marketing group project report
TRANSCRIPT
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Marketing Group Project Report
Abby Ballesty 4519 8845
Isabella Bianchini 45122318 Abbie Fowler 45160384
Benjamin Sargant 45162786
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary 3
Phase 1 – Demand Conditions 5
Phase 2 – Competitor Analysis 11
Phase 3- Suppliers and Intermediaries 20
Phase 4 – Australian Market Analysis 24
Phase 5 – BOS #1 Sponsorships 31
Phase 5 – BOS #2 App 39
Appendix 45
References 54
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Executive Summary
The Autism Community Network (ACN) is a community-based group which provides services to
individuals and family members impacted by Autism at no cost. Currently the business model is
structured around the support of volunteers and funded through donations and fundraising
campaigns. Whilst the company effectively provides the community with support and a helping
hand, the business model is not sustainable and so business managers desperately need to consider
implementing a new strategy which would ensure not only its survival but help it thrive, expanding
their reach in support and increasing brand awareness. The market is saturated with numerous
service providers who currently all do similar work, so ACN need to implement a strategy which will
allow for them to differentiate from the rest and gain a competitive advantage.
For this reason, we believe that ACN need to adopt a Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS). The BOS framework
was introduced by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne in 2004 and outlines how businesses can
reinvent their business strategy to access uncontested marketspace. They suggest that currently
business focus to much on what their competitors are doing and by doing so, are stuck in red ocean,
constantly reacting or mimicking other businesses strategies. BOS converts a business’s main focus
to their existing and/ or potential consumer, aiming to create new demand through superior
features and in a sense, making the competition irrelevant.
In this report we analyse different aspects of ACN’s internal and external market to better
understand their current position, the position of competitors, the consumers demand and the
current marketplace in which they all exist. Through this research we discovered a few areas of
interest. It was clear that competitors were currently all in a race to offer a certain service directly to
the market of people impacted by Autism and were paid as a result of this service. However, it was
clear that accessibility to such services was not equal across Australia and there was a demand for
services in more rural parts of the country. There was also an evident lack of funding provided by
NDIS to a large proportion of people diagnosed with Autism, meaning that services were pricey for
families and many families struggled with financing. Furthermore, we also uncovered that there are
3 tiers of non-consumers including regular Australians who have no relation to someone with Autism
who have never been targeted by companies such as ACN before. This is just a few notable points of
interest that were exposed during our research which was used as a foundation for our
brainstorming of BOS for the ACN.
When brainstorming our ideas for a BOS it was clear that we needed to reinvent the business model
for ACN and look at ways of offering a new service or product to a new target market. We cross-
referenced ideas with BOS frameworks to ensure it was viable and essentially came up with two
strategies.
The first strategy follows a sponsorship model in which targets the third tier of non-consumers. This
strategy sets out to capture the attention of regular Australians or Australian businesses who whilst
have never considered using the service of ACN before, have the means to subscribe to a regular
sponsorship or one-off donation. Families impacted by Autism will be able to submit an expression
of interest and be put on a waiting list. It will be the job of sales representatives to essentially
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connect these families with a sponsor which will provide the family with a source of financial support
to be used in other services for their child or family. The strategy aims to build brand awareness and
awareness of the disability through strong marketing and prospecting.
The second strategy is based around the development and design of an app which will ultimately
provide consumers with a centralised destination to search or review what services are available to
them in both their location and budget. It will act as a streamlined information centre ensuring
consumers are knowledgeable about their options in accessing support.
Through both our strategies we aim to break into uncontested marketspace by providing current or
new consumers with a superior service or product. The following report provides, in detail, our
research of the demand, the competitors, the suppliers and the current Australian marketplace.
Phase 5 then offers a greater insight into both our BOS, how they were formulated and how they
should be implemented to ensure their success. If done correctly, ACN will be able to access new
marketspace which will ultimately increase brand awareness, profitability and expand their business.
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PHASE 1: Demand Conditions Prevalence of Autism in Australia
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Autism Community Network
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Understanding Autism
Where a child sits on the autism spectrum may have an impact on the likelihood of either
themselves or their family members engaging with ACN or similar services. This needs to be
taken into consideration when developing a comprehensive strategy for ACN.
Segmentation In order to better understand ACN and autism in Australia, it is important to look at possible
market segmentation. For ACN, it has been identified that segmentation by demographics is
the most appropriate way to assess the market for parents, siblings, families and
grandparents. For support organisations, geographic segmentation is the most appropriate
method.
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PESTEL Analysis of the environment and market ACN operates in will allow for understanding of
influences that may affect the functioning of ACN. Understanding elements involved in the
PESTEL analysis will assist in the development of a strategic and comprehensive marketing
approach.
Table 1: PESTLE Analysis
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Three Tiers of Non-customers
The three tiers of non-customers is a blue ocean strategy developed by Kim & Mauborgne
(2015). This model highlights potential opportunities for ACN to increase their market share,
and will be pivotal in the development of a comprehensive marketing approach.
