dufour korecki enactus rebrand 2013 · cam$dufour$ marketing!consultant! candice$korecki$...

Cam Dufour Marketing Consultant

Candice Korecki Marketing Consultant

2013 REBRAND ENACTUS

2013 REBRAND ENACTUS Dufour / Korecki page 2

Executive Summary

The overall objective for this report is to discuss how to successfully generate awareness for a new brand, which will be launched for the upcoming 2013-‐14 academic year. SIFE will no longer be affiliated with Nipissing University due to the legislation regarding copyright issues, and the organization will now be initiated under the new brand name, Enactus.

The highlights of this report will include a comparison of organizational strategies between the original brand, SIFE, and the new brand Enactus. Generating awareness for the Enactus brand is the sole objective of all the recommended strategies, but the key objectives include: increasing student members, promoting the credibility of the program, educating the various audiences of the brand, and increasing program funding through grants and sponsorships.

Information was gathered through various faculty and staff members of Nipissing University, as well as influential organizations in the community of North Bay. The current strategy for the SIFE/Enactus brand lacks the promotional awareness for increasing membership, which is the focus of the recommendations provided. In order to meet the objectives of the new brand, the recommendations emphasize the need for promotional efforts to improve brand equity.

The strategies recommended for the Enactus brand involve communicating to targeted audiences through a mass e-‐mail strategy, which will engage the immediate audience of the university. Applying for the Ontario Trillium Foundation grant will aid reinforce the limited financial resources of the Enactus brand, and will help alleviate the financial tension the program has towards its projects. The purchasing of promotional products will provide brand awareness in a tangible form for the Enactus brand, specifically through the use of frosh-‐kits.

Partnerships are a key consideration for the re-‐branding recommendations, and three key members pose the best possible

fit with Enactus: Greening Nipissing, North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce, and the iLead program through the School of Business.

The new Enactus brand will be introduced in the upcoming academic year, and the previous brand SIFE will no longer be affiliated with Nipissing University. Since SIFE was only present on campus for one year, the brand had little ties between the university and the community. This provides Enactus smooth transition between for all associated members and the target audiences of the brand. Because of its introduction, the Enactus brand has little to no brand equity at Nipissing University.

The recommendations provided will help to improve the equity of the Enactus brand on-‐campus as well as in the community. Through effective promotions, the Enactus brand will ultimately create brand awareness, the overall goal of the re-‐branding efforts.


Objectives and Marketing Challenge

The Enactus organization, formally known as Students in Free Enterprise, is currently undergoing a rebranding effort because of copyright issues at the global level. The local Enactus program, offered at Nipissing University is faced with a similar rebranding issue, but the program must also generate awareness to the university community and the City of North Bay.

In the fall of 2011, SIFE was the initial program that provided students at the university with the opportunity to create, develop and implement projects that focused on sustainability and entrepreneurial efforts. In the upcoming 2013 academic year, the program will no longer be recognized under the SIFE brand name, but will become the Enactus initiative.

A strategic plan needs to be developed for the new Enactus brand. This plan will help transfer the brand equity, awareness and promotional efforts of the original SIFE brand to the new, refreshed Enactus brand. A key advantage to this rebranding plan is that the SIFE at Nipissing University was quite young, so the program was not heavily rooted in the institution. This crucial fact will make the transformation process to the Enactus brand easier for our intended audience.

The Enactus Nipissing program is self-‐funded, with a small portion of its revenue generated through on-‐campus fundraising and a key sponsor, Enterprise Holdings. The program has completed two successful fundraising events, Pooks n’ Tooks and the Bobble campaign. Both fundraising efforts have helped provide funds for the incurred travel expenses and promotional costs for the program. Ilir Kuqi, the Regional Manager of Enterprise Holdings, is an alumni Enactus/SIFE member, and recently donated $2,500 to the efforts of the Enactus Nipissing project program. Although these donations and fundraisers have helped Enactus Nipissing, the program requires continued funding as well as new financial

opportunities for the continued success of their projects.

Another major challenge the Enactus Nipissing program faces is the membership and recruitment efforts. The initiative has no formal membership process, and relies on word-‐of-‐mouth promotions about their projects and upcoming events. The issue with Enactus memberships is that students attend the university for roughly four years; therefore active student memberships are not concrete. A key consideration for Enactus recruitment is to focus on attracting first year, business student so that these individuals have the opportunity to work on projects for the duration of their university career. However, the Enactus Nipissing program also needs to focus on retaining upper year students in business, as well as targeting its recruitment efforts to upper year students in other disciplines, specifically environmental studies.

Based on the understanding of the Enactus Nipissing brand, the objectives discussed below will help to generate awareness and addressing the challenges of the program.

1. Increase Enactus Nipissing membership

To meet this objective, the program must focus on attracting first-‐year business students to the program by promoting its social aspect: networking opportunities, experience and a potential resume builder. Currently, the program holds a dozen members with one faculty mentor. For the upcoming academic year, the program should focus on recruiting at least six new business students, which is a 50% increase from its current membership status.

2. Recruit Nipissing students from the environmental studies field

The Enactus program has its foundation in the School of Business, which promotes the entrepreneurial efforts of the program. However, understanding that Enactus is not solely focused on business, targeting upper-‐year students in environmental studies will benefit the sustainable and environmental aspect of the program, based on the students’ knowledge. The total upper-‐year student enrollment for this field is currently 245, which encompasses both full-‐time and


part-‐time students from second to fifth year of studies. Targeting a small percentage (8%) of the environmental studies program is realistic since not all students targeted will become active members. Targeting this segment also faces the challenge of overcoming an awareness barrier to the brand.

3. Promote the credibility of the Enactus Nipissing program

In 2011, the program competed in the Enactus National Championship of Canada to receive the Rookie of the Year title for their Back to the Taps campaign. The program can use this feature as leverage to promote its credibility on-‐campus to students. To gain more notice in the City of North Bay, Enactus should focus on becoming nominated for local business awards, partnering with local organizations, and becoming involved in community events.

