Introduction
Organization Overview
Easterseals is a non-profit healthcare organization that caters to the needs of Americans with disabilities, marginalized families, and communities. The organization has several offerings geared to tackle societal issues, including:
- Early intervention, autism, medical rehabilitation and childcare services for children and their families.
- Adult employment opportunities and day services for older adults.
- Mental health and recovery programs, caregiving support, camp and recreation, and assistive technology, among others.
- Transportation services, employment placement and job training for veterans and adults with disabilities (Easterseals, n.d.b).
The organization has its roots in when it was founded by Edgar Allen as the National Society for Cripple Children. The institution launched the Easter “seals” campaign in 1934 which was so successful over the years that it formally adopted the name Easter Seals in 1967.
Easterseals has been largely involved in some of the most monumental legislation in the country, most notably the Americans Disabilities Act (ADA). Today, the organization offers services to over 1.5 million Americans through its national network of Affiliates. Easterseals’ mission is “to change the way the world defines and views disabilities by making positive, profound differences in people’s lives every day” (Easterseals, n.d.b.). The organization’s vision as outlined in its statement, is that “People with disabilities will have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities” (Easterseals, n.d.b.). Easterseals informs its activities and initiatives by these core tenets.
Marketing Initiative
Easterseals is committed to delivering life-changing disability and community services. The following strategic marketing proposal is for the organization’s “Camping & Recreation” services. Easterseals is especially known for providing these services, making a marketing campaign on the same importance because it will increase the organization’s exposure to more funding opportunities. Currently, the organization is the largest provider of this service, but the leadership position it holds is yet to provide benefits as it still largely operates in the shadows of similar entities (Easterseals, n.d.-a). Therefore, a marketing initiative is needed to build up on the success realized in the provision of this service and increase the overall attention paid to Easterseals.
Customer Needs
Knowing and understanding customers’ needs is the core of every successful endeavor. This is because this knowledge allows marketers to persuade existing and potential customers that getting on board with them is in their best interests (Timoshenko & Hauser, 2019). To put it in perspective, the primary customers in this case are people living with disabilities that have a need to engage in recreational activities where they are valued, respected and accepted. Further, these individuals have the need to make new friends and acquaintances in fun and inclusive environments. Secondary customers in this case are their caregivers who have a need for respite, where they are able to relax and have some downtime knowing their loved ones are well-taken care of.
The “Four Ps” of Marketing
The four Ps of marketing, Product, Price, Place and Promotion, play an especially important role because this service is targeted at individuals living with disabilities that need more attention. The Product(s) in this case are the camping and recreation activities like swimming, bonfires, and semi-structured play sessions that will have to be customized to fit the needs of this demographic. Price plays an important role because it will cover both individuals with disabilities and their caregivers. For instance, the ticket prices will have to take into account the fact that each person will come with at least one caregiver. The place is also important because the venue has to be accessible to all. For instance, moving from one activity to another should be seamless for both individuals with disabilities and their caregivers. Finally, promotion is crucial because it is how we will get information related to the other Ps to the target audience via mediums like social media, television and billboards.
Demand Drivers
Demand drivers for this service are tied to the four Ps mentioned above, that is, product, price, place, and promotion. The products, in this case, services, must be those that interest a significant portion of the target audience. The price has to be just right to avoid deterring clients that might deem it too high. The place is to be close to a good number of the target audience, and the promotion has to be effective, one that gets results without being overly taxing.
Context
Marketing Goals
This marketing initiative looks to achieve three main overarching objectives:
Increase Brand Awareness
This indeed is the primary goal of this marketing campaign. We look to build on the organization’s leadership status in the provision of this service (Camping and Recreation) to inform more people about its existence. The goal here is to get many people talking about Easterseals and spreading word about its work and getting a significant number of Americans actively looking it up.
Boost Brand Engagement
The goal here is to create a community of individuals that actively interact with the organization. Being the leading non-profit in terms of Camping and Recreation, this initiative will look to develop a closer connection with existing stakeholders and increase the amount of time they spend on included activities.
