Final Report Mnpo[1]

125
LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS ALHAMRA ARTS COUNCIL MARKETING FOR NPO MOHSIN ABBAS MEHREEN RIZWAN MAHWISH ZAHRA MARIAM TARIQ SAAD ZAHID

Transcript of Final Report Mnpo[1]

Page 1: Final Report Mnpo[1]

LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

ALHAMRA ARTS COUNCILMARKETING FOR NPO

MOHSIN ABBASMEHREEN RIZWANMAHWISH ZAHRAMARIAM TARIQ

SAAD ZAHID

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Alhamra Arts Council is the only place where Lahori Art can emerge and get discovered.

Alhamra arts council is a non-profit organization and is striving for the betterment of Pakistani

arts in all possible ways. It’s a semi-privatized organization and relies 60% on government funds.

In this report, we have suggested a series of marketing techniques for Alhamra and tried to

position it and see where it stands in the market. Questions that we have answered are of the

type: What do people think about Alhamra, is it doing its job perfectly? Moreover, we did the

SWOT analysis and also conducted market research to view Alhamra’s current performance and

have redesigned a whole new marketing strategy for it. According to us, Alhamra should be

completely privatized by now and should rely on its own resources to sustain itself. It is high

time that Alhamra explores new art dimensions and expands all over Pakistan. It should open

new branches and improve the same old techniques of arts. Double shifts should be made for

teaching music, drama etc and more rooms should be constructed. It should start advertising

itself and engrave themselves in people’s minds. There should also be a contingency plan incase

competitors enter the market.

We have suggested all the possible ways that Alhamra can change themselves according to the

dynamic conditions of the country. Alhamra has always been this way since its inception and it is

high time that it changes for the better now.

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INTRODUCTION OF ALHAMRA

Alhamra was built in 1979 by Nayyar Ali Dada. It is a semi government organization, with 60%

being owned by the Government and 40% by the private sector. Its board of directors consists of

18 members, of which 6 are official members while the rest are all famous actors, musicians,

writers and artists.

Alhamra has many crucial functions. Some of which include: To promote Music, Drama and

Fine Arts, to promote and preserve the art traditions and give opportunity to artists from all

genres and showcase their creativity, to develop and maintain facilities for all forms of arts and

to provide professional technical/audio-visual aids, to establish an academy/school of performing

arts, to institute and award scholarships, diplomas, grants, loan, aid or other assistance for

furtherance of arts, to conduct cultural fairs, festivals and other related activities in art & crafts

within Pakistan or abroad, to document the performers and their performances, to establish

museums of musical instruments, folk-heritage, archives, gallery/museum of contemporary art,

library including audio-visual library, to publish books, periodicals, brochure etc. conducive to

the attainment of aims and objectives of Lahore Arts Council .

The best part of Alhamra is that everything is done for free. Unlike private galleries, No

commission or rental fees are charged for exhibitions. The eligibility criterion for these

exhibitions is also very stringent and a panel of judges sits and decides whether a particular

exhibition can be showcased or not. The concerts, plays and shows are normally also free.

However Alhamra no longer creates its own plays. There are performances by outsiders and

almost 6-7 original, well scripted and well performed plays are allowed to be showcased. The

regular stage dramas attract almost 1000 people a day. The entrance to these is free and although

they are of low quality, they are not vulgar.

Alhamra's funds are generated mostly by the government, and also private plays, concerts and

shows which have tickets. Some minimal funds are also generated by the classes that Alhamra

offers at a rate of Rs. 300 per month.

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The Executive Director is In charge of the entire Alhamra Arts Council and gives approval of all

programs and exhibitions held at the premises. All matters pertaining to finance, security,

programming, legal and administrative matters are in his realm. He is also the Secretary of the

Board of Governors. All personnel and Departments of Alhamra comply/report to the Executive

Director.

The Alhamra Arts Council comprises of two complexes that are approximately 8 km apart. One

is on the Mall Road or Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam and the other known as the Alhamra Cultural

Complex is situated at the complex of stadiums at the Gaddafi Stadium.

The Alhamra Arts Council has the following departments:

1 Fine Arts Department

2 Programs Department

3 Administration Department

4 Audit & Accounts Department

5 Library

1. FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT

This Department has two galleries one in each campus of Alhamra. The gallery in the Alhamra

Cultural Complex Gaddafi Stadium is known as the Permanent Art Gallery and houses the

collection of paintings, prints, sculptures and ceramics owned by the Lahore Arts Council. A full

time curator looks after the collection and other affairs pertaining to the Permanent Art Gallery.

The other gallery is known as the Alhamra Art Gallery and is part of the Mall Complex. It is a

gallery that hosts short term exhibitions; these are on the national and international levels. A

person, group or organization can apply to have exhibitions of their art work by writing an

application and providing his/her CVs and a CD of their work, it is preferred to see some of the

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work in original. Provided that the work is to a standard, dates for exhibition are given with

mutual consent of the artist and gallery. The space and services provided by the Alhamra Art

Gallery are free of charge (for art based exhibitions only) and no commission is charged on sales.

The gallery is headed by a curator who deals with all the bookings/reservations of the gallery.

2. PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT

The sphere of activities of the Alhamra Arts Council is vast and varied. The halls and theatres are

occupied all year round and the people of Lahore enjoy a plethora of informative and

entertaining programs that range from music, theatre, festivals, literary (book launchings, poetry

reading, seminars, lectures & discussions), school programs and government organized

programs. This department is headed by a Deputy Director who oversees all activities of the

auditoriums. To apply it is required that an application be written giving details of the program

plus duration along with script, cast etc.

3. ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

The Administrative Department is headed by a Deputy Director with an Assistant Director to

look after all kind of paper work, legal issues, and everyday running of the Arts Council.

Security and upkeep of the Alhamra comes under the sphere of the Administrative Department.

4. AUDIT & ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT

This Department handles all finances of the council, income expenditure etc. The Audit &

Accounts Officer also oversees the annual audit of the Arts Council. Payments are made with the

sanction and approval of the Executive Director.

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5. LIBRARY

The Alhamra Arts Council has a library equipped with books on art, music, theatre and much

more. All leading newspapers cuttings pertaining to art & culture can be seen and read there.

This is not a lending library but is there for reference. A full time librarian is available for any

assistance or help

HOW INCRAESED PRIVATIZATION WILL HELP ALHAMRA:

Currently Alhamra is owned 60% by government and 40% by the private sector. As countries find

themselves with both rising expectations on the part of their citizens and a growing number of

alternatives uses for public revenues, the government of that country gives attention to privatization.

Which helps to lower costs and improve quality or effectiveness of that workstation or public programs.

Same is the case with alhamra, now is the time alhamra should either be completely privatized or to more

percentage. This will help to improve the quality of the plays, classes, dramas, and the effectiveness of the

work in that culture.

Alhamra, if privatized will surely produce more artists, discover more talent and publish more events. As

more and more attention will be given to this sector than it is being given now. It is Lahore’s biggest arts

council and really needs a change in the management, more educated personnel’s are needed to run this

big council and to cope with the emerging talent.

ALHAMRA – INCREASED VOLUNTARISM:

Increased voluntarism means more and more extra hands who are willing to work for the betterment of

our country’s arts sector. There are millions of people who are really willing to spend money, time,

knowledge and share their talent with the rest of the world. Voluntary work is the ‘extra help’ you are

getting. So it should be promoted as it will increase popularity and get the work done too.

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TRADITIONAL SUPPORT:

Traditional support is normally considered as government subsidies or grants, corporate giving and

private giving. Alhamra should not say NO to these sources, but it should not rely on them totally. Being

a privatized organization it should be able to hold the expenses its is occurring and even generates sales

and gain a normal profit , which is enough to sustiain Alhamra’s expenses. Sponsorships and grants are a

big help but if Al hamra decides to totally rely on these sources it will soon be facing a downfall or

negative profits. Since our country’s condition is not well socially, politically or in any other way. We

stand no where in the world, so it is obvious that this sector will be ignored in such times of agony. So

self support for alhamra is vital now, and traditional approach to sustain should be made optional.

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING FOR NPO’S :

SOCIAL MARKETING

it is the marketing specially done for non profits organization which emphasizes t

e services and products of the non profit organization. Alhamra should use the social marketing

by proving the society that they are actually promoting the culture of Pakistan.

INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF NP MARKETING

Never to forget that apart from the local marketing Alhamra has the opportunity to advertise

internationally, and engaging other countries to take interest in Pakistani culture and make them

come visit Pakistan.

CAUSE-RELATED MARKETING:

Alhamra should show the cause of their marketing and prove themselves that they have a very

valid reason to promote themselves and also the country needs them.

ETHICS OF NON PROFIT FIELD:

There are ethics in all sorts of fields, similarly ethics for non profit organizations are important

too. Alhamra should follow all the rules and keep inside the circle of the ethics attached.

EVOLUTION OF NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION:

Alhamra in its stage of evolution and have either already passed these stages or will pass these stages.

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VOLUNTARY/CIVIC MODEL:

Alhamra has seen people working for the greater good for free or volunteering. It shows that even

the services which aren’t available from the government can be fulfilled by the voluntary work.

PHILANTHROPHIC PATRONAGE:

Alhamra, by its work, plays, drama, and events make people realize that there is still need for

more and its should be the responsibility of the arts lovers and the people who can afford it and

they should take steps to promote it.

RIGHTS & ENTITLEMENTS:

Alhamra should start entitling those groups/ personalities who work in favour for Alhamra.

COMPETITIVE/MARKET STAGE:

- Individual willingness to share

-The generosity of the wealthy

- The largess of federal, state and municipal governments

Although Alhamra is not facing any kind of competition at the moment but they should be

prepared for one. Competitors can take any shape, there should be a contingency plan to

survive in that case.

DEFINING NON PROFIT MARKETING:

Alhamra should seriously stay careful while looking for advertising, they must define that they

are marketing themselves for popularity and promotion of the arts only, not for making profits.

DEVELOPING A CUSTOMER CENTERED MIND-SET

THE BOUNDARIES OF MAKETING:

Marketing is not only what brands do to sell their products, in fact marketing is what non profit

organizations do ,

“marketing management is the process of planning and executing programs designed to create ,

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build and maintain beneficial exchange relationships with target audiences for the purposes of

satisfying individual and organizational objectives”

Alhamra should focus on ‘exchanging’ services rather than taking money or funds. Because an

exchange only takes place when the target audience takes some action, which the ultimate

objective of marketing, i.e to influence behavior

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING PHILOSOPHY:

- THE PRODUCT ORIENTATION:

This approach is beneficial for Alhamra if it shows the society that its products,

which is the promotion of all types of arts available to the society, and will improve

and benefit the society.