4. Inform the university community about the Enactus program

The SIFE brand was introduced to Nipissing University in 2011. Since the rebranding of the program, a majority of the university community has become confused about the overall brand. There is a high amount of uncertainty about the program, its new Enactus brand name, and the reason for the brand change. The community of Nipissing University, which includes students, faculty and administrative staff, need to be educated in regards to the altered brand name and the purpose of the initiative.

5. Increase overall funding for the Enactus program

The Enactus program is self-‐funded and its revenue relies on fundraising efforts and donations. Understanding that financial resources are key elements of marketing and the operations of a business, even non-‐profits, Enactus must focus on obtaining additional funding through sponsorships and government grants.


Strategy Audit The Enactus Company

The Enactus Nipissing program is a non-‐profit organization that attracts business students from the university to create and implement projects into the local community. This voluntary program offers students the opportunity to gain leadership skills and experiences through these entrepreneurial initiatives while also allowing students to give back to the community of North Bay.

Currently the Enactus program consists of a dozen business students, in varying years of study, with a single faculty mentor. These individuals offer the program with the core fundamentals of a business including operations, technology, financing, marketing, and communications. Although this organization is small-‐staffed, Enactus Nipissing did receive the title of Rookie of the Year in the National Enactus Championships (2011-‐12), proving that this small organization made a noble impression for themselves as well as Nipissing University.

Being that Enactus is a non-‐profit, voluntary program offered to students at Nipissing University, the organization is self-‐funded. Fundraising and donations are the only means of revenue for the organization, which they rely on for their promotional and operational efforts.

In the last academic year, the SIFE brand completed two major fundraising events:

a. The Water Bobble campaign

At the end of January 2012, the SIFE organization unveiled their Think Green: Back to the Tap project, which was designed to raise awareness about the environmental cost of bottled water. The program sold Water Bobbles,

which were stylish reusable bottles that purify water by using a carbon filter. These Water Bobbles have the capacity to replace 300 bottles of water with one filter. The purpose of this fundraiser was to raise awareness for the Back to the Tap project, as well as generate enough funds to sponsor a water refilling station on-‐campus.

b. The “Get Your POOK On” campaign

In November 2011, SIFE under the leadership of Dianne Davis, Nipissing faculty member, created the program’s first fundraising initiative, which was the selling of POOK products on-‐campus at Nipissing University. The POOK products, (toques, scarves, mittens), are made from traditional work socks and were a featured product line on Dragon’s Den Canada. Half of the money raised through this fundraiser was put towards purchasing winter wear for community members in need, and the remaining funds were retained to cover expenses of the program (including transportation, accommodations and start-‐up costs).

The previous brand, SIFE, had a minimal connection to the university, which allows the transition to the new brand, Enactus, easier for the program’s audience. Through the rebranding efforts, the Enactus program must ensure that the brand equity created in SIFE is transferred to the new brand.

Customers of Enactus

The Enactus program places a high value on its community involvement efforts, and continuously drives its students to create innovate ideas to improve the quality of life for people in these communities. The community involvement aspect of the brand is a key element for the rebranding strategy.

The North Bay community and Nipissing University have a strong relationship in regards to social interactions: both parties use the resources of one another. Nipissing University offers organizations the opportunity to use boardrooms,


gymnasium facilities and other resources for their use; whereas the community of North Bay offers students and staff of the university, the chance to become involved in festivals, sporting events and charities throughout the year. Both parties foster the concept of giving back to the people who aid in their success.

Each year at Nipissing University, students engage in various clubs and organizations to network with other students, gain

experiences and for their personal pleasure. Students become involved in these groups in order to enhance their academic resume. Most clubs at Nipissing are organized by students and are based on personal topics of interest, however, Enactus provides students with all of these benefits, as well as improving the prospects for employment.

Direct Competition to Enactus

The direct competition that the Enactus program faces, resides solely on the Nipissing University campus. The competition offers a wide range of benefits to students attending the university, including active lifestyles, competitions, event planning or developing projects.

The competitor that poses the most threat to Enactus is the iLead program offered through the School of Business. The iLead program allows students to create and develop projects locally as well as internationally. Although similar to Enactus, the iLead program provides its students the opportunity to earn credits towards their degree for their academic efforts. This can include a directed study, honours thesis, workplace internship, and overseas study.

Indirect Competition to Enactus

In terms of indirect competitors to the Enactus brand, there are a number of non-‐profit organizations and initiatives in the City of North Bay. These programs have the ability to draw a great deal of attention to their cause while engaging the community to participate and donate. One of the most noted causes in North Bay that generates a large amount of awareness is the CIBC Run for the Cure, which had roughly 750 participants in 2011 (nugget source).

A student’s social life is another consideration as an indirect competitor to the Enactus brand. The City of North Bay offers students the chance to expand their personal and social lives through entertainment, job opportunities and sports teams. The city offers students a busy nightlife, movie theatres, festivals and events, as well as concerts and sporting events. There are countless part-‐time job opportunities for students in the city, and through local companies.

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

The first key segment of the Enactus brand consists of students at the post-‐secondary level or secondary level, with the intent to attend a college or university. The geographic focus of this group is located to the North Bay region, and those students attending Nipissing University. These students can be either male or female, and are between 18 and 25 years of age. To further segment this market, students are classified as first-‐years or upper-‐years based on their year of study. The students of this segment are also separated based on their discipline of study: business or environmental studies (Geography, Biology). The targeting of this segment for the Enactus brand is crucial to the continued success and operations of the program. Students are initiators of projects and are a core element of the program. These individuals have the potential to become advocates of Enactus, which will help in the rebranding efforts and overall brand equity of

the program.

The staff segment of the target market, another key segment for Enactus, includes both university faculty members and administrative staff at the university. These individuals are located in the City of North Bay due to the occupational requirement of their presence on-‐campus. These individuals can be either male or female, and are between 30 and 50 years of age. These individuals are employed, full-‐ or part-‐time, by the university and have some level of disposable


income. The target of this segment is to educate the staff on what the Enactus program is about, in the hopes that these individuals will become ambassadors for Enactus to new students that attend Nipissing University.