Create a High Volume of Qualified Leads
Being a non-profit, this organization especially relies on donations, grants, contributions, program-related investments, bequests, and major gifts. A majority of these streams of income are difficult to secure, more so given the sheer number of similar organizations. This initiative will therefore look to create a substantial pool of highly qualified leads to ensure the organization secures these all-important funds.
Industry Analysis
This service, camping and recreation, falls under the outdoor recreation industry. According to the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), this industry accounted for 1.8 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, which is equivalent to $374.3 billion (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2021). Further, this industry attracted people of all ages, genders, levels of income and education, abilities, religions, races, and ethnicities. This is perhaps the most important success factor and why it contributes such a significant portion to the GDP. This sector especially benefits from federal laws meant to support and sustain businesses therein, that especially helped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Target Market
This initiative’s primary target market is Americans with disabilities, their caregivers, and public institutions like local government authorities. These are individuals who:
- Enjoy being in the outdoors
- Want to spend time with family and friends engaged in fun activities
- Relax and have respite in nature and the outdoors
- Looking for new challenges
- Looking to get fit
- Love nature
- Love adventure
- Love doing charity work and contributing to charity initiatives
Further, the target market is made up of people with the monetary or physical resources to engage in outdoor activities.
Market Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- Parent organization is the leading provider of the service
- Unrestricted space for activities and events
- Ability to attract people of all demographics
- Genuine and dedicated team of employees
Weaknesses
- Most people with disabilities prefer a sedentary lifestyle
- Time and space consuming
- Expenses can outrun income
Opportunities
- Offers emotional boos for people usually confined to enclosed environments
- Sourcing funding will be relatively easy as the organisation is already well-recognized
- It is relatively easy to manage the primary target audience
Threats
- The primary target audience needs more attention than usual
- There is a higher risk of safety that may scare caregivers away
- The elderly account for most of the organization’s following
- Similar non-profits are receiving more attention
Competitor Analysis
Two of Easterseals’ main competitors are the Dreamscape Foundation and ExceptionalLives. These two non-profit organizations offer similar services and target the same demographics, featuring similar activities, initiatives, and programs. The main strength associated with Dreamscape Foundation is that it focuses sensory impairments, allowing it to specialize in service delivery in this aspect (Dreamscape, n.d.). Another strength is that the organization centers around millennials, a demographic with the knowledge and resources to affect massive change. Finally, the organization has a strong support network of donors and partners that help in delivering impactful help and service to the community. However, there are significant downsides to Dreamscape’s mode of operation. First, the organization only focuses on a subset of the disabled population, meaning it only has a limited impact. Secondly, the foundation offers a limited range of services, minimizing its impact further. Finally, Dreamscape is relatively new, meaning it does not have as connected as Easterseals.
ExceptionalLives centers around families and caregivers of children with disabilities, which is its main strength because it allows it to specialize in services that help these demographic. Another strength associated with the organization is that it acts as a liaison between authorities and people living with disabilities and their families. This is primarily achieved by translating legal jargon into easy-to-understand language (ExceptionalLives, n.d.). Finally, the organization majors in information dissemination, making its operations efficient because of the few numbers of moving parts involved. However, the organization’s weaknesses are tied to its strengths. One of the main weaknesses is its focus on children with disabilities, which limits its impact as it leaves out individuals in other age groups. Secondly, the organization primarily operates in information dissemination, limiting its impact because it does not offer tangible interventions. Finally, Exceptional Lives has only been in existence for less than ten years, meaning it is not as experienced and equipped to handle the vast number of problems affecting individuals living with disabilities.
Market Position
Drawing from the subsections above, Easterseals is in a good position in the market and likely to succeed. For instance, the organization already holds the position of the leading provider of camping and recreation services, which can be leveraged to the desired ends. Further, the organization has credibility and trustworthiness owing to its long existence of over 100 years compared to many of its competitors that have been around for a few decades at best. The organization, therefore, has the requisite resources, knowledge, and experience to execute on the level needed to make this initiative a success.
