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Active Access MKTG - 291 2010

The European project µActive Access¶:

Promoting the use of bicycles and walking for close daily trips within the city.

Misho Hristov

University of Nicosia

Summer 2010

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for MKTG ± 291 with Dr. Yioula Melanthiou




Appendix

Introduction«««««««««««««««««««««««««««« 3

Situation Analysis««««««««««««««««««««««««««4

y Micro-environmental forces affecting the initiative

y Macro-environmental forces affecting the initiative

SWOT Analysis««««««««««««««««««««««««««...8

The Campaign««««««««««««««««««««««««««....12

Conclusion««««««««««««««««««««««««««««...16

References«««««««««««««««««««««««««««......17

Promotional Material (Sketches)«««««««««««««««««««..18




Introduction

Cyprus is a small island with population just over 870 000 people according to the USA

CIA website till 1st of July 2010. For the moment nothing unusual but when you make the

simple addition of the cars and other vehicles per family, the number is shocking(The

number of cars increased 65% in the last ten years; Eurostat). And since most of the

land is urbanized, the use of transportation vehicles is a inseparable part of people¶s

lifestyle. One of the key issues affecting the quality of the environment and the quality of

life in our towns and cities is road traffic. Heavy motor traffic means poor air quality,unacceptable levels of noise and a weakened sense of neighborhood and local

community. Traffic also gives rise to high costs for the economy through delays caused

by congestion. Air pollution concentration in the cities in Cyprus is regularly exceeding

the limits set by the new EU regulations for air quality, and thus places it among the top

countries in Europe with polluted air in the cities. Moreover, abusing vehicle

transportation affects the health of the population. Less movement means higher chance

of obesity and other health related issues. For example in the Cyprus Mail from 2008

and article announced worrying results that more than one in three Cypriots are

overweight and almost one in four obese. This places Cyprus dangerously close to the

numbers of the United States and Germany a few years ago. They show that 33.9 per

cent of the Cypriot adult population is overweight and 23.5 per cent is obese. These two

factors have been taken in account by the representatives of the European Union and

announced various projects to change the numbers and make the cities a healthier and

more ecologically friendly environments. One of these projects is the µActive Access¶

initiative in various European countries including Cyprus.

ACTIVE ACCESS aims at increasing the use of cycling and walking short

distances in everyday trips in local areas, in order to benefit people¶s health. It¶s goal is

to transfer longer car trips to shorter walking & cycling trips by changing people¶s mental

maps of their local neighborhoods.




One of the main project objectives are to save energy through a modal

transfer from car to walking & cycling in various European cities, improve public health

and strengthen local economies and implement measures to encourage walking &

cycling for short local trips, so that their cities remain accessible and competitive in an

era of steeply rising fuel.

So the purpose of this project is to provide a strategy that will successfully

implement the goals of the campaign and produce satisfying results for the Cypriot

population and specifically the university population between the age 18 to 26.The

reason is to provide the students with healthier, faster and more ecological means of

transportation. Firstly, we will analyze the current situation, looking both at the micro and

macro environmental factors that might have an effect on the operation and then will

carry out a SWOT analysis, in order to capture all strengths, weaknesses, threats and

opportunities facing the successful introduction of the campaign. Lastly we will present

and discuss the actual promotion, by illustrating the communication tools and the

effectiveness of communication.

Situation Analysis

The situation analysis consists of the systematic collection and evaluation of past

and present economical, political, social, and technological data. It is aimed at

identification of internal and external forces that may influence the organization's

performance and choice of strategies, and assessment of the organization's current and

future strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths.

Micro-environmental factors

The micro environmental factors are those close factors that affect the

organization¶s ability to serve its customers. The microenvironment consists of factors

like the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors

and publics. The company or in this case the organization is the one that will design the




marketing strategy for the campaign. All the participants in the development of the

campaign from the director to the creative personnel will have influence on the direction

and choice of decisions that will lead to the successes of the promotion. Another factor

that could have important effect is the marketing intermediaries. They can help to

promote and distribute the awareness campaign to the targeted audience, such include

the marketing services agencies and the financial intermediaries. The advertising

agency that will take on the challenge to promote and design and promote the idea is a

type of marketing services agencies. Depending on the creative thought and quality of

the product will matter whether the message has been successfully transferred to the

public. The financial intermediaries on the other hand, could aid by financing the project.

