Strategic Communication Plan

Obz Design
Matthew Harper Annmarie Condit
Dr. Antoinette Larkin Assignment #5 13 March 2014

Situational Analysis Obz Designs primary sources of revenue are donations, government grants and corporate sponsorships; however there is a largely untapped market of socially conscious individuals who would likely donate to Obz in small amounts but at a large, consistent volume. Potential donors will perceive Obz as a charitable humanitarian organization that directly impacts health infrastructure in impoverished communities while partnering with AMOS. Obz needs to have a substantial online presence that is kept up-to-date. A website will act as the central means of communication between potential donors, volunteers and Obz. The website should feature a blog that is kept current with interesting stories, interesting articles relating to Obz and articles that the primary audience would find informational or important; these include articles on environmental sustainability, AMOS, the importance of digital data in public health and information about the communities that Obz and AMOS serve. We plan on creating a print campaign that will raise money from individual donors for iPads that Obz can donate to AMOS for use by the 27 Nicaraguan communities as a means of proactive healthcare. Our initiative will be based around the principal idea that Technology Today leads to a Healthier Tomorrow. This campaign will involve the use of a donor brochure which will explain Obzs mission, introduce the potential donor to the problems with healthcare data collection as it is and provide them with the ability to connect and donate to the organization online through the use of a QR code on the brochure, any cellphone will send the user directly to the mobile version of the Obz website. Point-of-contact materials will increase public awareness of Obz and will subsequently increase donations. We suggest the creation of two brochures, one that focuses on donations toward the initiative to raise money for Obz, and another that will target possible volunteers who can help Obz in its future promotions, communications and continuous web presence. In order to create a strong and reputable public image we will create a branding document that contains instructions for how to create marketable advertising materials that look alike and that the audience will associate with Obz Design. We will also provide a template solicitation letter and a template thank-you letter that can be sent to any donors, sponsors or volunteers. SWOT Analysis Obzs strengths include the highly skilled staff that is knowledgeable in both the medical and engineering fields. They also have clear objectives and a concise strategic plan to operationalize these strategies. They have a comprehensive international communication network, which works in their advantage.

Obzs weaknesses are primarily its lack of funding and corporate sponsorship. Obz also lacks a formidable web presence. Without a more comprehensive and website with more user-friendly content, Obz could lose a large audience of potential donors. Obz has an opportunity to build a broader fundraising base through the creation of online and promotional materials that will engage potential donors. One way for Obz to optimize its presence and increase donations is a broader website. Obz also has the opportunity to reach a larger audience through branded brochures that can be distributed in geographic areas with large concentrations of socially conscious individuals and groups, such as a college campus. Website content that could drive potential donors to donate includes narratives of the individuals that Obz and AMOS help, information about Nicaragua and poverty and information about the importance of digital medical databases. The biggest threat to Obz is a lack of funding. Funding from grants is not guaranteed which is why it is important to enact an individual donor-driven campaign for new sources of income. Primary Audience Analysis The primary audience for Obz Designs donation/ volunteer campaign is socially conscious individuals who have values that are concurrent with the organizational values of Obz. These individuals are age 18 and above, tend to have attended college, tend to be active in an organization within their community (church, civic club, Greek organization, etc.), and they will most likely have given to a non-profit in the past (but not necessarily to Obz). Our audience is concerned with improving the world around them but they may not necessarily want to be primarily active in their outreach. The audience can be expected to feel apprehensive about giving to a non-profit if they have never participated with them before; they will need to be convinced of Obzs ethics as well as the organizational allocation of any given resources. Our audience wants to feel the satisfaction of helping to better the world without having to worry about where their money will go. This particular audience is important to Obzs goals because these are the donors that will be most easily persuaded to donate in small sums but in a large volume. This audience is also the widest possible audience to effectively and cost-efficiently reach with limited resources. We want both monetary donations as well as other resource investment (time, energy, etc.) from our audience. They can help either by donating money directly to Obz or they can provide their time and expertise to help develop the organization further through volunteer work.

Our audience receives most of its information via Internet resources, such as websites, blogs and social media. This audience can also be reached through pointof-contact marketing such as distributing brochures and business cards. Ultimately this audience will donate and participate with Obz in an online context. Due to our audiences techno-centric participatory patterns and habits, it is important to establish a permanent comprehensive online resource that will provide an individual with enough information to persuade potential donors to donate or otherwise participate with Obz. A strong web presence is imperative to the success to any organization but especially non-profits. To create an interactive experience between the audience and marketing materials, we suggest the presence of a well-branded QR code on any print media that will directly connect the individual to a central online resource, which can then be navigated to find specific information. Church members or people of any religious affiliation are very likely donors to our campaign, thus individuals within religious hierarchal and dominant positions will have a large influence over much of our audience. It should be noted that these religious leaders hold much influence and should be considered when providing community outreach and looking for possible partnerships and donors. Most of our target audience will have had at least some college education and will then have community and personal ties with universities and their affiliate organizations. Institutions such as UC should be considered as important markets for Obzs campaigns because of the large concentration of potential donors.