The final segment for the Enactus brand is the community leaders in the City of North Bay, which include corporate and non-‐profit organizations. These groups have an influential and powerful presence in the community, as well as being

community improvement advocates. Often employed full-‐time, these individuals are between 25 and 50 years of age and have some level of disposable income. This group places a high importance on the health of North Bay for their families and friends live and work here. Targeting these individuals would prove to be a successful financial venture for the Enactus brand because the brand’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people in the community, which is what these individuals strive to do.

Marketing Mix

Product

The Enactus Nipissing program offers students the opportunity to develop their skills and provides them with in-‐field work experience. Students create and develop projects that can help benefit the community in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. With the rebranding efforts, the brand will be located at the introduction stage of the product life cycle. In this stage, the program will want to build brand awareness and develop a strategic market for their offerings.

Place

The Enactus program is located on-‐campus at Nipissing University, and has made some significant efforts to get involved in the City of North Bay. The program consists of a small group of business students and one key faculty mentor, all of which are located on-‐campus. There is a potential prospect to influence the local high schools in the area, including St. Joseph Scollard, Widdifield, Algonquin and West Ferris.

Price

The Enactus program is completely self-‐funded and relies heavily on the financial support of sponsors and donations. IIir Kuqi, the Regional Manager with Enterprise Holdings, recently donated $2,500 to the program. This sponsorship has helped the program with the financial tension it faces. Additional fundraisers have been held to help cover the additional costs of the program including travelling and accommodations for competitions, and the printing of posters for promotional efforts.

Promotion

Enactus has employed a variety of promotional tools to generate awareness about their program. The program has a strong social media presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. They have also employed an e-‐mail strategy that was used to contact students and staff about upcoming events for the program, as well as articles through the Nipissing University News Archives. These articles can be accessed through the Nipissing University website, and through the School of Business, a brief Enactus/SIFE page can be accessed. Also, the program has utilized bulletin boards around the university as an advertising advantage.

External Market Environment

The reason for the rebranding efforts from SIFE to Enactus was the result of a copyright infringement. The brand has until the end of August 2013 to complete the brand transformation. Other infringements and copyright laws will need to be considered for the marketing efforts of the rebranding strategy.


The Government of Ontario established the Ontario Trillium Foundation to provide grant funding to organizations that build healthy and vivid communities throughout the province. The focus of the OTF is to invest in community-‐based initiatives to strengthen the volunteerism and participation in the community.

Maclean’s Magazine recently published an article on northern universities in Canada, and how many of these institutions

are seeing changes in the physical infrastructure of their campuses. With the renovated Robert J Surtees Student Athletics Centre and the completion of the Harris Learning Library, Nipissing University is continually investing in the future education and development of its students. According to Pletzer, Director of Institutional Planning and Research at Nipissing, the overall enrollment at Nipissing University has grown 26% to 5,679 students in the 2011-‐12 academic year.

The unique social atmosphere at Nipissing University offers a wide range of clubs and activities for students to participate in. These groups provide the university with successful student involvement around campus: clubs, athletics, and intramurals.

Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate their products from competition, and how to align their brand values with that of their targeted consumers. Supporting a local cause is one competitive advantage a company should utilize in its marketing strategy. Studies conducted through Big Brothers Big Sisters North Bay showed that 76% of consumers have participated in at least one cause-‐related marketing campaign. These studies also showed that 92% of consumers believe that corporations are obligated to contribute to non-‐profit organizations. Giving back to the community will help with the overall brand equity of an organization, and should be positioned as a major benefit to the brand.

Social media is a promotional marketing tool that can be utilized to effectively target students at Nipissing University, and is a fantastic global referral system for businesses. Information can be sent and viewed to consumers on a worldwide scale, and the speed that this information travels to its desired target is essentially instantaneous. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are the two most effective methods to reaching students, to inform them about events, deals and any other promotional efforts done by an organization.

Example: The Facebook page of Loughborough University’s Student Union is classified as a public page, which allows all Facebook users to access the content that the union posts about their organization. The LU Student Union can create and promote their events, as well as post links about other events and general notices about Loughborough University. The Student Union can also post status updates that can also be used to promote clubs, events, competitions and other businesses either on-‐campus or in the local market town. The LUSU page is not limited to only promoting on-‐campus events, and the organization often uses its Facebook page to inform students of festivals, sales and news about the market town of Loughborough as well.

The use of the Internet, or any web-‐based communication tool, has had a dramatic effect on the way major companies and small to medium sized-‐businesses compete. The Internet has made it possible for information to travel instantly from its origin to various outlets around the world. The speed and accessibility of information has resulted in consumers being

more educated about business operations and has changed the way in which they interact and engage one another. The use of Internet and e-‐commerce has become a widespread phenomenon, and many companies and organizations are exclusively operating online. A website is also a beneficial tool for a business since it has the ability to display product offerings, company information, and an easy communication method for your consumers.


Recommendations Recommendation 1: Mass E-‐mail Strategy

A successful e-‐mail strategy must include four primary elements. These elements include: setting goals, finding the correct audience, specifying which content is most important and finally using a successful tracking program (DK New Media, 2013). For the Enactus re-‐branding phase, our main goal as consultants is to help create the strategies that will aid in creating awareness for the new brand.

As previously determined by Dianne Davis, the faculty mentor for Enactus, she mentioned that prior to the SIFE/Enactus transformation, that students that are a part of the SIFE program became aware through a mass e-‐mail strategy, which was initiated in order to attract members to the program.

For the up-‐coming school year, we recommend that Enactus use the same e-‐mail strategy as had been employed with the previous brand. Linking back to one of our objectives by targeting both business and science students, it would be wise to e-‐mail first year students through the business program and upper year students studying science. The mass e-‐mail strategy for Enactus is primarily to generate overall awareness for the new brand. Therefore the e-‐mail strategy may be distributed through many of the different departments at the university.

The content throughout the e-‐mail must be “all the words and images in your email communicate and connect with your prospects for you to achieve specific business goals” (DK New Media, 2013). It would be great to include a brief background of the primary functions of the Enactus organization, but also it would be essential to include some of the credible options students are offered. Students have the chance to gain work experience, add credible resume content, build relationships,

and create possible networking opportunities.

