Also, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America implemented a teen brand strategy campaign "THE CLUB" to target teens in communities. The new logo and name was created in efforts to give something teens can identify themselves with when entering a club.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Chatper 8 - Additional Information
According to the BGCA website, here's a few facts and figures describing the demographics and geographics of their market share:
Source: http://www.bgca.org/whoweare/Pages/FactsFigures.aspx
Also, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America implemented a teen brand strategy campaign "THE CLUB" to target teens in communities. The new logo and name was created in efforts to give something teens can identify themselves with when entering a club.
Also, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America implemented a teen brand strategy campaign "THE CLUB" to target teens in communities. The new logo and name was created in efforts to give something teens can identify themselves with when entering a club.
Chapter 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets
Club Provides a Home Away From Home
Some areas in the US possess that "part of town" where the environment can have a negative impact on youths growing up. These communities have distinct geodemographic characteristics that the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) take concern in. The BGCA operates to serve everyone in those areas, both families and institutions, whom are struggling in those conditions - that is their target market. The BGCA divides, or segments, their market in a conglomerate of geographic and demographic characteristics such as: age, ethnicity, income, family life cycle, market size, and market density. Income and family life cycle being the most important - because poverty and lack of family balance can be hazardous for the well-being of children. Here are a few statistics that the BGCA aims to change while implementing their Kids in Crisis campaign:
Club fights to change those statistics by teaching youths about how to handle money, preparing them for adulthood, and keeping their club open after school through the evening. One of the main goals of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America is to provide community outreach to the youths that need them the most, and they do that by placing club facilities in the heart of where that market may be. Also, some markets that lie hidden from the public's eye, including small cities and towns, seek help from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Community members, business people, and even politicians contact the BGCA in plans of opening a new site in their area. In that case, the BGCA doesn't need to segment certain markets before choosing the right one; those markets segment themselves in order to seek help.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Chapter 11 - Developing and Managing Products
The Birth of a Program...
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is the mother of all companies that cherish a birth of a new product, typically those being the introduction of a new service or program. Hence, like all mothers would do, the BGCA invests a lot of effort to ensure the longevity of their product's life cycle. The longer the programs or services remains popular, the more sales and public funding the BGCA receives in order to stay in business. This explains why most of their newly introduced programs and services become annual, depending on the turnout.
In the introductory stage of any product, it is tested to see how profitable it can make your business. This test makes or breaks further development of the product in it's life cycle. When any BGCA facility introduces a new program, they invest a lot of time, effort, and finances to establish profitable turnouts. The more people that attend these programs and enjoy them, the better it looks for potential sponsors; and it creates a greater chance the program will be brought back the next year.
Here are two programs currently in the introductory stage:
When the program passes it's test and is deemed a success, the club promotes the program for the next year during it's growth stage. During this stage, word of mouth reaches out to new members and those who enjoyed last year's event come back again. Since programs and services are being promoted in this situation, the growth stage ends when events become sold out. The goal of any club facility in this stage is to up the ante from last year to make the event better. Clubs may do this by bringing in well-known guest speakers (sometimes celebrities or athletes), implementing more innovative activities that teach youths about the cause, or even staging the event in different parts of the country.
Here are two programs currently in the growth stage:
Now a program reaches a point where seats are filled on a "first come, first serve" basis, this is the product's maturity stage. Each facility hosting the program still tries to improve the program each year, but less effort is needed to promote the program. Usually when a program is up its 10th, 20th, or 30th annual event, the program has reached maturity and is a prominent event in the community. A matured program can be the long-term bread winner for a club facility, but it can also strike fame to a club because of something unique - a characteristic sponsors take interest to.
Here are two programs currently in the maturity stage:
Lastly, the stage that the Boys and Girls Clubs of America fears the most is the - decline stage. Like some products on the market, the target market loses interest, or it is replaced by a better product during its growth stage. A strategy the Boys and Girls Club uses in order to maintain a good publicity is that they do not disclose programs that are on the decline or have been terminated. Publicizing a failed program would be detrimental to their reputation. Instead, most clubs remain positive about it by replacing the programs with a new and improved ones.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is the mother of all companies that cherish a birth of a new product, typically those being the introduction of a new service or program. Hence, like all mothers would do, the BGCA invests a lot of effort to ensure the longevity of their product's life cycle. The longer the programs or services remains popular, the more sales and public funding the BGCA receives in order to stay in business. This explains why most of their newly introduced programs and services become annual, depending on the turnout.
 |
| Source: http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B66/076MB66.html |
Here are two programs currently in the introductory stage:
- Raise the Roots - Boys and Girls Club and Family Center of Bristol, CT
- Strike for Kids - Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago
When the program passes it's test and is deemed a success, the club promotes the program for the next year during it's growth stage. During this stage, word of mouth reaches out to new members and those who enjoyed last year's event come back again. Since programs and services are being promoted in this situation, the growth stage ends when events become sold out. The goal of any club facility in this stage is to up the ante from last year to make the event better. Clubs may do this by bringing in well-known guest speakers (sometimes celebrities or athletes), implementing more innovative activities that teach youths about the cause, or even staging the event in different parts of the country.
