Critical Evaluation of Road Crew Social Marketing Programme
Order Instructions:
Assessment 1 is an individual assignment that requires a comprehensive and critical analysis of an existing social marketing programme. This requires students to describe an existing social marketing programme, compare it to best practice, and to critically analyse, interpret and identify and discuss important implications from their analysis.
A selection of case studies examples of existing social marketing programmes to choose from will be made available online. Students will choose one case study and use materials from their own research, and from the lecture, tutorials, the textbook, videos and unit readings to critically analyse the case study.
Individual Essays will be assessed against your critical analysis of the following in relation to your chosen existing social marketing programme:
– Analysis of formative research used to inform the existing social marketing programme
– Target group(s) segmentation strategy in the existing social marketing programme
– Establishment of objectives and goals in the existing social marketing programme
– Development and use of the social marketing mix in the existing social marketing programme
– Implementation of the existing social marketing programme
– Process, impact and outcome evaluation of the existing social marketing programme including consideration of ethical implications
– Critical analysis and reflection on the strengths, weaknesses of the existing programme (this should feature throughout your essay), and your own suggestions for future programmes on this topic
– Quality of written communication (structure, formatting, spelling, grammar, readability of the essay)
No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:
Differentiate between commercial and social marketing and outline the scope of social marketing, seeking out new ideas and opportunities.
Demonstrate awareness of social responsibility and become familiar with the range of issues where social marketing has an impact.
Appreciate the characteristics and needs of others in society and understand prospective challenges to social issues including environmental sustainability.
Critically analyse, discuss, and evaluate social marketing strategies and use secondary research skills to collect, collate and integrate examples with theory.
Demonstrate use of written and oral skills to integrate key social marketing theoretical concepts and to create a coherent and theoretically rigorous argument relating to sustainability concepts.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Critical Evaluation of Road Crew Social Marketing Programme
Introduction
Social marketing has gained immense popularity in the contemporary world, as a strategy for promoting behavior change. Social marketing programmes fundamentally involves the application of commercial techniques for marketing in advocating for social change (Spotswood et al, 2012). Road Crew, a Wisconsin-based social marketing programme was developed with the aim of drunk driving behavior change in order to reduce road crashes related to alcohol. This paper discusses the Programme to critically review its effectiveness, impact and the extent to which it is successfully implemented as a social marketing programme.
Description of Road Crew
Road Crew existence can be traced to the year 2000 when the initial research on social marketing to promote road safety, through discouraging drunk driving was initiated by Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Safety (WisDOT). The service was first funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration following an application by WisDOT with research support by Professor Michael Rothchild, a social marketing expert from the School of Business at Wisconsin University. The one year funding for piloting the project was expected to lay a foundation for road safety by reducing drunk driving and thereafter be adopted by communities for continuity.
Road Crew is a service for party goers which allows individuals to drink without having to drive, hence reducing alcohol-related accidents. Party goers make arrangements with Road Crew before embarking on a night out: vehicles are allocated to pick them from home, drive them from bar to bar as they enjoy the night and return them home when they are done having fun. This way, Road Crew prevents drunk driving, allows for socialization and adds to the fun. Over 97,000 rides had been given by the Road Crew as of 2008, preventing an estimate of 140 crashes from drunk driving.
Road Crew’s main target audience is the single male, aged 21-34 years, working in the rural areas as blue-collar workers. The research initially relies on findings by the US National Commission Against Drunk Driving whose public hearings and national conferences in the 1990s revealed that drinking drivers aged 21-34 made up half of drunk drivers in fatal crashes related to alcohol, were more likely to have revoked or suspended licenses and showed the greatest resistance in behavior change as far as drinking is concerned.
Analysis of formative research
The basis for any marketing campaign is comprehensive research, aimed at understanding the market and customer expectations, conducting competitor analysis and identifying the potential target market. According to Kotabe & Helsen (2011), market research ensures that the organization can develop a marketing strategy that is effective in meeting the needs of the target audience. Road Crew has demonstrated high level research on the social marketing programme, which was executed by a research team from University of Wisconsin under the guidance of Professor Rothchild. The research was undertaken from the year 2000 and sought to establish ways in which a social marketing campaign would be used in reducing accidents resulting from drunk driving. The research which utilized existing literature as well as data collection from the target audience concluded that discouraging people from drinking would not be as effective as providing them with a solution to drunk driving. Three types of studies were conducted namely existing literature review, focus group discussions with target group’s expert observers and focus group discussions with the targeted audience. This was effective in determining the behavior patterns of the target group and consequently ensure that the right strategy for the social marketing programme as implemented. Ritcher (2012), notes that research that includes the target audience as part of the respondents is likely to yield more accurate results. The research concluded that young male individuals aged 21-34 years working in small farms in rural areas were more likely to drink and drive and therefore more prone to alcohol-related accidents; thus making this population the target audience for the programme.
Segmentation strategy
The strategy selected for segmenting the market depends on the objectives of the marketing plan and the product or service in question. In social marketing, the same concept is applied, where the targeted behavior change influences the segmentation strategy. Road Crew utilizes a combination of segmentation strategies namely: geographical segmentation, demographic segmentation and behavior segmentation (Ritcher, 2012). In reference to geographical segmentation, Road Crew targets individuals living in the rural areas and small towns in the countryside. Demographic segmentation is demonstrated in the selection of customers of a particular age group and also in targeting male beneficiaries. Behavior segmentation on the other hand is evidenced by the fact that the service targets individuals who are likely to drink and drive. Such a combination is advantageous because it ensures that the target market is defined as effectively as possible. However, it may have the weakness of narrowing the segment too much and thus leaving out other individuals who may be a relevant target.
