The ICRC is a very big brand name around the world and is well known for its humanitarian face. It is an obvious fact that they are rely greatly on donations to keep their act going as it not easy for them to sustain themselves for long. They are a nonprofit organization and not have to generate profits but then they also need to have a steady flow of income so that they can run their organization. The biggest difference between the nonprofit organizations and profit organizations is the fact that the nonprofit organizations market themselves for social change and not to make any profits. They want to make the biggest impact on people as possible so that they can get their message across and reach their targets.

The ICRC has also utilized cause marketing strategies by linking up with profit organizations such as the Home Depot, Clorox etc. Both the ICRC and the profit organizations tend to gain from this as it helps promote the ICRC, allow it to gain donations in the form of a percentage of the profits and allows the profit organization to make a huge profit. They are both winners over here as the ICRC can use the massive financial resources of its bigger profit organization partner by tapping its customer base. They are also able to improve their customer relations, gain positive PR and open up more marketing possibilities.

One of the biggest differences between the ICRC and other organizations is the fact that they have different visual identities in different parts of the world. The Red Cross emblem is used in most of the world while the Red Crescent brand is used in the Islamic countries of the world. This is how they are able to establish themselves in some places around the world. This is something a profit making organization does not do as they invest in only one brand name and image to be used throughout the world even if it is localized to fit its geostrategic needs. However people in Islamic Nations will only be familiar with the Red Crescent and not the Red Cross as the Crescent is more representative of their own culture. The other difference between the marketing methods of ICRC and profit making organizations is the fact that consumers can trust the brand name of the ICRC more than they can trust the profit making companies. The way they market themselves ensures a higher level of brand loyalty for the ICRC.

The aim of the profit organization is to generate sales and profits for the company while nonprofit organizations such as the ICRC want to look at making money but then it does not benefit them as it is helped to serve society. Profit organizations have plenty of money to spare for their marketing budget while nonprofit organizations do not have enough money to sustain themselves and have a really limited marketing budget. The ICRC is more likely to spread its marketing costs on society and a fixed environment. They are also scrutinized a great deal by their local watchdogs so that is why every penny is spent very carefully.

Nonprofit organizations do not follow the profit making model as they are more concerned with serving society. The ICRC does not make any profits but then they do charge their clients a token amount of money so that they get some value for their service and so they can use it for something else. The ICRC will be most likely to talk about the benefits it can provide the community via the work they are doing. The same would not apply for a profit making organization as they are only selling benefits to the consumers. The ICRC does not operate with a profit making business model. They do not market directly to their customers as they are the people they are supposed to serve. They are supposed to provide them a service and in the case of the ICRC they don’t charge anything, not even a token fee. This is one reason why they are unable to recoup their marketing costs. This is in contrast with the profit making companies who depend on marketing to create sales which boost its revenues.

The ICRC needs to get an infusion of money via its donors which can be anything from private donors and corporate donors, sponsorship deals with big corporate companies (this can also be a cause marketing deal), as well as grants from various trusts, tax concessions. The ICRC knows that it can’t survive without funding and that is one reason why they have to resort to marketing to develop their donor relationship. If they fail to market themselves they will be unable to get any donations. This is one reason why they have to resort to a dual marketing strategy where they can advertise their services to the community as well as adopting a marketing strategy which targets their donors. There has to be a fine line drawn between the two as they coexist for each other. There is also no interference in organization decision making as there is no room for making profits or to reach targets. (Weisbrod 1999).

The other difference between the ICRC and other profit organizations is the fact that the ICRC constantly needs funding as there are no profits so they have to keep finding ways of staying afloat. Profit making organizations need investment but then it does not require continued funding as they will eventually make a profit when they get customers.

The ICRC also does not make any products as they are only for causes. Profit making organizations are able to provide products and services to their customers.

There are some similarities between the ICRC and the profit making organization as they have the same sort of marketing mix but with slight differences in the way it is done. Both entities have a plan which values its mission, services offered, target audience, location and funding. They also have a strategy for their brand, their own brand image, advertising and PR budget, website and marketing on the internet,

direct marketing strategy, leaflets, guerilla marketing as well as developing proposals for funding (contracts for the corporations).

The ICRC does not spend so much on brand image not because it is a well known brand name but the fact that spending too much can be a wasteful expense.

The ICRC has to be subjected to public scrutiny if they are taking any public funds because it is believed that they are doing it for the general welfare of people. This is one reason why they are unable to take risks while marketing. This is one reason why they have to maintain good PR and gain political support. It is quite different for Profit making companies as they are able to take measures and market at their own free will but then they are questioned by their shareholders if it fails to achieve any results.

Q3. Communication Tools

The ICRC has implemented a communication strategy which is effective and can convey it’s messages in the right manner. A proper communication strategy will ensure the fact that the target audience will be able to understand their messages. They are also able to spread the word of their mission and get people to support their activities. They have used a number of ways to get their message across. It is important for them to reach out to their audiences which are based all over the world.

The ICRC has to use the traditional communication tools such as advertising, promotion, PR work, Direct Marketing, as well as Personal selling to get their point across. They may not be able to use these tools to the right effect as there may be a few flaws in the way they are used.

