My Proposal

Below is my proposal which I have submitted for consideration and approval:

The report will primarily focus on community-based SMM whilst attempting to find sustainable solutions in other forms of marketing.

Initial question to pose:
Are consumers concerned with engaging in sustainable forms of consumption?

Concerns:
Consumer behaviour is multifaceted and changeable – developments in marketing reflect this.
If consumers aren’t ready to adapt to a sustainable way of living, is it effective for brands to base their marketing around green initiatives?

Discussion:
Social marketing, as developed by Kotler and Zaltman, has been seen as a way of selling ideas, attitudes and behaviours. This can be achieved through many different online initiatives: social networking sites, news releases, blogs, podcasting, viral marketing.

Examples of perspectives to consider:
“How we consume, why we consume and the parameters laid down for us within which we consume have become increasingly significant influences on how we construct our everyday lives.”

“While we are sitting behind computer screens, we may be losing sight of the fact that the recipient of our personal message has emotions and feelings. In a social media relationship, you need to be authentic just as if you were in a face to face relationship.”

Debate:
However, to have a sustainable online Facebook site, for example, would not be enough. Green marketing requires the reorientation of the entire marketing mix, linking to the packaging of the product, branding, public relations, sales training, and measuring and teaching sustainability – for the next generation.

Possible solutions:
Guerrilla marketing will be contrasted to social media marketing, discussing how this unconventional system of promotion relies on creativity as opposed to a large marketing budget. It will be considered whether this is more effective than social marketing because it requires proactive interactivity with the consumer. Levinson’s technique is intended to get maximum results from minimal resources, and therefore can be considered ‘sustainable’.

Viral marketing will be discussed as a technique which increases brand awareness using readily available resources. This links to the advance of media communication. Viral promotion is not only word of mouth but can include video, games, e-books, images and text messages. (Therefore minimising print resources). Marketing with a dual purpose will be discussed as being ‘sustainable’, whilst also benefiting the customer, for example tissue-pack marketing as used in Japan. Flyers are often discarded whereas the advertising tissue packs are accepted as a gift.

What next?
I must consider in further detail the project as a brief.