Tailored Messages
Persuasive Messages To encourage participation with Obz, we want to impress upon our audience that our cause is worth supporting. We want them to see that Obzs goals and beliefs are in alignment with their own. We also want to show them that Obz is trustworthy and is really doing what it says it is. Our message will be something like this: The technology you use every day could actually save someones life in Nicaragua. Were a group of engineers working to bring electronic medical records to small communities in Nicaragua via iPads. Were just getting started, but were really excited to help healthcare providers change peoples lives for the better. If youre interested in helping us monetarily, or volunteering for us, we need you and wed love to hear from you, so contact us today! The Human Face of Obz Design The Obz Design team has just returned from a week in Nicaragua, beginning our partnership with AMOS Health and Hope. It was an amazing week spending time

with another group of people who share our passion of working in healthcare and finding community based solutions. We had the opportunity to meet with AMOS staff at their main office in Nicaragua to discuss the current opportunities for Obz to get involved with the organization. We gained a greater understanding of how AMOS works. The organization is based around community participation. AMOS operates in 25 rural communities around the country of Nicaragua. In each community, there is a health promoter who receives basic medical training from AMOS and keeps tabs on community health and activities. These promoters are committed to the health of their communities and have had a significant impact on rural health. We were lucky enough to visit one promoter, Timotea, and her community, San Onofre. The health promoters collect a large amount of information to track their communitys health, such as pregnancies and births, illness, death rates, and nutrition status; AMOS ultimately uses this information to guide their future actions as an organization and provide necessary community education. At this point, all of the information is collected on paper forms and transcribed multiple times before it can be processed and utilized to impact change. This is where we hope to get involved in shortening the amount of time the process takes and allowing the organization to spend less time on data collection and more time using the data to make an impact. Overall, it was a great trip! We got to meet a wonderful group of like-minded people and even got to spend some time exploring volcanoes! We are looking forward to where this project will take us! The Story of Obz Before becoming a nurse, Paige helped run a mobile pediatric screening clinic in the townships surrounding Cape Town, South Africa. Witnessing the effects of failed aid efforts made the need for appropriate and relevant healthcare technology in the developing world very clear. In South Africa, James worked with a small design firm to develop an infant apnea monitor, ApneAlert, meant for use in rural, technologylimited environments. The monitor detects breathing and sounds an audible alert for caregivers to indicate any apneic episodes. In Rwanda, James led efforts to implement local, environmentally friendly cooking fuel production, through the use of biomass briquettes. Working with the Cincinnati professional chapter of Engineers Without Borders, James evaluated the feasibility of supporting local Rwandan residents in establishing briquette production businesses, serving their communities while generating income. What these anecdotes say: The first anecdote is likely to generate a feeling of enthusiasm for Obzs work. Its proof that Obz is what it claims to be, and puts a human face on the communities Obz is serving. Its going to build confidence in Obz as a reliable nonprofit thats going to generate results. The second anecdote is meant to generate confidence and ethos in regards to Obzs staff. These stories from their travels show that they have real-world experience with these sorts of global problems and are well informed

about them. They show Obzs staff to be personable, hard workers who are passionate about social change and caring about people. There are no privacy concerns about these anecdotes since they are already posted publicly on Obzs website. Evaluation of Strategic Options Our strategic options for communication are print (mailings, posters, flyers), phone calls, in-person meetings, or Internet (Email, social media, website, videos). Having analyzed our audiences lifestyle and habits, we know that our audience receives most of its information via Internet resources, such as websites, blogs and social media. This audience can also be reached through point-of-contact marketing such as distributing brochures and business cards. Ultimately this audience will donate and participate with Obz in an online environment. Our best bet will be to use print and Internet communication. Evaluate Existing Vehicles & Strategies Since Obz is just getting started, there arent any existing communication channels with the target audience. Evaluating New Strategies & Vehicles The updated website and new brochures provide a basis for beginning communication with the target audience. We further recommend that Obz keeps the website, as well as the social media accounts, active and up-to-date. Blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates will enable the target audience to get to know Obz, trust Obz, and finally begin interacting with Obz on a monetary or volunteer basis.