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PHASE 2: Competitor Analysis and Nature of Industry Industry Map Figure 1: Industry Map for Autism Community Network
Porter's Generic Strategies. ACN implements a cost leadership strategy. This strategy focuses on attaining competitive advantage
through having the lowest cost in the industry (Pretorius 2008). As the CAN services are free of
charge this strategy applies directly to the strategies, they implement to deploy their services. The
utilisation of volunteers furthermore reflects a workforce commitment to the low-cost strategy, and
donations from various partnerships enables low cost services to be provided to consumers.
ASPECT implement a focus strategy through differentiation, as they target a specific segment of the
market specifically through a select customer group, product range and service line, being school
children and schools (Pretorius 2008). ASPECT is able to successfully implement a focus
differentiation strategy as they provide superior value to customers through their high product
quality, characteristics and features.
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Autism Awareness Australia also follow a coast leadership strategy, as their provision of information
and resources surrounding living with autism are free of charge across the country and reach a
broad range of consumers. They are not characterised by a differentiation strategy as the other
competitors identified all provide information and resources on autism as well as conduct targeted
educational programs, campaigns, and events. However, Autism Awareness Australia are superior in
their delivery of resource information
Autism Mates engages a differentiation strategy, as they work directly with schools and businesses
to foster an environment of acceptance and inclusion within wider society. They do not directly
engage with individuals or families living with autism, but rather direct their focus and energy
towards programs that target larger audiences, contributing to its position as unique and different
within the market.
Market Positioning a. positioning map Figure 2: Market Positioning of ACN in relation to competitors
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Differentiation between autism service providers
Summary SWOT Analysis of competitors Table 2: SWOT Analysis of ACN
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Table 3: Strength and Weakness Analysis of ASPECT
Table 4: Strength and Weakness Analysis of Autism Awareness Australia
Table 5: Strength and Weakness Analysis of Autism mates
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Marketing Mix for the client and the competitors Table 6: Marketing Mix ACN
Table 7: Marketing Mix ASPECT
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Table 8: Marketing Mix Autism Awareness Australia
Table 9: Marketing Mix Autism MATES
Cooperative Strategies and Strategic Alliances The ACN identified that Autism Mates is a competitor that they collaborate and work with,
specifically regarding community support. Autism MATES is a strategic partner as they enter schools
and businesses to give presentation on how to increase understanding, acceptance and inclusion of
individuals living with autism into the workplace, communities, and wider society. Accordingly, the
inclusion on ACN within Autism MATES presentations will increase knowledge and awareness of the
organisation, leading to an increase in the amount of market share captured.
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PESTLE Table 10: PESTLE Analysis
Outlined and explained below is how each element of the pestle should be considered and
addressed for organisations to attain competitive advantage.
Political Increased government funding and focus may contribute to organisations who are closely affiliated
with the government to gain competitive advantage. It furthermore may contribute to individuals
and families choosing substitute products such as doctors over the services provided by ACN and its
competitors.
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Economic High unemployment rates combined with low disposable income may see family’s resort to low-cost
or free services.
Sociocultural Figure 3: Prevalence of autism, by age – 2015 and 2018
As displayed in Figure 3, autism is more likely to be experienced by children aged 5-9 and teenagers
aged 10-14 (ABS 2019). Reflecting these findings, the majority of autism service provision is targeted
towards school children and young adults. Organisations who actively seek to target their products
and services to these demographics inevitably will be in a better position.
Society is additionally increasingly health driven and focused, with a dramatic surge in the
considered importance of preventative health care, with focus increasingly being directed towards
emotional, psychological and social wellbeing (Sing, Srivastava and Prakash 2020). This accordingly
suggests people will be inclined to identify, address, and treat health concerns including as autism to
improve the quality of life for those experiencing it.
Technology Particularly in the COVID-19 climate, autism service providers who fail to adapt and evolve their
platforms for carrying out their services risk obsolescence and failure. As consumers are accessing
information and services remotely, the organisations who provide the most interactive, appealing,
and user-friendly physical evidence platforms play a momentous role in creating a positive consumer
perception (Yelkur 2000).
Legal Individuals who live with autism often face discrimination challenges, particularly regarding attaining
and retaining employment because of unique social, communication and behavioural characteristics
(Hendricks 2010). Therefore, autism service providers who have specialised, expert and legal abilities
within this space will be more successful.
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Porters 5 Forces Table 11: Porters 5 Forces
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PHASE 3: Suppliers and Intermediaries Markets of Inputs
Funding As a provider of groups and social clubs across NSW for families and individuals impacted by Autism,
it is vital to understand the environment that the ACN operates in. As a non-profit Charity, the ACN
has an important connection with the Government, being its primary source of financing, this input
contributed 75.64% of ACN’s total income (figure 4), enabling the ACN to fund its activities across 17
local government areas (LGAs). Under the government grant program known as the Inclusive
Communities Grants, ACN has been granted $465,464 in total funding over a three-year period
(AusGov, 2018). With the “aim to increase the social and economic participation of vulnerable and
disadvantaged individuals and families within their communities and enhance their life-time
wellbeing and sense of community belonging.” (DSS, 2018) While the funding is currently secure, this
key input is set to end once the last instalment expires in 2021.
