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need help with assignment and also need turnitin report also and rewrite also Introduction An internal marketing strategy is becoming an essential management tool due to a combination of market forces. First, intense competition is not limited to the external marketplace. Today’s buoyant economy has produced strong growth in jobs and a shortage of professional staff. At the same time, flatter management structures and tougher business decisions mean that you cannot ‘sell’ people, employees or recruits, the promise of a big promotion or a job for life. When people have choices, the law of supply and demand comes into play. Now more than ever before, organisations have to satisfy their internal customers if they are to operate effectively. At the same time, organisations across the board are going through dramatic and fundamental changes in order to survive in an increasingly competitive, fast-moving global environment. Organisations are flatter and more streamlined. Reporting lines are less clear. Roles and job titles have been blurred. Decisions are made much more quickly. As a result, the lines of communication are far more complex and business messages more difficult, and often worrying, for staff. In this environment, the future of the relationship between organisations and their people depends on the way they communicate with each other, not as employees but as internal customers. Like external customers, staff have ‘buying’ decisions to make: whether to buy-in to a business objective or initiative, whether to take ownership of a company vision, whether to aspire to achieve organisational goals and to make a valuable contribution, or to live up to its collective values. The term ‘buy-in’ has found its way into the management vernacular, yet it is often misunderstood. This chapter will explore the meaning and business value of buy-in using a combination of theory, anecdotal evidence, market research and short case studies. Intellectual and emotional buy-in Buy-in is, in fact, a two-sided coin. One side is about intellectual buy-in, which means that people are aware of and aligned with key business issues and under- 10 The business value of buy-in How staff understanding and commitment impact on brand and business performance Kevin Thomson Lorrie A. Hecker Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . stand how they can positively affect them. The other, equally valuable, side of the coin is the need to build commitment and engage people in the achievement of goals. Emotion in an organisation is like petrol to a car. You cannot go very far without it. The mistake many managers make is to concentrate solely on understanding or on winning minds without also striving to build commitment or winning hearts. Looking after people’s minds is the principle behind intellectual capital and knowledge management, management concepts that have become popular recently. Yet, knowledge is only half the battle. Even more importantly, the hidden resources of feelings, beliefs, perceptions and values determine whether or not people apply their knowledge constructively in support of organisational goals. These beliefs, feelings and motivations are the foundation of emotional capital. Think of the emotions that have been very common for employees to feel in recent years, such as anxiety, stress, anger, fear and suspicion. Then think of the workplace and marketplace challenges described earlier. Common sense tells us that an organisation cannot possibly meet these challenges with such negative emotions at work. Over time, these emotions may manifest themselves as overt industrial action or as more subtle, individual, behaviours such as poor attitudes, increased absenteeism and low productivity. Either way, a business’ reputation and personality will suffer. On the other hand, positive emotions are an energy source that can drive a company forward. When organisations win hearts and minds and build a strong base of emotional capital, their people become engaged. They feel a sense of ownership for business goals and strive to build strong and profitable relation- ships with external stakeholders. To understand the components and value of buy-in, the Marketing and Communication Agency (MCA) commissioned Market & Opinion Research International (MORI) in August 1998 to conduct a nationally representative quota sample of 350 managers and staff from British organisations employing 1,000 or more people within a cross-section of industry sectors. About 60 per cent of those interviewed worked in organisations with 5,000-plus employees, and 41 per cent were managers (see Arganbright and Thomson, 1998). The survey was undertaken to gauge the levels of staff understanding of, and commitment to, their organisations’ business objectives and goals, both on an emotional and intellectual scale. Interviews were carried out in respondents’ homes using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing). Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile. Where responses do not add up to 100 per cent, the balance is accounted for by those who neither agreed nor disagreed or those who do not know, or is due to rounding of figures. To compare the levels of intellectual and emotional buy-in and to understand the areas for improvement, respondents were asked about their level of agree- ment with key benchmarking statements based on MCA’s work with many of The Times’s top 100 companies. The critical success factors were then identified for cultivating ‘champions’: people who both understand business goals and brand values and are strongly committed to delivering them. The Business Value of Buy-in 161 Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . The benchmark findings are outlined in Table 10.1, showing the extent of strong agreement with particular statements. The Emotional Benchmarks are written in plain text while the Intellectual Benchmarks are italicised. Organisations depend on their people having a strong understanding of the business direction. Yet, surprisingly, only 39 per cent of respondents agreed strongly that they understand what they need to do as individuals to support business goals (see Table 10.1). Even worse, just 27 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that they have a clear sense of their organisation’s vision and direction for the future, and only 14 per cent strongly agreed with all five intellectual benchmarking statements. When asked about their overall awareness and understanding of key business goals, less than half (48 per cent) of respondents rated this as high. Emotional buy-in fared no better in the survey. The research shows that 51 per cent of respondents rated their overall level of commitment as high. Nonetheless, the responses to the emotional benchmarking statements show a noticeable drop in levels of agreement overall. For example, only 9 per cent of those interviewed felt strongly that their views and participation were valued by their organisation (see Table 10.1). This should send a clear signal to business leaders seeking employee loyalty and buy-in. There is also a noticeable lack of confidence in leaders, with a mere 15 per cent strongly agreeing that they had confidence in their organisation’s leadership. This 162 Kevin Thomson and Lorrie A. Hecker Table 10.1 Findings of the 1998 MCA/MORI survey Benchmarks at a glance Strongly agree I understand what I need to do in my own job to support organisational aims and goals 39\% I feel I play an important part in meeting our customers’ needs 38\% I have the knowledge/skills to do my job in a way that supports organisational goals 37\% I can see how my job performance affects my organisation’s success 34\% The people in my team/work area know how we contribute to organisational goals 28\% I have a clear sense of my organisation’s vision and direction for the future 27\% I am committed to giving my best to help my organisation succeed 27\% My organisation’s culture encourages me to work in innovative ways 17\% I believe in my organisation’s vision for the future 16\% I have confidence in my organisation’s leadership 15\% My views and participation are valued by my organisation 9\% Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . may explain why only 27 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that they were committed to giving their best to help their organisation succeed. In fact, only 5 per cent of the respondents strongly agreed with all six emotional benchmarks. Buy-in and business performance For those respondents who do buy-in both intellectually and emotionally to busi- ness goals, they consistently say it improves