Recommendation 2: Apply for the Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant

The mission of the OTF is to build healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario by investing in community-‐based initiatives. This government agency distributes grants to non-‐profit and charitable organizations throughout the province, and is required to allocate at least $100 million each year to these organizations. A majority of the OTF’s funding is a composed of provincial lottery revenues, charity-‐casino revenues and general provincial revenues. There has been a wide range of projects that have applied for this grant, but those that were approved supported local communities. The organizations that apply for the OTF grant must provide projects that support local communities and relate to social services, arts and culture, the environment, and/or sports and recreational activities.

The OTF has three different funding programs, which are used to allocate the agency’s funding and classify projects based on their scope:

a. The Community program receives the largest amount of available annual grant money to be allocated to projects and initiatives throughout Ontario, which is about 77%. Since 2008, the OTF has approved 1,360 projects for grant money with an average value for each project being about $60,000.

b. The Province-‐wide program covers projects and initiatives that impact Ontario on a provincial-‐scale. This funding program receives only 19% of available annual funding. The OTF has awarded 110 organizations, each with grants averaging $180,000 in value since 2008.

c. The Future Fund receives the least amount of available funds with roughly only four percent each year. The projects approved for this grant must create a significant and sustainable change in a specific area through


innovative approaches. Each fiscal year, the OTF decides on a specific focus that a project must satisfy in order to receive the grant. The focus for the 2012/2013 Future Fund was Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise; however, about ten projects each year are funded with an average grant value of $400,000 each.

The goal of the OTF is to allocate the entire annual grant funding it receives from the government to non-‐profit and

charitable organization in Ontario. The allocation of these funds is based on the population levels of the 16 regions across Ontario. Since the different regions have varying population levels, funding is distributed on a per-‐capita basis.

Data gathered from Statistics Canada and the Ontario Trillium Foundation (located in Appendices) was tabulated to provide population levels and approval rates based on each region of Ontario, as described by the OTF. As these charts illustrate, the OTF allocated an average of 1.18 million dollars to the region including North Bay, in comparison to a larger, central region like Toronto, which received over 15 million dollars in grants. The reasoning for this significant difference in available funding is because of the 12:1 population ratio for the region of Toronto, to the region of North Bay.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation Application Criteria (located in the Appendices) provides organizations with a general understanding of how their projects will be assessed and whether these projects meet the agency’s project standards. The OTF requires applications to provide benefits to the community with a sustainable and long-‐lasting impact and have a significant need for funding.

For all three funding programs, the OTF puts all applications through a standard review process:

Technical Review

Applications are screened to ensure completeness and that they satisfy the eligibility criteria. Those applications that are incomplete or ineligible are rejected.

First Review

Staff administers a questionnaire test to applications, in order to rank each project based on points received for each question.

Triage Meeting

Regional OTF staff vote on which applications to reject, and remaining projects continue the review process.

Additional Research and Analysis

OTF staff conducts site visits and outside research for all applications.

Proposal Assessment Summary Sheet (PASS)

Information collected previously is summarized into the PASS. This process will decide whether the application should be approved or declined.

Final Meeting

The grant-‐review team of the OTF meets to decide an application’s approval or rejection. If an application is approved, the team will recommend the amount of funding the project should receive.

Final Approval

The CEO or Board of the OTF will approve or reject the proposal of the application.


If an organization is approved for the OTF grant, they are required to submit progress reports for the length of the grant term as well as a final report, which is sent within two months following the completion of the project. In these reports, the applicants must include budget allocations, expenditures, and what was accomplished with the funds received through the OTF.

The OTF grant offers Enactus Nipissing the opportunity to acquire funding, which can help alleviate the financial tension of the program. This grant can be used to promote and develop their projects, like Back to the Taps. Enactus Nipissing must complete and submit its application by one of the three designated deadlines: March 1, July 1, or November 1.

In the application, Enactus must outline the strategic plan of a project, which includes the scope of the project, financial details and budgets and the project’s impact on the local community. A work plan must also be included in the application, which requires the applicant to discuss the expected results of their project in regards to activities and performance indicators.

Recommendation 3: Develop Enactus Promotional Products

A popular and effective communication medium for a business is the use of promotional products, which are tangible items used to generate top-‐of-‐mind brand awareness. These items are a fast growing component of advertising for a business, and are a significant industry, accounting for nearly $3.5 billion (Promotional Product Association International, 2011). Research conducted by the PPAI (2011) also highlighted that the recall for promotional products was high: 86% of consumers remembered the name of the brand that donated a product.

With the increase of advertisement clutter in the marketplace, effectiveness of advertising in mass media has become less consistent. Promotional products used in a creative and integrated communications plan can be an effective tool to reach their business goals.

Enactus has no tangible promotional products that it can provide to its potential members or clients. The program should invest in obtaining promotional products that it can use to generate awareness about the new brand, specifically to first-‐years students in the purchase of frosh-‐kits.

At the beginning of each academic year, students purchase frosh-‐kits through the Nipissing University Student Union (NUSU). In the past, these kits provided students with various pamphlets and trinkets, such as key chains, lanyards and/or water bottles. Andrew Deugo, the upcoming Vice President of External, explained that for the 2013-‐14 frosh-‐kits, NUSU will be asking businesses to provide quality, tangible products to include in the kits. Students pay roughly $100 per kit, and Duego explained that there has been a considerable amount of disappointment in regards to the items they receive in these packages. Businesses often provide pamphlets and business cards in these packages, which students feel is a waste of the money they have.

Enactus needs to consider the perceived value of these packages from the student perspective. A suggested promotional product for the frosh-‐kits could be a small item, such as a promotional pen, or even something more elaborate like a colourful drinking cup.

Recommendation 4: Partner with local organization, Greening Nipissing

Enactus has always believed in giving back to the community and sustaining a healthy environment. A partnership among non-‐profits can be quite beneficial since it can “inspire great ideas, share experiences, provide essential insights, increase capacity, create opportunities, reach new audiences, and provide a venue” (University of Bristol, 2013). By involving new partners, it can help reach new heights within the creative process, add value by sharing peer in-‐field work experience. Partners can also help with reaching a wider membership audience by adding more members that can benefit the overall


brand objectives. Partnerships can aid in increasing your target audience and explain overall objectives of a brand. Around the City of North Bay, there are some organizations that focus on the non-‐profit and environmentally friendly aspects of giving back to the community such as Greenspace North Bay and Greening Nipissing.