Figure 5: AAA Fundraising Figure 6: AAA Funding Figure 4: ACN Funding
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Volunteers In addition to the input of government grants, the ACN also receives input from donations and
bequests seen in Figure 4 amounting to $65,908 or 22.85% of income in 2020. This funding comes in
through several of ACN’s income streams, from club and council and community grants, community
events such as trivia nights as well as other fundraisers (Drakoulis, 2020). Furthermore, the ACN also
receives income from the selling of goods and services as well as from income investments although
these inputs were substantially smaller than the two other income streams of government grants
and donations and bequests, making up just 1.54% of income (Exhibit 4).
Volunteers When looking at ACN’s market inputs it is also important to note the importance of ACN’s volunteer
program. The key market output of the ACN is the specialised services the charity provides as
mentioned previously in the income streams. This output cannot function from an operations
standpoint without the staff and volunteers who conduct activities and connect the more than 1,700
families in the ACN (ACN, 2020). These volunteers all have a personal connection to autism, either
having a child with autism or knowing friends with autism. This connection produces ACN’s output,
in the specialised services for families that combines their unique perspective of the issues involved
with autism (Drakoulis, 2020).
Alternative Suppliers
Autism Awareness Australia Autism Awareness Australia (AAA) looks to provide carers and parents with information and
resources to help improve the lives of those impacted by autism. The charity also provides
educational programs and events aimed at families and professionals, in areas such as early
intervention, therapies, the autism assessment process as well as financial support resources (AAA,
2020). AAA has over its national platform reached a combined 105,000 followers, and a national
database of 20,000 individuals and families. While also providing the majority of events and
programs for free for families (Autism Awareness, 2019). From an arrangement perspective, the
charity has been involved in a number of high-profile fundraising events such as City2Surf, Pub2Pub,
everyday hero and more (Figure 5). From a financial perspective (Figure 6), similar to the ACN, AAA
make a majority of their finances from Government grants at 62.52% of total income, although AAA
adds a higher percentage of income from donations and bequests at 32.78%.
Porters Five Forces
Adapting Porter’s Five Forces to ACN When attempting to implement Porter’s Five Forces to the case of the non-profit ACN, changes need
to be made to alter a model traditionally designed for use with for-profit commerce scenarios. This
revised model of Porters Five Forces focuses instead on how the forces can influence the ACN and
their ability to stay true to their mission as effectively and as efficiently as possible.
1. The power of Large Funders (The power of Large suppliers) Instead in the revised model, the ACN should see its suppliers and customers as essentially one
entity, funders. Large funders can impact the ACN by pulling it away from its core vision, for example
through the lure of generous project funding.
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2. Competitive Rivalry While there has always been a longstanding tradition of cooperation instead of competition in the
non-for-profit sector, significant pressure is changing the environment towards a more competitive
environment. With a continually shrinking pool of donors ACN should look to adapt their business
model to one that reflects an environment which in recent years has placed significantly more
pressure to perform.
3. Potential for Entry into the industry Barriers of entry for the non-profit charity sector are extremely low, with there being a limited
number of conditions that need to be met in order to register as a charity with the Australian
Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) (ACNC-REG, 2020). Observation of this
environment is then critical for the ACN to maintain a competitive advantage over other similar
charity organisations.
4. The Threat of competing needs (Threat of substitute products) Within the non-profit sector that the ACN resides in, the threat of substitute products should be
instead be seen as the threat of competing funding requirements. Thus, ACN must continually adapt
to new competition which shares the same need for funding while having differing core mission
values. Ultimately, despite the ACN working towards its own obsolesce, through the completion of
its core mission, it cannot achieve this without funding.
5. Ability and willingness of beneficiaries to participate The last aspect that the Porter’s Five Forces model overlooks for non-profits is the vital nature of
beneficiaries. For ACN, the families and children involved are an important influence that has
significant ramifications for ACN and the ability for charity to effectively carry out its core objectives.
Without this participation, there is no measurement of impact and thus no appeal for donations,
volunteer programs or government grants. Thus, making it an important final force to include in the
revised Porter’s Five Forces Model.
Figure 7: porters 5 Forces
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Intermediaries, Environment and Observers – The Influence of the
NDIS
Implications of the National Disability insurance Scheme (NDIS) for the ACN The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provides funding for an estimated 500,000
Australians who have a significant or permanent disability (NDISAbout, 2020). The NDIS is not a
welfare system, but instead looks to provide individuals the support needed to improve their
independence over time. This can include offering wheelchairs, speech therapy, home modifications
as well as most importantly for the ACN, the funding of assistance to “get out and participate in
activates in the community.” (EAC, 2020) This provides a unique opportunity for the ACN, allowing
the organisation to improve its long-term financial position, while avoiding the mission-creep
mentioned above in the influence of large funders.