their job performance and makes them up to twice as likely to recommend their organisation to others, such as customers, potential recruits and other stakeholders. Other research confirms the value of the emotional capital of internal customers. When Fortune magazine (Grant, 1998) announced the 100 best compa- nies to work for in America in 1997, as voted for by more than 20,000 employees, there was a powerful demonstration of the emotional contract between these people and their organisations and the impact on business performance. Of the sixty-one companies in the group that had been publicly traded for at least five years, forty-five had consistently yielded higher returns to shareholders than industry averages. These sixty-one companies averaged annual returns of 27.5 per cent, compared with the typical 17.3 per cent (see Grant, 1998). Another study by the Institute of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield (Patterson et al., 1997) correlated a direct link between employee attitudes such as organisational commitment and job satisfaction and company performance in terms of profitability and productivity. According to the researchers, ‘12\% of the variation between companies in their profitability can be explained by variations in the job satisfaction of their employees. Moreover, 13\%…can be explained by the differences between companies in organisational commitment.’ In the MCA/MORI study, the combination of understanding plus commit- ment is shown to create what we have called ‘champions’. These are people who are both willing and able to give their best to help the organisation to achieve its vision and goals, and who will act as ambassadors for their brand and/or organi- sation (see Arganbright and Thomson, 1999). These champions are vital to overcoming the neutral or negative responses likely from others in their organisation. The MORI normative database (called ‘Perspectives’) has determined that in Britain today around one in five employees are ‘saboteurs’. This means that in an organisation with 1,000 employees, there are some 200 people who would bad-mouth their organisation. The research suggests that understanding and commitment lead to greater advocacy and, therefore, provide organisations with a much-needed way to counteract saboteurs by creating champions. Yet the research shows that 63 per cent of staff are not champions (see Table 10.2), and unfortunately fall into one of three other camps. These are: • ‘bystanders’, who clearly understand organisational goals but do not have the emotional drive to support them; The Business Value of Buy-in 163 Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . • ‘loose cannons’, who are highly motivated to support business goals but do not understand what they are or how to achieve them; • ‘weak links’, who are not aware or concerned about business goals. Communication as a tool to increase buy-in The survey shows a direct link between good communication and strong buy-in. People with high levels of buy-in rate their company’s communication highly, and those with low levels generally rate communication as average or poor. Fortunately, effective communication can strengthen both intellectual and emotional buy-in. As shown in Table 10.3, those who score their communication satisfaction higher also show higher levels of buy-in. In fact, increasing the effec- tiveness of communication from a 6 to 8 out of 10 can potentially double levels of buy-in. Unfortunately, the respondents in our survey gave the effectiveness of communi- cation a mean score of 6 out of 10. This is consistent with MORI’s 1997 Omnibus Communications Survey, which shows that the effectiveness of internal business communication in Britain is weak and in fact has not improved in the past twenty- seven years. It also is consistent with a 1996 study conducted by MCA and the Corporate Communication Research Unit at the University of Salford (Arganbright et al., 1996), which explored the effectiveness of traditional top-down employee communication compared with a more involving, two-way, approach. Impact of change on buy-in Managers are being hit more heavily by change, which may explain their disap- 164 Kevin Thomson and Lorrie A. Hecker “ – Table 10.2 Buy-in among the British workforce Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . pointing levels of understanding and commitment. About 40 per cent say a restructuring or merger/acquisition has directly affected them in the last twelve months, compared with 29 per cent of non-managers (Arganbright and Thomson, 1998). Levels of communication and internal marketing during periods of dramatic organisational change can have profound effects on the overall effectiveness of staff. Schweiger and Denisi (1991) reported on research that compared the impact of communication within two merging Fortune 500 companies. One plant had no formal communication until the formal announcement; the other had early and frequent communication throughout the planning process. The plant without communication saw a 20 per cent decrease in performance, a 24 per cent increase in uncertainty, a 21 per cent decrease in job satisfaction and an 11 per cent decrease in commitment. By comparison, the plant with early and frequent communication saw no change in performance or commitment and only a 2 per cent decrease in job satisfaction. Supporting this finding is a survey of more than 5,000 managers in the UK. The report, ‘The Quality of Working Life’ (Worrall and Cooper, 1997) found that the majority of those surveyed had been affected by organisational change during the preceding twelve months, yet had failed to see the business benefits. When asked about possible improvements, the largest single category of sugges- tions was about communication, such as greater involvement, the need for more listening by senior managers, and more honest and two-way communication. Case study: buy-in during a period of change When Abbey National acquired First National Bank in 1995, the published objective was ‘to provide 10 per cent of Abbey National’s profits’. This was a laudable aim – but not terribly inspiring. Without a stronger mission for First National, staff were losing their sense of belonging. In a survey, the staff were more likely to see themselves as part of Abbey National or their own specialist division than as part of First National. Nevertheless, the organisation did expand The Business Value of Buy-in 165 Table 10.3 How employees rate the effectiveness of communication Communication Mean Score \% with high intellectual buy-in or understanding \% with high emotional buy-in or commitment 1–3 36\% 34\% 4–6 25\% 32\% 7 44\% 50\% 8 64\% 67\% 9 68\% 71\% 10 85\% 79\% Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . to achieve the Abbey National objective through organic growth and a series of acquisitions. Although this all added up to good news for the business, it only added to the lack of identity and unity internally. Initially, First National, which is a subsidiary of Abbey National special- ising in business, consumer and motor financing, was seen as a conglomerate of disparate businesses, and staff within the new businesses did not feel inte- grated. As one member of staff commented, there were ‘so many different companies and cultures, it’s hard to know where everything fits in’. Another said, ‘People need to be aware that we all work for the same organisation.’ The finance industry is notoriously competitive, and it became clear that the lack of cohesion and direction was holding First National back. The only way forward was to secure staff buy-in to a challenging yet commonly shared goal. Many organisations have not yet realised the value of having their people share a common goal or vision for the future. Those that do often fail to secure the very support they seek from their people. Why? Because the vision is issued as a top-down edict that does not address people’s interests, questions and concerns. To avoid this common pitfall, First National asked the MCA to carry out a strategic review of First National’s communication activities that included exten- sive research to help shape their business strategy. This research involved a combination of one-to-one interviews to isolate key issues among staff and key messages from top managers; MCA’s Issues Groups to explore these issues and identify solutions; and benchmarking research to enable First National to compare itself to industry norms and track its progress. The research revealed a gap between the aims of the Board and what staff actu- ally understood, and highlighted a number of actions that needed to be taken: • Develop a strong brand • Align effort around a motivating objective • Reengineer the organisation to integrate newly acquired businesses into the whole • Introduce a communication strategy to unify the restructured business First National has already developed a compelling new brand that graphically represents the link between the customer, the intermediary and First National. The new branding has proved very popular: 90 per cent of First National’s managers agreed (41 per cent of them strongly) that the new branding is ‘a posi- tive move forward’. A second action point was to focus effort on a motivating goal. One person interviewed expressed a commonly held view that the original Abbey National objective was constraining: ‘Why limit our achievement? Why not go for the lot?’ Accordingly, First National’s Executive Chairman, Tim Ingram, forged a straight- forward yet challenging new objective: ‘To become the UK’s leading finance house’. A bulletin, Achieving Our Vision Together, clearly sets out the implications of 166 Kevin Thomson and Lorrie A. Hecker Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . this objective, together with what it means both corporately and individually. Each bulletin contains information on the staff feedback and what managers are doing about it. To meet the third action point, the organisation is currently undergoing a major restructuring and reengineering project. The acquired businesses are being inte- grated into a clearer structure, delineated by product: motor, consumer, business, and retail finance. MCA is working with First National’s Project Team to integrate a marketing-driven communication strategy with the changes. The internal–external link After a decade of cost cutting, downsizing, reengineering and the like, greater understanding and commitment offer another avenue for enhancing business performance. Every organisation has the ability to unlock the full potential of its business and its brand through its people. Yet most organisations fail to do so. Today’s service-driven economy has moved the marketing discipline from a mass approach to one focused on investment in targeted relationships. As such, it is essential that marketers consider the question ‘who are customers really having relationships with these days?’ They are certainly not having them with those inanimate products or services that are offered for sale or with the logos or two- dimensional branded images. Relationships are about people and personalities. This means that customers are building relationships with the people they encounter within organisations – the employees – and the personality that these people give to their organisations. This simple truth is at the heart of internal marketing, which is, in essence, marketing from the inside, out. This relationship between internal and external customers is not well under- stood. For this reason MCA commissioned a second survey with MORI in April 1999 (Arganbright and Thomson, 1999) to provide a national benchmark for the effectiveness of staff interactions with customers today, and the commercial benefits that can be gained when people represent their organisations and brands well. This research shows the damage that negative encounters with staff are having on customer loyalty. Fortunately, it also shows the power of staff in building profitable and long-term relationships with customers, and offers vital insights for companies aiming to help their people become a ‘living brand’. For this survey, MORI conducted face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative quota sample of 925 people in the British general public. Interviews were carried out in respondents’ homes, using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing). Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile. Respondents were asked to think about the companies that make products/services rather than the retailer distributing them. The interviewers were also able to give further instruction at their discretion, asking the respon- dents to focus on occasions when they have bought or considered buying a company’s product or service and also had dealings with that company’s staff. The Business Value of Buy-in 167 Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . Staff impact on customer relationships Staff attitudes and behaviours have a significant impact on customer loyalty, more so than many traditional marketing tools. The top three factors that deter- mine whether customers will make a repeat purchase or recommend a company to others are quality, price, and how the staff treats them. In terms of advocacy, 41 per cent of customers say that they are most likely to decide whether to buy or not buy a company’s products or services again because of the way staff treat them, ahead of advertising, branding and promotions. Unfortunately, consumers say that staff currently are not up to the challenge and in many cases are actually damaging relationships with them. The primary reason consumers give for feeling put off from purchasing a company’s product or service is how they were treated by staff; ahead of price or quality. In the previous three months alone, one in six consumers have been put off from a purchase because of the way they were treated by staff. Younger and more affluent consumers – a group sought after by most compa- nies – appear even more dissatisfied with their treatment from staff. Nearly a quarter of those aged between 15 and 34 (22 per cent) and those with a house- hold income of £30,000 and above (23 per cent) were put off from making a purchase because of the treatment received from staff. ‘Brand ambassador benchmarks’ To understand what customers experience, we asked them to consider the effec- tiveness of staff against twelve ‘brand ambassador’ benchmarks (see Table 10.4). These explore how well the staff are representing their organisation or brand in dealings with customers. They reveal that what customers experience is a far cry from the brand and corporate values most companies espouse: • Less than half of customers feel staff showed a genuine interest in helping. • Only one in five say staff showed appreciation for their interest or purchase. • Less than a third say that staff appeared committed to doing their best, and only one in ten were seen to show pride in their products and services. The link to competitiveness The well-known marketing mix of product, price, place and promotion certainly does require a fifth ‘P’ – people. Only price and quality – which can be repli- cated by competitors – are on occasions more important to customers than their dealings with staff. When customers feel that staff show a genuine interest in helping (the characteristic that most influences their decision to buy), they are more than twice as likely to purchase a company’s products and services again and more than three times as likely to recommend the company to others. What happens when customers experience more of these brand ambassador benchmark behaviours? As staff deliver against more of these, customers’ 168 Kevin Thomson and Lorrie A. Hecker Lewis, B., & Varey, R. (Eds.). (2000). Internal marketing : Directions for management : directions for management. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:25:07. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 0 . T a yl o r & F ra n ci s G ro u p . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . 131 The Web has become a critical part of the marketing effort for every brand that exists in America today, and should be given more than just passing consideration for every product or service that goes to market. Interactive ele- ments must be called out in all marketing plans, and they must play a prominent role in building awareness and keeping brands contemporary. The Web works on a variety of levels to do everything from engaging prospec- tive buyers, persuading them to purchase your products, or simply entertaining everyday consumers through your messages and brand-centric activities. The Web should be utilized on two primary levels: The awareness-driving level: i.e., advertising via Web banners, streaming video components, engaging in viral efforts, leveraging social media, seed- ing a video on YouTube, etc. The information-gathering level: i.e., corporate Web sites, online prod- uct reviews, corporate information/history, media updates, leadership con- tact details, etc. In the past decade, this second level has become critical to corporate success as most consumers now go to the Web to gather information before making any meaningful (and even not-so-meaningful) purchases. Whether leasing a car, buying a home, obtaining medical insurance, shelling out $8 for a movie ticket, or procuring a new book, consumers go to the Web to gather information before they buy. Indeed, the average consumer spends countless hours sifting through data points and online customer (and expert) reviews before making a major purchase. For example, if a consumer is in the market for a new flat-screen TV, that individual will no longer walk into his or her local electronics store and ask the manager of the TV department, “What do you think?” Instead, that consumer will gather data on the Internet. He or she will check out multiple reviews TOPIC #39 HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WEB TO ANY MARKETING EFFORT? MICHAEL HAND THE CLIENT PERSPECTIVE Q: Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:19:46. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . (at the time of this writing, a basic Google search on the phrase “flat screen TV reviews” yielded more than 540,000 hits), visit multiple manufacturer Web sites, and maybe even e-mail friends and family to ask for their opinions. After this stage, the person might walk into a store to buy a TV—but could just as eas- ily make the purchase online. Simply put: All roads will drive consumers to the Internet at some point along the journey. I want to acknowledge the Internet’s evolving role because it illustrates the importance of keeping Internet marketing activities in the same conversation as traditional TV and print advertising. It also makes it very clear that you no longer can control 100 percent of your company’s or brand’s message and image in the marketplace. Third parties now greatly influence people’s buying deci- sions. The Web is never turned off. It’s a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week, 365- days-a-year information source that can give any time-pressured individual access to products and services (as well as customer feedback on these products and services) worldwide with a simple click of the mouse. Where other media forums are a one-way dialogue, the Web is equally strong in getting messages out as it is in taking them in. The Web’s ability to update in real time as com- ments are shared is also something no other form of media in the marketing mix can deliver. According to a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a leading research organization, more than 80 percent of all Internet users use the Web to research products and services before they make an offline purchase. This staggering statistic highlights exactly how important the Web has become to marketers. But rather than making my entire point by quoting numbers (even though those numbers alone could easily make the case for the Web’s importance), I’d rather use this section to deconstruct the Web a bit and examine what makes it differ- ent and why it’s become such a huge deal. Part of it is that the Web is a hybrid entity, in that it’s both an advertising medium and the object being advertised. Other factors include how messages are delivered, the potential for increased markets, particular reinforcement of the brand, and heightened consumer inter- action. Let’s take a look at each of these individually. 132 JASON MILETSKY THE AGENCY PERSPECTIVE Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:19:46. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . THE WEB AND ITS HYBRID STATUS Advertising, for example, is used to promote a product or service or increase awareness of a brand. Its a single-effect communication requiring the audience to take action on their own. A reader of a print ad, for example, can’t make a purchase directly from that print ad. He or she must take some sort of action such as making a phone call or visiting a store in order to make a purchase. The ad promotes the brand, and the company or the store sells the product. The Web, however, falls somewhere between the promotion and sales processes. A Web site can act in exactly the same way as an ad in a magazine: by promot- ing the brand and pushing consumers toward a product. In this sense, both the print ad and the Web site exist for the purpose of driving consumers to make a purchase (take action). They each work to advertise a brand. The Web is differ- ent from other marketing tools, though, in that visiting a Web site is often the very action that other marketing tools attempt to persuade consumers to take. Rather than making the case to consumers to visit a store and purchase a prod- uct, a print ad may instead make the case to consumers to visit the brand’s Web site and gather more information or make a purchase from there. In this sense, the Web is not only a means of advertising, it is also the thing being advertised. So in this scenario, one marketing tool—i.e., a print ad—is, in a way, marketing another marketing tool—i.e., the Web. The Web offers infinite space to provide information, promote the brand per- sonality, and offer e-commerce capabilities, while social-media tools enable the brand to interact with its market, delivering a far richer experience than a 30- second commercial or one-page print ad ever could. INDIVIDUAL MESSAGE DELIVERY Traditional mass marketing tools and branding efforts address the audience as a single entity, regardless of how many people that audience might include. This approach offers no way to speak to individual members of a target market. Instead, it sends messages to large demographics, which are targeted based pri- marily on assumptions made about the shows being watched, the magazine being read, or what have you. For example, the investment firm Charles Schwab can reasonably assume that they are more likely to reach people inter- ested in their services by running ads during The Suze Orman Show on CNBC than by advertising on Rock of Love on VH1. While individual shows can pro- vide a more narrow audience demographic, the message is still sent to the audi- ence as a whole; the commercial has no way of reaching out to a particular member of the audience and saying, “Hi, John. We noticed you’ve been looking around for a high-yield IRA. You might be interested in one we offer….” 133 Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:19:46. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . In contrast, thanks to social-media tools, the Web can speak to each member of a given audience on an individual basis through personalization. Sites like Amazon.com have perfected the art of promotion based on intuitive, one-to-one marketing. When you first get there, the site features items that it’s trying to push most aggressively because at this point it doesn’t know who you are or what you are interested in. After you’ve tooled around on the site a bit, however, this changes. Do a few searches and then check out Amazon’s home page the next time you visit—the featured products will now reflect what the site thinks you’ll be interested in based on your previous search and/or purchasing history. Face it, no retail outlet in any industry can suddenly change its window display based on my previous shopping habits in their store! The ability to market to individuals based on previous buying behavior increases the potential for sales by making brands accessible to the people most likely to buy them. From a brand perspective, this creates significant opportunities for increased revenue and brand recognition from key markets. INCREASED MARKETS Traditional marketing can be expensive. One full-page print ad can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars, depending on the publication. Television spots can be even more pricey. Thirty seconds of air time can range from a few hundred dollars (for example, to air in a single county on a relatively unpopular cable show) to nearly three million dollars (for exam- ple, to air during the Super Bowl). This can add up quickly, limiting reach and exposure. Technically, the Web’s exposure is limitless and easily accessible to anyone, regardless of demographic or geographic boundaries. This doesn’t mean every- one will see your site, just that everyone can see it. This creates opportunities for marketers to increase the reach of their brands by concentrating efforts on driving people to their sites through traditional marketing, word-of-mouth, and links shared between sites. By opening themselves up to new audiences, brands can generate increased exposure and sales. REINFORCEMENT OF THE BRAND MESSAGE Because the Web is so dynamic, marketers can use it to reinforce their brand image and promise without the consumer even making a purchase. Pampers.com, for example, has developed their Web site specifically to enhance their promise of being a brand that cares about babies and toddlers. For decades, Pampers has earned the trust of parents all over the world by consistently marketing safe, reliable, and high-quality products specifically for babies—an area in which gaining trust can be particularly difficult. To reinforce this trust in their products, Pampers uses its site as a marketing tool by providing a true informational 134 Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:19:46. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . resource for parents, presenting helpful insights, expert advice, and information for parents about child development, growth, activities, and more. Much of this information has little or nothing to do with the products they sell. Why would Pampers bother? After all, the company is in business to sell a prod- uct, not to provide advice. The reason is the difference between the product (what Pampers sells) and the brand (what Pampers promises). The site shows that although Pampers manufactures diapers, they in fact care about kids before car- ing about profit. This is what builds trust, which in turn builds loyalty—which, eventually, translates to increased sales. When translating their brand onto the Web, marketers should ask themselves (or, better yet, their customers) what information they can provide beyond stan- dard product information that can improve the lives of their customers. The Web offers brands increased opportunities to provide value-added services over and above their product offerings and engage their market in far more personal ways, thereby increasing trust and reinforcing their brand. HEIGHTENED CONSUMER INTERACTION In addition to enable brands to market on a one-to-one basis, the Web also pro- vides the ability to create a community of customers. Indeed, through blogs, Wikis, social networking, and other tools, brands can interact with consumers more closely than ever before. The Web lets brands learn from customers. With the Web, brands can gather opinions, run more effective marketing and promo- tional campaigns, and give consumers the opportunity to interact with each other. These efforts help to build trust and strengthen the emotional connection between brand and consumer, providing increased opportunities for the brand to more closely connect itself to its market. 135 Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:19:46. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . 131 The Web has become a critical part of the marketing effort for every brand that exists in America today, and should be given more than just passing consideration for every product or service that goes to market. Interactive ele- ments must be called out in all marketing plans, and they must play a prominent role in building awareness and keeping brands contemporary. The Web works on a variety of levels to do everything from engaging prospec- tive buyers, persuading them to purchase your products, or simply entertaining everyday consumers through your messages and brand-centric activities. The Web should be utilized on two primary levels: The awareness-driving level: i.e., advertising via Web banners, streaming video components, engaging in viral efforts, leveraging social media, seed- ing a video on YouTube, etc. The information-gathering level: i.e., corporate Web sites, online prod- uct reviews, corporate information/history, media updates, leadership con- tact details, etc. In the past decade, this second level has become critical to corporate success as most consumers now go to the Web to gather information before making any meaningful (and even not-so-meaningful) purchases. Whether leasing a car, buying a home, obtaining medical insurance, shelling out $8 for a movie ticket, or procuring a new book, consumers go to the Web to gather information before they buy. Indeed, the average consumer spends countless hours sifting through data points and online customer (and expert) reviews before making a major purchase. For example, if a consumer is in the market for a new flat-screen TV, that individual will no longer walk into his or her local electronics store and ask the manager of the TV department, “What do you think?” Instead, that consumer will gather data on the Internet. He or she will check out multiple reviews TOPIC #39 HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WEB TO ANY MARKETING EFFORT? MICHAEL HAND THE CLIENT PERSPECTIVE Q: Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:18:24. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . (at the time of this writing, a basic Google search on the phrase “flat screen TV reviews” yielded more than 540,000 hits), visit multiple manufacturer Web sites, and maybe even e-mail friends and family to ask for their opinions. After this stage, the person might walk into a store to buy a TV—but could just as eas- ily make the purchase online. Simply put: All roads will drive consumers to the Internet at some point along the journey. I want to acknowledge the Internet’s evolving role because it illustrates the importance of keeping Internet marketing activities in the same conversation as traditional TV and print advertising. It also makes it very clear that you no longer can control 100 percent of your company’s or brand’s message and image in the marketplace. Third parties now greatly influence people’s buying deci- sions. The Web is never turned off. It’s a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week, 365- days-a-year information source that can give any time-pressured individual access to products and services (as well as customer feedback on these products and services) worldwide with a simple click of the mouse. Where other media forums are a one-way dialogue, the Web is equally strong in getting messages out as it is in taking them in. The Web’s ability to update in real time as com- ments are shared is also something no other form of media in the marketing mix can deliver. According to a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a leading research organization, more than 80 percent of all Internet users use the Web to research products and services before they make an offline purchase. This staggering statistic highlights exactly how important the Web has become to marketers. But rather than making my entire point by quoting numbers (even though those numbers alone could easily make the case for the Web’s importance), I’d rather use this section to deconstruct the Web a bit and examine what makes it differ- ent and why it’s become such a huge deal. Part of it is that the Web is a hybrid entity, in that it’s both an advertising medium and the object being advertised. Other factors include how messages are delivered, the potential for increased markets, particular reinforcement of the brand, and heightened consumer inter- action. Let’s take a look at each of these individually. 132 JASON MILETSKY THE AGENCY PERSPECTIVE Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:18:24. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . THE WEB AND ITS HYBRID STATUS Advertising, for example, is used to promote a product or service or increase awareness of a brand. Its a single-effect communication requiring the audience to take action on their own. A reader of a print ad, for example, can’t make a purchase directly from that print ad. He or she must take some sort of action such as making a phone call or visiting a store in order to make a purchase. The ad promotes the brand, and the company or the store sells the product. The Web, however, falls somewhere between the promotion and sales processes. A Web site can act in exactly the same way as an ad in a magazine: by promot- ing the brand and pushing consumers toward a product. In this sense, both the print ad and the Web site exist for the purpose of driving consumers to make a purchase (take action). They each work to advertise a brand. The Web is differ- ent from other marketing tools, though, in that visiting a Web site is often the very action that other marketing tools attempt to persuade consumers to take. Rather than making the case to consumers to visit a store and purchase a prod- uct, a print ad may instead make the case to consumers to visit the brand’s Web site and gather more information or make a purchase from there. In this sense, the Web is not only a means of advertising, it is also the thing being advertised. So in this scenario, one marketing tool—i.e., a print ad—is, in a way, marketing another marketing tool—i.e., the Web. The Web offers infinite space to provide information, promote the brand per- sonality, and offer e-commerce capabilities, while social-media tools enable the brand to interact with its market, delivering a far richer experience than a 30- second commercial or one-page print ad ever could. INDIVIDUAL MESSAGE DELIVERY Traditional mass marketing tools and branding efforts address the audience as a single entity, regardless of how many people that audience might include. This approach offers no way to speak to individual members of a target market. Instead, it sends messages to large demographics, which are targeted based pri- marily on assumptions made about the shows being watched, the magazine being read, or what have you. For example, the investment firm Charles Schwab can reasonably assume that they are more likely to reach people inter- ested in their services by running ads during The Suze Orman Show on CNBC than by advertising on Rock of Love on VH1. While individual shows can pro- vide a more narrow audience demographic, the message is still sent to the audi- ence as a whole; the commercial has no way of reaching out to a particular member of the audience and saying, “Hi, John. We noticed you’ve been looking around for a high-yield IRA. You might be interested in one we offer….” 