletters, catalo and telephonic communication (Castronovo & Huang, 2012). It will increase the loyalty among fund raisers and people who participate in the run event.

Campaign Measurement

Public Relations

Under this marketing tool, the event organization will develop mutually beneficial relationship with its volunteers and fund raisers. It will assist the organization to generate more funds for Neuroblastoma research. 80% of the funds will be used to treat the childhood cancer. After the event, the organization will send a thank you card to the fund raisers for their support. It will use this technique as it will assist the organization to retain them for a longer time.

Personal Selling

Personal selling is the marketing tool by which a company trains and uses its employees to offer the products through personal and face-to-face contact. In this case, the organization will use this technique to increase brand awareness about the event and its features. The volunteers will play an important role under this marketing tool (Gibson & Connell, 2016). It will help the event organization to increase the event awareness and value in Australian market.

Support Media

In order to promote this event, the organization will use different forms of support media like out-door advertising, advertising in movie theatres, billboards, hoardings, posters etc. These are the supporting tools which this event organization will use in the future. It will help the organization to reach the outsiders of the Sydney (Pavlou & Stewart, 2015). It will be the best way to approach a larger population in Australia.

Thus, the above marketing and communication tools will assist Neuroblastoma Australia Organization to attain its above-mentioned marketing and communication objectives. These tools will work as communication strategies for the firm (Barton & Behe, 2017). Organization will promote the upcoming event and deliver its campaign idea to the targeted audiences in the country. Through these marketing tools, it will be able to deliver its brand and social message to targeted audiences.

After implementing this marketing and communication plan and strategies, it is essential to make sure that the applied marketing tools are on the target. The event organization will evaluate the campaign and measure the success of this marketing campaign. The organization will evaluate this promotional campaign based on how the organization reaches to its campaign audiences and achieves above-written marketing and communication objectives. The organization will evaluate the feedback of customers towards the advertisement which are given on social media networks. It will make a team of experts who will analyze whether the ads of organization are impactful to grab the attention and interest of customers (Bakker, 2014).

There are some key performance indicators which will be analyzed by the organization. These indicators are such as the sale of tickets for run, funds raised, number of volunteers and participators to run event. In addition to this, it will conduct an online survey through which it will analyze the response of people towards fundraising activities. It will develop a questionnaire which will include the questions regarding their interest towards social cause and how much they are aware about the severe disease of childhood cancer (Sedaghat, Sedaghat & Moakher, 2012). It will assess whether the event has attained its objectives through this marketing and communication plan and tools. It will take the feedback of its volunteers that they are satisfied with organization’s strategies or not. If there will be any issue in the campaign measurement process then the organization will implement more effective strategies and tactics to overcome that particular hurdle.

Conclusion

Thus, it is hereby concluded that marketing and communication strategies play an important role in the growth of an organization. Each and every organization needs to use effective strategies and marketing tools to promote its business among targeted customers. The above report includes the marketing and communication plan for a popular event in Australia i.e. Run2Cure Neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is childhood cancer that can lead the children to death. So, it is very important spread awareness about this event by using effective marketing and communication plan and strategies. This organization conducts the event to generate funds and awareness about this disease so that people can participate in the run event and assist in social cause. The organization will use effective marketing and communication tools and strategies to approach a large base in the country. It will be able to communicate its message to Australian population. The promotional strategies are appropriate as they will assist the organization to reach and generate fundraiser for this particular event in Australia.

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