Aspire Oxford Integrated Marketing Campaign by Matthew Hoey

aspire oxford an integrated marketing communications plan for 18 - 24 neets PREPARED BY HILLARY HAMBLIN AND MATTHEW HOEY

table of contents

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SITUATION ANALYSIS OBJECTIVES & STRATEGY TARGET MARKET PESTLE ANALYSIS: COMPANY PESTLE ANALYSIS: NEETS TOWS ANALYSIS OTHER ORGANIZATIONS SERVING NEETS IN OXFORDSHIRE: AN ANALYSIS TACTICS RECOMMENDATIONS CITATIONS APPENDIX

A: facebook ad B: facebook step-by-step C: survey D: costed media plan E: social enterprise analysis F: p.e.s.t.l.e analysis G: smart phone activities

situation analysis

Aspire Oxford was established in 2001 with roots in the homelessness sector. Since then, it has grown to offer a variety of services in Oxfordshire County. Aspire Oxford assists residents of Oxfordshire to find employment and training as well as counsel them through personal situations and professional services. Aspire Oxford offers employment opportunities for their trainees such as grounds maintenance, painting and decorating, recycling and community transport. It also offers support to groups that face barriers to employment such as: offenders, substance misusers, the homeless, and those who have been out of work for a variety of reasons. Aspire Oxford encourages positive lifestyle changes that in the past year 2014 - 2015, “98% of Aspire Trainees with an offending history did not re-offend and 92% of Aspire Trainees maintained their recovery from substance misuse” (Aspire Oxford, 2015). Aspire Oxford wants to target residents of Oxfordshire that are categorized as NEETs— Not in Education, Employment, or Training. Within this NEET group, it would like to focus on residents within the age range of 18 to 24 year olds. By targeting this group, Aspire Oxford can proactively break the path that this demographic could continue down. NEETs are difficult to find because many of them lack confidence and have social anxiety, which in turn keeps them isolated in their homes. In the next three years, Aspire Oxford would like to remove the stigmas that are associated with NEETs. Currently, Aspire Oxford is a registered charity and private not-for-profit company limited by a Board of Trustees who has complete control of the money spent, and making sure that Aspire achieves their goals while following all legislations. With minimal funding, it is important to always be gaining new donors and forms of income to keep the business up and running. Aspire Oxford’s social media presence is definitely an area for improvement. They utilize Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and their own website to digitally communicate. Its Facebook page has 402 likes, 11 reviews and one video. Its last post came on July 16, 2015. Aspire’s page has a variety of photos of trainees. Its Twitter page has 1,097 followers. It is following 910, has 556 tweets and posted last on July 16th, 2015. It has 72 followers on LinkedIn and has posted 1 update. Other forms of communication include referrals from past members or family and friends of the ones referred, homeless shelter visits, addiction center visits, as well as door-to-door recruiting techniques.

objectives & strategy

OBJECTIVES: • Engage the NEETs from ages 18-24 year-olds • Increase public awareness within Target Market of 18-24 year olds • Develop survey that is targeted to NEETs and their family/friends to grasp a basic understanding of their situations, feelings, and perceptions

STRATEGY To gain a better understanding of how 18-24 year old NEETs interact, how to find them, and what they spend their time doing on a day to day basis. Once we understand their lifestyles and habits, we will be able to be more specific in future marketing efforts. Once we are able to market to them, we will be able to connect with them and start a conversation. Twenty-eight percent of Aspire’s trainees were supported into paid employment in 2014-2015. That’s 11% more than any other UK Government Work Programme Provider. This statistic is something that needs to be marketed to the young people who feel that getting a job is not possible. Aspire offers a variety of jobs and counseling services that provide a comprehensive effort to get the trainees back into paid employment.

target market

NEETS The 18-24 year-old NEETS come from a wide range of demographics. This plan specifically focuses on NEETs within Oxfordshire County. Some are recovering drug or alcohol abusers, homeless, and the rest are young adults living with mental or physical illness in between jobs or education opportunities with little to no motivation at all. Our target audience has a severe disconnection to the education system in more ways than one. For the students with mental and physical disabilities, they found school unaccommodating and difficult. In a focus group conducted by the Department of Education, 20 young adults who identified as NEET were interviewed regarding their views on unemployment and their own lives. First, the study referenced the students’ grades during their time in school. Only three of the 20 received five GCSE’s grades (A-C). Many of the young people explained that their lack of aspirations and goals at the time of graduation barred them from making the right decisions in regard to their futures. When asked why he didn’t do well in school towards the end of his education, one interviewee said, “I don’t know really, when I think back to it I don’t really know why I was like that, I just didn’t want to go to school, didn’t want to do anything really like that” (Siraj, I., Hollingworth, K., Taggart, B., Sammons, P., Melhuish, E., & Sylva, K., 2014). Along with the poor academic achievement, structural factors took a toll on the young peoples’ decision-making process. Interviewees also noted the flooded job markets and lack of apprenticeship training availablitiy.