Here are two programs currently in the growth stage:
- Iron Skullz MC 2nd Annual Poker Run - Boys and Girls Clubs of Gloucester and Mathews, VA
- Kenny Perry 2nd Annual Charity Golf Invitational - Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford County
Now a program reaches a point where seats are filled on a "first come, first serve" basis, this is the product's maturity stage. Each facility hosting the program still tries to improve the program each year, but less effort is needed to promote the program. Usually when a program is up its 10th, 20th, or 30th annual event, the program has reached maturity and is a prominent event in the community. A matured program can be the long-term bread winner for a club facility, but it can also strike fame to a club because of something unique - a characteristic sponsors take interest to.
Here are two programs currently in the maturity stage:
- Youth of the Year (est. 1946) - Participating Clubs
- 63rd Annual Woman's Board Summer Ball - Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago
Lastly, the stage that the Boys and Girls Clubs of America fears the most is the - decline stage. Like some products on the market, the target market loses interest, or it is replaced by a better product during its growth stage. A strategy the Boys and Girls Club uses in order to maintain a good publicity is that they do not disclose programs that are on the decline or have been terminated. Publicizing a failed program would be detrimental to their reputation. Instead, most clubs remain positive about it by replacing the programs with a new and improved ones.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Chapter 16 - Integrated Marketing Communications
The Ingredients to the Promotional Pie
It takes 4 main ingredients to bake up the perfect promotional pie: advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling. The end result (the pie) is reaching the ultimate target market, whom will most likely buy your product. Although companies add emphasis on some ingredients more than others, or add their own promotional twist, the pie will be unique for each individual. Also, these 4 ingredients involve a great amount of communication - a strength of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Here is how the Boys and Girls Clubs of America prepares their promotional pie...
"We want to help every Boys & Girls Club member advance to the next grade level every year, and graduate from high school on time, prepared with the attitude, knowledge and confidence to succeed and achieve their full potential. It’s what we mean by our new slogan: ‘Great Futures Start Here.’" - Denzel Washington during the announcement
By tackling this issue and announcing this program nationwide, the BGCA generated a good deal of positive publicity. So far the BGCA is living up to their promise, The Boys and Girls Club of Hartford, CT implemented a "Goals for Graduation" program for youths ages 6-18 to help them stay on a successful path to graduation.
It takes 4 main ingredients to bake up the perfect promotional pie: advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling. The end result (the pie) is reaching the ultimate target market, whom will most likely buy your product. Although companies add emphasis on some ingredients more than others, or add their own promotional twist, the pie will be unique for each individual. Also, these 4 ingredients involve a great amount of communication - a strength of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Here is how the Boys and Girls Clubs of America prepares their promotional pie...
Ingredient #1 - Advertising
The BGCA is a global brand, so there is less need to mass communicate like a start-up brand would need. Although the BGCA still advertises regularly, the message behind most ads are used to broadcast their events and how they will spark positive changes in the community while meeting organizational goals. |
| Facebook ad campaign that broadens awareness of the Boys and Girls Club's commitment to digital literacy |
Ingredient #2 - Public Relations
By mass communicating how their events make a difference, they are strengthening their positive public image. In an event dating back to September 15th, 2010 - national spokesperson Denzel Washington announced the BGCA's plan to battle the issue of soaring high school dropout rates nationwide."We want to help every Boys & Girls Club member advance to the next grade level every year, and graduate from high school on time, prepared with the attitude, knowledge and confidence to succeed and achieve their full potential. It’s what we mean by our new slogan: ‘Great Futures Start Here.’" - Denzel Washington during the announcement
By tackling this issue and announcing this program nationwide, the BGCA generated a good deal of positive publicity. So far the BGCA is living up to their promise, The Boys and Girls Club of Hartford, CT implemented a "Goals for Graduation" program for youths ages 6-18 to help them stay on a successful path to graduation.
