A Campaign for Energy Saving Trust

A Campaign for Energy Saving Trust

1. Introduction

The main purpose of this report is to identify, analyze upon a major issue that Energy Saving Trust can experience in the future as it faced the same issue few years ago. Before going forward with this report, it would be important to find out about Energy Saving Trust and what it does. Energy Saving Trust was developed as an organization entirely sponsored by the government of the UK in the year of 1992 with an aim of guiding the people of the UK about sustainable use of energy (Seyfang et al. 2013). The primary aim of the of the organization is to ensure that the people of the UK can use energy in an effective manner that would automatically reduce the emission of carbon dioxide as effective use of energy means less electricity generation in coal powered or nuclear powered stations (Whitmarsh et al. 2012). This organization works as a non-profit organization and its entire funding is done by the government and some private companies.  The experts of the organization are speaking with millions of people every year and are providing high quality programs for the government of the UK (Murray et al. 2016). It is also providing consultancy services to the UK based companies about sustainable energy use (Hori et al. 2013).

From the above analysis it is found that Energy Saving Trust is doing a very noble work by ensuring that the UK people understands and uses sustainability at the time of using electricity. In order to connect with people eve with UK business companies Energy Saving Trust runs several campaigns and events every month (Owen 2012). These campaigns and events of Energy Saving Trust are funded by the government of the UK, mainly by Department of Energy and Climate Change. Few years ago in 2011-2012 this department reduced the funding of Energy Saving Trust by half (Rosenow 2012). This decision was made mainly due to recession. However, Energy Saving Trust due to this decision faced some serious problems while running its operations. Now, the chances are high that its funding would be slashed once again. This report based on this probable issue will provide solutions for Energy Saving Trust.

2. Overview of the campaign

2.1 Campaign details

The United Kingdom is currently dealing with a big problem that is Brexit. A technologically advanced nation like the UK is failing to improve its economy right after it decided to leave European Union. In 2018, in the first quarter the UK experience an economic growth of 0.04% however, as per Crowley et al. (2018) this growth took place only due to world cup. However, after that in the second half of the year, the UK experienced 0.0% growth in terms of its economy which means its economy is halted. Most of the experts are stating that this is happening due to Brexit (Zi et al. 2018). Some experts also stated that after the UK leaves EU on March 2018, it would experience an economic breakdown (Hix 2018)s. In this condition, Energy Saving Trust fears that again the government will slash its funding and again it would face serious problems just like it faced in 2011-2012. However, now in 2018, Energy Saving Trust is much stronger than it was in 2011 (Elsharkawy and Rutherford 2015). It is now not only funded by the government only but also is funded by several private companies. Therefore, it is expected that if government cuts its funds, Energy Saving Trust will not face major issues. However, as “Safety is better than cure” Energy Saving Trust must prepare for worst scenario in the future and that is why it was required to develop this campaign to identify a strategy, mainly a campaign strategy by using one or more than one marketing methods to attract more investors for the organization.

After going through and evaluating several possibilities in terms of the campaign that Energy Saving Trust can implement, it was decided that the organization will use the marketing method of influencer marketing. It has been decided that the management of the organization will endorse several personalities or influencers of You Tube for sharing their message with the people of the UK

2.2 Stages of the campaign

As this campaign for Energy Saving Trust would be a marketing campaign, in terms of stages, five stages of marketing campaign were followed in this campaign. Those five stages are map it out, planning budget, defining target audience and campaign message, assessing media choices and final activities (Suomala 2018).

In the first stage which is map it out, the goals and purposes of the campaign were identified by the campaign team. In terms of goals, both immediate and long term goals were developed. For example, in terms of immediate goals it was decided that the group will identify the issues of Energy Saving Trust and will find out possible solution for this issue. In terms of long term issue, it was decided that a celebrity will be contacted and will be endorsed in the video of Energy Saving Trust where the celerity will ask the people of the UK and the private companies to come forward and donate to the noble cause of Energy Saving Trust.

The next stage in this campaign was planning the budget. Now, at an average celebrity You Tube promotion fee is $187,000 as per reported by the BBC news. As per BBC, an influencer with three million to seven million followers can charge $187,000 for a post in You Tube. Where average fee for posting in Instagram is $75,000 and $30,000 is the charge for putting a message on Twitter. However, from these examples it would be difficult for assume the budget for the selected strategy of Energy Saving Trust. Energy Saving Trust will shoot a video where one or more than one social media influencers will come together to convey the message of the organization to the people of the UK (Braun and Schwarzbözl 2018). Roughly, it is estimate that the entire operation will take near about $350,000 if only one influencer or You Tube celebrity is endorsed.

In the third stage of the campaign, the target audience of this campaign was selected. Now, while selecting the target audience of the campaign, it was decided that that the main target of the campaign would be the millennial consumers. As per mentioned by Hanson-Rasmussen and Lauver (2018) millennial generation around the world are more concerned with environment and related issues than the baby boomers and generation X. He also mentioned that millennia people are most likely to respond to a cause targeted to do anything good for the environment (Allen and Spialek 2018). Therefore, it would be better for Energy Saving Trust to focus on the millennial people of the UK at the time of developing the video campaign.

In terms of media choices, initially it is decided that mostly You Tune would be used for sharing this video. You Tube celebrity or celebrities would appear in the campaign will share the video on their You Tube channels. On the other hand, Energy Saving Trust will also ensure that the video will run just like other promotional videos of different companies run when You Tube users try to see any You Tube video on any topic or content. Next, Energy Saving Trust also has as an active Facebook page. In that page, the management of Energy Saving Trust will share this video with its Facebook followers. Once this video is shared in different media channels, then the next step of the campaign will be decided.