133 Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:18:24. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . In contrast, thanks to social-media tools, the Web can speak to each member of a given audience on an individual basis through personalization. Sites like Amazon.com have perfected the art of promotion based on intuitive, one-to-one marketing. When you first get there, the site features items that it’s trying to push most aggressively because at this point it doesn’t know who you are or what you are interested in. After you’ve tooled around on the site a bit, however, this changes. Do a few searches and then check out Amazon’s home page the next time you visit—the featured products will now reflect what the site thinks you’ll be interested in based on your previous search and/or purchasing history. Face it, no retail outlet in any industry can suddenly change its window display based on my previous shopping habits in their store! The ability to market to individuals based on previous buying behavior increases the potential for sales by making brands accessible to the people most likely to buy them. From a brand perspective, this creates significant opportunities for increased revenue and brand recognition from key markets. INCREASED MARKETS Traditional marketing can be expensive. One full-page print ad can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars, depending on the publication. Television spots can be even more pricey. Thirty seconds of air time can range from a few hundred dollars (for example, to air in a single county on a relatively unpopular cable show) to nearly three million dollars (for exam- ple, to air during the Super Bowl). This can add up quickly, limiting reach and exposure. Technically, the Web’s exposure is limitless and easily accessible to anyone, regardless of demographic or geographic boundaries. This doesn’t mean every- one will see your site, just that everyone can see it. This creates opportunities for marketers to increase the reach of their brands by concentrating efforts on driving people to their sites through traditional marketing, word-of-mouth, and links shared between sites. By opening themselves up to new audiences, brands can generate increased exposure and sales. REINFORCEMENT OF THE BRAND MESSAGE Because the Web is so dynamic, marketers can use it to reinforce their brand image and promise without the consumer even making a purchase. Pampers.com, for example, has developed their Web site specifically to enhance their promise of being a brand that cares about babies and toddlers. For decades, Pampers has earned the trust of parents all over the world by consistently marketing safe, reliable, and high-quality products specifically for babies—an area in which gaining trust can be particularly difficult. To reinforce this trust in their products, Pampers uses its site as a marketing tool by providing a true informational 134 Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:18:24. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . resource for parents, presenting helpful insights, expert advice, and information for parents about child development, growth, activities, and more. Much of this information has little or nothing to do with the products they sell. Why would Pampers bother? After all, the company is in business to sell a prod- uct, not to provide advice. The reason is the difference between the product (what Pampers sells) and the brand (what Pampers promises). The site shows that although Pampers manufactures diapers, they in fact care about kids before car- ing about profit. This is what builds trust, which in turn builds loyalty—which, eventually, translates to increased sales. When translating their brand onto the Web, marketers should ask themselves (or, better yet, their customers) what information they can provide beyond stan- dard product information that can improve the lives of their customers. The Web offers brands increased opportunities to provide value-added services over and above their product offerings and engage their market in far more personal ways, thereby increasing trust and reinforcing their brand. HEIGHTENED CONSUMER INTERACTION In addition to enable brands to market on a one-to-one basis, the Web also pro- vides the ability to create a community of customers. Indeed, through blogs, Wikis, social networking, and other tools, brands can interact with consumers more closely than ever before. The Web lets brands learn from customers. With the Web, brands can gather opinions, run more effective marketing and promo- tional campaigns, and give consumers the opportunity to interact with each other. These efforts help to build trust and strengthen the emotional connection between brand and consumer, providing increased opportunities for the brand to more closely connect itself to its market. 135 Miletsky, J. I., & Hand, M. (2009). Perspectives™ on marketing. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open(http://ebookcentral.proquest.com,_blank) href=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com target=_blank style=cursor: pointer;>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from snhu-ebooks on 2021-08-16 23:18:24. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 0 9 . C o u rs e T e ch n o lo g y. A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . Competency In this assignment, you will demonstrate mastery of the following competency: · Align needs of various audiences with stakeholder requirements to craft messages that meet project goals Scenario You work for a communications consulting firm, Consulting Comm, and your manager, Juanita Markson, has asked for your help on an upcoming project. Two companies, Acadia Park Equipment Co. and Java Been, have approached your firm for assistance with creating a communications strategy. You will choose one of these companies and create a proposed communication strategy outline for your boss. It is important that you consider the communications goal of the company that you choose. The message that you create will be based on the successful achievement of that communications goal. Each company has provided you with a brief summary including company history, vision, target audience, and communications goal. This information will be valuable when creating a message to meet the needs of both audiences and stakeholders. The companies are as follows: · Acadia Park Equipment Co. · Company History: Acadia Park Equipment Co. was founded by a brother and sister who were inspired by their love of the outdoors. They decided to start Acadia Outdoor Equipment Co. in response to all of the overpriced outdoor camping, hiking, and other recreational products in the big-box retail stores and sought to create high-quality products at a price anyone can afford. The company’s mission is to spread the love and appreciation of the outdoors to all of its customers and beyond. · Vision: As Acadia Park Equipment Co. moves toward its goal of making it affordable for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy nature, we will support organizations whose main efforts involve research to continue environmental preservation efforts. We regularly encourage employees to engage in preservation and clean-up efforts to help the environment. · Target Audience: The target audience is adventure-seeking adults ages 18 to 40. · Communications Goal: Acadia Park Equipment Co. would like to expand its advertising to appeal to active adults over 40 years old. · Java Been · Company History: Founded just under three years ago, Java Been is now a bustling café. With its high ceilings and “found space” appeal, the café has come to host