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PHASE 4: The current Australian Marketplace as it relates to ACN Consumer and Business Confidence Consumer Confidence (CC): CC is at an all-time low due to the current outbreak of the global
pandemic COVID-19. With the news of the lockdowns in late March 2020 there was a significant
drop in CC index (Figure 8), whilst this number has increased since March, due to the announcement
of increased government grants such as Jobseeker, CC is still much lower than the previous decade
(Figure 9). The uncertainty of the future economic climate means consumers are cautious of their
spending and will be vigilant with large purchases or donations to prioritise saving which ACN must
consider.
Figure 8 -Sources : (ANZ - Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence -2020 Summary , 2020)
Figure 9 -Sources : (ANZ - Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence -2020 Summary , 2020)
Business Confidence (BC): The economic impact of COVID-19 has also affected BC of Australian
organisations, similarly, seeing a large drop in confidence with the lockdown requirements (Figure
10). This shows businesses concern for the future market as a result of the drop in CC and will be
demonstrated by conservative attitude toward investment for the time being. ACN need to
understand businesses may also be hesitant with large sponsorships as they prioritise their own
business during the uncertain economic climate.
Figure 10 – Source: (Roy Morgan - Bus iness Conf idence 2020, 2020)
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Human Development Index Rating (HDI) Australia’s HDI rating in 2018 was 6th highest in the world, suggesting high life expectancy, high
participation in education and a good standard of living for the Australian public (Figure 11). This is
important to compare to the lives of people with ASD as a study found that people with ASD die on
average 16 years before those that do not have the disorder (Hirvikoski, et al., 2016). This
comparison of life expectancy highlights the importance and opportunity for ACN to run events and
campaigns with the aim of maximising quality of life.
Figure 11 – Sources : (UNDP, 2019)
Cost of Living in Australia The cost of living in Australia has continued to rise over the past decade due to steady levels of
inflation. Prior to COVID, the average monthly cost of living for a family of four was about $5,000
(Figure 12). This average is a lot higher for families with autistic children due to direct and indirect
costs incurred, the median family cost for a family with an Autistic child was estimated to be an extra
$35,000 per annum. Approximately 90% of this sum is an indirect cost and result of parents working
less to care for their child, whilst the remaining involves providing health care and education to their
child (Hill, Thomson, & Cass, 2011). Many families with kids on the spectrum do not meet the
requirements to receive NDIS funding (Drakoulis, 2020). ACN must consider the cost of living with an
autistic child for their consumers when considering services to implement and the lack of funding for
families impacted with autism.
Figure 12 – Source: (New est imates of the costs of rais ing chil dren in Australia, 201 8)
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Accessibility
Support Services The NDIS provided over 113,400 participants with autism across Australia with average budgets of
$38,000 in 2019. The maps sourced from the NDIS highlight that active providers are most available
in populated towns of Australia (Figure 13) and that funding is also most prevalent in the main cities
(Figure 14). This highlights the barriers for people living in rural and remote Australia, as they don’t
have the same opportunities to access the 15-25 h per week recommended intervention due to a
lack of active providers (Parsons, Cordier, Lee, Falkmer, Vaz, 2018). ACN must consider the ease of
access for consumers in their BOS, ensuring that consumers who live in remote areas are not forced
to travel large distances or forgo assistance.
Technology & Social Media The Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) which highlights whether a person can access, afford and
have the digital ability to connect and use online technologies effectively has increased for all
demographic groups since 2018 (Figure 15). Social media use is also increasing rapidly with around
18 million active Australian users, an increase of +4.3% from 2019 holding a social media penetration
percentage of 71% (SMPerth, 2020). The increased level of technology and social media suggests
that the online platform is becoming a prioritised method of communication which ACN must
consider when implementing a new BOS and should consider its power to attract attention of non-
consumers, or a stream of revenue for the company.
Ranked Scores for people with Low Digital Inclusion - 2019
Figure 15 – Source: (Australian Digita l Inc lus ion Index 2019, 20 1 9)
Figure 13 Figure 14
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National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Figure 16 – Source: (NDIS , The NDIS in each State, 2020)
The NDIS is an insurance support scheme providing care to almost 392,000 Australian people
impacted by disability (Figure 16). The NDIS provides individualised funding for people to access a
range of support services (Figure 17) which are delivered by registered providers and reflected by
price limits implemented by the NDIA to ensure participants receive value for money (Figure 18).
Whilst there is an opportunity for ACN to become a registered provider with the NDIS and branch
their services out to receive funding from participants, the company must be aware many individuals
with ASD cannot currently access the NDIS funding and may need to create different ways to assist
these individuals and their families.
