“To inspire and involve young people so that they feel empowered, included in Oxfam’s fight against poverty and want to do more in terms of volunteering, campaigning and in the longer term fundraising.”
(Harris 2003 – Lecture 11).
As a result, Oxfam’s youth focus involves two prime objectives:
- To build and strengthen awareness, image and relevance of Oxfam to the younger generation.
- To involve young people in strategy development and implementation.
2.2. Comic Relief
Comic Relief, was first founded in 1985, in Safawa, Sudan, in response to the Famine in Ethiopia. It inherited its name as it uses comedy and laughter to get serious messages across. The charity is dedicated to help end poverty and social injustice in the UK and the poorest countries in the world. The charity tries to achieve this by informing, educating and raising awareness of key issues such as unfair terms of trade and debt relief, which are some of the root causes of poverty. Comic Relief’s support in Africa has helped to teach women to read, educate people about HIV and AIDS, immunise children, and enable people to rebuild their communities after conflict. Comic Relief’s funds in the UK have helped to enable women, disabled and older people to challenge prejudice, discrimination and domestic violence ().
The charity raises money from the general public by actively involving them in fun and innovative projects and events, such as Red Nose Days. Since 1985, the charity has raised over £220 million through its Red Nose Days ().
2.3. Christian Aid
Christian Aid began life in 1945, responding to the need of refugees and churches in Europe, in the aftermath of the Second World War. Since its inception, Christian Aid has worked on long term development projects where the need is greatest, working with people and communities regardless of race or creed. Today, working in over 60 of the world's poorest countries, Christian Aid believes in strengthening people to find their own solutions to the problems they face ().
Christian Aid strives for a new world, transformed by an end to poverty, and campaigns to change the rules that keep people poor by challenging the systems and processes that work against the interests of those who are poor or marginalised ().
3. Research Question: How Oxfam and its competitors, Comic relief and Christian Aid, are using new media as part of their marketing strategies
The Internet has given charities a low cost global platform for high quality communication, information provision and donation, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. With over 40 million personal and corporate Web users in practically every country in the world, and growing rapidly, charities are able to achieve a global impact from wherever they located.
As a result, the leading charities such as Oxfam, Comic Relief and Christian Aid have all attempted to exploit the opportunities presented by the Internet. One of the benefits seized by all three charities has been the ability to raise donations via the Internet, which according to a Guardian Newspaper report has outstripped telephone donations.
3.1 Oxfam’s new media marketing strategies
Oxfam uses the following types of new media, as part of their marketing strategy in generating brand awareness and attracting potential members:
Internet Marketing
Oxfam have in 2003 revamped their Internet homepage, making it easier for users to understand and find their way around the site. Included in the site are new features such as:
- Improved navigation
- Fresh and appealing design
- Brand new sections of content
- Accessibility for all users
- Clearly marked content.
Oxfam have introduced and promoted several activities, through their website, which is designed to engage the users in participating with Oxfam as a company and as a charity. Such activities involve:
- Trail adventures such as mountain climbing in Kathmandu
- Flora London Marathon
- Cool Planet – this is an education learning resource both for students and teachers
- Stewarding for the Glastonbury festival of rock
- The introduction of a new campaign titled ‘Make Trade Fair’. This allows students, youth and individuals to voice their opinion (which Oxfam regard as the ‘International Youth Parliament’) about issues concerning disadvantaged people and society (www.oxfam.co.uk).
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Oxfam have collaborated with Yahoo.co.uk in an activity known as cause related marketing. This involves a small proportion of the users dial up phone cost going to Oxfam as a result of using Yahoo. (Suits you! -Web sites-Industry Trend or Event, Internet, Jan, 2000 =).
Incorporated into the Oxfam website is a page that allows users to sign up to immediate emails regarding any activity concerning Oxfam. This maybe the latest in news or the most recent campaigns and donation appeals.