Banks and other credit firms could be involved, as well as bicycle shops and gyms for

example. The Customers for the purpose of the investigation consist of many customer

markets which could be made up of individuals and households that buy goods and

services for personal consumption, also known as consumer market or more specifically

all those young people that use means of transportation for short distances. Since the

GPA % of Cypriots is relatively higher than that of the general EU population and has

high buying power. Many Cypriot own their own cars and use them as a main source of

transportation. In addition a great competitor to the idea of the walk and cycling initiative

is the vehicle transportation sector, which provides Cypriot society with desirablepromotion strategies. Some examples include special promotion with reduced prices and

extra features. Others concentrate on the convenient payment plans and improvement

for the environment. So our strategy has to go beyond alternate mean of transportation

but rather an alternative mean of life. Last but not least, we can see that the publics or

the groups that have an actual or potential interests in or impact on an organization¶s

ability to achieve its objectives are also a factor. These could include, financial, media,

government, citizen, local, general or internal publics. The financial public for this project

could easily be a bank or any other fund providing institution, which depending on the

relationship with the organization could increase the chances of successful campaign

and put finances in better promotion. Radios, TV stations, newspapers and the web are

a very powerful tool which could show solidarity and boost the campaign awareness

though continues announcement and distribution of the promotional products. The




decision makers should also consult with lawyers on the legal matters concerning the

social campaign. This things could include the safety issues and other matters. The

citizen action publics like environmental groups and consumer organizations should be

involved as this is a social awareness campaign. They could ask questions that will

improve the quality and success of the campaign. In addition, the local publics which

consist of neighborhood residents and community organizations could greatly affect the

course and design of the campaign and since the cities and communities in general are

very close together and have strong position. It is a very important aspect that should

be considered. The designed offer has to be very attractive to the targeted public that

should produce the desired response. In this case, motivate students and young people

to jump on their bikes or put their shoes on and keep an pro-active lifestyle.

We have looked at the closer factors affecting the strategy and next we will

examine the larger macro environment.

Macro-environmental factors

The macro environment consists of the larger societal forces that affect the

whole microenvironment. These forces include demographic, economic, natural,

technological, political and cultural. The demographic environment looks at the

population in terms of its size, density, location, age, sex, race, occupation and other

statistics. Since the mean age of the Cypriot population is 35, this immediately means

that the population is relatively young and supposedly very active. We also see that

there is relatively equal ration of women and men in the Cypriot public, which further

portrays a more homogeneous picture. More young people leads to higher percentage

of mobility. As was mentioned before, the Cypriot population has high income in general

and has the possibility to purchase more, bigger and better means of transportation.

Large number of the young people on the island go through higher education systemand find themselves a well paid jobs. And since most of them live in the cities, it is not

surprising that there is high demand for quick and easy transportation. Migration and

diversity are other sub factors that play a role. Many people from poorer countries have

made Cyprus their home, due to better job prospects, better quality of life, cleaner

environment and so forth. Thus, the population that is the most frequent user of




alternative means of transportation such as cycling and walking, is exactly those people

from Bangladesh, India, China etc. Immediately the Cypriot population makes the

association that such transportation does not fit their status and is considered to be only

for those at lower social class. This will mean, that to change the transportation habits of

people on the island you will need to change their mentality. Exactly because of this

diversity, the campaign should focus on diversifying its scope and take advantage of

opportunities in fast-moving segments.

The economic environment consists of factors that affect the consumer

purchasing power and spending patterns. An industrial economy such as Cyprus, which

consist of rich markets for different kinds of goods was not by passed by the global

economic crisis. This had some effect on the pockets of the Cypriot citizens and to some

extent made them more cautious in their spending. That also had an effect on the travel

frequency and transportation use. This provides a turning point in seeking new and

cheaper ways of transportation. Changes in this major variables such as income, cost of

living, interest rates and saving and borrowing patterns have a large impact on the

marketplace.