Ingredient #3 - Sales Promotion
Of all the ingredients, the BGCA puts the most emphasis on sales promotion. This is the sector the BGCA invests most of their finances and materials on. Without a good sales promotion to get people involved with a club, the BGCA will not make money. Some ways the BGCA boosts sales is by holding contests, giving away prizes, offering membership discounts, hosting high-school dances, and much more! Here are some examples of some sales promotion flyers: |
| Benton County club hosts tournament ($5,000 in prizes) |
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| Hawaii club offers $1.00 memberships |
Ingredient #4 - Personal Selling
Since the BGCA puts more effort on selling their services rather than products, some clubs put together an avid personal selling program. When any club facility needs to fill registration vacancies for an event, they may send representatives to a location to influence prospective buyers to buy a ticket or register. The club reps set up tents, booths, or other presentations to stimulate interest for the purpose of making a sale. The sales groups need to sell as much tickets as possible before the event, so they most likely choose to set up demonstrations where there is heavy foot traffic (ie. busy shopping malls, festivals, parades, etc.).Monday, April 2, 2012
Chapter 10 - Product Concepts
Service Non-Profit or Retail Non-Profit? Try Both...
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America are a national label, and are known globally for their outstanding consumer products in youth development. But many people ask, I don't see any BGCA products advertised though? I am only aware of the services they offer. A product can be both tangible and intangible, meaning services can be a company product as well. The BGCA earns most of it's income off of services they provide and events they host, and they receive help from sponsorships. A few recent events and services that gained a lot of hype were: the Money Matters Music Mogul contest (teaches youths how to manage money, along with showcases music talent), The "im" program with help from Micheal Phelps (teaches youths how to swim and support a healthy, active lifestyle), and the 45th Annual Keystone Conference (leadership program). All of those events and services are products of the BGCA and it's sponsors.
What many people do not know about each Boys and Girls Club facility is that they also sell an array of tangible specialty products. These products are very exclusive and limited, and are only found in the club store of each individual facility. Only a few club facilities sell their products online, and the products offered by those facilities derive from that individual club, not from the BGCA headquarters. Since I was a member of my local club in Bristol, Connecticut and the current Youth of the Year - I am very aware of BGCA products.
Here are a few pictures I took of some products I own:
As exclusive as these products are, they don't contribute much to profit (yes, non-profit organizations need profit to stay in business). The sales revenue earned off of products like these are just a small fraction of the quarterly income a club makes, compared to income from sponsors, donations, events, and services. The main reason why is because most of these items just don't sell, and many clubs don't invest money to market these products. Some of these products are even given away as prizes during contests, or put in goodie bags and handed out after events. If any of these products are sold, the little money that is earned is usually invested in small scale items like extra activities for the kids, new game equipment, or snacks before homework time. Customers and myself appreciate how each club focuses more on their services than their specialty products, because if they didn't, they wouldn't probably be out of business.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America are a national label, and are known globally for their outstanding consumer products in youth development. But many people ask, I don't see any BGCA products advertised though? I am only aware of the services they offer. A product can be both tangible and intangible, meaning services can be a company product as well. The BGCA earns most of it's income off of services they provide and events they host, and they receive help from sponsorships. A few recent events and services that gained a lot of hype were: the Money Matters Music Mogul contest (teaches youths how to manage money, along with showcases music talent), The "im" program with help from Micheal Phelps (teaches youths how to swim and support a healthy, active lifestyle), and the 45th Annual Keystone Conference (leadership program). All of those events and services are products of the BGCA and it's sponsors.
What many people do not know about each Boys and Girls Club facility is that they also sell an array of tangible specialty products. These products are very exclusive and limited, and are only found in the club store of each individual facility. Only a few club facilities sell their products online, and the products offered by those facilities derive from that individual club, not from the BGCA headquarters. Since I was a member of my local club in Bristol, Connecticut and the current Youth of the Year - I am very aware of BGCA products.
Here are a few pictures I took of some products I own:
As exclusive as these products are, they don't contribute much to profit (yes, non-profit organizations need profit to stay in business). The sales revenue earned off of products like these are just a small fraction of the quarterly income a club makes, compared to income from sponsors, donations, events, and services. The main reason why is because most of these items just don't sell, and many clubs don't invest money to market these products. Some of these products are even given away as prizes during contests, or put in goodie bags and handed out after events. If any of these products are sold, the little money that is earned is usually invested in small scale items like extra activities for the kids, new game equipment, or snacks before homework time. Customers and myself appreciate how each club focuses more on their services than their specialty products, because if they didn't, they wouldn't probably be out of business.
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