One partnership we emphasize in particular is to continue partnering through events with Greening Nipissing. In our

discussions with Vijanti Ramlogan Murphy, Greening Nipissing would be more than willing to create another opportunity to partner with Enactus for events in the future, the possibility being a second Eco-‐Film Festival.

The Eco-‐Film Festival was executed in order to help Greening Nipissing sponsor more bike-‐fix stations within the city of North Bay. For this event, Greening Nipissing and SIFE gained awareness through such mediums as Cogeco News, the North Bay Nugget, CKAT and EZ Rock. These organizations were great mediums for SIFE because they offered the program the opportunity to express and share their brand with the community of North Bay. Information about the partnership was distributed to the target audience of Greening Nipissing. Partnering with Greening once more would allow the Enactus brand to have the opportunity to reappear through familiar mediums, just as the predecessor brand had.

Since our overall objective is to generate awareness, this partnership offers Enactus the opportunity to grow its awareness with a credible organization such as Greening Nipissing. The Greening Nipissing organization “works to educate, promote and encourage environmentally-‐friendly practices for individuals, organizations and businesses in North Bay and area” (Greening Nipissing, 2012). Their credibility is gained through their outstanding contributions to the community and their promotions toward an eco-‐friendly environment. This organization has earned such awards as the Organizational Resilience Award in 2012. Adding to their credibility, Greening has also received the Dorothy Walford Memorial Award during the same year for their water conservation and educational programs. This award honours an individual or group who makes a valuable environmental contribution in the local watershed.

There is no doubt that the Greening brand is known for their contribution toward the local community. Murphy also discussed with us on how SIFE information was distributed to participants of Greening Nipissing events. The information was distributed through information tables at the events, allowing participants to be well aware and educated about the SIFE brand.

Recommendation 5: North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce Membership

The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce (NBDCC) is the recognized voice for businesses in the region. They have supported the cause of business for more than 100 years, and strive to enhance economic prosperity and quality of life in North Bay and surrounding area. The NBDCC has over 900 members, and offers programs, seminars and information vital to local organizations to its members. Members of the NBDCC also have access to monthly business and networking opportunities, and benefit from their referral service

Businesses and organizations that become members of the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce are open to a wide variety of benefits. Members have access to a current and up-‐to-‐date member directory and discounted rates for online advertising through NBDCC. More than 40,000 potential clients visit the chamber office each year, and the NBDCC

promotes its business referral system to all its potential clients. Members also use the networking and member-‐to-‐member discounts to promote their business. The NBDCC has been serving North Bay and area for over 115 years, and consumers associate chamber members as credible organizations and business.

The NBDCC organizes events and seminars throughout the year, but each month chamber members apply to host the Business After Hours social event. This event allows members to network and get acquainted with other business members in the chamber. It provides members with an informal but informative night of discussions and interactions.


The Enactus Nipissing program should consider becoming a member of this credible and resourceful organization. The influence and credibility that the NBDCC possesses in the community of North Bay would help to improve the credibility of the program. This affiliation would benefit the program on-‐campus at Nipissing University and in the community of North Bay. The NBDCC also provides its members with the opportunity to associate with each other through networking

opportunities. This possibility will allow Enactus to meet with other organization, which could become potential partners or sponsors.

Recommendation 6: Partnering with iLead program

iLead is considered a direct competitor to the Enactus program, but it is also a great potential partner. Partnering with this program will allow students, who are not already affiliated with the iLead program, to gain an understanding of the criteria of the iLead program and the objective of the program. The program is restricted to upper-‐year students in business, which allows them to add credits toward their degree through projects like direct studies, honours thesis, in-‐field projects, workplace internships and overseas studies. All of these factors help business students obtain learning that is More Than A Degree, which is the catch phrase for the Nipissing University School of Business.

Meeting with Natalya Brown has led us to express the possibility of an actually partnership between Enactus and the iLead program. Both are non-‐profit organizations that give students and young entrepreneurs the chance to build credible content toward their academic degrees. We recommend the partnership with the iLead program of the credibility the program possesses at Nipissing University. This recommendation also helps to meet the objective of increasing membership of business students to the Enactus program. Although it does not meet the objective of increasing overall membership by 50%, it does increase brand awareness and student involvement. Natalya Brown, a faculty member of the School of Business as well an iLead advisor, is enthusiastic about the idea of partnering with the Enactus organization.


Implementation Plan

Implementing a Mass E-‐mail Strategy

Thorough discussions with Gemma Victor, a senior Liaison Officer at Nipissing, we have now understood more information in regards to the mass e-‐mail campaigns launched from faculty, staff, and students and the matter that is it no longer permissible.

In order for the e-‐mail strategy to be permitted through Nipissing e-‐mail accounts, Enactus much approach each department director in order to target students. Due to the privacy issues of mass e-‐mail strategies, it is no longer permitted to send mass e-‐mails through Nipissing school accounts. Enactus must contact a department director to provide them with information regarding the Enactus program, projects and events.

Requests must be made to faculty directors to communicate with faculty members to inform their students about Enactus, which will eliminate the program facing the privacy issues of e-‐mail accounts. By going through the different targeted departments, Enactus will eliminate those consumers outside of their target and can focus satisfying their audience.

Implementation for the Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant

To apply for the Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, Enactus must develop a business plan for their potential projects. The information presented in the business plan will be used to complete various parts of the application, including financial statements, project goals, and impact to the community. The OTF application can be completed online or send via postal services with all the required documents. The required documents for the application include: financial statements, current operating budget and a list of the board of directors for the organization. The online application requires a digital copy of

the application and all required documents attached. The paper application requires four copies of the completed application form with four copies of all required attachments.

Implementing Enactus Promotional Products

Enactus can have their promotional products in the frosh-‐kits through a NUSU tender promotion. This promotion requires NUSU to send out a request to local businesses for a particular product that they wish to feature in the frosh kits. If a business is interested in providing such a product, they will provide NUSU with a quote, which will include the number of units, the design of the product and selling price for a given number of units. If NUSU agrees, they can purchase the product or weight the options from other businesses until they find an option that meets their desired objective. This venture would also be a great way to gain some revenue for the Enactus program. The risk here is that Enactus may not be able to win over other competitors who already have promotional products or are experienced in this type of advertising.