SMS Text Messaging
In 2001, mobile phones had a 60 percent market penetration in the UK, and £1.4 billion text messages were sent. Currently, SMS response rates are 10-20%. The SMS European SMS market is expected to be worth £31 billion in 2006. Such figures indicate the rising popularity of the mobile Internet media channel. (Harris, L. 2003). Oxfam have incorporated the advantages of SMS text messaging, an example of this was Oxfam’s use of SMS Texting in the Glastonbury festival, where people in the crowd were sent messages via their mobile phone alerting them to participate in events and activates.
Digital TV
Oxfam have used digital TV in particular the discovery channel to promote their company, reinforce and build their brand and ask for appeals through advertising. Other than simple visual adverts, Oxfam have rarely used digital TV in any other forms of fundraising and campaigning such as a weekly show or using celebrities to encourage appeal.
3.2 Comic Relief’s new media marketing strategies
Comic Relief are using their website to provide free learning resources and teaching ideas for teachers, in order to foster favourable community relations with schools, which would help to raise brand awareness amongst students and teachers. For example, the charity’s downloadable ‘Everybody Inc.’ online teaching pack consist of PowerPoint presentations and stories, workshops, and lesson plans on Fair-trade in Ghana and games ().
The ‘Have a laugh’ interactive section on Comic Relief’s website is specifically targeted at raising the charity’s awareness and appeal amongst the youth, which features fun and innovative fundraising ideas, free downloadable screensavers, games (e.g. Chain Reactor, Snake Escape, Annex, Boxers vs. Jockeys, Desktop Mate, Stress Buster, Pant Flinger, Red Nose 3D, Pantathalon), Real Player video clips of stand-up funny shorts (e.g. featuring Davina McCall and Geri Halliwell), celebrity briefs (e.g. featuring Ali G, Kylie Minogue and Kevin and Parry), celebrity interviews (e.g. featuring Jonathan Ross, Skinner and Badiel, ant and dec, and Ali G vs. Posh and Becks), and highlights of past Red Nose Days ().
Comic Relief is using its website () to accept donations. According to Amanda Horton-Mastin, Marketing director at Comic Relief, ‘new media is now a fundamental instrument for fundraising and one that Comic Relief intends to fully embrace’. In 2001, £3.5 million were raised through online donations. Kevin Cahill, Comic Relief CEO has commented that online donating has ‘given Comic Relief the potential to reach the hearts and minds of people not just in the UK, but throughout the world’ ().
3.3 Christian Aid’s new media marketing strategies
While many charities have teamed up with for-profit companies, such as Oxfam’s association with Yahoo, Christian Aid has taken a different stance. Christian Aid targets the ethically minded Internet user, and has developed surefish.co.uk, which is an ISP with an ethical stance, promoting openness and trust for its users. All profits from surefish go to campaigning and development work towards the elimination of poverty and injustice worldwide. By registering with , surfers not only receive all the usual facilities like e-mailing and information pages, but access to religious matters ().
The ISP is unique in the way it promotes itself on the notion of being “ethical”. The look and feel of the site is different in that it has a less sombre aesthetic appeal compared to the parent site (Christian Aid), however the use of more colours has been used to give it its technological edge. The ISP, since its launch, is already boasting 30,000 users ().
Other than the Internet and email, Christian Aid presently uses no other forms of new media, however the charity has stressed that this is something, which is likely to change in the next few years ().
Please refer to appendix three, for a website analysis of Oxfam, Comic Relief and Christian Aid, based on their appeal to the youth market.
4. Research Question 2: Evaluating the extent to which Oxfam’s current new media marketing activities appeal to the youth
Internet Marketing
Assessing the effectiveness of Oxfam’s Internet marketing and how it appeals to the youth, it can be said that whilst the site has a fresh and contemporary image, which separates them from traditional notions of the organisation, and charities in general, it fails to engage and involve the youth, giving the user a fairly one-dimensional experience. The result is that it may fail to attract the youth to return to the site.
Although the site may not be very engaging it does however successfully integrate its various activities, which are geared towards the youth market. For instance, the ‘Make Trade Fair’ campaign and the ‘International Youth Parliament’ are well channelled via the use of the Internet. Mediating the campaign through the Internet allows the youth to interact actively and provide instant feedback, which could not otherwise have been possible for example, if direct marketing methods were used. The Internet can be accessed by the youth at any time and at any place provided an Internet connection is available.