- THE SALES ORIENTATION:

this approach will help Alhamra if it keeps the audience involved and always comes

up with new and exiting events and amazing offers to join alhamra. So that sales of

Alhamra always stays in a running condition and more and more people start taking

interest in selecting Alhamra as their venue of the event.

- THE CUSTOMER ORIENTATION:

This approach is very important for not only Alhamra but all the organization, both

for profit and not for profit. This approach holds that alhamra should first idealize the

needs and wants of its customers, understand their mindset and then plan

accordingly. And when once the order has been placed it should be conducted on-

time, effectively, good quality, serviced as promised and satisfaction of the customer.

The charges and extra benefits attached to the product should be enough to satisfy the

customer.

CUSTOMER CENTERED ORGANIZATION:

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Alhamra is a customer centered organization, relatively. But it should focus more on satisfying its

customers in all possible ways.

DETECTING AND ORGANIZATION CENTERED ORIENTATION:

- CLUE #1 : THE OFFER IS SEEN AS INHERENTLY DESIREABLE- yes. In Alhamra’s

case it is true. Through our research it focuses more on the image of alhamra than customers

satisfaction.

- CLUE # 2 CUSTOMER IGNORANCE AND LACK OF MOTIVATION ARE SEEN AS

THE BARRIERS TO SUCCESS- yes, alhamra ‘s management considers these as the barriers

to success, so it at times ignores its customers

- CLUE#3 MINOR ROLE IS GIVEN TO CONSUMER RESEARCH- As a matter of fact

theres no role for consumer research takes place. Its only customer is whoever is coming to

alhamra. And they are happy with it .

- CLUE #4 MARKETING IS DEFINED AS PROMOTION- when we asked Alhamra’s

management to advertise themselves, they responded that they don’t need to advertise

themselves and everyone knows about Alhamra. Here they have ignore the fact that sure

everybody knows about alhamra but not about the services provided by Alhamra.

- CLUE #5- THE BEST MARKETERS ARE SEEN AS THOSE KNOWLEDGEABLE

ABOUT THE OFFERING OR ABOUT COMMMUNICATIONS- this is als true in

ALhamra’s case.

- CLUE #6-ONE REALLY GOOD STRATEGY IS SEEN AS ALL YOU NEED.-Alhamra

doesn’t look for new and advanced strategies or marketing techniques. They are satisfied of

what they have.

- CLUE #7 – THERE IS ASSUMED TO BE NO GENERIC COMPETITION- this is exact

answer what the management told us about Alhamra’s competitors. They think that there is

no current competition and there will not be one.

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Analyzing Alhamra Arts Council: MISSION, OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

The critical planning reality is where the organization as a whole aspires to go. Mature

organizations have a well defined set of strategic planning process. It’s also very important for

organizations to rethink and reformulate their aspiration from time to time. And they are usually

expressed in three statements, mission, objectives and goals.

MISSION:

the basic purpose of organization it is trying to accomplish. They have to be motivating , distinct

and feasible

OBJECTIVES:

major variables that the organization will emphasize social impact, market share, growth and

reputation. The direction in which the company will go

GOALS:

breaking down the objectives into specific benchmarks with respect to magnitude, time and

responsibility. This entails specific tasks to be done in order to achieve the objectives

Alhamra Arts Council: MISSION

To promote Music, Drama and Fine Arts.

The mission statement of AAC is feasible but not distinctive and motivating. It needs to

inspire people and has to be unique that sets it apart from other organisations

Alhamra Arts Council: OBJECTIVES

Following are the objectives of Alhamra Arts Council

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To develop and maintain facilities for all forms of arts and to provide professional

technical/audio-visual aids.

To promote and preserve the art traditions and give opportunity to artists from all genres

and showcase their creativity. To document artists and their works.

To establish an academy/school of performing arts.

To institute and award scholarships, diplomas, grants, loan, aid or other assistance for

furtherance of arts.

To conduct cultural fairs, festivals and other related activities in art & crafts within

Pakistan or abroad.

To document the performers and their performances.

To establish museums of musical instruments, folk-heritage, archives, gallery/museum of

contemporary art, library including audio-visual library.

To publish books, periodicals, brochure etc. conducive to the attainment of aims and

objectives of Lahore Arts Council

Alhamra Arts Council: GOALS

As the primary function of AAC is to preserve our cultural heritage and promote/encourage arts

in the society, all the objectives stated above are achieved by providing unique services at low

prices. The musical events, book launching events, theatricals and puppet shows, music/dance

classes all of these are provided under one roof. The demand is adequately met by provisioning

of timely services. Events are hosted in an organized way and the quality is being ensured.

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CULTURE CONFLICT:

One of the major conflicts a non profit organization undergoes is the clash of social service

culture with corporate culture. As for the Alhamra Arts Council(AAC), the management doesn’t

feel the need to incorporate the corporate culture as they strongly believe they are a separate

league altogether since they are providing services almost free of cost. Only the private functions

or events earn them rents Also that they are doing services for the expression, exploration and

nurturing arts which is hugely funded by the government support, so the beaureucratic approach

reigns supreme which negates the corporate culture which promotes customer centric approach.

The approach of Alhamra Arts Council is very organization/product centric as they feel the

customers will come to them naturally. Therefore even minimalistic promotions and advertising

ill get them the required number of audience.

One of the main reasons AAC is still pursuing the social service culture is the lack of resources

which curtails the geographic and service expansion. Almost 60% of the funds are being

acquired by the government and 40% of the funds are being generated through the rents of the

halls for various events of private organizations. Due to this fact, AAC doesn’t have the required

financial resources to expand and incorporate the corporate culture.

Also due to another fact that the social service sector allows you the freedom to do anything i.e

less or no scrutiny at all and no accountability and the corporate culture encourages people to

think out-of-the box, to produce results and entails a strict scrutiny of various administrative and

financial affairs therefore AAC is still pursuing the social service sector and has no intention to

incorporate the corporate culture in near future which can only be introduced when theres

enough room and resources to expand.

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Analyzing the Internal/External Environment: SWOT ANALYSIS

AAC like any other organization is operating in an environment that is constantly changing and

evolving. Hence it becomes important for it to analyze the position where it stands amidst the

volatility. The external environment tells what is feasible and possible and also the constraints

within which a organization has to operate. And the internal environment helps understanding

the loop holes and the organizations capabilities to cope with the challenges it is faced with. A

tool to measure the strength and weaknesses of the company and the opportunities and threats it

is going to face, is the SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Location

The location where AAC is situated has historical importance attached to it. Also the

architectural design by Nayyer Ali dada is unique and elegant, depicting the essence of art to

it.

Good reputation

AAC has good reputation attached to it. the name itself is associated with quality driven

services. We can say that AAC has a good positioning in the minds of its target audience due

to the kind of services it had been providing in the past and present.

Cost leadership

One of the biggest asset for AAC is cost leadership. It is providing art classes for Rs 300/-

only, something which is not being provided by any of the institutions around. Also the other

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events which are being hosted at AAC are done free of charge except for any event that is

charging through tickets.

Only institution for arts classes

AAC is probably the only institution that hosts art classes where aspirant artistes come and

learn various things and that too for nominal fee.

Weaknesses

Lack of Marketing expertise

Currently theres no marketing strategy to promote the institute and its services. Also the

fact that the management doesn’t foresee any competition, curtails the institutes

capabilities to expand and promote even locally. Except for hoardings, billboards and

banners theres no proper advertising/promotion strategies that AAC is following. A

detailed marketing plan is the need of hour

No vision

The management is blindfolded to the emerging indirect competition which makes them

unable to formulate any strategic marketing plan to combat the competition. There is no

plan to expand or to improve the current services being provided.

No CRM model

AAC is a typical product centric organization that focuses on its products/services and

not on the target audience. Theres a belief that people will keep on coming to them as

theres no alternative available as such and the fact that AAC is providing services that no

other organistaion has done all under one roof, keeps their focus away from their target

audience which is slowly waning and being taken away by other organisations

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Opportunities

To expand and generate more funds

Theres a need to expand both locally and nationwide. The premise that the lack of funds

curtail their ambition to expand, needs to be taken care of by the means of mass

marketing and offering services to various segments that could garner them expanded

target audience base which in turn can help them mainitaining finances at a reasonable

level

To bring up the best talent in Pakistan

By providing a platform to the young and emerging aspirant artistes, AAC can gain a

expanded fan following and target audience, which is still untapped. Putting up different

shows or events that showcase these talents can improve the social structure of our

society and can help building a image both locally and internationally

Threats

Indirect Competition

Although the management feels that they do not have a competition with any of the

institutes directly or indirectly involved with arts. But the studies have shown that AAC

faces enterprise and service competition from other institutes like Lahore Arts Council,

Chitrkaar, Peeru’s, Lahore Museum, HunerKada and even cinema/theatre are a indirect

competition for AAC all of these are providing various services and activities that are

related to arts

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INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT AUDIT

The internal environment analysis entails analyzing the organsational capabilities to deal with the

ver changing external environments and modification of strategies due to the volatility of

external variables. It also tell us what a company can do and the boundaries/constraints under

which a npo has to operate

The funding system consists of 60% government supported funds and 40% funds are generated

through renting the halls for various events.

Keeping the demands of the changing environment in mind and the field AAC is related

to,requires technological support as well. Currently, All the equipment is in the process of

upgradation

Adequate number of administrative staff is employed. Also various trainers/teachers for different

art classes are employed.

There are different departments in AAC, namely Fine Arts Department, Programs Department,

Administration Department, Audit & Accounts Department, Library. The reasons for not having

a Marketing Department for promotions and advertising is that the management thinks marketing

is purely a commercial activity that negates the spirit of AAC which is not working on

commercial basis. Also they feel that advertising Alhamra is pointless because they already have

ample no. of people coming there for different events or classes, the demand is met by adequate

supply of services and also that theres no other place like AAC which is offering myriads of

services under one roof and people already know about the institution. Moreover it is felt the

electronic media is very expensive. Due to lack of funds, AAC is unable to afford such

marketing tactics.