The ICRC has achieved a lot over the years thanks to the rise of the social Media and the internet. They have been getting a lot of coverage in the media especially on the world wide web. Print and online media monitors say that the ICRC was mentioned around more than 19,870 times in 2009. The ICRC has also received a huge number of visitors on their website.

The ICRC has initiated a number of successful campaigns in the print media as well as TV in order to promote their campaigns. Some of these campaigns were the ones dedicated to helping the Haiti earthquake victims, aid for the Gaza Blockade as well as for the victims in Darfur, Sudan. They have also contributed a number of news items to the media and brought attention to certain causes. One of the most popular strategies was the campaign for the earthquake victims in Haiti which prompted a lot of people to donate money. The TV and print media are still one of the most popular ways to raise awareness amongst people as a large number of people watch TV and newspapers are also an important way for people to stay in touch with the world. This is quite an expensive option as the cost of ads in the newspapers and TV cost quite a lot. That can be offset by the fact that even though it is expensive a lot of people are able to view these ads and the conversion rate is quite good. There is another alternate way

of getting the message across and that is to utilize the power of banner ads on websites. This is an alternately cheaper way of getting the message across as they can utilize either the pay per click method or the pay per impression. It is easy to say that both ways are effective as they get the message across to the target audience. I would suggest that the ICRC should stick to the internet more as people are getting more wired day by day. It is not a bad idea to advertise on TV but then TV is a medium where prime time ad slots cost a lot. Ads are easier as they remain there until someone clicks on it or until the page is refreshed. There is no point in taking out ads via billboards or through magazines as the message needs to be fresh and updated. There is no point in keeping up a billboard as the effect is to get the most information out in the short term.

In effect there is no way to call this a sales campaign purely due to the fact that the ICRC makes all its revenues through donations. The ICRC came up with a great way of raising funds for charity by teaming up with the UEFA to launch an online fund raising campaign with a unique twist. It allowed users to donate money in return for virtual goals for their respective countries in the Euro 2008. The nation which got the most goals was the one which won the award for the most humanitarian team of the Euro Cup. This was a very unique way of getting people to make donations as well as allowing them to have fun at the same time. That can be classified as an educational way of allowing people to be aware about certain causes as well as the fact that it allowed them an easy and fun way to donate money. Online donations are a great way of gaining money but it seems that they have not repeated this experiment again except for the UEFA giving the ICRC a link on its website to promote its cause. There is the need for the ICRC to come up and ink deals with other big events or promoters to market their cause. they had a good enough response with this and it’s time they came up with more corporate sponsors who would use their cause marketing strategy to allow more donations to be made online.

The ICRC has used their website as a great way of updating their public and letting them know what they are all about. Their website is accessible throughout the world and that is one reason why it is available in many languages. They receive millions of page views every year due to all their content. Their website is full of content and contains plenty of press releases and other news which makes it easy for the public to be updated. It also contains must of their videos and other material which the public can view over and over again. This is the fastest way of sending out press releases as it is cheaper and does not require great investment. It is a good idea to work on the website to get the message across but then they should also think about tapping the social media and use tools such as Facebook and Youtube to get people involved. These tools are integrated with each other and make it easier for people to share the word. Social media has made it easier for people to spread awareness or spread any news bytes easily due to the relative ease of use. People do visit websites but only if they know about it. It is easier to just establish a social media presence as somehow or the other the word will spread faster.

There will be a faster conversion rate than the normal traditional manner. The social media is the most important factor in this case as it will make it easier for them to reach out to new audiences. The social media craze has just taken off and it wont subside for quite a long time.

One of the other ways they go around and spreading their message is to utilize direct marketing methods which are the old fashioned way of sending emails, leaflets, catalogs to their customers on their mailing lists. There are still plenty of people out there who receive all the related information via these means. Direct marketing is a great way of reaching out to those people who are not tech savy and prefer to use the old fashioned ways of being updated about what is happening. This tends to be a bit of a problem since direct marketing costs a lot of money and the conversion rate is not so high. It also leads to a lot of wastage and is not good for the environment.

Conclusion:

The ICRC has tried a bit of everything as it does not to alienate its targeted audience. However the time has come for them to retire some of these communication methods mainly because they will lead to lesser donations and will prove to be more expensive. It has been proven that they are able to do more with the methods which are more cost effective and can lead to a constant influx of donations.

References

1. New web portal calls on public to address serious humanitarian challenge (2009)http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/movement-news-080409 (Accessed on the 21st of July 2010)

2. Andreasen, A. R., and Kotler, P. (2003), “Strategic Marketing for Non-profit Organizations (6th ed.)”, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

3. Akchin, D. (2001), “Non-profit Marketing: Just How Far Has It Come?” Non-profit World, Jan/Feb, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 33 – 35.

4. ICRC (2009) ICRC Annual Report http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/worldmap-field-ops-icrc-annual-report-2009?opendocument (Accessed on the 21st of July 2010)

5. Laidler-Kylander, N. and Simonin, B. (2009), “How international non-profits build brand equity”, International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 57-69