Figure 17 – Source: (NDIS , Supports funded by the NDIS , 2019)
Figure 18 – Source: (NDIS , Price Guide 2020-2021, 2 020)
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Education Out of the 106,600 young people attending some sort of educational institution, 92.3% had some
form of educational restriction with 77.7% reporting that they experienced difficulties however only
40.8% attend a special class or school to assist directly with these issues (ABS, 2019), the biggest
difficulties were communicating, learning and socialising (Figure 19). Due to these difficulties less
than 25% of kids with ASD move on to study a bachelor or diploma (Figure 20). This highlight that
many children with ASD are not receiving adequate support during their education years and
highlight an area of opportunity ACN can consider when looking into their BOS.
Figure 19 – Source: (ABS, 2019)
Figure 20 – Source: (ABS, 2019)
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Employment Australia had seen a steady increase in employment over the past 2 decades for people without a
disability with 84% of working age people (15-64) in 2018 employed. In comparison to those with
ASD (Figure 21 & 22) highlighting that only a quarter of people with Autism aged over 25 are
employed even though 56% of people with ASD said whilst they do not have a job, they would like
one (Figure 23). The employment statistics prior to the COVID outbreak suggest that the Australian
workforce does not currently have the adequate capability to hire people with disabilities such as
ASD due to lack of awareness and education on how to manage autistic people. ACN should consider
the lack of employment for individuals with ASD and lack of awareness for the disability when
implementing their BOS, an evident opportunity in providing a workplace training service also
presents itself.
Figure 21 – Source: (NDIS , 2018)
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Figure 22– Source: (NDIS ,2018)
Figure 23– Source: (NDIS ,2018)
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Blue Ocean Strategy #1 Sponsorship Creating a blue ocean strategy requires a business to move into uncontested market, often creating
new demand by exploring streams of consumers not currently targeted and provides ample
opportunity for profit and growth. After conducting the research which was presented in phase 1-4
of this report, we have discovered that there is opportunity to capture the market in the third tier of
non-customers (Figure 24). Our objective is to capture the attention of this market through powerful
marketing campaigns with the aim of establishing a sponsorship program, connecting regular
Australians with those in need and supporting the opportunity to sponsor an Autistic child and their
family. This will give ACN access to a unique stream of revenue whilst simultaneously provide autistic
families, especially those who cannot apply for NDIS, a stream of financial support. By implementing
our suggested BOS, the company will distinct themselves from other competitors in the industry and
will put the consumer, being both autistic families and regular Australian people / businesses at the
core of the strategy.
Figure 24: 3 Tiers of Non-Consumers
BOS Frameworks
Strategy Canvas ‘As Is’ For ACN to easily compare the factors the industry currently competes on and what the strategic
profiles of major competitors look like we have developed the ‘Strategy Canvas As Is’. This BOS
framework (Figure 25) highlights the common elements of major competitors and highlights
opportunities to break away from the current red ocean through value innovation. Value Innovation
is the foundation of BOS logic and focuses on making competition irrelevant by creating value for
consumers, allowing ACN to disregard the commonly accepted value-cost trade-off model of the
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competition-based strategy and pursue differentiation and low cost simultaneously (Kim &
Mauborgne, 2015).
Figure 25: Strategy Canvas ‘As Is’
Four Actions Framework The four-actions framework allows businesses to understand their desired BOS value curve and
outline what competing elements they can eliminate and/ or reduce to achieve cost savings and
what factors they must raise and create to achieve buyer value (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). Our
suggested Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid highlights the elements we believe ACN can change
or develop to create uncontested market space (Figure 26). This suggested framework includes
raising marketing which will enable ACN to capture the attention of the third tier of non-customers
and creating a community which is inclusive of the wider Australian public, implementation and
deeper explanation of the suggested ERRC Grid is provided in Appendix 3. To access the uncontested
marketspace ACN must simultaneously pursue differentiation and low cost to break the value-cost
trade off and achieve our suggested BOS.
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Figure 26: ERRC Grid
Strategy Canvas ‘To Be’ By following the BOS frameworks provided, ACN should achieve the strategy canvas ‘to be’ in Figure
27 which demonstrates the companies value innovation in play and highlights their plausible
breakaway from the red ocean marketspace. The new factors of competition allow the company
entry into a new area of the industry with a newfound focus on the consumer, rather than the
competition.
Figure 27: Strategy Canvas ‘To Be’
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Buyer Utility In order to thoroughly assess the viability of ACN incorporating a sponsorship program it is
imperative to first consider buyer utility. The buyer utility map, as seen in Figure One,
highlights utility spaces currently being targeted within the industry (red), spaces targeted
with our sponsorship proposal (blue) and other potential utility spaces that are yet to be
targeted (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). This buyer utility map indicates the uniqueness of our
idea and suggests that its implementation will promote exceptional buyer utility for
customers. As evident, we are specifically targeting convenience and simplicity levers
throughout stages of the buyer experience cycle. The aim of this is to ensure consistency
throughout the customer experience and encourage their loyalty throughout the entire
process. Table 12 provides a breakdown and analysis of the utility levers we will be targeting
with our sponsorship program.