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MARKETING MIX

Pricing

Pricing has been kept competitive and reasonable. tickets are charged for the private

events and npo events are hosted free of charge. The fee for art classes is Rs.300/month

Promotion

Promotions are done only through print Ads, Road banners, Hoardings and Hall

Announcements

Placement/Expansion Plans

Due to increasing demand, AAC has plans to further expand locally at ravi and few other

places in Lahore

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT AUDIT

Understanding the environment dynamics the organization is operating is very important.

Comprehending your environment opens up different opportunities and helps organization

choosing appropriate strategies. The external environment has three important components.

1-Market environment

Segmentation, targeting, Positioning of current market

Various segments of our society are considered to be the target market of AAC. The main

audience AAC is currently catering to is artistes, poets, actors, musicians, writers,

children, general public, politicians, lawyers and aspirant artistes. AAC is a brand itself

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which is always associated with good theatre and quality driven events, so it has a strong

positioning. It only needs to build and rely on its strengths

demand of the target market

as the number of target audience is rising due to increasing awareness, the demand is met

adequately by AAC and the management doesn’t feel the need to market itself in order to

bring new people in its target audience as it is already meeting its demand

Consumer perception

Not a lot of people are aware of services AAC is rendering and that too on nominal fee.

AAC needs to undertake a mass marketing campaign to create awareness and gather

strong audience base which is still untapped. Also by hosting quality driven events in the

past, AAC has earned itself a good reputation in the minds of its target audience.

The evolving lifestyles of target consumers

Due to the fact that with every passing day more and more people are getting inclined

towards arts there is an opportunity for AAC to tap into the potential market by

understanding the needs of its target audience

2- Economic environment

The economic condition has less or negligible effect on Alhamra’s sales and promotion but the

recent unstable law and order situation did take away a chunk of foreign audience that used to

come for its theatre. And also the target market consists of people from different social strata’s,

the pricing has been kept competitive and quite reasonable which almost everyone can afford. So

the economic downturn had negligible effects

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3- Competitive environment

Although the management feels that they do not have a competition with any of the institutes

directly or indirectly involved with arts. But the studies have shown that AAC faces enterprise

and service competition from other institutes like Rafi peer theatre, Lahore Arts Council,

Chitrkaar, Peeru’s, Lahore Museum, HunerKada and even cinema/theatre are a indirect

competition for AAC all of which are providing various services and activities that are related to

arts and are taking away a chunk of audience. As the management is oblivious of any

competition consequently theres no current strategy to tackle the emerging competition which

needs to be taken care of.

4- Public Environment

The major publics involved for AAC is its target market/clients,Donors (government and private

public),General Public and Mass Media

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY:

Alhamra Arts Council(AAC) is following the two strategies proposed by Porter, which is

Cost leadership

AAC doesn’t charge anything except for the tickets for certain events. The fee charged by

various arts classes is only 300/month. As the funding is mainly supported by

government, Therefore no other organization has been able to provide all these facilities

under one roof for such nominal charges.

Differentiation

AAC is differentiating by being able to provide all these services which are not currently

provided by any other institute in such an organized manner. The art classes introduced in

AAC is offer differentiation as no other institute as been able to do so whereas promoting

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the organization as the one rendering services in order to encourage arts is image

differentiation

UNDERSTANDING THE TARGET MARKET

Understanding the target market is very important for an organization. Only through

understanding your target audience will help you in formulating services that could cater

to their needs. A customer centric approach helps great deal in understanding the target

audience behavior and perception. Alhamra Arts Council is typically a

product/organization centric institute where the common belief is that people would come

to them no matter what as the institution is unique in image and offers services that no

other organization has been able to come up with. However it is important to understand

the target market of Alhamra Arts Council. Following is the model through which we can

understand the mindset and behavior of AAC’s target market

Maslows hierarchy of needs

AAC’s target market is at the top of Maslows need hierarchy , where the esteem needs

are to be fulfilled. as all the below levels of physiological, social and safety needs are

already being fulfilled. People coming for the entertainment or participating in any other

activity that connects to arts is exhibiting the target markets need for recognition and

status.

Understanding the target audience also entails categorization of their level of

understanding. As for the Alhamra Arts Council, the target market is at

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Precontemplation stage as theirs a need to create awareness among general public about

the services AAC is offering. There is an increasing number of people who still do not

know the basic functions of AAC and the kind of services they are providing. Also theres

a need to create awareness among people to encourage arts and shun the fallacies and

social and religious taboos related to arts which prohibits a person to take part in such

activities. This can only be done through promotions and effective advertising across the

nation.

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DEVELOPING AND LAUNCHING NEW OFFERINGS

To be successful in today’s nonprofits marketing, organizations must learn to effectively and

efficiently develop and launch new offerings. The non profit organization has available to it the

nine basic growth strategies. These strategies differ by the extent to which the marketer wishes

to emphasize development of markets or offerings. These strategies are shown in the following

table;

Existing

offerings

New

offerings:

Similar

New

Offerings:

Dissimilar

Existing

markets

1.

a) Market

Penetration

b) Cost Reduction

c) Share

Maintenance

4. Offer

Extension

7. Offer

Development

New

markets:

Similar

2. Market

Extension

5. Continuous

Diversification

8. Offer

Diversification

New

Markets:

Dissimilar

3. Market

Development

6. Market

Diversification

9. Radical

Diversification

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By offering new products and services to existing markets an organization can do three things, it

can either penetrate the market through market expansion or through inducing patronage

switching by those already in the market. It can decide not to grow significantly but to become

more efficient and it can either choose to maintain the status quo.

Secondly if we look at cells 2 and 3, an organization can seek out new markets for its existing

offerings by adding market segments that are similar to their present markets or can either add a

dissimilar market segment which is a very challenging task in itself. Furthermore the npo can add

new offerings that are relatively similar or relatively dissimilar to their present offerings. In

either case they can focus on existing markets (cells 4 and 7), similar new markets (cells 5 and 8)

or dissimilar new markets (cells 6 and 9).

Alhamra in as we know by now is offering a variety of services which are really not marketed

well so in Alhamra basically needs to firstly adopt a market penetration strategy. Which means

that it should keep on offering the services its currently offering to all its current market in a

more effective and efficient manner. So that their currents market/existing markets can

completely benefit from their existing products and services. Alhamra should also be exploring

similar markets, by adopting market extension strategy. As it’s situated in Lahore which is the

hub of Punjab and Pakistani culture, it would also benefit if it branches out in other different

cities of Punjab too so that the culture and heritage of Pakistan can be expressed in those cities as

well. Alhamra can surely develop new offerings and can serve its existing market with it. For

example Alhamra does not offer Acting Classes in theatre; it can opt for this so that the aspiring

actors can join in and train themselves for theatre. It should also offer stage designing and

costumer designing for people who like to learn design and work as stage/costume designers for

different plays and shows. It can also start giving lessons as to how to write script and stories for

dramas and plays and it can ask the renowned artists and scriptwriters who are part of Alhamra

to assist them in this. If Alhamra continuously adopt this offer extension strategy, it can in future

move on to continuous diversification strategy as well.

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Offer development is also something Alhamra needs to look into, for example it can go into

different arts schools around Lahore and setup offices in there. It can arrange workshops there

and can ask for volunteers/students to come in and contribute towards different departments of

Alhamra or can arrange plays for those schools and take in actors and then show the plays in

their own halls. There can also be so many other offers which Alhamra can develop and branch

into.

To be successful in developing new offerings the organization must be both creative and

systematic. The first stage of the process is to generate ideas for new offerings. This can involve

careful searching of available information or attempts to create new ideas through artificial idea-

generating techniques. Once the ideas have been produced it should then screen them and

eliminate those that do not meet established organization goals.

Alhamra can generate ideas from the artists who are a part of Alhamra or students who learn

music and dances at Alhamra. It can ask them to give ideas as to what should be launched, what

should be improved, what is that would attract more people etc. it can get ideas from competitors

such as Lahore Chitarkar Society and Lahore Arts Council as to what they are offering which is

different from Alhamra. It should continuously be looking at the magazines, newspapers to to

gauge important information related to its field so that in future it can benefit from that

information.

It can take ideas from the producers and directors of other dramas and shows, as to how they

should arrange shows and what kind of stories they should produce themselves and what kind of

stories would people like to see. What different things they can afford to show etc.

Alhamra should have a proper panel of experienced and qualified individuals who should screen

those ideas and eliminate those which are irrelevant. It can then focus on to what is the most

important one and what is that will benefit it the most in the long run.

The next stage involves elaborating the idea into a concrete concept that can be subjected to

formal testing. The concept if successful must then generate a specific marketing strategy which

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in turn must survive a rigorous business analysis. The final stages of the development process

then involves specific offer development and market testing followed by a carefully

commercialization process.

After Alhamra has screened those ideas and has chosen the best one, it can produce several

different concepts from that idea which does not have to be equally attractive but still have to be

applicable and practical. Then it can test those concepts in the actual market by a survey

research. It can form questionnaires for each concept and test them in the market and gauge

customer reactions and perceptions about the new idea. Afterwards a specific marketing strategy

is to be formed on the basis of that idea. Then after all the necessary procedures of testing the

idea is to be commercialized that means it should be formally introduced in the market. Now 4

basic questions have to be answered before launching the product in the market.

They are when to launch, where to launch, whom to launch and how to launch. Alhamra should

be very careful in addressing these questions before launching a new offering because if these

questions are not observed, the whole new offer idea can be devastated which will not be

beneficial for it. When to launch include factors such as the removal of an existing old

programme, or launching in a peak time etc. where to launch means that does it need to be

marketed in a wide geographic area or just a small area. For whom to launch consists of factors

like is the idea to be marketed to the overall target market or just to a limited number of people.

And how to launch includes how much marketing as per media, billboards etc is needed. So the

whole point is that the idea and the strategy should be effectively communicated to the target

market.

New offerings follow an S-shaped pattern over their life cycle. They move through introductory,

growth, maturity and decline stages.

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• Introduction - new product or service first made available to the marketplace

• Growth - as new product satisfies market needs, sales start to climb

• Maturity - sales growth slows - status of most products

• Decline - can plunge to zero or petrify at a low level

The following is the diagram of the growth cycle;

The strategic issues facing the the non profit marketing manager differ across these stages. That

means that at every stage the manager has to take different decisions regarding the idea.