Establishment of goals and objectives
An effective social marketing programme must have well established goals and objectives because these act as a guide for the marketers. Goals and objectives define what the marketing program aims at achieving, how it will be achieved and how long it will take to be achieved. Road Crew successfully achieves this important aspect of marketing, given that there is a clear indication of what the service aims to achieve. Road Crew’s main objective is to reduce the number of road crashes related to alcohol by offering a service that prevents drinkers from driving while drunk. The social marketing programme effectively shows that this objective will be met through providing transport for the drinkers to ensure that they do not drive after drinking. The programme is also clear on the target group and the period in which it will be conducted in order to achieve the desired outcomes. The achievements made by Road Crew can be attributed to the well-articulated goals and objectives, which ensure that the programme achieves its intended function. The existence of project impact data which confirms the achievement of goals and objectives further provides backup for ell established goals and objectives.
Social marketing development and use of social marketing mix
An important aspect of marketing is the marketing mix because it acts as a guide for the marketing plan by providing a scope. Road Crew achieved this objective effectively by defining their marketing mix based on the 4Ps of marketing. The product was the vehicle ride to the bar, from bar to bar and back home; price was $15-20 per evening and $5-10 per single ride; place was home to bars; and promotion was done through advertising on television, newspapers, bars, movie theatres and over urinals. This marketing mix is used across the three pilot counties, which to a great extent promotes their performance.
Programme Implementation
Having developed an operational plan, programme implementation becomes the most important undertaking to ensure the plan is turned into reality. Jean (2013) notes that unless marketers are capable of implementing the programme effectively, having a plan is inadequate no matter how well it is designed. Road Crew can be described as a well implemented programme with tangible results. By 2008, Road Crew had made savings of $31 million by preventing 140 crashes, an indication of the impact that the social marketing programme was having on the efforts towards reducing crashes related to drunk driving. This was Road Crew’s major objective and a demonstration of the achievements of the programme is an indication of its effectiveness.
Road Crew worked together with the community during the programme implementation and effective adoption of Road Crew in various counties. A unique feature in the implementation is that Road Crew allowed counties to use locally available resources to achieve the model and also be unique in their own way to prevent drunk driving. In Pork County for example, the use of second-hand limousines was considered more cost effective while in Dodgeville and Mineral Point, the use of an existing cab service was encouraged through offering more affordable prices after 5pm. A shortcoming of this however is that it could lead to different outcomes because the model is adopted differently, thus leading to difficulties in measurement of outcomes.
Process, impact and outcome evaluation
An assessment of the process, impact and outcome reveals that Road Crew is a highly effective social marketing programme that achieved its mandate and whose impact was felt by the targeted group. The process was not only innovative but also appealing to the revelers and the community. This programme meets a major requirement in social marketing, which is to ensure conscious and voluntary behavior change. Spotswood et al (2012) notes that many social marketing initiatives fail because of the use of implicit behavior change techniques and use of tactics that do not appeal to the target audience. Road Crew specifically aims at encouraging revelers to use their services as opposed to drunk driving and participants do so willingly. In order to attract the interest of the target group, Road Crew uses innovative approaches such as limousine rides, which to a great extent encouraged individuals to use the service instead of driving their own cars.
Measuring a social marketing programme’s impact provides the basis for establishing whether the project was successful. Road Crew’s approach to showing impact is highly effective because it provides an overview of the program’s success in terms of cost savings and lives saved as opposed to merely providing the number of rides made. Road Crew attempts to demonstrate its impact in terms of cost savings derived when road crashes are avoided. The cost of preventing a crash through implementing Road Crew was $6,400, compared to the estimated $231,000 cost to the community in recovering from a crash. Through its services, Road Crew was shown to have made savings of over $31 million, prevented 140 crashes and prevented six deaths. This presentation of impact is catchy and motivates any reader to develop interest in the programme.
An important aspect of this program is that the sustainability of the service is assured because the community was involved from the beginning. As a result, they are conversant with the service and its impact, which makes it easier for them to continue with it once the funding from the government comes to an end. In this respect, it is natural to query where the funding to sustain the programme will come from but the programme also demonstrates that this was put into consideration. Users pay a reasonable fee when they use the vehicles and this is sufficient to promote sustainability. $400,000 collected from riders would be used in addition to the government funding to set up the program under community management.
The implementation of Road Crew raises an ethical issue which is not well addressed in the case study. It is notable that the programme aims at reducing instances of drunk driving, yet it does not show consideration of the fact that the transport services could actually increase alcohol addiction among beneficiaries. Road Crew picks revelers and drops them at their place of convenience and is aimed at creating fun out of the experience. This would certainly attract individuals who may not go drinking in ordinary circumstances due to the availability of transport and the fun factor. In essence, Road Crew could be raising a generation of alcohol addicts in their efforts to reduce drunk driving.
Conclusion
Road Crew provides an exceptional example of how social marketing can harnessed to drive social change. In this programme, Road Crew aims at reducing drunk driving by providing transport service to revelers to ensure that they do not drive after drinking. It can be concluded that the Road Crew social marketing programme was effective in achieving its goals and objectives, the implementation process was well executed and that the programme had the desired impact on the society. This model can be utilized in other areas of the United States to reduce the number of crashes and deaths attributed to drunk driving.
References
Jean, B 2013, International Marketing in Rapidly Changing Environments, Somerville, MA: Emerald Group Publishing.
Kotabe, M., & Helsen, K 2011, Global Marketing Management, 5th edition, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.
Ritcher, T. (2012). International Marketing Mix Management: Theoretical Framework, Contingency Factors and Empirical Findings from World-Markets. Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH.
Spotswood et al 2012, Some reasonable but uncomfortable questions about social marketing,
Journal of Social Marketing, Vol 2, Issue 3, pp. 163-175.
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