Furthermore, the promoting of youth orientated activates on the Internet, such as trail adventures, mountain climbing and stewarding at Glastonbury, positively reflect upon the target youth market. In this sense, the use of the Internet is successful in attracting the target youth market to become involved with Oxfam. However what Oxfam fail to do in using the Internet is make their site engaging. This can reduce the time a user in particular the youth would spend on browsing the site. What this means is that Oxfam risk the chance of youth users not coming across their activities, thus resulting in a lack of youth participation and the loss of a potential member for Oxfam.
However what the Internet does do for Oxfam is that it builds and reinforces Oxfam’s Brand. The way this may reflect upon the youth is that the brand may be perceived as being a real driving force on eliminating the ills of the world, and linking this with the youth promotes Oxfam’s image and appeal. Thus having the overall affect of intriguing the youth in wanting to become a member of Oxfam.
SMS Text Messaging Marketing
The use of text messages by Oxfam in the Glastonbury festival, proved to be an effective use of new media. This medium had the benefits of precise and instant targeting for the desired target market. This new media marketing strategy proved effective in helping to engage and involve the youth in Oxfam’s activities on the day. This further helped to enhance trust in Oxfam, and helped Oxfam to project a ‘youthful’ image.
Digital Marketing
Oxfam have used Digital TV to promote their company as advertising via terrestrial or mainstream TV proves to be expensive for the company. Using digital TV gives Oxfam the opportunity to target a fragmented market, making segmentation more effective. The majority of Oxfam’s promotion is done via the Discovery Channel. The Discovery Channel, at a glance, conceptualises its audience as ‘knowledge seekers’, who are predominantly male and fall into the age category of 25-45+. From this it would seem that the use of digital TV in specific the Discovery Channel, does not allow Oxfam to target the youth market. This is because channels such as the Discovery Channel can seem dull and lack appeal, which is not enough to appeal to the youth market.
In saying this, Oxfam however integrates well the use of Digital TV and the internet, in which after each broadcasted advert, Oxfam’s internet website is refereed to creating and reinforcing Oxfam’s other uses of new media and information points.
The above evaluation highlights that Oxfam’s attempt in attracting the youth market lacks consistency and real conviction, regarding the use of new media. Taking this into consideration as well as Oxfam’s 2004 to 2007 marketing strategy, which is shown in appendix 2, .It is therefore recommended that Oxfam consider the recommendations that are provided in the following section of the report.
5. Recommendations
Oxfam needs to adopt a more aggressive and commercial approach to its marketing strategies, in order to raise brand awareness and generate greater publicity amongst the youth market.
PC Internet Marketing
- Oxfam can model their website based on Comic Relief’s site, using mpegs featuring celebrity interviews and briefs, quizzes, innovative fundraising ideas, free downloadable screensavers and games, and the use of greater flash converged with sound, to appeal to the youth and enhance the attractiveness and aesthetic appeal of the website.
Mobile Internet
- The growing popularity and use of the mobile Internet over PC Internet means that Oxfam should increase their use of instant SMS text messaging, to help target the youth. The advent of WAP and videophones provides Oxfam with the opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of their communications via text messaging (Harris and Dennis, 2002).
- This media channel can help to gather customer data from replies to text, which could be used by Oxfam to send personalised messages such as football scores, music chart information and weather and travel information. Personalised text messages can also inform the youth of the latest youth-orientated activates that Oxfam is undertaking (i.e. charity marathons and bike riding). The use of personalised messages may increase the likely-hood of the youth reading and instantly responding (10-20% response rate) to messages (Harris and Dennis, 2002).
- Mobile Internet may provide Oxfam with the scope for geographical location tracking (Harris and Dennis, 2002).
Interactive Digital Television
- Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) can be used by Oxfam, which would involve interacting with the youth via a television set. As cited in Harris and Dennis (2002), Forrester Research (2001) predicts that more people will access the Internet through a television than through a PC by the end of 2004.