pestle analysis: company

POLITICAL

Aspire Oxford needs to be aware of a few aspects of the political environment around it. Certain political parties vote specific ways on issues regarding social enterprise, whether it is less funding, more funding or different ways for the public sector to get involved in the social welfare of the public. It’s important to have a good grasp on the political sphere around the company. There are certain pressures that come from being funded by the government like fulfilling a quota and bettering the society that the government trusts it with.

ECONOMIC

Aspire Oxford is a social enterprise funded by the government. Money is always an issue. There will always be worries of budget cuts that hamper the company’s ability to carry out its work. Outside of the business, Aspire must always be aware of the ever-changing unemployment rates. As the economy fluctuates, the company will either have more of a pool of people to help or less, but it will never stay the same for very long.

SOCIAL

Aspire Oxford is targeting 18-24 year-old NEETs. It must market to an audience that doesn’t find institutions very appealing. A generalized NEET is unmotivated and unwilling to conform to any sort of institution, making Aspire Oxford’s entire business practice difficult to carry out. It needs to understand the way a person who doesn’t fit into societal norms works to make its business effective. Not only do the perceptions coming from the target market matter, but so do the perceptions of the public. In order to recruit new members, it is up to the public to spread the word this can only happen if the public thinks strongly of the company’s work.

TECHNOLOGICAL

One of the main problems that Aspire Oxford has experienced when breaking into the younger target market is finding them. Our research shows that the 18-24 year olds are hanging out online. The company must have a strong grasp on the technological advances that have shaped the way humans of the younger generation interact. It is important to have a comprehensive social media presence in order to take the conversation online.

LEGISLATIVE

Aspire Oxford must make sure that they are up-to-date and compliant with any change in recent legislation. It will directly affect the type of funding that the company receives along with creating a certain type of market.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Aspire Oxford has a variety of services including some that affect the earth in a positive manner. The company should use these services as a form of free public relations. Everyone can get behind a service that helps the environment.

pestle analysis: neets

POLITICAL

The NEET market, although probably inactive in the political voting process, is directly affected by the politicians who are voted into office. Certain policies would provide benefits to the unemployed or vice-a-versa.

ECONOMIC

In the UK, jobs for young people have been particularly hard to come by. In the past, people were going through all the motions of education and then coming out expecting to get a job right away. The flooded job market is making it more difficult than ever before. People are going through years of education, paying for it and then never getting a job in their field.

SOCIAL

Society has grown very introverted over the years. Young adults are spending more time online and less time hanging out with friends in real life. In a world where everything can be completed in the palm of your hand, people are starting to build up a social anxiety that hasn’t affected generations in the past. Also, NEETs may feel that they are the only ones affected by low self-esteem and lack of motivation— creating a routine of not being productive. The stigma surrounding being unemployed or an ex-offender can ruin a person’s life.

TECHNOLOGICAL

Furthermore, the modern introverted society has changed the way younger generations live out their lives. There is a certain need, almost addiction for technology that can restrict actual human interaction. NEETs would rather spend hours staring at their phone screen in their room than go out and find a job.

LEGISLATIVE

Recent legislation has passed that has changed the minimum wages in the UK. Even if it doesn’t affect the NEET demographic now, if they continue on the path of nothingness, they will be affected later on in life. Along with the minimum wages declining for certain age groups, education legislations are always changing the way school systems retain their students. Although students have to stay in school until they’re 18, it might still hurt them because NEETs look at school as an institution that holds them back or as just a nuisance.

ENVIRONMENTAL

NEETs have the opportunity to work in green-conscious services with Aspire. They will be helping to better the world, which could give them a sense of meaning.

tows analysis

external THREATS: • Specific public policy cutting government funding to Aspire and to young people • Flucuation in unemployment rate and job market could keep trainees from needing its services

OPPORTUNITIES: • • • • •

Build on partnerships with sponsors Wide range of NEET demographic Segmenting target audience to reach more people Events for trainees and social outreach Cut in social beneifits that would increase their number of trainees

internal WEAKNESSES: • • • •

Low amount of funding from the government and sponsors City location - difficult to reach rural areas of Oxfordshire Lack of understanding of new target market Social media presence is not designed for NEETs