Marketing Strategies
Promotions Strategy
The strategy that will be employed in promoting this service is launching a multi-channel campaign to reach the target audience both online and offline. The campaign will employ several traditional marketing techniques, including advertising, word-of-mouth marketing, public relations, social media, and direct marketing. Advertising will allow the organization to reach a wider audience because the commercials will be aired and presented to many people at once (Alon, et al., 2020). Word-of-mouth will generate some of the most solid leads because our target audience will be getting information from individuals they trust and who have had direct contact with the organization (Goi, 2019). Public relations will allow us to build a positive brand image in the eyes of the target audience and so they will be more likely to engage with our service (Alon, et al., 2020).
Social media will provide us access to a sizeable population, given its prevalence in today’s society (Alon, et al., 2020). Further, people prefer to receive information at their convenience, and social media allows us to promote our service even as they are surfing and having fun. Social media will also allow us to advertise only to individuals generally interested in such services based on their profiles (Goi, 2019). This will reduce friction with less-interested individuals and promote the brand image further. Finally, direct marketing will also generate some of the best leads because it will involve selling our service to people in our various events. Having taken part in one event, these individuals are likely to partake in another offered by the same institution. The online facet will include the website, the three main social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. The offline facet will include print ads, billboards, and TV and radio commercials.
Resource Requirements
The most important resources needed to deliver the strategies include expertise, time, and money. The campaign will need a team talented and knowledgeable in running a multi-channel campaign like this one. Therefore, substantial effort has to be put into assembling a team of people that will ensure project delivery. The initiative will also need time, which can be used to hit the market at the right time and reduce costs. Finally, success depends on the availability of monetary resources adequate to see the campaign through from inception to execution. These resources include both direct and indirect costs attached to the marketing initiative. Direct costs are attached directly to the campaign while indirect costs are involved in running and maintaining it. On expertise, the direct costs will include the pay afforded to the team and indirect costs will manifest in terms of resources needed for their upkeep while they work on the project. The same is true for time and money as investments in the same will have to be made before and during the campaign.
Evaluation Metrics
The metrics that will be used to evaluate the success of this campaign include:
- Return on investment: This is the most important metric and will measure the sales revenue generated from every dollar spent on the campaign. One of the main goals is to sell tickets to various events and this is how we will know how well the campaign worked to this end. This metric will also show the quality of leads the campaign generated.
- Conversion Rate: This will tell about the number of individuals reached that turned into leads. These are people that started engaging with the organization, bought tickets, or made a donation.
- Social Engagement: This will measure the number of people that interacted with any given element of this marketing initiative. The engagement can include any one of comments, likes, shares, or clicks.
Conclusion
Easterseals finds itself as one of many non-profit organizations in America and needs to differentiate itself from its competitors. This is especially important because the organization is committed to improving the lives of marginalized people and cannot afford to operate in the shadows of similar entities. Easterseals values the outcomes of people living with disabilities, and promoting its Camping and Recreation service is the best way to garner the attention and support it needs to succeed in delivering this and other services. This is because it holds the leadership position in this service and this initiative looks to build on this success to set up more.
References
Alon, I., Jaffe, E., Prange, C., & Vianelli, D. (2020). Global Marketing: Strategy, Practice, and Cases. Routledge.
Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2021). Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, U.S. and States, 2020 | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Web.
Dreamscape. (n.d.). Our Work. Dreamscape Foundation. Web.
Easterseals. (n.d.-a). Camping and Recreation for People with Disabilities. Web.
Easterseals. (n.d.-b). The Story of Easterseals. www.easterseals.com. Web.
ExceptionalLives. (n.d.). Our Core Values – Exceptional Lives Resources. Exceptional Lives. Web.
Goi, C. L. (2019). A Review of Marketing Mix: 4Ps or More? International Journal of Marketing Studies, 1(1).
Timoshenko, A., & Hauser, J. R. (2019). Identifying Customer Needs from User-Generated Content. Marketing Science, 38(1), 1–20.