Battered Women Fight Back! Situation Analysis: Battered Women Fight Back!

is a Boston, MA 501 (c) (3) agency with a goal to increase awareness that domestic violence is a direct violation of a persons fundamental human right, Stacy Kabat is the main force driving BWFB! There are compelling statistics demonstrating the extent and gravity of domestic violence in the US, Women and children are the principal victims of domestic violence, Domestic violence is a major contributing factor to homelessness in the US, Businesses suffer significant losses because of domestic violence, Very few cases of domestic violence are reported, Children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to become abusing parents, Domestic violence crosses boundaries of ethnicity, educational background, income level, social class, However, domestic violence is perceived to be a private matter for a certain population, Academy award for best documentary given to Defending Our Lives gave a huge push to the issue of domestic violence making it a national matter, BWFB! through Stacy contributed to the making of the documentary, The murder cases of Carol Stuart and Nicole Brown Simpson have also contributed to bringing the problem of domestic violence into close public attention, Stacy Kabat wants to leverage the heightened public attention to promote BWFB! cause and expand its programs, BWFB! operates on a budget of$150,000, two-thirds of the budget come from foundations contributions, Stacy needs to develop and implement a marketing strategy to achieve BWFB! goals. SWOT ANALYSIS: |Strengths: |WEAKNESSES: | |Stacy has strong expertise in the area of human rights, both |Stacy has little if any business / marketing expertise, | |inside and outside the United States, |BWFB! operates on a limited budget of $150,000 with only 3 | |BWFB! has enjoyed national recognition being awarded best |full-time and 3 part-time employees and a group of volunteers,| |documentary academy award, |BWFB! does not offer extensive services used as intervention | |Stacy has lived domestic violence in her childhood, so did |resources for battered women, | |her mother, | |

|BWFB! is one of the best run charities in the US, | | |BWFB! has a solid group of volunteers, | | |Stacy has built connections with Hollywood stars following her| | |Oscar win, | | |BWFB! champions a compelling and worthy cause with an eloquent| | |mission statement: Peace in the world begins at home | | |OPPORTUNITIES: |THREATS: | |Domestic Violence has recently enjoyed continuous public |Lots of existing competition for funding from other | |attention making it a national matter, |charities local and national, | |As a result of 1) requests for educational information and |Multitude of resources available for victims of domestic | |materials has quadrupled, |violence, | |Domestic Violence was selected one of 28 national pro bono |Increase for information and materials request could overwhelm| |projects in 1994, |BWFB! limited resources, | |Recent Hollywood connections can help and promote BWFB! in |National focus could bring more charities competing for the | |many ways, |same funding resources as BWFB! | |Other charities and institutions focusing on families and | | |children could be interested in what BWFB! actions, | | |Domestic violence has detrimental effect on the society as a | | |whole and occurs in all social, ethnical and educational | | |environments. | | CURRENT BWFB! CHALLENGES / DECISIONS: As the leader and the public face for BWFB! Stacey Kabat needs to take the appropriate decisions to address the challenge of getting information to those who needed it most. Also, she must decide whether she could frame domestic violence as a human rights violation and how to obtain additional funding for BWFB! programs in the US and possibly around the world. A marketing strategy is needed to address the challenges and make the right calls in the right place at the right time.