For example;

• Introduction - the managers should decide the best time to enter and focus on potential

customers who are the readiest or most able to buy

• Growth - as profits increase managers should watch for decelerating rate of growth

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• Maturity – managers decide whether to expand market, modify product, modify

marketing program

• Decline - managers needs to decide to build, maintain, or terminate

In the introductory and growth stages the manager must first be concerned with securing trials of

the new offerings. 5 target audience groups maybe identified on the basic of when they are likely

to enter the innovation adoption process. First are the INNOVATERS who will try almost

anything that is new and who are often considered odd by the rest of population, they can usually

be ignored by the marketing manager. The second group the EARLY ADOPTERS cannot be

ignored because they are the opinion leaders who influence the next large group, THE EARLY

MAJORITY. THE LATE MAJORITY enters next and pays less attention to others in making their

decisions to adopt and must be convinced that the new offering is not a fad. The last group the

LAGGARDS can typically also be ignored. So the point here is that Alhamra should consider all

kinds of target markets as it basically targets all age groups and social classes. It should divide its

target market among these 5 broad categories and then look into each of them accurately. As to

which segment needs to be focused more and which needs to be ignored.

The Marketing Information Management System

Marketing Environment

Sophisticated modern nonprofit organizations like Alhamra Arts Council recognize that their

most important resource is the knowledge they possess. Such knowledge must systematically be

developed at the organizational level-as well as for specific campaigns.

Target Market

The target market of Alhamra Arts Council is quite diversified. From students interested in arts

and culture and emerging artists and the youth that is interested in plays and concerts to a class

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which watches stage dramas. Alhamra does not believe in marketing. They are using no

marketing channels to advertise and it’s a fact that majority of the people don’t even know about

Alhamra’s offerings and all that is being offered over there. Since they have no competitors as

such they have never even bothered coming up with a proper marketing strategy. Competitors

like Lahore Chitarkaar, Lahore Arts Council, Rafi Peer Theater and to some extent the cinemas

that are attracting the majority of our youngsters. Alhamra is affected by certain macro

environmental issues as Alhamra attracted a large number of foreigners but due to the current

situation in Pakistan nobody wants to come here. People are afraid of going to places for such

activities. Alhamra does not advertise through media. They do not print any ads in the newspaper

or television.

Knowledge Management System

Alhamra has an internal Reports system. They keep record and track of all the artists who’s work

is displayed in their galleries. They maintain all the records of people who have acted in their

plays and stage dramas. They keep a file with a list of names and addresses of all famous artists

and contributors. They maintain a file which keeps track of all the money that has been spent on

direct mail, salaries and the minimum advertising that they have done. They also make sure

there’s a book that records complaints of everyone and alerts the management about them. The

internal records system is a major source of insight into how the organization is performing.

Alhamra does not have a market intelligence system. Since they don’t even believe in marketing

to begin with thus a market intelligence system is alien to them. This system if implemented

would do them good as it would give them an idea of perception of people that are inside and

outside the organization. Alhamra should routinely carry out market research studies. The

management should occasionally commission specific qualitative or quantitative marketing

research studies to learn how the organization is positioned in the minds of key publics. If

Alhamra compiles the data that it gets from internal reports systems, the marketing research

system and market intelligence system it can be turned into knowledge that managers could use.

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They can increase their target market and offer services that the general public wants. This way

more and more people would be attracted towards Alhamra.

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Backward Marketing Research

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A “backward” research design process is also recommended for Alhamra. Here the research

manager first looks to the decisions to be made using the research results and then works

backward to design a study that would best inform such decisions.

Using this type of technique, Alhamra will able to determine what report format would best

inform such decision most managerially useful information. The report form would then suggest

the type of analysis needed, which in turn would specify how the data are to be collected and

processed.

For Alhamra’ s qualitative research, in-depth interviewing or focus groups, can be useful in

identifying a problem; gathering background for later quantitative studies; interpreting past

studies; pretesting advertisements; offering concepts, packaging, and brochures, and generating

ideas for new offerings, services and advertisements. Other techniques for keeping research costs

low are experimentation, low-cost sampling designs, and the use of secondary data and volunteer

assistance.

Snowball Sampling.

During the various visits to Alhamra and meetings with the management there we learnt that the

management there kept track of all the important people and celebrities that participate in various

activities at Alhamra. Through them they gain more and more contacts and references and later

they call these people as chief guests or honor them at their functions and the public is attracted

to such events.

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Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

Before Alhamra decides to develop a marketing strategy for itself, it needs to decide whom it is

designing the strategy for. Whom it wishes to target and who it wants to be affected by that

strategy strongly. The segmentation of the audience is the first step towards becoming a target-

audience oriented organization, followed by choosing targets and then developing a positioning

strategy. In the process of segmenting markets it needs to identify bases for segmenting the

market, develop profiles of resulting segments and develops measures of segment attractiveness.

In order to develop a sophisticated segmentation approach, there are two stages to be recognized

and followed. Firstly Alhamra needs to conceptualize and research into identifying and

describing the groups it may wish to target. This is known as developing market segments. It

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requires choosing among the different bases for segmenting the market, developing profiles of

those segments, and then developing measures to attract the respective segments.

Dividing up Markets

Alhamra might have divided its market but it has not particularly aimed towards the proper

segmentation process by dividing its market according to mutual exclusivity, exhaustiveness,

measurability, reach ability, substantiality, and differential responsiveness. Alhamra basically

concentrates on the youth of today. Helping the young emerging artists by giving them a

platform to display their talents. On the other hand Alhamra has its set clientele that has been

there for years. A certain class that enjoys stage dramas. The bases for segmentation are general

or behavior-specific, objective or psychological. As a nonprofit, Alhamra has to consider the

simple objective general measures of segmentation first like age, generation, gender, income,

geographical location, and marital status. Alhamra attracts a large number of foreigners as well

as people from all over the world who are visiting Lahore get to see the different cultural sides of

Pakistan all in one place through their galleries, musical evenings, plays and shows. Alhamra

does not relate to measures like social class, lifestyles and psychological measures while

segmenting their marketing. There’s a certain class that visits Alhamra on very regular basis for

the stage shows. On the other hands there are the youngsters interested in plays and come to

Alhamra everytime a play is being shown.

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Targeting

There are 4 approaches while targeting needs to be chosen

mass marketing

differentiated marketing

niche marketing

mass customization

The approach that Alhamra is following is undifferentiated (mass) marketing. They do not target

different sectors or different social classes or ages. They are doing mass marketing. If they print

an ad or do any sort of marketing it is going to be for everyone and not for particular target

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market. It is not asking for any special target audience thus mass marketing concept sits well

with its present situation.

Positioning

There are several positioning strategies that Alhamra could follow. Some of them being

understanding the present position, understanding the position of the competitors, deciding on

how offerings should be differentiated and making the positioning known. The positioning of the

Alhamra requires research on the target audience perceptions of relevant behaviors and the key

dimensions on which the perceptions are based. The present positioning of Alhamra is in dire

need of development so it can make an impact on its target audience.

Currently Alhamra is following a positioning alternative strategy which is to build their

strengths. Alhamra should focus on the strengths it already has and attract more and more people

with that. A purpose built building in the heart of Lahore is a major strength which they can

make use of. Secondly being the most known arts council without any major competitors is a

strength as well. They are majorly being funded by the government which is a benefit to them

therefore they need to utilize these funds on more marketing and expanding their target market

and holding such events and activities that would attract more and more people towards

Alhamra

Identifying the competition is very important for Alhamra. Competition for people's time-rather

than for their money-is often the most serious obstacle to success. What other attractions are

targeting the potential visitors? Knowing the answer to this question will lead to important

marketing decisions.

Objective Behavior-Specific Measures

These measures include past behaviors of people that are said to be an indicator of the degree of

responsiveness to be received in the future. Thus, the measures used would include:

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Occasion:

Alhamra can take into account the type of people who attend its events and exhibitions. By doing

so, it will be able to identify the various types and age group of people who are likely to attend

again and it can include them in its future segmentation. When launching campaigns, these

people can be targeted as well as those who come under the similar demographics.

Doer/Non-Doer Status:

This would include those who are regular in paying their donations to various other nonprofit

organizations for the good and development of that organization. Alhamra can segment such

groups of individuals as it can be expected that once they are given the information regarding the

museum’s activities and future plans, they can involve them in the activities too.

Usage Rate:

Markets for Alhamra can be segmented according to light, medium and heavy user groups for the

offer which can include visitors. Determining the demographic characteristics and habits of

visitors and aiming the marketing programs towards them can be fruitful. Also, medium and light

visitors and contribution-givers can be included and marketed to more strongly.

Loyalty Status:

To build a permanent clientele, Alhamra needs to try to keep the old customers rather than aim

towards making new ones. But as the existing ones are not on a large scale, finding a target

audience that can remain deeply loyal to the cause of Alhamra is difficult and a long term

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process. It takes time and effort to build the trust of its market and assuring that what it promises

to deliver.

Complex General Objective Measures

The combined measures include

Social class

Family life cycle

Status change

Life styles

Geoclustering

Psychological Measures

In order to find out more about the character of the target audience, what they are like, what they

think and value, psychological measures need to be developed. Alhamra requires going deeper

into researching about the personality and values of its audiences, and then moving on to find out

about their current knowledge, attitudes and intentions. These are as follows

Personality

Values

Knowledge and Attitude

The Nature and Role of Facilitating Planning

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Now we come towards how Alhamra can facilitate marketing behaviors and what areas it needs

to look while facilitating these behaviors. Marketers must find ways to make behavioral

opportunities convenient and personally pleasant and rewarding. This involves developing

channel strategies to bring behavioral opportunities to the target audience and “occasion

strategies” to make the actual encounter entirely reinforcing.

Channel Strategy

“A channel is a conduit for bringing together a marketer and a target audience member at some

place and time for the purpose of facilitating behavioural opportunities.”

Alhamra’s main channel which is specifically uses is its building that is where it is currently

located. It only uses this channel to provide its services. It has one other branch in Gulberg which

is called Alhamra Open Air Theatre. But this branch is only responsible for renting out halls for

different stage dramas and shows. So in actuality Alhamra is only using one channel to distribute

its services and that is of its own. We can assume that due to the shortages of fund its unable to

branch out or use other channels but still we can quote several examples of other low funded

NPO’s which are using variety of low cost channels to market themselves so Alhamra can do this

as well.