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Table 12: Targeted Utility Levers
Price corridor of the Target Mass The price corridor of the target mass elucidates current pricing strategies in and around
desired industries (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). It provides insight into the options customers
may take into consideration when looking to engage with ACN and highlights a potential
path our sponsorship program could utilise to appropriately target our customers (Kim &
Mauborgne, 2015). We have identified three groups of alternative services offered by
competitors whose price has been analysed to gain insight into potential pricing and
package structure for our sponsorship program. These three groups are same form,
different form, same function and different form and function, same objective. Relevant to
these categories, we have identified that the function is to raise money for autistic services,
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children and/or families, and the objective is to provide measures to improve quality of life.
The below table further elucidates our findings for each of these categories.
Table 13: Price Corridor of the Mass Explanation
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After assessment of the above companies pricing and the price corridor of the target mass
model generated, we believe the most appropriate pricing zone is low-level pricing. This is
because ACN has a low degree of legal and resource protection. Further to this, although
the sponsorship program will be specifically tailored to autistic members of ACN and their
families, it is somewhat simple for the competition to imitate. From this analysis, pricing
structures evident in Appendix 8 and 9 have been developed.
Implementation Issues – Hurdles to Strategy Execution It is not uncommon for organisations to come across obstacles when trying to implement a
blue ocean strategy. However, it is important that organisations such as ACN as aware of
these potential hurdles and are therefore able to overcome them. Kim & Mauborgne (2015)
categorise these hurdles into four distinct groups: resource, cognitive, political and
motivational.
Figure 28: Implementation Issues
Firstly, the cognitive hurdle. The cognitive hurdle may prove to be the most difficult hurdle
to overcome for ACN. One of the key elements of this sponsorship program is the need for
Cognitive Hurdle Raising
awareness of the need for
change
Political Hurdle
Asking for money
Motivational Hurdle
Low employee/member
motivation
Resource HurdleLimited
structures to support the
program
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paid sales staff. Volunteers may feel threatened or unappreciated once these staff are hired
into the organisation. To overcome this, ACN needs to ensure volunteers are recognised and
thanked for their efforts. ACN should also explain to current staff why sales employees are
so critical and their role in assisting ACN, with the aim of alleviating confusion.
Some of the members of ACN may have difficulty overcoming ACN’s request for money.
Whilst they currently do have an option to donate, the organisation has always focused
more so on providing resources and support networks to its members, rather than
encouraging donations from others. To overcome this, ACN needs to educate members on
the purpose of the sponsorship program and how it will assist the organisation overall to
help those with autism and their families. This may involve regular and open communication
to concerned stakeholders.
The motivational hurdle can be overcome by regular communication to members and
employees regarding the relevance of the sponsorship program and how it will assist the
organisation to better support children with autism and their family.
As it stands, ACN has limited structures to support the sponsorship program. Significant
investment into software, website development, recruitment and training need to be
endured to ensure the longevity of the program. This can be accomplished through the
strategic allocation of current financial means and partnership with other organisations who
are prepared to be a sponsor.
Budgeting The below table (Figure 29) is a proposed budgeting outline for ACN to follow when implementing
the BOS of sponsorships with the intended annual budget to be approximately $360,000. This
budget will allow ACN to increase their marketing efforts through mainstream media channels and
retail spots as well as employ effective and motivated salespeople who will be the link between the
Autistic families and regular Australians or businesses.
Figure 29: Budget
Items Annual Budget
Employees (incl salespeople & admin staff) - Salaries - Commission - Rewards
$250,000 - 60% - 30% - 10%
Marketing - Television Ads - Social Media inc Google AdSense - Retail space – Shopping centre stall - Radio - Billboards
$90,000 - 30% - 30% - 15% - 15% - 10%
Events $15,000 Website Design $5,000
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Blue Ocean Strategy #2
The ACN Support Coordinator App
The provision of an autism service support coordination app by ACN will provide ACN with a Blue Ocean Strategy through the creation of a unique and valuable business offering and position. The app will enable the provision of a centralised location of multiple and varying autism specific services, ultimately enabling ANC to create and capture new and uncontested market space. Unlike the current widespread nature of autism specific service providers, the app will enable individuals, families and careers to access a single and streamlined information and service provider, ensuring consumers will be provided with clarity yet choice when beginning their search for services. Blue Ocean Strategies
Strategy Canvas ‘As Is’ The generation of a Strategy Canvas ‘As Is’ for ACN will positively contribute to their ability to clearly identify and differentiate the factors the autism specific service providers compete on within the marketplace. Furthermore, understanding their major competitors’ strategic profiles and offerings to their consumers will assist ACN in identifying opportunities where unprovided and thus uncontested market space is available. The competitors identified in Phase 2 Competitor Analysis and the nature of the Industry report will be analysed separated into premium and budget service categories and then compared to ACN. Resultantly, ACN will be able to determine a strategic BOS that will exceed the current industry perception of value. Evidently, there is a gap in the market for both middle service providers and an organisation that has a variety of services that are easy to access. Accordingly, ACN should attempt to enter this uncontested market space, which will be further outlined in the Industry Strategy Canvas ‘To Be’.