exhibitions, meetings, and local bands. It has become an integral part of the arts revival community that has taken root in the old factory mill buildings along the river. · Vision: The owners take pride in their community, striving to provide a creative space with gourmet coffee, tantalizing baked goods, and music to inspire the artists soul. · Target Audience: Throughout the day, self-employed and remote workers enjoy a focused space away from home to get in a few productive hours. At night, the space comes alive with artists, student study groups, and everyday people just looking to enjoy a cultured night on the town. · Communications Goal: Java Been is planning a grand opening of a second location and needs help advertising this event. Directions · Stakeholders Analysis: Consider who the internal and external stakeholders are for the company, and answer the questions that follow. · Internal Stakeholders include owners, employees, and investors. Imagine if you owned, worked for, or invested in either Acadia Park Equipment Co. or Java Been. How would your needs or interests impact or influence the organization’s communications goal? How would you want to receive communication about the organization’s communications goal? · External Stakeholders include customers, suppliers, and the community. Imagine if you were a customer of, supplier for, or community member of either Acadia Park Equipment Co. or Java Been. How would your needs or interests impact or influence the organization’s communications goal? How would you want to receive communication about the organization’s communications goal? · Target Audience Analysis: Both Acadia Park Equipment Co. and Java Been have provided you with a summary of their target audience(s). Be sure to consider who the target audience is for the company you chose, and describe their needs in relation to the communications goal. In this section, be sure to consider why a member of the target audience might be more likely to choose either Acadia Park Equipment Co. or Java Been over one of their competitors. In other words, what gives the organization a competitive edge for that particular target audience? · Messaging: Once you have analyzed the stakeholders and target audiences, Juanita would like you to propose one message that will meet the needs of both groups. You will need to address the message type, content, and measurement. More specifically, include the following: · Message Type: This could be any message type, such as an email, flyer, poster, Tweet, advertisement, text message, and so on. You do not need to create the actual message, but you should propose the method you plan to use to communicate the message based on the communication goals of Acadia Park Equipment Co. or Java Been. · Message Content: Describe the message content. For instance, if you are planning to use images and visuals, you can describe them rather than create them. All message text should be included and geared toward the stakeholders and audience. · Measurement: Discuss how you will measure the success of your proposed message. For example, will you determine the success based on the number of customers acquired or the number of shares on a social media website? · Rationale: At the end of your communication strategy outline, include a brief rationale that explains why you selected each message type, content, and measurement. Explain how your understanding of stakeholders and audiences informed your message creation. What to Submit Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following: Communication Strategy Outline You will submit one completed communication strategy outline for the company that you chose. The focus of the outline will be on stakeholder needs, audience needs, and messaging. There will be a brief rationale at the end of the outline that summarizes why you selected each message type, content, and measurement. The outline should be 1,000 to 1,500 words in length. Communication Strategy OutlineWhich Resources Can Help?Describes the communication needs of the internal and external stakeholders☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Diverse Audiences · Unit Resources: Stakeholder Requirements Describes the communication needs of the target audience(s)☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Diverse Audiences Explains why a target audience is likely to choose one product or service over another☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Diverse Audiences · Unit Resources: Stakeholder Requirements Proposes an effective message type for the target audience☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Diverse Audiences Selects and describes audience-appropriate content for each message☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Message Creation and Evaluation Selects and describes a valid measurement for the success of each message☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Message Creation and Evaluation Logically explains rationale for each message type, content, and measurement☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Unit Resources: Message Creation and Evaluation GeneralWhich Resources Can Help?Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, demonstrating an understanding of audience and purpose☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Academic Support Attributes sources where applicable using citation methods with no major errors☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet · Citation Help Diverse Audiences This unit relates to creating communication strategies to direct and indirect target audiences. An effective communication strategy starts with the understanding of who these audiences are, their needs, and how to communicate the alignment of their needs with the brands value proposition. In the event the brand has multiple products or product lines, each communication strategy should be customized to each product while maintaining an alignment between the brands value proposition, thus creating consistency throughout the brand. All communication strategies will require customization of written and visual content directed to the different audiences and channels dictated by the marketing strategy. Most communication strategies include the following elements: · Audience segmentation · Communication objectives · Approaches for achieving objectives · Positioning for the desired change · Benefits and messages to encourage desired change · Communication channels to disseminate messages · An implementation plan · A monitoring and evaluation plan Reading: Managing Corporate Brands : A New Approach to Corporate Communication, Managerial Decision Making Model (p. 133) This Shapiro Library e-book is a result from a Doctoral research study focused on corporate brands to develop both behavioral and managerial analysis approaches aimed to improve consumer experience and corporate communication, respectively, where the behavioral analysis is integrated into the managerial one. This page on the managerial decision-making model illustrates the decision-making model for selecting corporate communication tools, used by the managerial approach. This model follows a three-step process: identification of all potential tools, structure modeling for selection, and selection results. This model was developed through a study of the past German company DaimlerChrysler AG. Although Daimler has since separated itself from Chrysler and stands only as Daimler AG, this model is still relevant to current corporate communication strategies. As you read this material, consider the following: · Think broadly. The intent of the first step is to brainstorm all potential tools, regardless of whether they are applicable. Sometimes thinking abstractly can be difficult, so try illustrating it with a previous experience, such as when you had to make a decision even as simple as what clothes to wear to a particular event. In this scenario, didn’t you first think of everything you owned? · The second step is where you select the best tools from the brainstormed results. Continue with the above example; reflect on what caused you to pick the finalists. · The last step basically displays the results. Again, from the finalists, what made you pick the very last one? What attributes from the clothing options did you have to align to match the event? Reading: Managing Corporate Brands : A New Approach to Corporate Communication, Discussion of Decision Problem (pp. 227–228) These pages from the Shapiro Library e-book explain further the decision-making model for selecting corporate communication tools, ranging from problem comprehension to the final selection of the best tool. This