STRENGTHS: • • • • • • •

Strong, caring, and supportive staff Good reputation for social impact in the community Above average job placement for customers Strong stance on health and safety Variety of services; counseling, employment placement, professional development High percentage of success within offender and addicts demographic Small geographic location - focused on Oxfordshire and Oxford Center

other organizations serving neets in oxfordshire: an analysis

OXCENTRIC Oxcentric is a programme that is within the Oxfordshire County Council. They offer various programmes including NEET Drop-In days that allow NEETs to network and receive more information. They have a list of all the residents of Oxfordshire that are between the ages of 16-24 and are NEETs. Every 45 days, Oxcentric contacts this demographic to update their data if their situation has changed. Most of the information that it provides to the NEETs can be found online which results in a low 5-10% who actually attend the drop-in session. Oxcentric helps the NEETs get registered online and provides them sites to look at. Those that do show up to the drop-in sessions are likely to repeat when they are looking to find another job/apprenticeship.

THE PRINCE’S TRUST Developed in 1976, The Prince’s Trust focuses on supporting individuals that are between the ages of 13 - 30 who are struggling through education and are unemployed. It helps individuals that are facing issues including homelessness, mental health problems, or offenders. It provides individuals the confidence and support through a variety of programmes that cover topics including; how to start your own business, personal development courses, short courses, build confidence, intensive training, small grants to enable young people to access education and training for work, focus on staying in school and increasing attendance, motivation, and self-confidence skills (The Prince’s Trust, 2015).

CRISIS SKYLIGHT OXFORD “Crisis was shocked into existence over 40 years ago by the revelation that in one of the world’s most affluent countries people were still living on the streets” (Crisis, 2015). It has offered new programmes to combat the rise of homelessness since 2010. Since these records have increased, they have been able to open up new buildings across the UK including; Edinburgh, Newcastle, Coventry & Warwickshire, London, Birmingham, Merseyside, and South Yorkshire. It has both work and learning coaches as well as progression coaches that support them. Crisis is focused mainly on homelessness but they are vastly distributed throughout the UK which allows for more aid compared to only having an office located in Oxford.

PARENTAL SUPPORT A huge deterrent to individuals that fall into the category of NEET is that they are supported at home. Many of them have no motivation to find a job, training, or further and higher education when their parents provide them with money and sometimes don’t support higher education. When interviewing Alison Barlow, who is a Team Leader at Littlemore Early Intervention Service at The Oxford Academy, she said, “One of our biggest challenges in communicating with the NEET is the parents.” More times than not parents are the ones informing companies who are trying to engage their children that they insist on being removed from their lists.

tactics

FACEBOOK: Our research shows that young people are spending more and more time online, specifically on their mobile devices. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to not only build our following across all social media outlets. Because most of our target remains hidden under the radar, we must make some educated assumptions as to where we can find them. Research taken from the Department of Education shows that 92% of people aged 18-24 own a smart phone. In the UK, there are 4.9 million Facebook users as of 2015 (UK Facebook users by age 2012-2017, 2015). We can assume that some of our NEET demographic is part of this statistic. Because Facebook advertising can be so precise with its targeting, we propose creating an advert on this social media outlet in order to get our demographic to take a survey, which will ultimately fulfill our strategy of understanding the habits of our target market. We can narrow down our search to 18-24 year old males in the Oxfordshire area. We can also narrow our reach to certain interests and life characteristics that we believe our NEET demographic will have. i.e. video games, movies and TV programmes. We propose running a series of two different adverts over a short period of time with a small amount of money. We will measure the success of each advert by the amount of click-through rates and completed surveys. Whichever advert gets more attention will be the one Aspire will run for a longer period of time. The goal of our Facebook advertising is to get people to take our survey. We are proposing Facebook because it is cost-effective and easy to target a specific market.

SURVEY:

In order to gain a better understanding of the target market, Aspire needs to understand them. Through our Facebook advert campaign, we will be able to reach a targeted audience and urge them to take a survey. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve crafted questions about the importance of money, their employment and education history and their level of motivation. These questions will provide a look into the psychology and buying habits of an 18-24 year old NEET. Note that the use of language is strategically relatable to the demographic and not at all probing, in order to receive more accurate results. We recommend using surveymonkey.com because it is user-friendly and free. Statistics of how many people have taken the survey are organized in an understandable manner.

recommendations

FACEBOOK ADS Run two ads and determine which has more interaction after 1 - 3 days. Make sure you are specific in the selection of your target market when making the ad. Then continue the ad for a duration of two weeks.