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Figure 30: Strategy Canvas ‘As Is’
4 Actions Framework Figure 31: ERRC Framework
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The Eliminate-Reduce-Create-Raise Four Actions Framework plays an irreplaceable role in the creation of value for both consumers and organisations, with new and uncontested market space identified and created. As Kim and Mauborgne (2015) highlight, the importance of applying this framework lies within its ability to reconstruct buyer value and create a new value curve whilst also keeping costs low. Thus, through the implementation of strategies (further examined in Appendix 10) that address the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid above, revealed are actions the ACN will be able to undertake to simultaneously decrease the cost whilst increasing buyer value and accordingly immerse themselves into Blue Ocean space.
Strategy Canvas ‘To Be’ The Strategy Canvas ‘To Be’ evident below highlights the original and different market space ACN will be competing within. Specifically directing attention and energy towards the central location, convenience and usability of the app formation and variety of services offered. Figure 32: Strategy Canvas ‘To Be’
Buyer Utility The process of undertaking a buyer utility assessment and creating a buyer utility map is paramount in the potential success of ACN creating a BOS offering. Mapping the current and potential areas of buyer utility allows organisations to confirm whether their offering is actually different from their competitors and if it removes current blocks to utility (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). As displayed in the buyer utility map, there are a range of utility factors (red) currently offered to consumers, as well as a range of potential utility elements (blue) that can be targeted by ACN. The market is currently heavily skewed towards the use
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of autism specific services. The services identified in phase 2 including schooling, workplace training and presentations, information and resources and support and community groups aim to provide consumers with skills to better promote long-term health benefits amongst individuals living with autism and help their families and careers. Therefore, the ACN Support Coordination App will target the provision of utility within the purchase phase of the buyer experience cycle. Through providing an attractive and accessible platform to search and locate services in a time efficient matter, users will most notably be provided with convenience. This direction will successfully eliminate the blocks to user utility that are present within the current autism specific service industry and differ from the current concentration on usage benefits. Figure 33: Buyer Utility Grid
3 Tiers of No consumers The ACN autism specific service coordination app will be targeting tier 2 of the 3 tiers on non-consumer framework, particularly individuals, families and careers who are impacted by autism yet do not believe there is a service available to help them. This notion can be further extended to consumers in need who commonly perceive the current marketplace to be overwhelming and confusing as a result of the magnitude of locations and platforms services are advertised and offered through. Accordingly, the centralisation of multiple and varying service provisions in a single location within the app will assist individuals to gain an understanding of and access to services that
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are available within the marketplace that may be of assistance to them. Through targeting these individuals that refrain from utilising autism specific services due to a lack of knowledge or perceived difficulty in identifying and sourcing appropriate and valuable services, ACN will be able to tap into a new market space.
Budget The creation of this app will allow ACN to gain revenue through larger, more established charities and organisations involvement and inclusion with the app. These organisations will pay an annual fee to ACN to have their information and resources accessible to individuals accessing the app. Acting as a mutually beneficial platform, ACN and its competitors can align resources to attract consumers who previously refrained from engaging with services. Accordingly, revenue will always be coming in acting as a safety net for ACN. The following table outlines the estimated marketing budget, implementation and control program that is being suggested as viable for ACN to develop and implement their support coordination app. Future Objectives Future objectives of the app are to have 10 partnering service providers included for initial launch and 10,000 downloads from the Apple App or Android Play stores in the initial 6 months after launch. These figures will aim to be doubled in the following 12 months after launch. As displayed, the total budget for the generation and launch of the app will be $505,000.
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Table 14: Budget
Items Budget
App development and Programming $100,000-$150,000 • $50,00 for initial simple development • $70,000-$100,00 for complex functionality
Design and Branding Specialist $20,000 • Rebranding of ACN • Format and structure
Marketing and Advertising $85,000 • Event sponsorship • Google Ads • Radio
Staff Salaries $250,000 • Boards and Directors • IT Department • Customer Service • Customer Relationship Management
TOTAL $505,000
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Appendix Appendix One – Summary of Research Process When conducting research for this report the team used several avenues to ensure the
quality of the information and data collected was relevant and accurate. The key tool
utilized to develop our blue ocean ideas and assess their durability through trial of
frameworks was the Blue Ocean Strategy book written by W.Chan Kim and Renée
Mauborgne. This book provided sound information and reasoning, which promoted the
creation of viable blue ocean strategies.