In addition, natural environment concerns have grown steadily during the past

decade. Protecting it, is a major issue not only to the European Union but for the rest of

the world. Raw materials like oil will eventually be used up and so the prices will

continue to rise. This has not seem to affect many Cypriot drivers, and despite the

warnings it does not seem to distress their income. As it was mentioned before, the

density of people in urbanized areas in Cyprus is high and so is the air pollution. Due to

the absence of convenient public transportation the use of personal vehicles is

increased, which further makes people avoid walking or cycling due to the bad air quality

in the city. Making this problem a vicious cycle calling for drastic measures. Even though

there are various environmental agencies created to enforce pollution standards, they

still struggle to send their message through.

The technological environment is one of the most dramatic force that has an

effect on our lives and future. Even though a lot of effort has been put to advance and




promote new technologies for cleaner and more efficient vehicles many of these

advances have not yet been put in exploitation in Cyprus.

Moreover, the political environment which consists of laws and, government

agencies and pressure groups that influence and/or limit organizations and individuals in

the society have been developing strategies to improve the situation and have

undergone various projects to improve the infrastructure for easier access around the

cities and environmentally friendly means of transportation. There still needs to be a lot

of work and pressure not only on creating legislations and projects but also on enforcing

and following up.

Last but not least, the cultural environment seems to be a force that has most

effect on the values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors of Cypriot population. The

core beliefs and values of the Cypriots have a high degree of persistence. They are

passed on from parents to children and are reinforced by schools, religious groups,

business and government. The fact that it is a relatively small community and people

know each other adds to the rigidity towards change and sensitivity of the status of the

individual in the society. The fact that large number of Cypriots above the age of 18 are

concerned greatly with fashion and expensive amenities, will prove to be difficult seeing

a university girl with her hair due and Gucci back on a bicycle alongside her fellow

student from India for example. The more you have and the more expensive it is the

better image you have. Perceiving walking or cycling to be under you level minimizes the

chance that a campaign towards enforcing different approach to transportation to zero.

This seems to be a difficult task.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis draws the critical strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and

threats from the strategic audit. The audit contains a wealth of data of differing

importance and reliability. It distils these data to show the critical items from the internal

and external audits.




In the table below we can see the influential factors that could have an effect on

whether we choose or not waling or cycling as a source of transportation within the city.

The following data is obtained from an American population research but seems to apply

for the current population too.

Factors influencing the choice to walk or bicycle

Personal and subjective f actors Environmental f actors

DistanceTraffic safetyConvenience

CostValuation of time

Valuation of exercisePhysical condition

Family circumstancesHabits

Attitudes and ValuesPeer group acceptance

DistanceTraffic safety

Weather

TopographyInfrastructural features:

Pedestrian/Bike facilities, trafficconditions

Access and linkage of pedestrian/bicyclefacilities to desirable destinations

Existence of competitive transportationalternatives

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bicycling and Walking Study: Case

Study No. 1(1994).

The first thing we identify in the SWOT analysis are the opportunities and threats

that the campaign may face. The opportunities occur when an environmental trend pays

to promotion¶s strength. One of the main aims of the campaign is to motivate young

people to be more active and thus fight against obesity and other weight related

problems. This in the long term could lead to less money being spend for health care

concerning this issue and be directed to the more needy. Another opportunity that the

campaign will provide is decreased use of cars and thus better air quality and

decreased noise levels for the habitants of the most busy areas. Furthermore, less car

usage will mean less money spent on transportation and more money being put for other

human needs. Last but not least less traffic on the road will benefit all students and




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working citizens to decrease the time spend in traveling, which will mean more time for

yourself.

We looked at the opportunities, but let us now discuss the threats related to the

promotion. A big uncertainty is how the campaign will be accepted by the public and will

it reach the target group it was designed for. Moreover, the rigidity of peoples values and

beliefs could be prove to be a great opposition to the idea of alternative transportation.