Stacys plan shall build upon the BWFB! stregnths and opportunities while mitigating inherent weaknesses and potential threats. ALTERNATIVE STARTEGIES: 1. Leverage Stacys newly acquired fame and Hollywood connections to get one or more of these connections to endorse BWFB! to enhance its public image and increase funding, 2. Stacy can also use her fame to promote the cause of BTWF! via public speeches and mass media interviews, possible proceeds from public speeches can provide funding for BWFB! 3. Launch a web site for BWFB! where educational information and materials are made available for free, o Note: The web site alternative is suggested in the current time context (2009). Such an alternative might not have been discussed in 1994 as Internet and web sites were not widely used as they are Today! 4. Capitalize on heightened national awareness and attention to expand its network of individual and corporate donors using electronic and paper mail, 5. Start a partnership with one or more Boston charities who are involved in domestic violence prevention to optimize common / shared use of resources. CRITICAL ISSUES: Timing is of essence, the buzz and fame recently gained could fade with time, the same can be stated bout the heightened national awareness. Marketing strategy shall outline recommendations and solutions that can be started ASAP, With limited resources, BWFB! strategy shall focus on critical few solutions and recommendations to avoid over-stretching its capacity, BWFB! strategy should preserve its uniqueness among other charities involved in domestic violence by focusing on its core mission, BWFB! strategy shall maintain its reputation for financial discipline and sound management , ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES: 1. Endorsement from one or more Hollywood stars is a viable strategy as it leverages Stacys new connections, does not strain BTWF! resources while enhancing the its unique image. Such endorsement would also publicize the cause of BWFB! and motivate new individuals and corporate to join BWFB! donors network thus increasing BWFB! funding, 2. Public speeches and mass media interviews will provide BWFB! with outstanding opportunity to promote its prevention program Peace in the World Begins at Home by providing educational information and materials to a large audience. In her speeches and interviews, Stacy should make extensive use of available statistics and studies to frame domestic violence as a human rights violation with far reaching detrimental results on the society as a whole. The return

of investment for this alternative is significant (no major drain on resources) while its objectives are perfectly aligned with the educational and awareness core mission of BWFB! 3. (Note: This alternative is being analyzed in the current context i.e. 2009) Launching a BWFB! Web site might require some money, however with a basic design the one-time development cost should be afforable while web hosting cost is extremely low. It is also possible that one or more BWFB! volunteers have web design knowledge and can launch a basic web site for no cost in a relatively short time. The web site will provide an additional outlet for BWFB! to deploy its information and training materials. The fact that domestic violence crosses boundaries of educational, social, economical and professional status makes the case stronger for that alternative in case some might argue that people who have access to the web dont fit the certain population perception. 4. The free ads utilization is attractive and can help make the message reach a wider population. That alternative could require commitment from a staff member to contact the pro bono administrators and inquire about the process to follow to obtain the money. With 28 projects are sharing the $20 million, each project will be allocated about $720,000 (in average). However, the financial attractiveness of this alternative is dependent on the number of charities competing for these funds. A viable solution would be to contact pro bono to explore the potential dollar amount BWFB! can expect before committing more staff and time into that alternative. 5. A mailing (electronic and paper) campagin to attract additioanl individual and corporate donors can potentially increase BWFB! funding given the increased awareness to the problem of domestic violence. However, such a campagin could over-stretch BWFB! resources without a garantied return on investment. While the current contribution percentages for individual and corporate donors show a potential for increase, they can also be interpreted as caps for this category of contributions. RECOMMENDATIONS: Based on arguments detailed in section 6: capitalizing on the heightened recent national awareness and the newly acquired fame from the Academy Award winning shall drive the actions undertaken by Stacy and BWFB! Public speeches, mass media interviews and endoresements from one or more of Stacys new Hollywood connections will get the information to the largest possible audience, quickly and with little burden on resources while meeting the most important goal for BWFB! Another potential benefit of this strategy could be an increase in fundings for BWFB! The web site solution will significantly contribute to dessiminate the core message of BWFB! abour domestic violence framed as a human rights violation. BWFB! should explore the possibility of obtaining free ads funds and commit dedicated resources once the financial attractiveness of this option is confirmed with pro bono administrators.

The first recommendation mainly relates to the Promotion component of the 4Ps marketing tools, while the second recommendation is more about the Place. The last recommendation ties to both Place and Promotion. Notes: 1. In my opinion, the Product component is implicitly present in all marketing recommendations. As a matter of fact, Promotion, Place and Price are strongly tied to the marketed product itself thus making it present (at various degrees) in almost every marketing recommendations. 2. Another interersting observation is the quasi irrelevance of the pricing aspect given the special nature of the product mareketed by BWFB! CONCLUSION AND MARKETING PRINCIPLES: Timely use of marketing opportunities (public attention, fame, ..etc) is essential to the success of marketing strategy; Celebrity endorsements is likely to boosts the cause they endorse; Confirm return on investment before committing resources, A focused strategy with few alternatives tailored to available resources is more effective than one with a multitude of alternatives.