Implementation of Greening Nipissing Partnership

Greening Nipissing would like to address that they would be interested in partnering with Enactus for future events, especially another Eco-‐film Festival. Murphy expressed that: “It would be best to have the film festival relatively close to last year’s festival, for the purpose of curiosity for returning participants.” Therefore, it is suggested that Enactus contact Greening Nipissing early in the month of October 2013 in order to discuss the festivals content and marketing campaign. To go about this, contact must be started with Murphy or any general member of Greening to express matters of partnerships for events in the upcoming year. This is a great opportunity to share and promote the new brand Enactus with the local community of North Bay. If partnering for future events with Greening, it would be encouraged to continue setting up information tables that can potentially attract new members or create interest toward prospects.


Implementation of North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce Membership

For Enactus to become a member of the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce, an application must be completed. This application requires Enactus to provide contact information, a description of services, and reasons to why the NBDCC can help the Enactus organization. The application also specifies the membership fee requirement, and for non-‐profit

organization such as Enactus, the fee is $184.19 for 2013.

Implementing the iLead Partnership

This is another great opportunity to help build brand equity toward the Enactus initiative. Partnering with iLead is not complex, in the manner that a special project summary needs to be created in order for students to work, initiate studies and adapt to real work experience with the iLead program.

The summary should include an overall of the objectives of the potential projects; some examples include: developing work experience with a client, utilizing researching skills, or developing an in-‐depth understanding of specific management issues. These are just examples on how to create objectives for a special project.

How the project will be instructed is another element of the project summary. Seminars are the primary method of instruction, they provide students with the opportunity to discuss and develop ideas about a project. These seminars also allow students to express critical feedback about issues and challenges faced by team members. Scheduled seminars are recommended in order to track project milestones and maintain thorough consistency.

The most important part of the summary is considered the method of evaluation, which consists of three key parts: the project background assignment, the in-‐field participation, and the reflective paper. This paper requires each student to provide the supervisor with a detailed explanation of the individual experiences that were gained through the project. This summary will address the lessons learned, an in-‐depth theory analysis about tactics used for the project and the reasoning why. Each portion of the evaluation should each have weighted values, with the reflective paper being the most focused portion of the evaluation.


Finances Enactus Financial and Budget Projections

The following table provides details to the costs that accompany each recommendation provided for Enactus. Since the budget for Enactus varies each year, each recommendation contains various costs that will help aid in promoting awareness for the Enactus brand.

Budget Details Projected Returns

Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant n The application requires program financials n No online application fee n Postage cost of approximately $10 for paper

application submission n Program requests amount of funding from OTF

n Amount of grant awarded to Enactus will be based on requested funding and project details

n Potential to fund new projects and promotional efforts

Develop Enactus Promotional Products n Based on a quantity of 500 units

Example: Pens = $160.00 Cups = $415.00 Shipping = 50.80 Total Cost = $625.80

n Tangible promotional items n Products showcase Enactus logo n Potential revenue through the selling of

promotional items n Awareness in frosh kits

North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce Membership

n Annual application fee of $184.19

n Connection with chamber members n Membership benefits, which include advertising

benefits, networking, and community involvement

Mass E-‐mail Strategy n No fee

n Targeted selected audience n Word-‐of-‐mouth n Top-‐of-‐mind brand awareness

iLead Partnership n Project budget is based on project cost n Nipissing tuition fee/course

n Student participation n Brand awareness n Student attraction

Greening Nipissing Partnership n No membership fee

n Community recognition n Brand awareness


Metrics and Contingency Plans Mass E-‐mail Strategy

Once registered with Nipissing as a student in your first year of studies, each student is granted full access to a Nipissing e-‐mail account. This account is intended for study purposes, social information, and communication with Nipissing for general inquiries. University faculty and administrative staff also possess access to Nipissing e-‐mail accounts. Evaluating the success of the e-‐mail strategy will be based on the number of e-‐mails sent to students, faculty, and administrative staff who hold an official Nipissing e-‐mail account. Assuming the Nipissing employs a tracking system for e-‐mail and electronic information, the number of e-‐mail opened can be accessed to establish the amount of reach the e-‐mail strategy has.

If Enactus is unable to create an e-‐mail strategy, the organization loses the direct contact with the faculty. The program also loses the ability to generate awareness through their selected target markets, and the chance of taking full advantage of a cheap form of promotion and communication. Transferring to other mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are great ways to attract attention through social media. It allows students to react, view, and interpret information that is presented to them; as well it may lead to word-‐of-‐mouth, another low-‐cost marketing tool. The completion of an Enactus website will also contribute to having another medium target audiences.

Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant

If approved for the OTF grant, Enactus gains the funding required to implement future projects and promotional efforts. There is the possibility that the program is denied this grant, and Enactus should monitor their current budget since it varies from year to year. Continuing the program’s fundraising efforts is a promotional venture that the brand should

continue, with or without the approval of the OTF grant. Fundraising on-‐campus will help promote the brand and generate revenue as it has done in the past. Maintaining a connection and strong relationship with the Enactus alumni, such as Ilir Kuqi of Enterprise Holdings, will benefit the brand by receiving ongoing donations.

Enactus Promotional Products

If Enactus did not have their promotional products purchased from NUSU, the program also has the option to donate their products to NUSU for the frosh-‐kits. Duego said that if a company was willing to donate a particular product to these kits that they would be more than willing to accept this generosity, unless they have not requested that particular item. Although there is no opportunity to gain revenue from this venture, Enactus would be able to use these kits to target the first-‐year segment of their target market, generating awareness and intrigue about the brand.

Enactus can request from NUSU the number of frosh-‐kits sold to first-‐years students, which will provide the program with an assumed reach of their brand. From these purchases, Enactus can also monitor their social media account, like Facebook and Twitter, to see if there has been an increase in likes, follows, posts or tweets about the new brand.