Due to the recession a lot of the investors could decide that it is not worth financing such

a project and the promotion might lack the strength to radiate the message it brings.

Also the late or insufficient involvement of the government agencies in providing the

needed infrastructure could kill anyone¶s enthusiasm to take on the initiative. And last,

carrying out a campaign during the wrong season such as, summer could not make

much impact due to high temperatures or young people leaving on their holidays.

Next we glance at the strengths and weaknesses the µActive Access¶ campaign

contains. The strengths of the campaign are pretty clear and somewhat logical. Nearly

all cities in Cyprus are densely packed and you could easily and quickly any point of

your destination. There is extensive work on the adoption of better and better traffic

conditions, with the building of roads and other road facilities that provide convenience

and safety for the travelers. The municipalities have focused greatly on the creation of

sidewalks and walking allays. In addition, the Government has been deeply involved invarious projects in improving traffic conditions, alternative transportation and safety in

the city travel. Another strength is the mild climate on the island, as most of the year the

temperature and sun intensity during the day provide great conditions for walking and

cycling. The fact that everything in the cities in an easy reach makes it convenient to use

alternative methods of transportation than rather look for parking spaces and be stuck in

traffic. Last but not least, the cost of walking and cycling is minimal comparing to that of

constant fuel purchase and car maintenance.

The last thing we will look at are the weaknesses. These seem to be quite few.

There are still bicycle facilities missing or the once that are present do not provide safety

for the cyclists, which surely will de-motivate people to come out and get on the bicycles.

Moreover, even if you decide to get to school on your bike for example, there won¶t be

any safe storage spaces where you could leave your bike. Another weakness is the




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extremely hot summer season which could easily cause a heat stroke or dehydration,

and let¶s not talk about the unpleasant aroma you will obtain by the time you reach your

destination. Not many people would like to go through this. Moreover, even if there has

been a lot of work put on road safety there are still many people who do not practice

safe drive. The air pollution is a major factor that needs to be considered. The intense

traffic produces so much poisonous gases that further will diminish the idea of walking or

cycling. There is also not enough bike shops that can provide the services people will

need. Furthermore, there are few if any designed routs that will provide the easiest,

faster and comfortable way to the desired destination. On top of all, the intensive

marketing strategies form car companies provide great deals to their customers that

completely covers their needs. Lastly, the importance of status in the local culture makes

young people closely related to their expensive cars, and the perception that those that

use such alternative transportation means are low status people from the 3rd world

countries makes it even more difficult.

The next table shows the analysis done on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities

and threats to our campaign.

Active Access SWOT Analysis




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The Campaign

Integrated Marketing Communications is the concept that we are following for our

campaign. We are integrating many communication channels to deliver a clear,consistent, and compelling message to society. The IMC leads to a total marketing

communication strategy aimed at building strong social relationship by showing how the

Active Access campaign and its message can help the intended audience to solve their

and environment¶s problems. We are using this method because it ties all of the

promotion¶s messages and images.

We now examine the steps in developing an effective and integrated

communications and promotion programme. The first thing we did is to identify the target

audience. For the purpose of the campaign we want to target young people between the

ages of 18 and 26, who either use transport to and from university or to work and from

work for short distances within the city. Since the audience is young we want the

message sent out to be clear, simple and fun.

Then we want to move the target population to the adoption of alternative ways of

transportation. Awareness will be promoted through extensive ad-campaign and printed

materials such as round stickers that can be fixed to many and creative placed of

bicycles on them and a catchy message and posters on bus stops and coffee shops.

Continues repetition of simple images of walking people and bicycles on TV and

internet.

After we have made aware our audience of the campaigns programme we will

educate them for the purpose. We will inform them on the need, benefits and impact of




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walking and using bikes. Also through free print materials like the µlittle green book¶

which will provide all the information related to how we can keep the environment save

and keep our self¶s in shape by using alternative means of transportation. Moreover, we

will post in newspapers the benefits and solutions to using bike to get to school or work.