There are a number of strategic problems that apply to all channel decisions;

Direct versus Indirect marketing; the npo must decide whether to carry out channel

services within its own organization or with outsiders.

Length and breadth of the channel structure; the npo much decide on the number of

levels to be interposed between the production of the offer and its eventual exchange

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with target audience members and also the total number of different channels or the

number of elements to be included at each level of the channel

Allocation of functions; the npo needs to decide who will handle the several channel

flows

Recruiting channel members; the npo needs to know how to recruit and motivate

channel members

Coordination and control; the npo must develop systems for coordinating and

controlling various channel members in the system.

In our opinion Alhamra should be using indirect channels to deal with their target audience

members and use intermediaries. However using direct channels can be advantageous to

Alhamra because the whole control of the marketing activities will remain with the entity itself.

But still Alhamra may not have the required funds to market everything themselves so a need for

intermediary is important. Even if it has funds it is better that it uses those funds on other areas

than on this thing.

As we explained earlier on, Alhamra is using only one outlet to market itself and this can be

termed as an economical decision for Alhamra as using more outlets because a lot of money and

Alhamra needs to spend money on other areas as well. So we can say that Alhamra is better off

by sticking to only one outlet but in the long run it would be better to branch out. Alhamra is

catering a mass market so it should also be distributing its offerings widely so that it can be

reachable to everyone in its target market.

We proposed that Alhamra should indulge in indirect marketing, now this obviously can lead to

problems of coordination and control with the intermediaries. As the intermediary will have

different perceptions and goals which may be inconsistent with Alhamra’s policies and

procedures. Alhamra can opt for three diffract coordination strategies in order to achieve

maximum results.

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Requiring intermediary cooperation through use of coercive and legal power such as

contracts etc

Rewarding intermediary cooperation through the manipulation of rewards

Persuading intermediaries to cooperate through the use of experts and information

It can also cooperate with the intermediaries by the use of formal contracts which specify in

lesser or greater degree the rights and duties of each party. These contracts can cover specific

functions.

Occasion Strategy:

The other major facilitation challenge is making occasions easy, emotionally satisfying and

rewarding. The requires attention to atmospherics and customer reinforcement. Often target

audience needs to be taught how to rewards themselves.

Now we know that Alhamra represents the culture of Pakistan. By showing the culture to the

people in a creative manner it can give them an emotionally positive experience. It can bring

everyday stories and portray them on shows and dramas. It can bring social causes on stage and

enlighten people as to what is happening and what is not. By doing these kinds of activities it

will provide its customers with an experience which they can relate to. It can organize cultural

events and setup and decorate the whole building in a beautiful way so that the people coming in

get attracted towards it.

We all know that Alhamra has such a beautiful building, if it’s decorated with lights it can

become so attractive that it can even attract people passing on the roads and paying a visit to it.

So Alhamra should always decorate its building like this so that it registers itself in people eyes

and they remember it. When organizing events it can decorate its building even more with

different colours and drapes and banners so that it becomes attractive to people

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Alhamra is located on a nice and convenient location in Lahore that anyone can easily visit it and

can have a look at what Alhamra is all about. One important thing that needs to be mentioned is

that normally Alhamra gates are not open for general people or visitors. Its only open when there

is a show or an exhibition. Alhamra should try and open it gates for everyone at all times of the

day so that people can come in and have a look at everything Alhamra is doing. It should be

welcoming visitors and even try to make its building a tourist attraction. All these things will

help people get more and more aware of Alhamra and its services.

Major Steps In Developing Effective Communications:

There are six steps through which Alhamra Arts Council AAC can develop an

effective communication strategy

1) Setting communication objectives

2) Generating possible messages

3) Overcoming selective attention

4) Overcoming perceptual distortion

5) Choosing a medium

6) Evaluating and selecting messages

Goals and Objectives of Communication Programme:

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The first step requires us to define specific goals and objectives of communication

programme. For this purpose we need to identify the stage at which our audience can

be classified in terms of knowledge about AAC.

As identified earlier AAC is at the Precontemplation stage, where the audience need to

be educated about the organization itself and the services it has been providing. The

target audience is aware of AAC but does not really know what are the primary

functions of AAC and the myriads of services and events it hosts.

Therefore the first step would require making our target audience aware of the

importance of arts and preservation of our culture. Since in a society like ours, we do

not attach great importance to arts and almost are indifferent towards our culture

whereas these two fields, if exploited in a beneficial way, can bring about monetary

and non monetary benefits to our country. This awareness campaign can be held in

form of seminars, publishing articles, putting up ads that glorify the cause, radio ads

that can be easily related to.

The next step is to increase the perceived social importance of the behavior. That can

be done by the role-play acts, making a short film on our culture and the artistes that

have been associated with the field of art and worked for its glory.

Third step involves creating awareness of services and primary functions of

organization and informing the audience how AAC is handling everything under one

roof, the services provided and the events being held. How each and everything is

funded by its own etc. and this can be done through sending brochures, making

customer centric advertisements that can highlight the desired behavior of the

audience.

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Fourth step includes influencing the media to cover the issues and support the desired

behavior. The media personnel have a great reach to people at large and have a very

strong influence on the minds of audience. talk shows hosts, newscasters and other

analysts working for media can influence the behavior of our target market. For

example, making it a topic of debate for some of the most watched talk shows can

bring about favorable results

The next step in formulating the objectives and goals of communication programme is

to change the perception about sponsoring organization, which is the government in

AAC case. This is a very difficult task to do, since the association of government with

any activity, organization or event makes it highly dubious since the credibility of our

government is quite low. People are put off and highly demotivated when they come to

know the event has governments share of interest involved in it, be it a charity or fund

raising programme of any kind. This can be achieved by educating people how the

government has taken the initiative by patronizing arts and culture in our country since

the majority of funds are being given by the government. All of the above mentioned

steps should highlight this factor as well, in their communication programme.

The last step involves influencing the funding agencies. As mentioned earlier, the 60

percent of the funds are being donated by the government and the rest of them are

generating by AAC itself through renting the halls to private organizations. In AAC

case the major funding sponsor is the government and the second one is the private

organizations or the general public. Government can be influenced by having

meetings and presentations with them which highlight the increasing demands and

how they have been met by AAC and the subsequent need to expand both

geographically and financially. The same can be applied to private organizations

where the importance of having private sponsors can be highlighted by underlining the

benefits a sponsoring organization can get from this type of association

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GENERATING POSSIBLE MESSAGES:

Once the objectives have been defined and outlined by AAC, then we can come to the

stage where we could select what specific messages are to be transmitted out to the

public and target audience. The message generation involves developing various

alternative appeal themes, motifs and ideas from which the best can be chosen

The best way is to use the Rational, Emotional and Moral (REM) framework for the

selection of certain ideas to be communicated

The Rational messages:

The rational messages aim at passing on information, serving the target audience

interest or both. The rational messages tend to communicate the primary functions

about AAC, like the services it is providing, the arts classes, art galleries,

musical/theatrical events etc. or communicating the target audience how they can

benefit from this i.e. targeting the potential artistes or even general public. Like the

puppet show, the benefits of this show towards learning process of children can be

highlighted

The Emotional Messages:

The emotional messages are designed to stir up some negative or positive emotions in

target audience that will motivate the desired behavior. Using the guilt, fear and shame

appeals especially in connection with getting people to start or stop doing things can

really bear positive fruits. The emotional messages can be conveyed in advertisements

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where we could blame ourselves for distancing from arts and culture due to which

these thriving fields have been dying a slow death.

The Moral Messages:

The moral messages are directed to the audience sense of what is right and what is

wrong. By using this appeal, the audience can be instigated to patronize the slowly

dying field of arts and to preserve culture, by increasing importance weighting to these

two fields. The moral messages can be conveyed through celebrity endorsements

where patronizing these two fields can be termed as a moral obligation of our nation.

OVERCOMING SELECTIVE ATTENTION:

We tend to neglect all those messages or information that does not interest us. Or some

way they frighten us. And the responsibility of overcoming selective attention is on the

creative specialists working for the NPO’s (the advertising agencies or in-house

marketing units). These specialists have several variables at their command in

designing an effective communication message. The style, wording, tone, order and

format of the message have to be in line with NPO’s theme/image.

The messages can be executed in various styles.

Slice of Life:

AAC showing an artiste, how he has become one great artiste, how his talent has been

polished and nurtured, how his talents got a platform through AAC.

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Lifestyle:

A lifestyle of a passionate artiste, how he likes to spend his time, what he would like to

do throughout the day, the people he meets, the things he does etc.

Fantasy:

An aspirant artiste dreaming about winning various competitions at a national/global

platform

Mood:

A painter creating an image on the canvass in morning amidst a flowery garden

Musical:

An artiste dancing to the tunes of classical folk music

Personality symbol:

A famous figure or celebrity enjoying music, classical dance or a theatrical

performance

Technical expertise:

An artistes speaking about his technical expertise, how has learned it and how it’s

being utilized by him

Testimonial evidence:

An artiste who has been given fame by the platform provided by AAC, talking about

this institution as to how it has helped him discovering and polishing his talent.

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OVERCOMING PERCEPTUAL DISTORTION:

Perceptual distortion is the bias in perceiving certain things according to our desires

and wishes. It is not being perceived as the way it should have been. It happens due to

our interests, motivation, and guilt or fear factor.

The perceptual distortion can be overcome by using various symbols, an implicit

manner through which a message can be communicated although it can hurt the basic

aim of the message.

CHOOSING A MEDIUM:

The target audience can be reached through personal or impersonal communication

vehicles such as

Blogging, Posters, brochures, magazines, print or electronic advertisement, billboards,

a website, a banner ads, sales personnel, political supporters, friends of the art

(artistes), newscasters, independent researchers, analysts, government journals, art

section of a certain newspaper etc.

At precontemplation stage, it is better to exploit the potential of web which is an easy

and cost effective way of reaching your target audience these days, making groups at

social web communities like Facebook, Orkut, twitter etc can increase the awareness

exponentially.

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MESSAGE EVALUATION AND SELECTION:

The messages selected to be communicated need to be rated on three scales: desirability,

exclusiveness and believability. The message conveyed has to meet the interest of target

audience. Also the message has to be out-of-the-box and nothing that can be compared to

some other messages and confused with. The believability factor is really important as it

will make or break the image of message communication.