SURVEY Utilize free online surveys such as Survey Monkey. After you have built more of an awareness through Facebook Ads, you can then do surveys more frequently and link them directly from your social media accounts. Keep the surveys brief so that people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get intimidated or turned off from them. This will enable you to yield the most educated responses. Within Survey Monkey, it is easy to make a cover page to the survey describing who you are and what you are doing with the information. Also, keep this brief, but you want to make sure you have this so they know exactly who you are and can then click through to your page.

FOCUS GROUPS

Target parents between the ages 45 - 55 to attend focus groups. These groups would focus on support to the parents so that they can talk about their concerns for their children. There would also be an opportuntity for the parents to bring their children. By offering support you can inform the parents about the importance of education, work, and training. This is also an opportuntity to further develop your counseling services. You are increasing your awareness, services, and trust within the target markets by offering a safe place for those to gather and discuss their concerns.

FUTURE The first goal is to further develop your database of 18 - 24 year old NEETs who are white males within Oxfordshire. Once you develop this database you can then move on to a developed marketing plan for the target market. This plan is a stepping stone to get you to the target market and to raise awareness of your services without knocking on doors or calling frequently which deters the target to become engaged.

citations

Aspire Oxford Employment Skills social business. (2015). Retrieved July 15, 2015, from http://www.aspireoxford.co.uk/our-services/employment-and-skills/ Barlow, A. (2015, July 13). Oxcentric NEET Drop-In Questions [Telephone interview]. Crisis Skylight Oxford. (2015). Retrieved July 13, 2015, from http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/crisis-skylight-oxford.html Malone, I. (2013, November 1). UK Mobile Insights Report 2013 Q4. Retrieved July 14, 2015, from http://weareapps.com/MobileInsightsReport.pdf Nick, P. (2014, August 21). Release: Young People not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), August 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2015, from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/young-people-not-in- education--employment-or-training--neets-/august-2014/index.html Siraj, I., Hollingworth, K., Taggart, B., Sammons, P., Melhuish, E., & Sylva, K. (2014, September 1). Report on students who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). Retrieved July 12, 2015, from http://www.ioe.ac.uk/Research_Home/16-Report-students-NEET-RR.pdf The Communications Market 2012: Internet and web-based content. (2012). Retrieved July 14, 2015, from http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr12/UK_4.pdf The Princeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Trust. (2015). Retrieved July 13, 2015, from http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/about_the_trust/what_we_do.aspx UK Facebook users by age 2012-2017 | Forecast. (2015). Retrieved July 15, 2015, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/271348/facebook-users-in-the-united-kingdom-uk-by-age/

appendix

APPENDIX A : FACEBOOK AD

APPENDIX B: FACEBOOK STEP - BY - STEP STEP 1: CREATE YOUR CAMPAIGN In this stage of creating your advert you will choose the objective for your campaign. You can select objectives like boosting your posts, promoting your page or what we chose to do for this campaign—sending people to our website. There will be a space for you to enter in your website. We entered our survey URL, in order to drive people to our survey.

STEP 2: CREATE YOUR AD ACCOUNT This step prompts you to enter the country in which you do your business, currency in which you operate and the time zone.

STEP 3: CREATE YOUR AD SET This section is particularly important in reaching your target audience. You can choose the location in which you wish to target, the age set and gender. There is a tab that also lets you choose more demographics like education and relationship status. You can also enter a very specific list of interests to narrow down your search, as well as their spending behaviors. You can save specific audiences to make it a faster process when you are trying to send Ads to the same demographic in the future. After you’ve narrowed down your reach, you will be asked to pick a budget. You can choose any amount of money you would like, for any amount of time you would like to run an ad. On the right side of the page, you will see a table titled Audience Definition. It will give you the audience details along with an estimated potential reach.

STEP 4: CREATE YOUR AD This step gives you complete control of the creative used in your ad. The text you use to explain what you’re trying to market and the image itself.

APPENDIX C: SURVEY

APPENDIX D: COSTED MEDIA PLAN

By utilizing Facebook and Survey Monkey we are able to keep costs very low. We have come in under budget by £30. We have budgeted for two Facebook ads that we will test for 1-3 days. After those three days we will analyize the data and see which ad has had more interaction. The ad with the higher interaction will continue for two weeks and the ad with very little interaction will be terminated. We will be spending £35 for one ad to be run for one week. Included in this budget is the estimated reach, 45 participants. Aspire reserves the right to exclude any emails that they feel were absuive to the survey by submitting multiple emails or by not providing any information. For those who successfully complete the survey they will offer a variety of forms of payment totaling up to £10. Options include a game credit toward an online game of their choice, sim card, or a £10 note.

APPENDIX E: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ANALYSIS

APPENDIX F: PESTLE ANALYSIS

APPENDIX G: SMART PHONE ACTIVITIES