Marketing

1. Examine the characteristics of //Reach Out’s// market including customers and competitors.

2. Analyse the marketing techniques used by //Reach Out.//

// The marketing techniques that Reach out uses is by using new technology such as, social networking sites. For example, Facebook and Twitter. This made her blog become a medium for social marketing. // // Apart from this, Reach out has an idea for creating a family brand which involves selling products like clothes and accessories. For example, T- shirts and mugs. This is done to provide more surpluses for the company and gain more popularity. // // Furthermore, there is an option of obtaining a sponsorship. In this case Reach out may want to gain sponsorship from the company N- Pharma because they are developing research into the causes of autism. This will allow N- Pharma to create a better coperate social responsibility program. N- Pharma will put links on their website supporting Reach out and reach out will do the same for N- Pharma. //

// An analysis of the marketing mix is always best done with the 4 Ps structure (or in this case the 7Ps) in order that all elements are covered. (HEBE) //

3. Discuss the effectiveness of //Reach Out’s// marketing mix.

4. Identify and explain the ethical issues surrounding //Reach Out’s// marketing decisions

They have unprofessional therapists which are still students during training which are working with real autistic kids. This raises the issue that the autistic kids may not be cared for the correct way because the students are not professionals yet. This may reduce costs and allow parents with lower incomes to afford care for their autistic kids. But it is done in an unprofessional way. This of course alarms many people therefore causing pressure groups to arise. Andrew Grandin may be an ethical issue because he has lied to the company which will cause problems such as communication errors making the company not able to function. Andrew Grandin also causes argument between Laura and Neil.

5. Apply Porter’s five forces model to classify and analyse Reach out’s competitive pressures.(HL)

6. Analyse the role of market research for //Reach Out//

Market research is the process of gathering and analysing data relevant to the marketing function. It may be primary or secondary. Market research is used to help improve marketing decision making.

Firstly, one benefit of reach out conducting market research will be that it gives the business accurate and up to date information of what customers want. This would be beneficial for reach out because currently a lot of the business decisions are influenced by what Laura feels is a good idea, whether or not it actually is beneficial. For example, ‘Laura was impatient and pursued her ideas’ L67 By conducting market research, the customers wants and needs will be identified and can then be addressed rather than Lauras. Secondly a further benefit is that it allows the business to see whether the current services they provide meet the needs of customers, and whether or not improvements need to be made. Thirdly market research also allows the business to improve their marketing by using a distinct marketing mix for each customer target group.

However one limitation is that data and information may be inaccurate and unreliable due to bias. For example Since, Neil is conducting the market research to find other ways of raising revenue as his option were rejected by Laura, due to their conflict, his opinion may influence a bias in the results towards his options. Furthermore cost of good market research may be high and in the case of reach out it may not be possible because they are cash limited. As reach out is only funded through Laura and Neil’s initial start-up cost of 10,000 and the funds from Laura’s blog, the cash that is coming into the charity should be spent on paying the student therapists as well as producing the PECS cards. With a limited amount of cash, Reach Out would not be able to spend money on good market research.

//An overall judgement / conclusion about the role of market research would finish this question off quite nicely - HEBE//

7. Evaluate the different methods of market research available to //Reach Out//.

8. Evaluate Neil’s proposal to modify the pricing structure of the therapist scheme (lines 121-125)

9. Evaluate Neil’s proposal to develop a family brand for //Reach Out// (line 124-132)

10. Analyse the various promotion tools suited to //Reach Out//.

11. Discuss the costs and benefits of //Reach Out// using e-commerce (such as social networking sites) to market its products and services.

Firstly, on line 45, it is mentioned that the mission statement of Reach Out is “to provide online support for families of children with autism and to offer them communication resources at a greatly reduced price”. As the sole objective of the organization is to market their service online, e-commerce is of great importance to Reach Out as it can successfully allow them to reach their objective. Generating a service and advertising it through e-commerce is relatively cheap in comparison to setting up a business, and therefore, this would reduce costs for Reach Out. Due to the subsidized costs, the capital saved will allow them to reduce the price of the PECS cards, encouraging more people to purchase them. Additionally, E-commerce can allow people to hire therapists of their choice without having to travel long distances and so this is much faster and more convenient for the visitors and will also reduce transport and delivery costs, and therefore, this will benefit the organization in a way that it may increase their number of customers, which would improve surplus in the long-term. On the other hand, a large number of people do not use the Internet for any kind of financial transaction, due to the lack of knowledge or trust, and thus, this would have a significant impact on the amount of surplus Reach Out can gain. Furthermore, customers have the ability to ask questions through e-mails, which is less time-consuming as they can receive fast responses. However, a limitation of this is that the customers are not aware of the quality of the service provided by the therapists, and whether they can successfully provide support to the families, which may limit the number of people interested in the service. Moreover, although the use of e-commerce can establish and increase Reach Out’s clientele, it does not ensure a continuous increase in the number of customers, this is because the service may not appeal to the customers due to the lack of personal connection that they have with the therapists at first which would not engage them to hire someone who they are not familiar with and do not trust.

An overall judgement giving weighting to the points raised (as required by the term "evaluate" would improve this answer. (HEBE)