Greening Nipissing Partnership

Enactus must be aware of the importance of the partnership and its potential to generate awareness, which will also contribute to brand performance. Fully activating the partnership can lead to an increase in brand awareness and promote goodwill for the brand. In order to activate this partnership, Enactus must consider partnering with Greening for more than one event throughout the year.

In order to measure the performance of the Greening and Enactus partnership, monitoring the reach of media in the community of North Bay. This will provide insight for the Enactus program as to how far their brand has expanded in the


community. Recording the number of ticket sales for partnered events will also provide information about the reach and awareness of the brand.

If Greening Nipissing does not want to collaborate as a partner, it would be practical to look for another partner who has strong ties with the community. A potential partner could be Greenspace North Bay because of their credibility in

contributing to the community of North Bay. Greenspace focuses on “local planning as it relates to the green areas, natural values and attributes of the city” (Green Space, 2012). Although Enactus would miss the opportunity to access radio, television, and print ads for building awareness through the Greening partnership, the program would still be able to access community events in North Bay.

North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce Membership

If Enactus is not accepted as a chamber member, the program will lose the potential for advertising in a recognized community organization, along with the other benefits of being a chamber member. Advertising in the community is an effective means for gaining brand awareness, and without the Chamber of Commerce membership, Enactus will no longer have access to the various community events.

iLead Partnership

The success of the partnership between Enactus and iLead will depend on factors such as the number of students registered and those who are wait-‐listed. If the partnership leads to the interest of students, the success of the partnership can be measured by how many students have registered to the program. If student registration is becoming close to maximum capacity, the wait-‐list is another way to measure the program’s popularity. The demand for the iLead program is contributed to the face that students are showing the initiative to be more involved with a program, which can benefit their overall work experience and ultimately their resume.

If Enactus were not approved as a Special Project through the iLead program, students would not be able to receive credits toward their degree or the valuable work experience. This partnership offers students a valuable asset to their personal growth and understanding of business concepts.

Since iLead is currently affiliated with the School of Business, Enactus will not gain the awareness it seeks through this partnership. The Enactus program will not be able to gain their credibility through iLead but will also miss the chance for promoting their brand through the School of Business. Enactus could potentially turn to the Nipissing University Business Committee (NUBC) as a potential partner, which would allow students to participate in event planning as well as gain additional knowledge from the team-‐based atmosphere. Although NUBC does not have the prestige like iLead, they are still an influential, student-‐organized group that will provide credibility to the Enactus program on-‐campus.


APPENDIX


References Big Brother Big Sisters of North Bay, 2011. “Become a Sponsor”

http://www.bigbrothersbigsistersnorthbay.org/en/Home/howtosupportus/corporatesupport/becomeasponsor.aspx

DK New Media, 2013. “4 Elements of a Successful E-‐mail Marketing Strategy”

http://www.delivra.com/blog/delivra-‐guest-‐bloggers/4-‐elements-‐of-‐a-‐successful-‐email-‐marketing-‐strategy Green Space North Bay, 2012. “About Us” http://www.itfitz.ca/greengals/about.htm Greening Nipissing, 2013. “Awards” http://www.greeningnipissing.org/awards/ iLead, 2012. “Why take iLead courses?” http://www.nipissingu.ca/academics/faculties/applied-‐professional/school-‐of-‐

business/more-‐than-‐a-‐degree/iLEAD/Pages/What-‐is-‐iLEAD.aspx North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce, 2012. “Membership Benefits”, “Membership Fees”, and “ Mission and Vision”

http://northbaychamber.com/ Ontario Trillium Foundation, 2013. “How to Apply for a Grant”

http://www.otf.ca/en/applyForaGrant/how_to_apply.asp?_mid_=21795 Pittaway, L., Rodriguez-‐Falcon, E., Aiyegbayo, O., and King, A., 2010.“The role of entrepreneurship clubs and societies in

entrepreneurial Learning” Promotional Product Professionals of Canada, 2011. “Backgrounder”

http://www.brandalliance.com/documents/Effectiveness.pdf

University of Bristol, 2013. “Working in Partnerships with others”

http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/how/guides/working-‐partnership


Enactus Strategic Overview Table

Objectives Strategies Plans/Tactics Metrics

1. Increase membership by 50% in 2013-‐2014

-‐ Increase awareness -‐ Increase social media presence

-‐ Promotional products -‐ Nipissing Open House -‐ Club Daze

-‐ Monitor social media trends and metrics -‐ Registered members

2. Target 8% of environmental studies students at Nipissing

-‐ Direct e-‐mail

-‐ Meet with department Directors of new targeted study fields -‐ Promotional products

-‐ Tracking of e-‐mails: number of e-‐mails sent, number of e-‐mails opened

3.Promote credibility of Enactus program

-‐ Nominate for awards

-‐ Become a member of NBDCC

-‐ Awards received -‐ Number of nominations

4. Inform faculty, administrative staff, and students about the program

-‐ Direct e-‐mail -‐ E-‐mails sent through departments -‐ Bulletin boards -‐ Promotional products

-‐ Number of bulletin boards around campus -‐ Number of frosh kits sold -‐ Registered members

5. Increase program funding

-‐ Fundraising efforts -‐ Applying to grants

-‐ Grant applications -‐ Sell past promotional products such as POOKS, Water Bobbles

-‐ Grant funding received -‐ Number of POOKS or Water Bobbles sold


Internal Analysis of the Enactus Program Strengths

− Emphasis on the business student element: The program encompasses the entrepreneurial and leadership characteristics that students wish to master. Not only does it enrich the experience for these students, but also their understanding of the quality of a business will provide them with the knowledge needed to compete in the business-‐world, after the completion of their studies.

− Past achievement and success: In the program’s first year, they were awarded the National Rookie Championship, which put the Nipissing University Enactus group on the map and gave the students a tremendous amount of confidence for their future projects.

− Social media presence: the program has maintained a great social media graph in order to inform and engage students of Nipissing University and residents of the City of North Bay. They operate on various social media platforms, like: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Weaknesses

− Program Webpage: Although the Nipissing University Enactus brand has made a prominent position in the social media world, the group does not currently possess a webpage strictly for the group and their project efforts.