- According to Harris and Dennis (2002), the benefits of this media channel are that it ensures interactivity, whereby viewers can respond immediately to request further information or to take part or sign up for a promotion. Oxfam can screen youth-orientated TV commercials on TV channels such as MTV, which appeal to the youth, to help raise brand awareness amongst the target youth market. Oxfam’s brand recognition amongst the youth can also be achieved by sponsoring TV shows, which are popular amongst this group, such as ‘Friends’ and ‘Top Of The Pops’.
These recommended new media marketing strategies may provide the foundations on which Oxfam can start to achieve its prime objectives of appealing to the youth.
Due to cost considerations, Oxfam may not be able to adopt all of the above recommended new media marketing strategies. Thus, the charity needs to assess and decide upon the strategy that will be the most cost-effective in helping to appeal to the youth market.
6. Conclusions
Oxfam are under immense pressure to operate commercially, in order to raise awareness and appeal to the newly emerging youth market. The charity market is increasingly competitive, whereby charities such as Comic Relief and Christian Aid are also attempting to focus their marketing activities on appealing to the youth. If charities such as Oxfam are to differentiate from competitors and fight off competition for attracting youth campaigners, volunteers and fundraisers, they need to exploit the growing importance of electronic media, and incorporate new media strategies in to their marketing activities, which offer cost-effective ways of engaging with the target youth market, enhance the scope of customer service provided, and provide opportunities for cross-selling (Harris 7 Dennis, 2002), retention and acquisition.
7. References
Websites
(accessed 9th January 2004)
(accessed 3rd January 2004)
(accessed 5th January 2004)
(accessed 9th January 2004) (accessed 11th November 2003)
(accessed 18th January 2004)
(accessed 26th January 2003)
(accessed 25th January 2004)
Lecture Notes
Harris, L. (2003) Internet Marketing MG3037 Autumn Term Lecture Notes
Palmer, J. (2004) Introduction to Oxfam lecture
Textbooks
Harris, l. and Dennis, C. (2002) ‘Marketing the e-business’ (1st edition) Routledge
Fill, C. (2002) ‘Marketing Communications: Contexts, Strategies and Applications’, (Third edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd
8. Appendices
8.1. Appendix 1
The following highlights Oxfam and its two main competitors, Comic Relief and Christian Aid’s homepages, to illustrate the PC Internet marketing activities undertaken by these charities in relation to how it appeals to the youth market.
Oxfam’s homepage:
The Oxfam website has a fresh and contemporary image which removes it from older connotations of a tatty organisation with shops selling peoples unwanted ‘junk’. This fresh image could potentially appeal to youth, especially in a image conscious society. There is small use of flash software which is fairly engaging, however the site does not use any sound, therefore it is not as engaging as it could be. Overall it has a ‘hip’ image whilst at the same time maintaining the subtlety of a charity.
8.2 Comic Relief’s homepage:
The comic relief site conveys an image of fun from the first moment you enter the site, and has a colloquial style. All of its activities on the site are heavily endorsed by celebrities, and the overall the site has a good aesthetic appeal. These features make the site quite attractive to youth markets.
8.3 Christian Aid Homepage:
Of all the sites, Christian Aid has the best you of flash, and manages to engage the user with sounds, and there are also short movies. The site is very engaging and probes the user to navigate around the site. The site also offers a good level of interactivity with a whole section of the site dedicated to youth leaders.
Appendix 2:
The following is Oxfam’s 2004 to 2007 marketing strategy.
Marketing strategy
The integrated marketing strategy will identify priority targets (e.g. young people).
The aspects of our work to balance are:
• Relationship management, focused on targeted groups of people.
• Product management, including fundraising, campaigning, shops, etc.
• Channel management, including direct mail, shops, Internet, alliances, etc.
Implementation of this strategy means that from the start of and throughout the Plan period
We will have tested and introduced ranges of new products in the categories shown above,
Such as donor-get-donor, emergency and campaign-linked products, catalogues, shop based products, etc.
()
Appendix 3
Grid analysis of Oxfam, Comic Relief and Christian Aid website appeal to the youth
From the above grid, it can be seen that Comic relief dominates all the key metrics selected. Thus, overall Comic Relief have out of the threes sites the most appealing website.
The grid also highlights areas of improvements for Oxfam’s website in targeting a more youthful audience.
