Some Thoughts & Challenges

Ok, so after getting some of your feedback it is looking like I might need to change my marketing objective. I am reluctant to do so since I have designated my fundamental entity as CAPS, which I would believe is the category leader in mental health services on the 3 UM Campuses.

It would be beneficial to have the time to do some research/surveying of the campus population to see where most people go for their mental health services. Key questions I would need answered are:
- How many people use mental health services already?
- Of the people already using mental health services, do they use on campus resources or off campus (i.e. privately practicing Psychologist)?
- For people who are not currently seeing someone for mental health services, where would they go in order to initiate treatment?

These questions would help define the category leader in UofM student mental health services, but without the time and resources to get these questions answered, I am going to run on the assumption that UM CAPS is the category leader. With that being said, there is still the question of whether or not I should be doing the Big Picture for CAPS as the FE or for MiTalk as an independent FE.

Though MiTalk is not independent of CAPS, but a sub-brand, I could discuss MiTalk as the FE and the category as online mental health resources. In this case, MiTalk (and it's parent CAPS) would be far from the category leader. This is what I think my Big Picture would look like if I made MiTalk.org my FE:

1. Business Objectives:

Fundamental Entity: MiTalk.org

Core Competence: Skill @ Online mental health resource & services

Strategic Assets: Affiliation with UofM, Affiliation with Counselors & CAPS, Mental health expertise, Accessibility, online screenings, online workshops, connection with live local community, skill building tools to manage stress.

Benefit: Assisting U of M students attain a community of wellness and academic achievement.

Goal: Increase # of Students using MiTalk from each of the UofM campuses 15% by the end of the 2010-2011 academic year. This is the same goal I had before, but it may become more clear once I get to the communications objective what the goal will be (awareness v. behavior).


2. Strategic Quadrant:

Category Definition: Since this is where I am making the change the category would now be "online mental health services/resources". This category is far wider and there is no question that MiTalk.org is not the category leader. There are many competitors in this category: Webmd, etc. A quick google search shows the number of options are copious, though MiTalk.com is the only comprehensive online tool specifically for UofM students and it's affiliation gives it a level of credibility that many of these other sites and tools do not have.

Customer Definition: University of Michigan students (undergraduate & grad) who have accessed MiTalk.org >1x per semester and registered on the site.

Marketing Objective & Source of Volume: Ok, so here is where the real trouble begins...

When I had CAPS as the FE my MO and SV were acquisition and stimulate demand. I liked this because I think that overall awareness and use of mental health resources on campus would be beneficial to the campus community as a whole. Also, the idea of acquisition earn share makes me think that I will be competing to take users away from any of the other campus resources as opposed to just stimulating demand and awareness of campus resources in general to get people who need help into the services they would benefit from.

Also, because our target audience for MiTalk is far larger when looking at people who may need services but aren't currently seeking them as opposed to a target audience of people who are already seeking information, but seeking it elsewhere, I think stimulate demand is more appropriate. If I do switch FE's and therefore MO/SOV, could these concerns be addressed by making my communications objective awareness?? This is why I had chosen CAPS originally as the FE. With CAPS as the FE my category was limited to UM mental health services and my MO was acquisition/stimulate demand. This, I felt, benefited the cause in greater proportion than an acquisition/gain share will for the reasons I delineated above (larger target audience, more people benefiting).

With all this said, if MiTalk.org is the independent FE than the MO and SV are: Acquisition Earn Share.

4 B’s Analysis:
Bodies: Students (grad and undergrad) @ all three of the U of M campuses who do or would seek mental health resources online.
Beliefs: I can find mental health resources online.
Behaviors: New registers w/ MiTalk (% converted users from other general mental health websites).
Benefits: Increased community of mental health wellness in the University of Michigan student population.