BUILDING THE BRAND OF ALHAMRA

To be successful for any organization be it a profit or a nonprofit organization, the brand must have a

distinctiveness. Branding for Alhamra requires making it clear that an organization’s branded offerings

can serve several roles as shown:

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Reflect a uniquesocial contribution

Comprise a Promiseto target audiences

and stakeholders

Reflect the organizations

Mission and values

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In case of Alhamra, its brand image should be such that it should have a distinctive media voice, evoke a

service which is different from what the rest of its direct/indirect competitors are offering. It should evoke

a sense of tradition so that it can represent its country all over the world. The steps that Alhamra should

follow in order to reposition its marketing strategy are:

Step 1

Step 2

Conduct Qualitative Research

to understand competitive brands

Step 3

Step 4

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Recognize the aim of brand, key targetaudiences and major competitors

Conduct Qualitative Researchto understand competitive brands

Conduct Quantitative Researchto understand market position of

competitive brands

Determine current marketPosition and change where necessary

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Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Monitor impact of the

Alhamra needs to identify its target market to which it is catering the most. Their main target

market is the youth of Pakistan, whom they want to encourage to excel in the field of arts. These

include the students and young professionals. Other than that their target market is also the adults

who go to alhamra for the traditional music, ghazals etc. It also incorporates those people who

are fond of arts and exhibitions. These are the people who are the target market of Alhamra and

it needs to understand them in order to what its brand need to do. Alhamra’s branding should be

such that its target audience start valuing the brand, assign credibility to it and become loyal to

Alhamra.

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Get consensus from staff& board for future direction

Develop & pretestIntegrated strategy

Monitor impact of the

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Other than this Alhamra also needs to identify its competitors whose brand image it needs to

understand. For instance Alhamra needs to find out if people are going to the Museum or Rafi

peer theatre or Lahore Arts Counsel, what are the main reasons for that. Alhamra needs to find

out the difference between its brand and all these others. If people are going more to Rafi Peer

for the same musical nights and puppet shows etc that Alhamra is offering than the reason for

that needs to be found.

For this one of the options for Alhamra would be to conduct a qualitative and quantitative

research among the target audience in order to find out how they perceive Alhamra’s brand as

compare to the other brands of its competitors. This is the only way that Alhamra would be able

to find out where they stand in the minds of their target audience and whether they are satisfied

with it or not. Only then they can define the desirable position they would want to be in and work

towards that goal. This position should not only be for the target audience but the Government as

well which happens to be the only donor of Alhamra. Approvals should be taken from the staff

and a strategy should be developed according to that.

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ALHAMRA

Logo

SloganThe

Look

Spokes-person

SymbolsBrand Name

Brand Promise

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BRANDING DETAILS

The LOGO

The logo of any organization represents the look of the organization. The logo of Alhamra needs to be

designed with the help of experts so that it represents all the aspects attached to Alhamra. It needs to be

very creative and artistic as Alhamra itself serves as the hub of Arts and Culture.

The SLOGAN

The slogan of Alhamra is LIVE YOUR CULTURE represents the services that Alhamra is offering but it

is not recalled at all since it is not marketed. Alhamra needs to do more marketing of its slogan so that

everytime people hear of it, Alhamra comes to their minds.

THE LOOK

The look of Alhamra is not consistent as it doesnot represent anything specific about Alhamra. They

should make sure that simple things like their posters, banners have a consistent look so it should convey

the same message and the recall factor is also there.

Alhamra’s Brand Promise

Alhamra’s Logo and Slogan should make clear what the brand stands for. Since the Slogan of Alhamra

LIVE YOUR CULTURE is quite explicit, the logo should be such that it supports the slogan.

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Spokesperson

Since Alhamra deals with all the top celebrities and their shows one way or the other on regular basis,

they can use any of these top personalities to be the spokes person for Alhamra. This would add to the

brand value of Alhamra and its target audience would be able to associate it with spokesperson. One thing

that is very critical is that the person to be chosen for the spokesperson should have credibility before the

audience and should not be a controversial personality at all.

PRODUCT MARKETING

Core Product

The main features of Alhamra are the benefits that its target audiences are seeking and what need

it is satisfying. Alhamra has the perception of being a place that provides entertainment to its

target audience in the form of Ghazal nights, Plays, stage dramas, puppet shows etc. One of the

major benefits that Alhamra is providing is teaching of music, dance, art to the young generation.

Alhamra should advertise it as being a part of its core product

Tangible Product

Features

The Alhamra marketers can add features like

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1. Showing special cultural programs during the holiday season to attract foreigners. This

should be advertised throughout the year in order to make it an event that people can look

forward to

2. Alhamra can give different items as giveaways after their special shows like T-Shirts, show

cds or any form of souvenirs.

3. Alhamra can open up a souvenirs shop within the Alhamra premises so that all those people

who come for a show can buy the souvenirs on their way back. This would be a good source

of income for Alhamra.

4. Alhamra can open up a café somewhere near their halls so that people can sit there and eat

during the intervals of the shows or before the show starts. This can also be a very good

source of income for the organization.

Quality

Alhamra needs to focus on the quality of the events that are being held their. This adds to the

credibility and image of the organization. It should make sure that the stage drams, plays,

exhibitions being held there are serving the main purpose of LIVE YOUR CULTURE. These

should be the best quality and family events that should portray our culture rather than vulgarity

and lame issues.

Branding

Once the quality is ensured, Alhamra will be able to attract a huge target audience and can

generate much more funds.

Augmentation

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Since Alhamra is one place where so many events take place under one roof, it can offer its

target market additional services and benefits. For instance it can offer free passes to those

people who are taking some king of music, dance or arts classes from Alhamra. The can be

offered a package which could include the training and also access to Alhamra’s different events

at lower prices or complementary basis.

SERVICES MARKETING

Alhamra can make the intangible services tangible by paying special attention to the

atmospherics. They should focus on the quality of their printed material like broachers, banners,

improving their external and internal architecture, ensuring cleanliness inside and outside the

halls etc. They can also make their services tangible by giveaways like T-Shirts, small souvenirs

of their shows, broachers etc. The staff of Alhamra from the top tier to the bottom should be

trained in a way that they can protect and enhance their organization’s brand name. Alhamra’s

visit should be made a wholesome experience for the people visiting it my ensuring top class

service from the guard to the hall management and the maintaining the quality of the shows.

Alhamra should train their employees to build a long term relationship with their target audience

and focus on user friendliness.

PRODUCT MIX

An organization’s product mix can be defined in terms of its length, width and depth. In case of

Alhamra we can see that its length and width consist of:

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The product mix of alhamra in terms of its length consists of five main product lines; Fine arts,

Music, Dance, Theatre, festivals, Poetry. Each product has a certain width. Thus the Fine arts

include paintings, sculptures, ceramics and calligraphy. Music includes classes in Tabla,

harmonium, flute, guitar, violin and sitar. Theatre includes Plays, Stage Dramas and Dance.

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Length

Width

Fine Arts Music Theatre Festivals Poetry/

Literary

Paintings Tabla Plays Cultural

festivals

Poetry

competitions

Sculpture Harmonium Stage

Dramas

Seasonal

festivals

Adabi

Mushayray

Ceramics Flute Dance World

Performing

Arts

Festival

Calligraphy Guitar Film

Festivals

Violin

Sitar

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Festivals include Cultural festivals, seasonal festivals, world performing arts festivals and film

festivals. Poetry includes poetry competitions and adabi mushayray. Finally each product item

has a certain depth: Music comprises of concerts folk, jazz, qawalli. Theatre comprises of english

plays, urdu plays, kathak dance etc. Festivals comprise of sufi festivals, youth festivals, spring

festivals etc. Poetry comprises of Urdu and punjabi competitions.

Fine Arts Department has two galleries one in each campus of Alhamra. The gallery in the

Alhamra Cultural Complex Gaddafi Stadium is known as the Permanent Art Gallery and houses

the collection of paintings, prints, sculptures and ceramics owned by the Lahore Arts Council. A

full time curator looks after the collection and other affairs pertaining to the Permanent Art

Gallery.

The other gallery is known as the Alhamra Art Gallery and is part of the Mall Complex. It is a

gallery that hosts short term exhibitions; these are on the national and international levels. A

person, group or organization can apply to have exhibitions of their art work by writing an

application and providing his/her CVs and a CD of their work, it is preferred to see some of the

work in original. Provided that the work is to a standard, dates for exhibition are given with

mutual consent of the artist and gallery. The space and services provided by the Alhamra Art

Gallery are free of charge (for art based exhibitions only) and no commission is charged on sales.

The gallery is headed by a curator who deals with all the bookings/reservations of the gallery.

The sphere of activities of the Alhamra Arts Council is vast and varied. The halls and theatres are

occupied all year round and the people of Lahore enjoy a plethora of informative and

entertaining programs that range from music, theatre, festivals, literary (book launchings, poetry

reading, seminars, lectures & discussions), school programs and government organized

programs. This department is headed by a Deputy Director who oversees all activities of the

auditoriums. To apply it is required that an application be written giving details of the program

plus duration along with script, cast etc.

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The core products of Alhamra are theatre and festivals. This is what it is known for the most.

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Alhamra Advertising

It is important for Alhamra to be judicious in the use of personal persuasion. Alhamra needs to

make sure they don’t have a distorted view of what it takes to influence people’s behaviors.

Alhamra needs to make sure that advertising and promotion are not relied upon that only way to

achieve behavioral objectives. Advertising can only get target audiences aware and interested in

a new behavior. It is much less at achieving final action. The objectives for advertising and

promotion are within Alhamra’s reach. At the same time there is a very careful consideration of

the ethical implications of advertising. Alhamra should make sure that its advertising is simply

conveying its message.

Alhamra has a large number of tools available for carrying its message to its target audience. For

instance Alhamra can go for :

Paid advertising

Joint advertising

Direct or internet promotions

Personal persuasion

Unpaid advertising

Publicity

Bogging

Other major forms of advertising that can be adopted by Alhamra are:

Direct mail

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Newspapers

Broadcast TV

Cable TV

Radio

Yellow Pages

Consumer Magazines

Internet

Billboards

Posters

Business Publications

Target Market Selection

Alhamra must start with a clear target audience in mind. Their target audience are the youth, kids

for their puppet shows, middle aged people for their classical music and stage dramas and also

the lower middle class for their stage dramas The target audience has a crucial influence on

Alhamra’s decision on what to say, how to say and when to say it.