Also maps of designed routs for quicker, safer and convenient travel by foot or bike

reaching various locations within the city. They will be free and will be available at the

university, and other regularly visited places by young Cypriots (cafe¶s, shops etc.) .

Next, through the project we want the society to generate favorable feelings

towards the use of alternative transportation. We want them to like the idea of walking

and cycling. Throughout our printed promotional material we will use simple and clear

messages that will try to µwarm up¶ the population using words and phrases like: µstay

active¶, µbicycle: the fun between your legs¶, µbe smart¶.

After they liked the idea, they should also be presented with the strengths over

other means of transportation. In order to induce such preference, there could be

number of conferences or social events that could present all the aspects of being active

pedestrian or cyclist. These meeting can be supported by various public representatives

or media stars that could bring this motivational note to the success of the campaign.

In order to convince to audience to perform the desired actions, we are once again

relaying on the strength of the mix of heavy advertising to build the emotional bond andto express the advantages over other transportation means. The presence of various

press releases and public relations activities will be used to stress on the alternative

transportation¶s specific features, such as reducing the pollution levels in the city and

become more healthy. The personal selling tools will provide a better relation with

audience and thus make it more believable that such change is necessary specifically

for them.

Finally, because some or may be even most of the young people in the cities will

wait until they see somebody else trying on the initiative. We will concentrate on

identifying the opinion leaders in the groups in order to create conformity effect and thus

make it part of the life style of the group. Making it fashionable or part of their status will

be greatest strength to seeing young people on the street not with their cars but on foot

or cycling. This will also be achieved by partnering with bike shops that can provide




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bicycles designed for the individual, portraying the person¶s character and individuality

(for example colorful bikes or extra features on the bikes).

After we had talked about our communication strategy, now we will look at the

message. The message will be containing both emotional and moral appeal. Why?

Because we are targeting a group which is either students or young employees and we

know that emotions will motivate people to go on and do something. The slogan is

designed in the same way: µBe Smart, Stay Active, Go green¶. We have the 3 basic

things we want our audience to do. The message will contain a lot of color, simple

shapes and catchy phrases. The channels through which is going to be communicated

will be through both personal or word-of-mouth, because most people know each other

and that will be the fastest way the population will learn about it as well as non-personal

communication which is the one we already talked about, including media like TV,

newspapers, billboards, posters and stickers as well as events like cycling marathons or

bike shows. On the last page you can see some examples of the visuals we will use,

such as stickers, slogans and billboards.




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The Integrated Marketing Strategy Model for the µActive Access¶ project in city.




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Conclusion

The purpose of this project is to make aware and motivate young people to use

alternative transportation means, specifically walking and cycling for short distances in

the city. We discussed the situation and carried out an analysis that would help in the

successful adoption of the campaign and what might impact its failure. Then we

introduced the promotional plan and strategy.

The believe is that an integration approach of many communication tools will

provide needed strength of the campaign and the better absorption of the message by

the public. However in order for such vast project to work a lot more has to be achieved

before we can see positive results. Not only will it be unreasonable to go straight with

the promotion due to the lack of infrastructure but also ineffective due to the

understandings and views of people in this culture. Careful examination and realistic

approach should be acquainted. Changing the habit or lifestyle of people takes

tremendous amount of time and when even one of the building blocks for a campaign is

missing (infrastructure in this case) , the chances of it working are minimal. But we are

always optimistic for better future. Be Smart, Stay Active, Go green!




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References

y Kotler P., Armstrong G., Wong V., & Saunders J.,(2008).Principles of Marketing:

Fifth European edition. Pearson Education Limited, 2008.

y http://www.active-access.eu

y Lawrence D. F. PhD, & Mr. Engelke P.,(2002). How land use and transportation

systems impact public health: A literature review of the relationship between

physical activity and built form. ACES.

y European Commission, DG-REGIO,ECORYS Netherlands BV(2006).Study on

Strategic Evaluation on Transport Investment Priorities under Structural and

Cohesion funds for the Programming Period 2007-2013

(No2005.CE.16.0.AT.014). Country Report: Cyprus (Final).

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