Distribution Plan
Unique “Selling” Proposition (USP)
Although gHIVe doesn’t plan to sell anything as a NGO, a unique market position exists. Currently, molecular HIV videos are developed to inform researchers and doctors. Our approach breaks down the medical and biological jargon using similar 3D structures to explain to patients and supporters how the viruses detected, its response to treatment and drug resistance, and illustrate the science behind a possible vaccine & cure.
Our initial distribution model will be YouTube given its “free” status. The gHIVe website will feature embedded videos that link to the YouTube files, thus, creating an appearance that we are hosting and streaming the media on our own server. As we develop a body of digital media, we will work to host our own server and store/stream content. Our website will be retooled to feature “free” accounts to build a database of users.
Pharmaceutical Companies - Partnerships with pharmaceutical companies are essential to gHIVe’s sustainability given their financial strength and prowess amongst the medical community. These companies have the ability to effortlessly fund gHIVe’s initiatives and capital expenditures without jeopardizing their bottom line.
Universities - Synergies with universities are critical to success as they have the ability to advise the student developers about current and future developments regarding HIV/AIDS issues as they develop media. Also, much of the groundbreaking developments come from university research.
Other NGO’s – These alliances are critical for organizational and product exposure. The participating organizations could include gHIVe in tradeshows and promotional events.
Financial sustainability can be gauged by an organization’s net income (the surplus of revenues over expenses); liquidity (the cash available to pay bills); and solvency (the relationship of assets and debt or liabilities). The unique element of the gHIVe organization is that students will develop the media. As a result, the organization will have minimal staff on payroll, and more cash available for expenditures. In the early years, the company will be relatively liquid because it will not immediately require physical offices or technological hardware. The organization will use existing technological models to develop and distribute media for the first three years. In the meantime, the organization will develop financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, hospitals or universities to obtain a server to host the website and store/stream its content.
Promotions & Marketing Strategy
Financial Projections
Marketing Plan
Target Customers
The CDC reports the following demographic information: 1,201,100 persons aged 13 years and older are living with HIV infection. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) of all races and ethnicities remain the population most profoundly affected by HIV. Blacks/African Americans continue to experience the most severe burden of HIV, compared with other races and ethnicities. HIV also disproportionately affects Hispanics/Latinos. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases occur in people age 50 or older.
It is critical that we initially focus on fact-based informative videos to educate affected parties and supporters about the 5 focus areas on a molecular level. However, the secondary layer of videos will highlight issues that are specifically problematic for the aforementioned subgroups. This approach will allow gHIVe to build a comprehensive database that may be used in the medical, psychological, and sociological communities to inform patients and supporters pertaining to their demographic profile, which could increase comprehension and data retention within those immediate audiences.
The ancillary customer is the new generation (13-18 years old) and their peers. Students in this age group will be researching and developing the gHIVe media. The will also be learning about the HIV/AIDS pandemic as they construct their work product, and will be sharing their experiences through gHIVe’s social media outlets.
Marketing Materials
Joint Ventures & Partnerships
Our marketing materials will be the collateral you use to promote your organization to current and prospective users. We will work to stay in the digital realm in crafting our promotions, but some offline development will be necessary. Among others, they include our website, social media advertisements, business cards, pens and brochures. In markets largely affected by HIV/AIDS such as Atlanta, which was recently ranked the No. 1 city for new HIV/AIDS cases, traditional marketing in conjunction with our digital efforts are essential. Strategic placement of signage in clinics, social work agencies, etc. will be highly effective. Giveaways such as branded hats and t-shirts distributed at events to HIV supporters and industry professionals will also help establish awareness of our brand and digital media.
Our “free” membership and product offerings will be the primary message that will help us reach new users. We will employ promotional tactics such as related search engine ads, social media ads based on keyword searches, medical trade show marketing, press releases, online advertising, and HIV/AIDS event marketing.
The four key components to our online marketing strategy are as follows:
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Keyword Strategy: we will start by brainstorming potential keywords, and see how competing HIV organizations look by using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. If we observe that some keywords are redundant in our market, we will create long-tail keywords (between two and five words), which will be simpler to rank and develop phrase exclusivity in the search engines.
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Search Engine Optimization Strategy: gHIVe will monitor our website metrics to fine-tune our page titles and descriptions to create relevant Meta tags for search engines. We will also build backlinks by submitting monthly or bi-monthly press releases on any innovative HIV NGO, and link to popular blogs in our market to develop a synergy and obtain a backlink from their website. We will focus on quality content development so people talking about the products we offer will link back. Furthermore, gHIVe will continuously develop graphics and newsworthy content that will influence bloggers and news websites to link that content. We will establish a strong social media presence on sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. as these sites send search engines signals of influence and authority.
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Paid Online Advertising Strategy: gHIVe plans to work with major search engines to place ads based on searches for STI and HIV/AIDS information. However, thee strategies will be limited given our NGO status and inherent restrictive revenue possibilities.
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Social Media Strategy: Initially, we will use social media actively to document our emergence into the HIV/AIDS education and support market. We will then work to differentiate ourselves from other NGO’s by highlighting our purpose of developing supportive scientific digital media designed with the layperson in mind. Once our purpose is established in the HIV/AIDS community, we will work to develop a consistent and clear message pertaining to our core values, mission statement, goals, deadlines, and brand image.
Retention Strategy
By using retention strategies such as a monthly newsletter, email campaigns and a customer loyalty program, we will increase subscribers, partnerships and sponsorships by getting users to view content more frequently over time.
