Foodbank Australia Case Study
Foodbank Australia (Foodbank) (https://www.foodbank.org.au) is the largest food relief organisation in Australia and is a link between surpluses in the food industry and the needs of the welfare sector and vulnerable Australians (Foodbank 2020; Beck 2019). It is a non-profit, charitable organisation that uses a national network of other charities, schools, businesses and volunteers to provide the equivalent of 75 million meals a year to charitable partner organisations along with food parcels to more than 815,000 people each month (Foodbank 2020). Over 370,000 of these monthly food recipients are in NSW, which has seen a 23% increase in the number of people state-wide seeking food relief (Foodbank 2020).
In the current environment, Foodbank want to expand their operations as Australia is experiencing an extraordinary increase in demand for emergency food relief (Foodbank 2020; Diss 2020; Beck 2019). However, with supporting organisations and businesses closed because of the pandemic and with many individuals needing to self-isolate, Foodbank has seen a dramatic reduction in current volunteer numbers (Foodbank 2020; Hurst 2020). All this at a time when global food and economic insecurity is at its highest levels since The Great Depression (Diss 2020; Lindburg and Barbour 2018; Richards 2018).
You have been hired as an independent marketing consultant to help Foodbank attract volunteers (individuals, not companies or businesses) for their warehouse to assist with picking and packing food orders. Note that all volunteers must be aged 18 years or older. Your role is to develop a 2-part marketing plan consisting of segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning strategies (Assessment 2) and strategic recommendations (Assessment 3) to help Foodbank achieve their objectives. The three (3) objectives of the 2-part marketing plan you are required to complete are to:
- Identify a suitable target market of potential volunteers (individuals, not companies or businesses) for Foodbank NSW operations.
- Identify how Foodbank NSW operations should be positioned within the market.
- Develop an Integrated Marketing Communications strategy (IMC) using THREE (3) of the tools from the Promotional Mix element (i.e. advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and/or direct and digital marketing) that will enable Foodbank NSW operations to increase the number of volunteers (individuals, not companies or businesses) to assist in its warehouse to pick and pack food orders placed by their charity partners.