Furthermore, a variety of data websites were consulted in order to form the basis of our
report and understanding. These websites were typically Government run websites or
Government moderated websites, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the
NDIS. Information including data and statistics were only taken of websites such as these,
which were known to contain factual information which was reliable for use in our report.
Websites and information portals from other Australian autism organisations were also
consulted. These included organisations such as Autism Awareness Australia and Autism
Spectrum Australia. These were used to deepen understanding of autism and its prevalence
across the country, as well as to assess current market conditions and offerings.
The Autism Community Network website provided further insight into data which was
relevant to the report. This included information specifically about the organisation and its
members which provided insight into the viability of blue ocean strategies and their
potential resonance with the current market.
Finally, academic articles were also consulted throughout the report to ensure validity of
claims made. These articles were peer reviewed, and predominantly sourced from the
Macquarie University Library page. These articles were used to provide support for ideas
that were formulated and improve the overall credibility of the report.
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Appendix Two - Team Member Contribution to Report Abbie Fowler Abbie completed Phase Four of the report. Each person equally
conducted research towards possible blue ocean ideas and their viability
in comparison with the current market and blue ocean frameworks.
Each member then had the chance to present their ideas to the group.
Abbie was specifically responsible for the sponsorship idea. The work for
this part of the report was divided evenly between herself and Isabella
Bianchini. Together they were responsible for Recommendation One
Isabella
Bianchini
Isabella completed Phase One of the report. Each person equally
conducted research towards possible blue ocean ideas and their viability
in comparison with the current market and blue ocean frameworks.
Each member then had the chance to present their ideas to the group.
Isabella was specifically responsible for the sponsorship idea. The work
for this part of the report was divided evenly between herself and Abbie
Fowler. Together they were responsible for Recommendation One
Ben Sargant Ben completed Phase Three of the report. Each person equally
conducted research towards possible blue ocean ideas and their viability
in comparison with the current market and blue ocean frameworks.
Each member then had the chance to present their ideas to the group.
Ben was specifically responsible for the app idea. The work for this part
of the report was divided evenly between herself and Abby Ballesty.
Together they were responsible for Recommendation Two
Abby Ballesty Abby completed Phase Two of the report. Each person equally
conducted research towards possible blue ocean ideas and their viability
in comparison with the current market and blue ocean frameworks.
Each member then had the chance to present their ideas to the group.
Abby was specifically responsible for the app idea. The work for this part
of the report was divided evenly between herself and Ben Sargant.
Together they were responsible for Recommendation Two
Each of these statements have been approved by each member of the group.
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Appendix 3: Explanation of 4 Frameworks – Sponsorship
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Appendix 4: ACN Home Web Page
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Appendix 5: ACN website Donation Pages
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Appendix 6: Members Donation Homepage
Appendix 7: Sponsorship Certificates for Businesses
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Appendix 8: Donating Price Structure
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Appendix 9: Sponsorship Business Packages
This level of sponsorship is aimed at smaller organisations who want to contribute to ACN
and the wellbeing of autistic children and their family, but may not have extensive funds to
do so. This package starts at $1,000 and includes:
• Advertising on ACN’s website and signage
• Allocation of a child and their family to the organisation. This will highlight to the
organisation where their money has been allocated and how it is being used. This
will also include a poster they can hang in their building of the child they are
sponsoring. An example of this can be viewed in Appendix 7
• Acknowledgement of sponsorship in ACN’s weekly newsletter
• Invitations to exclusive events held by ACN
Further donations can be made as desired.
This level of sponsorship is directed at organisations who may have a bit more revenue and
are able and willing to donate a larger amount to ACN. This package will start at $5,000 and
will include:
• Advertising on ACN’s website and signage
• There will be a link on ACN’s websites to your website which will be advertised
centrally
• Acknowledgment of ACN in weekly newsletters and the annual report
• Mentioning of sponsor at events ACN attend (e.g. if Steve were to deliver a
presentation at a dinner, he would mention that ACN were proudly sponsored by the
organisation)
• Initiations to exclusive events held by ACN and the opportunity to speak at these
events
• Allocation of a child and their family. This will highlight to the organisation where
their money has been allocated and how it is being used. This will also include a
poster they can hand in their building of the child/family they are sponsoring
• Logo on staff uniforms
The Steve Drakoulis Package
The Amie Bateup Package
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This tier is focused more so on attracting businesses that may be unable to commit the
above sponsorship packages, or are wishing to tailor a package to their own wants and
needs. We have developed this package to ensure we are not restricting which
organisations can partner with ACN. Organisations will have the freedom to choose how
much money they wish to donate, starting at a minimum of $500. This will see them
allocated either a child or a family whereby they can track how their donation is allocated. It
will also see them advertised on ACN’s website. Additional benefits can be added depending
on the size of the donation.
Appendix 10: Explanation of 4 Frameworks - App
The Rainbow Package
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