In the Ralston Valley Volunteer Fire Department Case, promotion is crucial since there is an urgent problem to be addressed. Fire outbreaks are emergencies that require good planning in order to respond to them effectively and in good time. This can only be done with the availability of enough personnel to do the work. However, since the program is comprised of volunteers, there might be a problem in getting more people onboard.
Most of them might feel that they should be paid for their services while others may be too busy with their activities such that they would not see the sense of being volunteers. The intended promotion should therefore convince these people that there is need to take part in the program and become volunteer firefighters for the common good of the community in times of emergencies. In planning the promotion, there are important objectives that Rick should include in the plan.
The first objective that Rick should include in the promotion plan is finding ways of ensuring that the volunteers do not quit the program once they join it. One of the problems Rick identified in the fire fighting department is that there is a lot of work to be done but few people are available to do the work. Most of the people who join the volunteer program do not stay long since they withdraw even before their third anniversary.
This means that the program loses its members faster than it gains them. It is said that most of them find the physical demands of the job too challenging once they join, such that they find it difficult to cope. It would therefore be important for the marketing promotion plan to focus on the need for retaining those who join the volunteer program. This can be done through motivating the members in different ways like giving them occasional stipends and other benefits.
The second objective that should be included in Rick’s promotion plan is a clear definition of what volunteers would be engaged in and what they would be expected to do once they join the program. This is important because what people think of the volunteer program is not what they find once they join the program. For instance, Rick discovered that of all the hours he spends at RVVFD, only a small percentage of the time is actually spend responding to emergencies and fires.
Much time is spent acquiring training on responding to car accidents, terrorist attacks and harzdous chemical spills. It should be an objective of the promotion plan to spell out clearly what volunteers would be engaged in for people to make informed decisions before joining. This would prepare them beforehand and ensure that those who eventually join the program do not quit.
The third objective that should be included in the promotion plan is popularizing the program among the people. One of the reasons that might have led to lack of enough personnel is the fact that people do not have information about the services of RVVFD and how to become members. People are always curious when they spot a volunteer firefighter publicly to get information about what they do. The marketing plan should strife to include formal strategies of spreading information about RVVFD and how the public can get involved.
The fourth objective that should be included in the promotion plan is educating the people on the importance of being volunteer firefighters. This is a chance to inform the people of the emergencies that might arise and how their presence and quick response would prevent destruction and loss of lives. This objective would give more people enough reasons to give back to the community and be part of the solution to the problems they might face.
There are several promotion methods that Rick can use in order to achieve these objectives. The first method that can be used is organizing public seminars and forums. Forums and seminars are cheap and effective ways of popularizing the services of RVVFD and educating the people on the importance of being volunteer firefighters.
The second method that can be employed in order to achieve the objectives is the use of mass media. Mass media outlets such as radio, television and newspapers reach a lot of people and using them can be an effective way of achieving the objectives. For instance, TV commercials can be designed and aired in the middle of favorite programs in order to pass the message to many people.
The third method that can be used to achieve the objectives is using posters and bill boards. Since the program targets people who live or work near the city of Ralston, having posters and billboards in the city is a crucial way of reaching out to people regarding the services of RVVFD.
The fourth method that can be used to achieve the objectives is using social media to reach people. Social media such as face book and twitter have millions of users and sharing information on the media is an important way of achieving the objectives since the information spreads to millions of users.