model critique also proves its application feasibility to any corporate communication. When reading this material, consider the following: · Think of this model as a process to be used in any scenario that entails choosing communication tools. · Considering this process and following steps for this decision, think back to when you had to decide how to present a class project. Even if you were provided guidelines for the presentation, did you still have to make certain decisions regarding adding potential visual or audio aids? · What criteria did you use to help you choose the best tools to create that presentation—for example, PowerPoint or another tool? · Identification of these criteria is, in a way, an identification of any problems for communicating the message, such as not being able to use a projector. Reading: Managing Corporate Brands : A New Approach to Corporate Communication, Illustrative Problem (p. 271) This section of the Shapiro Library e-book discusses examples of common effective corporate communication tools for brand building, such as mass media advertising, websites, and corporate design itself, as well as their use. When reading this material, consider the following: · What do you think is the difference between a website and an advertisement? What’s the purpose of one versus the other? · How can design influence the overall communication of the message that a site and an ad are attempting to deliver? · Continuing to use the class project presentation example, what was the difference between your thought process to create the description of the project and your reasoning to defend your project during the presentation? Reading: An Approach For Forming The Brand Communication Strategy This article located in the Shapiro Library presents the key elements that must be considered in an effective communication approach for branding strategy, such as the interaction between the brand and the consumer, the brand identity, and its positioning within the marketing strategy. When reading this material, consider the following: · Have you ever been confused by the purpose of an ad you’ve seen and wondered what the ad was trying to accomplish? · Have you found yourself thinking of an ad as “false propaganda” because your interaction did not correspond with the expectations you created when you saw the ad? · Has there been a time when you were taken by surprise seeing the logo of a company and thinking you’d never link that logo to what the advertisement was presenting? Video: The Tactics of Successful Branding (31:00) With the insights and answers in this lecture, youll learn how to create a brand that will connect you with consumers. · What defines a brand? · What rules should you follow when building your brand? · How do brands create value for customers? Reading:  Perspectives On Marketing: How Do You Determine the Target Audience? (pp. 118–120) This Shapiro Library e-book section defines target audience as the demographic of people most likely to be interested in your product or service. If you own a plumbing company, your target audience will be property owners, both commercial and residential. This Shapiro Library e-book section defines target audience as the demographic of people most likely to be interested in your product or service. If you own a plumbing company, your target audience will be property owners, both commercial and residential. While reading this section, consider the following: · Have you ever come across a situation that made you wish you had a tool to help you solve your problem? That’s how companies come up with their products—by solving a particular problem affecting a particular group of individuals. · Based on the above scenario, what criteria must be used to group people into demographics? · How is a target audience defined? · How would you describe to a friend a cool product you just bought so your friend would also purchase it? Reading:  Perspectives On Marketing: The Web and Its Hybrid Status (p. 133) This Shapiro Library e-book section defines and explains the different purposes and goals of advertising, how it behaviorally influences the audience to respond, and how the web can serve in a hybrid mode to accomplish multiple goals. When reading this material, consider the following: · How often do you catch up on news online? · How often do you browse online products and services to purchase? · How often do you click on an appealing ad you see on a social media channel? · Have you ever opened links from electronic newsletters? · Do you sign up for newsletters? · Are these newsletters a mix between information and promotion of products? Reading: Culture and the Star-Power Strategy: Comparing American and Korean Response to Celebrity-Endorsed Advertising This Shapiro Library article discusses using celebrities as influencers to draw in audiences. The belief is that the celebrity’s image or values are transferable to products or brands, thus influencing consumers to purchase products or services. Additionally, the contrast between these influencers in different cultures is addressed. When reading this article, consider the following: · Have you been abroad? If so, have you noticed an ad from an American company known to you in this country? What were your thoughts about it? Even if you haven’t been abroad, have you ever seen a foreign ad by an American company? · Have you ever been influenced to purchase a product because it was endorsed by a celebrity? What led you to be influenced? · Try finding an ad by an American company and endorsed by both American and foreign celebrities. What differences do you notice? Video: How Can I Help You? (11:35) A target audience is a specific group of consumers for which a product’s company provides a direct solution to a common, shared problem. Criteria defining a target audience are based on factors such as age, location, and income. Defining the correct communication strategy toward the target audience involves understanding potential marketing barriers. When watching this video, consider the following: · Have you ever participated in marketing research? If so, were your answers in alignment with the expectations? If you have not participated in marketing research, what questions do you think you would be asked? · What brands do you use throughout your morning routine? Think about your cereal brand, milk brand, and so on. Why do you choose them? · The four Ps of marketing stand for product, price, place, and promotion. Can you identify yourself as a target audience for a brand you normally consume? For example, think about the price of the box of cereal you buy, where it’s sold, and how it is promoted. AN APPROACH FOR FORMING THE BRAND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY. Authors: SVETLANA, DIMITRAKIEVA1 Source: Analele Universitatii Maritime Constanta. 2014, Vol. 15 Issue 22, p139-143. 5p. Document Type: Article Subject Terms: *BRAND name products *BUSINESS success *BUSINESS communication *CUSTOMER relations *BRAND communities Author-Supplied Keywords: brand brand communication strategy brand loyalty branding Abstract: In contemporary conditions many companies are striving to develop strong brands. This gives them opportunity to win the consumers trust, to differentiate themselves from competitors and to provide additional profit. Prerequisite for brand influence of the organization on market success are its basic functions, which are implemented in the process of the brand interaction with the consumers. Its communication strategy has an important role in this process. This article is dedicated to the analysis of this topic. In the paper is clarified the brand essence and its place in the market strategy of the business organization. It is pointed out that the brand contents are based on two components: on the process of formation of the symbol of the brand and on the system of consumer relations with the brand. In this connection the communication strategy is determined as brand leading component. The main principles, to which the strategy has to meet, are pointed out and its basic elements are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]   Copyright of Analele Universitatii Maritime Constanta is the property of Analele Universitatii Maritime Constanta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holders express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) Author Affiliations: 1Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Varna, Bulgaria The Tactics of Successful Branding | Kanopy The Tactics of Successful Branding | Kanopy How Can I Help You?- Understanding Target Audience Barriers: Nancy Lee at TEDxMontlakeCut - YouTube ISSN Accession Numb