2.3 Justification

3. Evaluating degree of integration

This campaign was completed with a higher amount of integration where technology and skills of the group members were integrated together to develop an effective campaign. For describing how this integration will be done in this part of the report 4-Stages model of integration is used.

As per the figure 1 that highlights the diagram of 4-Stage model of integration, there are four stages that are directed, access, mobile and self-directed. In terms of the first stage of this model that is directed, all the group members were directed by each other while deciding which technologies would be used in this campaign. For example, it was decided that for presenting the campaign, power point presentation will be selected. Besides, it was also decided that sites such as Google Scholar and Emerald Insight would be used for acquiring relevant journals and articles. On the other hand, it was also decided that data would be collected from different websites that would include website of BBC and any other news channel and website of Energy Saving Trust. In the second stage, that was access, the group faced some problems while accessing articles from Emerald Insight as this website charges money for accessing journals and articles. Therefore, most of the relevant journals and articles were gathered from Google scholar. There was not much scope for using mobile technology in this campaign. However, some mobile technologies were used in the campaign for the purpose of communication. It was not possible for the group to meet daily. Therefore, smartphones were used for sending emails, sharing information, sharing files and other things related to the campaign. A Facebook page was also created for the group where the group members were able to communicate through their smartphones even if they are travelling or outside the house. The last stage that is self-directed, where the group members continuously evaluated their selections critically and decided the best possible solution.

4. Evaluating degree of creativity

In terms of creativity, the decided campaign or marketing strategy is extremely creative and unique. Not much non-profit companies are using social media influencers to convey their messages to a particular population. Most non-profit companies tend to develop and implement real life campaigns or events to communicate with the potential investors. Some non-profit companies use social media posts to communicate with the people who are concerned about the organization’s cause. On the other hand, most campaigns of a non-profit organization mostly target the wealthy group of people of a society. In this campaign, the goals of the campaign are decided based on the future. While deciding upon the campaign it was considered that millennial generation will surpass the baby boomers and generation X and will become the primary consumers around the world. On the other hand, as millennial consumers are highly influenced by video advertisements or You Tube celebrities, it was decided that such celebrities would be used for this particular campaign.  Overall it is a creative solution that not much non-profit companies have implemented.

5. Respond to the feedback

5.1 Changes that will be made

When the final campaign plan was submitted by using power point presentation, the group mostly received a positive feedback from the supervisor. Not much mistakes were there in the presentation. However, the supervisor asked the team to make presentation more attractive. He asked us to add animations, more images relevant to the topic and other necessary steps to make the presentation good looking.

5.2 Campaign future

The campaign is still on its infant stage as it is yet not decided how many You Tube celebrities will be hired by the organization and who will be those celebrities. In the next stage of the campaign, a list of famous You Tube celebrities would be developed. Based on the available budget, one or more than one celebrity would be selected. At the time of selecting one or more than one celebrity it would be seen that these celebrities are famous in You Tube and has never involved in any type of controversy. Then, an advertising agency will be contacted and that agency will be responsible for developing the video ad in a manner that it can attract the attention of the millennial generation of the UK.

6. Evaluation of experience

6.1 Group experience

The group members who developed this campaign had different roles and responsibilities. These roles and responsibilities were developed and selected based on Belbin’s team role that can be seen from the figure 2. Now, in the group, two members played action oriented roles, one member played people oriented roles and one member played through oriented roles. In terms of action oriented roles, one member acted as an implemented who was responsible for finding out ways to implement selected ideas. The second member under action oriented role acted as complete finisher who always reminded the group members about the deadline and ensured that the campaign is finished within the given time. In terms of people oriented roles one team member acted as resource investigator. This team member as per requirement of the team gathered resources and information from outside secondary sources such as journals, articles and websites. In terms of thought oriented role a team member acted as monitor-evaluator and that team member was me. My role in the team was to analyze all the available options and then deciding which option would be the best for Energy Saving Trust. For example, initially a lot of solutions were recommended by the team members that included general social media campaigns, bill boards, email marketing, advertisement through television, advertisement through newspapers, and advertisement through radio, real life events and direct communication with different communities. However, as our goal was to implement something innovative and effective, I decided that video advertisement with You Tube celebrities would be the best idea.

6.2 Personal experience

Personally, I was really satisfied after working with the team. Every team member was helpful and responsive. Whenever a meeting was conducted, every team member came at time. Besides, I also learned a lot from this campaign related to energy efficiency and how it can be done from the website of Energy Saving Trust and I also learned a lot about different types of marketing campaigns.

6.3 Personal development for future

In the future, it is already mentioned that it would be decided how the campaign will be developed in a proper manner. Yes, the video ad would be developed by a third party organization; however, we will have to pitch ideas on different methods through which the video would be made. Then one best idea will be selected. As I will play the role of monitor evaluator where I would have to select the best solution, it would become important for me to learn about how am effective video advertisement can be developed for targeting particular groups of a community which is millennial generation in this case.

7. Conclusion

In the end, it can be stated that this campaign has been completed without facing much of issues of negative feedbacks from the supervisor. Yes, the group members had to make some minor changes in the campaign but overall this campaign was as success. Besides, it is also expected that Energy Saving Trust will be able to reach to millennial people of the UK and will be able to gain support from them, regardless of whether its funds are slashed by the government due to Brexit or not.

References

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