Environmental/ natural analysis

Rethink is a start-up brand that provides innovative solutions for disposing, collecting, and delivering non-recyclable plastic waste to fuel derived fuel plants. The objective is to reduce the large amount of plastic waste found in the ocean. This study is the basis for a marketing plan. rethink will conduct a situational analysis which will focus on the macro environment and its impact on the waste management sector. Several research tools and instruments will be explored – bearing in mind the sample population and their communication needs.

The data will be gathered and analysed for rethink to generate solutions by identifying the scope of research. The research will also identify the best mediums to utilize for the marketing campaign. Campaign success is heavily dependent on understanding and adapting to the various elements regarding: Politics, the economy, society, technology, the environment and demographic factors which may impact any marketing efforts (Anonymous at Oxford School of Marketing .

Waste management in South Africa is governed by the National Environmental Management Waste Act 59 of 2008 and the National Environmental Management Laws amendment Act 25 of 2014.

  The Act utilizes the waste hierarchy to promote integrated waste management through avoiding, reducing, re-using, recovering, treating and safely disposing waste. rethink will have to consider the licensing, and requirements included in the Act which will affect any plans to transport, recycle, sort, treat and dispose plastic waste.

The waste management sector is also regulated by other legislations such as: The South African Constitution Act, Hazardous Substances Act, Health Act, Environment Conservation Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, National Water Act, Municipal Structures Act, Municipal Systems Act, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, and Air Quality Act.

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Rethink will have to consider the waste Classification and Management System, which dictates several waste assessment and disposal standards that include: These legislations are potential barriers to the rethink campaign’s success and need to be considered as they impact the waste industry. Other political factors to consider include labour law, environmental law, trade restrictions and the political stability in South Africa. Despite the broad legislative framework, compliance and enforcement are still weak in a lot of areas of the country.

Rethink will have to consider economic factors as they influence the purchasing power and patterns of the target audience and will affect the production level of the organisation. Developing countries such as South Africa have different markets with different levels and incomes. Variables such as cost of living, income, savings, interest, etc also need to be considered as they will help rethink to make better informed decisions (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). For instance, if the inflation rate increases, the price of offerings also increases. Supply and demand will also be affected, based on the purchasing power of the consumer. rethink will consider how the economy changes (grow, stagnate or decline), are the exchange rates stable, the stability of income levels in the country, the unemployment rate, access to credit, globalisation and more. Currently South Africa is in a recession, which could result in people spending less, and saving more. Purchases will decrease, less luxury items will be bought, and big purchases such as cars and houses will slow down (Khoza, 2015). This may mean South Africans will go with the cheaper options for items. For example; instead of buying environmentally friendly re-usable bags at Pick ‘n Pay, they may opt to rather get plastic bags to carry their groceries as it’s inexpensive Other products may be purchased for their price as they use less expensive material – which is generally plastic. This could cause a surge in plastic waste and more difficult to control. Businesses who recycle/reuse plastic may benefit from this increase but may be difficult on brands using eco-friendly materials.

Culture is defined as accepted behaviours, traditions and values of a society. The socio-cultural factors that have an impact on the waste management sector include culture, language, religion, level of education and the attitude of society towards foreign goods/services .  There are different elements that are linked to the beliefs and behaviour of the target audience that will have an impact on the campaign.  According to BBC (2019) South Africa’s population is just over 50 million with life expectancy being not more than 54 years. The country is made up of 11 official languages and the major religions are indigenous beliefs, Islam and Christianity. These factors also influence and need to be considered by the waste management sector. A comparative study was conducted on South African women’s attitudes/perception toward recycling. The study sample was focused on comparing this knowledge between domestic workers and females living in an estate. The study revealed that a domestic worker views recycling differently compared to a woman who lives in an estate. For example; female residence is said to have clear understanding on the importance of recycling, whereas over sixty percent of domestic workers display a very basic understanding of recycling (Masovic, 2018). It is evident that socio-cultural factors such as level of education can influence the decision-making process of an individual as revealed in the study.

The growing African immigrant tensions, xenophobia attacks and tribalism facing the country currently will also affect the waste management industry, along with high unemployment rate, poor health and education systems. Organizations also consider insufficient infrastructure, as it can slow down/stop social and economic growth (Rahman, 2018). Petco conducted a study on South Africans that showed respondents with low-income face obstacles regarding recycling, which is a lack of space at their homes. There is also little to no recycling depots. More than 50% of low-income respondents complain about the effort of recycling. Middle-income respondents agreed on the environmental and economic benefits of recycling. These benefits include job creation and reuse of household items. However, they still did not recycle. The research shows that 43% of high-income respondents recycle, 29% state that they only recycle occasionally, and 28% do not recycle at all.

According to Rahman South Africa is one of the most advanced countries in Africa in the field of technology due to the progress made in the mobile and security software and electronic banking sectors. This has inspired interest in international technology and social networking companies who now operate in the country such as Apple, IBM, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. The increase of shopping online in South Africa has created new opportunities for online retailers, which as a result also sparked a hike in presence of hackers and other cyber-attacks. The attacks also resulted in a spark in increase demand for IT security products and solutions. rethink must monitor these factors and quickly identify any changes in the landscape, and then implement to improve their products and services. One of the major challenges that rethink may face is that there is no specific act, policy or strategy for eco-innovation in South Africa.  Other technological factors to be considered are automation, technology incentives, and the rate of technological change. rethink will factor in how the internet will enable the expand their range of services in order to cater to the different needs of their subscribers such as news and instant messaging.

The environmental analysis will consist of the physical environment and natural resources influencing rethink and their objectives. Examples of natural resources may be forests, oil, and coal. Examples of physical environment include pandemic viruses, earthquakes or weather changes that influence buying behaviour with consumers (E.g. a rainy day may mean consumers would rather stay inside). Anything that affects the success of the campaign as these are usually out of the organizations control, so risk plans will be put in place to cope with unexpected changes .