Target Response

Alhamra needs to define the kind of market response they are soughing The ultimate response is

obviously the behavior of the target market to come to Alhamra and show more interest in its

activities. Alhamra needs to know the current stage of the target audience and which stage it

should move to next. Different messages must be tailored to different groups at different stages.

Like different segments of Alhamra is upper class/upper middle class/lower class, youth, Artists

etc.

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Target Reach and Frequency

The third objective of Alhamra must be to set optimal target reach and frequency of advertising.

Usually funds for advertising are limited and it is difficult to reach the whole target market.

Alhamra needs to decide what percentage of audience of the audience they should reach with

what exposure frequency per period. The key issue is how many exposures are needed to create

the desired response, given the target segment’s state of readiness.

Advertising Budget Determination

Alhamra needs to estimate the total size of the required advertising budget and how the budget

should be allocated in different market segments. In practice budgets are allocated to segments

according to their respective populations. For Alhamra more budget should be spent on the youth

target area. This is because it is the young people who are going to come to Alhamra for the

training of dance, music, arts etc. Then most of the plays and shows that are held at Alhamra are for the

young generation. The budget should be allocated to different segments according to their expected

response to advertising.

Paid Media Selection

There are there basic steps in media selection process which Alhamra should follow:

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1. Choosing among major media categories

Television, Radio and internet are the most effective medium for advertising for

Alhamra. Television is the most effective medium for demonstrating what all Alhamra is

offering and creating the awareness of a lot of functions that Alhamra is performing that

people are not aware of like dance, music classes etc.

Other than that Radio adds are effective for the reminders to the youth as there is a trend

of listening to radio while going to work/ college/universities. So this can act as a great

recall factor.

Internet website of Alhamra would serve as a vehicle for those audiences wanting more

control over what they see and a chance to interact with marketers of Alhamra.

Alhamra should show their television advertisements during special occasions more

frequently like cricket series or in the evening when people are usually home and

watching TV. The internet on the other hand has a great potential for interactive

conversations with those who wish to influence. The popularity of websites like face

book, you tube indicate a huge potential for Alhamra’s marketing.

Deciding on media timings

Media timing is another very important thing that Alhamra needs to check. Alhamra

should reach the target audience at the time in which they are most likely to be interested.

For example the add should be most frequently aired when research shows the maximum

number of people are watching it.

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Alhamra should go for continuous advertising in which the exposures appear evenly

throughout the period.

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Television

Extensive reach for the audienceDifferent target groups of Alhamra will be reached

Possible use of celebrities

Radio

It will reach large target audience of AlhamraLow cost

Timely and repetitivePossible use of celebrities

Literacy not an issue

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Set Advertising Objectives

Determine Advertising

Budget

Decide on Messages

Select media

Evaluate advertising

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Advertising Evaluation

The final step is advertising evaluation both before and after execution. Alhamra can go

for focus group interviews for checking the response of its target audience. Since

advertisements are viewed in group settings, pretests with groups can indicate how

message is perceived and how it’s passed on. It can generate more reactions than one on

one session and it can yield data relatively quickly.

Personal Influence Objectives

Personal communication is part of the marketing mix and as such is capable of achieving

certain marketing objectives better than the tools in the marketing mix. Alhamra should

decide the relative importance of the different tasks and coach its personal representatives

accordingly. For Alhamra the marketers should spend more time in prospecting i.e find

and cultivate new target audiences. They must communicate useful information about the

organization to the public and persuade the target audience to visit and join Alhamra.

They should also supply the organization with useful research and intelligence.

Relationship Marketing

Alhamra should look for long term relations with its target audience. Building strong

long term relationships is very important and personal contact can play a very important

role in this. These target audience especially those who are influential should be given

continuous attentions. They should be given special passes for different programs being

held at Alhamra. Similarly there are a lot of other techniques like sending eid cards,

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birthday wishes(to influential members) etc. This nurturing of target audiences can also

have important pay offs in favorable word of mouth.

Internal Marketing

It is extremely important for the marketers of Alhamra to do internal marketing.

Every individual in the non-profit organization who has contact with the target audience

members is a marketer. In developing an internal marketing program, the place to begin

is with an audit of Alhamra and its external relations i.e. what are all the points of contact

with the outside world and who is involved.

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Managing Public Media and Public Advocacy

Public relations is a well established function in profit and non profit organizations. Traditionally

public relations has been responsible for maintaining and enhancing the organizations public

image.

Earned Media

It is any form of communication not paid for or under the control of the nonprofit

marketing organization through which the organization must earn coverage. Earned

media can be in earned through appearances on Key Talk Shows, articles in the Leading

Newspapers and the through Op-Ed pieces.

At the moment Alhamra is not following any earned Media strategy but it would be of

great benefit to Alhamra if either or all three of these channels are used to earn more

publicity. Developing this strategy is easier as compared to many other strategies and can

be really profitable and successful for the organization.

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The artists at Alhamra can be really helpful when it comes to implementing this strategy. They

can go on different talk shows on various channels and talk about all that is Alhamra is doing for

our culture. People will be more interested if a person who is on the show is well known. Such

activities are really influential. Secondly the main head or artists or musicians or anyone from the

management can write articles for the newspaper to spread awareness about Alhamra. This way

they are educating people by talking about their services. Alhamra can get different advocated

to work for its cause and promotion. They can write op-ed pieces for Alhamra that can

capture the targeted audience.

Traditional Public Relations

Traditionally the task of public relations is to form, maintain or change public attitudes towards

the non profit organization, its programs and its personnel. The process of public relations

consists of 8 steps which are shown in the diagram below.

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As we go through the 8 steps of public relations we see that if these 8 steps are followed, it

would be extremely beneficial for the organization and in our case Alhamra. Alhamra does not

follow any public relations plan or strategy. But if this process is followed it would further

strengthen Alhamra’s position as a nonprofit organization and would also help with its

prosperity.

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Public Relations Manager

A public relations manager plays a very important role in any organization and is responsible for

these two tasks.

• The responsibility for maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the organization

• Working at the campaign level.

Alhamra at the moment does not have a public relations manager. All such responsibilities lie on

one person only and that’s the Director. He is the one who maintains relations if at all. He is the

one who invites people and has to create and maintain and good image of Alhamra. In my

opinion he has so much other work to do that for him this task doesn’t carry any weight age and

is not of any importance.

Alhamra must hire a public relations manager. They would be qualified and educated and trained

for exactly this job. They would know what to say when and to whom. He would be much more

professional which gives away a good image of Alhamra. Also if a problem occurs he would be

trained to handle it in a much organized manner rather then a person who is doing a 100 other

things as well. When people who are contacted find out that this organization has a public

relations manager it will give a very professional image and people will be more interested in the

services. If Alhamra hires a public relations manager it would help create consistent public-

oriented policies and strategies.

Public Advocacy

Public Advocacy is the act of influencing decision makers and promoting changes to laws

and other government policies to advance the mission of a particular organization (in this

case the Alhamra Arts Council) or group of people. 

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Social Agendas

Social problems go through a relatively predictable set of stages as we see in the diagram above

by which they arise and are eventually dealt with or fall back into obscurity

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Alhamra should follow the social agenda tactic given above, as currently it is lagging and

doesn’t have any such policy. This process can help them identify their weaknesses and

see where exactly they are lagging and this way they can pinpoint it a lot more easily and

work n strengthening their weaknesses and achieving what they actually want.

Tools and Tactics

There are great many tools and tactics that a non profit public relations advocate can use to

achieve a campaigns aim. Some of the major ones are mentioned in the diagram below

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Alhamra like we mentioned before hardly believes in marketing which is why they have

lost their audience and the youth is more inclined towards other activities rather than

nurturing their own culture. There are various ways and tools and tactics that Alhamra

can use to start getting the attention that it requires. Through this process Alhamra can

launch very effective campaigns and spread their message across to its audience.

FUNDS GENERATION AND SOURCES OF FUNDS

All businesses require cash infusions, and non profits must get funding to continue providing

services or support to their constituents. Non profits and not for profits can acquire funding

through several ways. Donations form the bulk of funding to most non profits, followed by

grants from corporations, foundations and private individuals.

The four major sources of funds for an npo comprise several sub categories;

Donations

a) Major Individual Cash Gifts

b) Small Gifts

c) Corporate foundation cash grants

d) Product Donations

e) Non corporate foundation cash grants

Self Generated Revenues

f) Sale of principal products and services

g) Revenue from unrelated enterprises

h) Membership dues

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i) Investment Income

Partnership Proceeds

j) Cause-Marketing shares

k) Licensing fees

l) Web site advertising fees

Nonprofit organization typically passes through three stages of marketing orientation in their

thinking about how to raise funds efficiently

Product Orientation stage

Sales Orientation stage

Customer Orientation stage

In the production orientation stage the normal attitude is that “we have a good cause, people

ought to support us” Money is raised primarily by the top officers through an old boy

network. The organization relies on volunteers to help raise additional funds.

In the sales orientation stage the attitude is “there is a lot of competition out there, People are

usually reluctant to give. If we want to grow, we’re going to have to be much more

aggressive” the institution appoints a hard charging development director who hires a staff

that is given specific assignments and target numbers.

In the customer orientation stage the attitude is “Like all marketers our challenge is to

understand the needs and wants of our target market and then figure out how to meet them.

In our case it is very obvious that Alhamra Arts council is at the product orientation stage for

a long time and is doing all those activities which a typical firm in a product orientation stage

does. For example it organizes glamorous events and parties for its guests and artists. It tells

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its story through exhibitions and theatre. And again the mindset is that “we have a good

offering and we just need to tell people about our work and our plants”

The point that lies here is that Alhamra should be operating at a customer orientation stage

that means it should realize the needs and wants of their target market and make ideas to

satisfy them. They should create such strategies so as everyone in their target market can be

satisfied with its products and services. Here a very important thing comes and that is word

of mouth advertising. Now we all know that if we recommend a friend or relative of our

family that we really had a good experience in a particular organization or we usually give in

to thus organization, there are very much chances that they will also like to go there. So the

point is that if we provide our target market with what they desire, it will surely get us more

attention and will lead to betterment for the whole organization. So a marketing oriented

stage is something which Alhamra should try and achieve.