− Small membership: As previously discussed, the program has increased its membership since last year, but wants to engage and retain more student involvement, from students in various disciplines and years of study.

− Brand awareness: A major concern for the Enactus brand is its ability to generate awareness for its efforts in rebranding from the old SIFE brand.

− No financial backing: The program relies entirely on fundraising efforts and donations, so there is a significant strain on their available budget.

Opportunities

− Joint venture: The iLead program offered at Nipissing University is considered a direct competitor to the Enactus brand and their initiatives. The brand is currently in the works of discussing collaboration between the two parties, in conjunction with university, to enable students to complete the iLead program through an Enactus initiative.


− Enactus alumni students: To further the success of the brand, the program may consider contacting past students for their involvement or donation to future projects.

− Orientation efforts: The Enactus brand can also develop an initiative, perhaps in the form of an informational pamphlet, that can be distributed to prospective students during open houses on campus. This would provide awareness and can generate interest for those students considering Nipissing University as their post-‐secondary institution.

Threats

− Attrition of students: As is the case with most initiatives offered through an institution, students eventually graduate, find jobs, move, or leave the university. It is important that the Enactus program continue to recruit students to fill these empty positions.

− iLead program: This program is considered a direct competitor to the Enactus brand. iLead offers students the ability to gain credits for various business-‐related course offerings, while engaging the students in an educational and international experience.

− New club formations: Each year, both schools (Nipissing University and Canadore College) host Club Daze where students can enlist their services to various clubs, who operate on campus as well as in the community. With the increase of new students and the continued success of Club Daze, students have the ability to create their own clubs, which can pose a threat to the recruitment problems of the Enactus brand.


Enactus Adapted Life Cycle (Adapted from: The 5 Life Stages of Nonprofits, Judith Sharken Simon, 2002)

Invention

(Grass Roots) Incubation (Start-up)

Adolescent (Growing)

Sustainability (Mature)

Stagnation (Renewal)

Shut-Down (Decline)

Program -Informal organization -Perceived need for a program

-Mix of diverse and non-integrated activities -Strong commitment to delivering services

-Program begins to establish themselves in the market -Become credible and consistent in delivering services

-Core projects are established -Recognition in the community -New projects added

-Program loses sight of market -Hard to reach goals -Inconsistent program quality

-Loss of credibility -Failed client relationships -Decline in program quality

Management -Entrepreneurial and visionary leader

-Vision drives the organization

-Helps foster staff ideas

-Oversee projects -Founder likely to leave

-Mentor inaccessible and unable to meet deadlines

Staffing -All volunteer driven -No paid staff

-Small enthusiastic staff -Cooperation among staff

-Staff size increases -Membership based on mission and benefits

-Larger and diverse staff -Incorporate other student disciplines into projects

-Low staff morale -High staff turnover -Focus on individual goals rather than organizational goals

-Low number of volunteers -Conflict among staff -Key staff leave

Operations -No real ‘home office’

-Operations are flexible -Informal management -Few operational routines or systems in place

-Operational systems developed -Home office decided -Internal communication is developed

-Formal planning of program operations -Policies and procedures set in place -Formal communications

-Poor project planning occurs -Problems with operation systems not addressed

-Crisis occurs in program -Cannot provide accurate picture of financial situation

Finances and Fundraising

-Self-funded -Focus on gathering resources -Limited financial resources -Small budget -Overly dependent on few funding sources

-Establish relationship with funding sources -Cost considerations are important -Revenue options considered

-Reliable and diverse funding streams -Significant cash reserves -Expansion of program -Revenue generation

-Insufficient cash reserves -Falling behind financial obligations -No new funding sources

-Funding sources withdraw -Unable to meet financial obligations

Marketing -Minimal on-campus awareness -Little to no community awareness

-Word of mouth referrals and marketing -No formal public relations

-Word of mouth still primary tool -First official promotional material

-Professional image and promotional material developed -Marketing plan developed

-No real proactive marketing -Spending less on marketing

-Rumors in the community -Bad press -No marketing or preventative measures


Enactus Buyer Behaviour Table – Nipissing University Students Who? Business Students

(300+) Environmental

Students (300+)

First Year Students (1,300)

Upper Year Students (3,500)

What? -‐Work experience -‐Career expectations -‐Self-‐funded -‐Volunteer experience

-‐Work experience for student minoring in business

-‐Social atmosphere -‐Relationship building

-‐Knowledge and experience -‐Mature student

Where? -‐On-‐campus -‐City of North Bay -‐Social media outlets

-‐Nipissing University -‐City of North Bay

-‐On-‐Campus -‐Residences -‐Frosh-‐Kits

-‐On-‐campus -‐City of North Bay

When? -‐Between classes -‐Weekends (not throughout exam period)

-‐Field testing -‐Between classes -‐Weekends

-‐Preferably not during school hours -‐Weekends

-‐Avoid confliction with other assignments -‐Avoid academic interference

Why? -‐Associate with fellow peers -‐Networking possibilities -‐Idea of “doing good”

-‐Credible experience -‐Volunteer -‐Peer influence

-‐Good-‐cause -‐Promote leadership

How? -‐Volunteer groups -‐Influence from business faculty -‐Fellow peers

-‐Peer recommended -‐Friends -‐Teachers -‐Parents

-‐Professors -‐Alumni -‐Industry experts

Enactus Buyer Behaviour Table – Other Consumers Who? High School Students

(2000+) Local Non-‐Profits Corporate Sponsors

What? -‐Prep for university -‐Prospectus -‐Relationship Building

-‐Awareness and improved image -‐Relationship building

-‐Cause sponsorship -‐Company awareness

Where? -‐Nipissing University Open House and info seminars in high schools -‐Social events

-‐Around the North Bay community

-‐In the community of North Bay

When? -‐After school hours -‐Weekends -‐Final year of secondary education

-‐Events -‐Fundraisers

-‐Avoid holidays -‐Avoid other company events

Why? -‐To see if business stream is right for him/her -‐Mandatory Volunteer hours

-‐Generate awareness for a cause

-‐Build brand equity -‐Positive company image

How? -‐Parental influence -‐Teachers -‐Friends

-‐Financial benefits from donors -‐Provide funding -‐Provide company resources

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