What your nonprofit does--your programs and products--is the highest priority for any

nonprofit manager. Fundraising is the second.

New fundraising techniques and methods come into existence every year, but the basic ones

should be the backbone of your fundraising efforts. These are, literally, our "bread and

butter."

Individuals are the largest source of funding for non-profit organizations. According

to Giving USA, total charitable giving in the U.S. reached more than $300 billion in

2008. Of that amount 75% came from individuals

Corporations give in order to get...exposure, publicity, community respect, market

share. Their funding is more episodic, revolving around particular campaigns, events,

and projects. Corporate funding can be a good source of support for new initiatives,

special programs, and special events. Look for opportunities to form partnerships for

sponsorships and cause-related marketing.

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Federal, State and Local Governments. Many non-profit institutions benefit from

all levels of government. Obvious examples are public education, higher education,

and the public media. Federal, state, and local government grants fund many

programs provided by nonprofits, especially in areas such as social services and

healthcare. Grants.gov provides up-to-date information and a directory of federal

grants.

Federated Funds such as United Ways, United Arts, etc., can be steady sources of

relatively large amounts of money. Available only to well established non-profit

organizations

Grantmaking Public Charities. These organizations are a cross between a private

foundation and a charity. They typically receive funding from the general public,

government and private foundations. They may do public service, but primarily raise

funds and provide grants to charitable nonprofits that provide direct service. You can

find many such grantmaking public charities in your local area. Some are associated

with an overarching national organization (the Junior League is one such example).

Grantmaking public charities file IRS Form 990 so information about them can be

found in many databases, such as at the Foundation Centre and GuideStar.

Foundations come in various sizes and types but their grants can be important and

substantial.

Private Foundations include:

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Corporate Foundations are private foundations, but their boards are often made up of

corporate officers. Their endowment funds are separate from the corporation and they

have their own professional staff.

Family Foundations receive endowments from individuals or families. Many large,

iconic foundations are family foundations. Think of the Gates Foundation, the

Rockefeller Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. These family foundations have

endowments in the billions, but most family foundations are much smaller, tend to

fund locally, and often have little to no professional staff.

Community Foundations are public foundations and pool the assets of many donors.

They work to improve their local communities through grant-making, awarding

scholarships, and providing services to donors. Community Foundations have become

very active in providing donor-advised funds for donors who want to become more

purposeful in their giving but don't want to set up their own private foundations.

Ongoing Vs Episodic Funding

Besides seeking support from a variety of sources, our fundraising program should seek both

ongoing financial support and episodic support.

Ongoing support is usually gained through:

The Annual Fund . An annual fund means just that, annual (or more frequent)

appeals to a core group of constituents. Such funds are usually unrestricted

(available for any use) and may represent a large percentage of your annual

income.

Ongoing Sales of Products and Services. Some non-profits own stores or

provide services that can represent a substantial income stream. The Girl Scouts is

one obvious example with its annual sale of Girl Scout cookies, and Goodwill

Industries is probably the largest nonprofit retailer. A symphony or theater earns

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income through the sale of tickets. Earned income must be related to the mission

of the organization or it can be taxed as unrelated business income.

Multi-Year Grants. A grant-giving organization such as a foundation may

provide restricted funding for a particular project or program, or unrestricted

funding to help cover the overhead costs of running the organization.

Endowment Income . Many large nonprofits, particularly higher education

institutions and healthcare organizations build up large endowment funds that

produce interest that is used to support the organization.

Episodic funding can come from foundation or corporate grants; special events; or a bequest.

These funds may be restricted to one purpose or devoted to unrestricted use by the nonprofit.

However there are certain caveats as well as advantages for using these fundraising sources, they are

mentioned in the matrix below.

Source Advantages Disadvantages

Individuals

· Largest source of giving

· Ongoing source one can build

· Once a giver, also an advocate

· Volunteers are a good source of money

· Costly to develop, small return per

individual unit

· Hard to generate unless broad-based

direct service appeal

· Risky for the inexperienced

· Need significant assistance from the

organization's board and volunteers

Large-Family

Foundations

· Source of large sums of money

· Accessible, professional staff

· Clear guidelines, process

· Start-up funds only

· Lengthy process

· More difficult to access through

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· Most likely to research your request

· Board volunteers can help, not always

key

personal influence

· Proposals may be more lengthy

Community

Foundations

· Much like large-family foundations

· Staff may be sufficient

· Host of foundations within

foundations

· Most money is earmarked, special

funds

Small-Family

Foundations

· May fund ongoing operating expenses

· Personal influence with board members

helps

· Guidelines often broad

· Not very fussy about grant format

· Hard to access, no professional staff

· Often not large sums of money

· Without personal influence, may not

be possible

Large Corporations /

Corporate

Foundations

· Can be source of large sums of money

· Smaller amounts of money may be

ongoing

· Often accessible, professional staff

· May be tied to volunteer involvement

· Business strategy may be clear

· Source of cause-related marketing

· Large sums of money aren't ongoing

· Hard to get around staff

· Must be within their guidelines

· Not likely to contribute if not

headquartered locally or have a public

consumer base

· Often want board representation

Small Corporations

· Very informal approach

· Money may be ongoing

· Personal connections will suffice

· Neighborhood focus will help

· Small amounts of money

· Narrow range of interest

· Personal contacts are key

Federated Funds · Steady source of relatively large sums · Generally can't be a start-up

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(United Ways,

United Arts,

Combined Health

Appeal)

of money

· Clear process

· Professional staff, can be agency staff

driven

organization

· Must be social service and fit

priority focus

· Very lengthy entry process

· Very time consuming as must be

part of yearly fund raising process,

with periodic in-depth review

Government

· Large sums of money possible

· Process is set, clear

· Political clout helps

· May be source of ongoing money

· Application procedures may be long,

tedious

· May only pay by unit of service,

fluctuates

· Unspent monies may be returned

· Difficult record keeping

Churches and

Organizations · Often looking for group projects

· In-kind services most likely

· Need to fit their service focus,

neighborhood or religious outlook

Now we would like to explain as to what foundations Alhamra should apply funds for. We know

that around 60 % of funds of Alhamra are generated by the Government and 40% are internally

generated by rents and fees of classes etc. Alhamra should be going to individual as well for

funds because these individuals can show keen interest in what Alhamra is offering. There are so

many rich people out here in Pakistan which we know are very much fond of arts and paintings.

We have seen so many expensive paintings in the houses of these individuals. So Alhamra

should be targeting them as well. Alhamra should organize a painting exhibition on its own by its

own artists and then call all of these individual and try to sell those paintings to them. Punjab as

we all know is filled with all these kind of individuals who will show keen interest in Alhamra

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and will be happy to provide funds to them. After government and individuals, Alhamra should

look out for corporations to provide them with funds. They would obviously be having a medium

interest level in Alhamra, but it’s the challenge for Alhamra to convince these corporations and

make them show interest in Alhamra and its activities. First of all Alhamra should look for those

corporations with which it have good contacts or a key member of Alhamra has personal

relationships with. That can be really helpful.

As we know that Alhamra is situated on Mall Road, and there are so many other big corporations

which come under the same area as of Alhamra. For example there are so many banks situated

there as well. So Alhamra can ask those banks for grants and in return it can offer its employees

free tickets or passes to its shows and continuously invite the bank managers as chief guests on

its special events and occasions. So banks can also become a part of Alhamra this way.

Furthermore Alhamra can go to foundations such as independent ones and family ones to which

Alhamra can market and attract funds. It should market in such a way so that it convinces the

givers that Alhamra really is giving birth to artists and striving hard to keep up the standard of its

shows and events. It should make them realize that Alhamra is an important part of Lahore and if

its not funded well, the culture and tradition of Pakistan will melt away and no one will really

know about it. So in order to keep the cultural values high in the people of Pakistan, Alhamra

should be doing all these things and it will thus surely attract funds.

The following is the fundraising grid derived from our above discussion.

“GIVING POTENTIAL” Row

“INTEREST POTENTIAL” Column

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HIGH MEDIUM LOW

HIGH INDIVIDUALS CORPORATIONS

BY PERSONAL

CONTACTS

MEDIUM GOVERNMENT FOUNDATIONS

LOW BUSINESS FIRMS

AND BANKS

After identifying a few foundations that might have strong interest in a project, the nonprofit

organization should try to estimate more accurately the foundation’s likely level of interest

before investing a lot of time in grant preparation. Most foundations are willing to respond to a

simple straightforward letter and indicate how keen they are in the project. Sometimes the

foundation officer maybe receptive and for that it is very important that an elaborate proposal

should be made. There are different forms and formats for full funding proposals. Every funder

has different guidelines and priorities, deadlines and timetables. Some funders accept a Common

Application Form (CAF), a single proposal accepted by a number of grantmakers to help

grantseekers save time and streamline the grant application process.

Each proposal should contain the following elements

Cover Sheet - a case statement and proposal summary;

Needs Assessment - a concise demonstration of the specific situation, opportunity,

problem, issue, need, and the community your proposal addresses;

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Program Goals and Objectives - a succinct description of the proposed project/program's

outcome and accomplishments in measurable terms, and how it matches the funder's

interests;

Methodology - a rational, direct, chronological description of the proposed project and

the process used to achieve the outcome and accomplishments;

Evaluation - the plan for meeting performance and producing the program/project;

Budget/Funding Requirements - a realistic budget with a detailed explanation of the

funding request, committed matching funds, evidence of sound fiscal management, and

long term funding plan;

Qualifications - your organization's background, its funding history, board involvement

and staff qualifications, and its capacity to carry out your proposal;

Conclusion - a brief, concise summary of your proposal;

Appendices - additional attachments required by the funder, such as proof of tax-exempt

status, organizational and financial documents, staff/board lists, support/commitment

letters

Alhamra can furthermore indulge into these activities in order to raise funds as well

Auctions

Get everything FREE - Get in-kind donations for every possible expense

Concentrate on Selling Tickets

Combine Ideas to Add Income (Dinner/Dance, Auction/Special Raffle Prizes)

Put a Price Tag on Everything (Sponsor Tables, Sell Center Pieces)

Take Souvenir Polaroid Photo

Get Sponsors to Help Underwrite Your Events or Parts of Each Event

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