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International Marketing Strategy. Lecture 5 Promotional Strategies 1 Public Relations. Lecture Outline. Current issues Planning Promotional Campaigns What does public relations involve? Publics Internal and external public relations Public relations objectives
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International Marketing Strategy Lecture 5 Promotional Strategies 1 Public Relations
Lecture Outline • Current issues • Planning Promotional Campaigns • What does public relations involve? • Publics • Internal and external public relations • Public relations objectives • Credibility and visibility – PR activities
Top Stories in 2011-12 • The Royal Wedding • The Eurozone Crisis • Phone hacking and closure of the News of the World • The Japanese Tsunami • The New Zealand Earthquake • Uprisings across the Arab World • The death of Amy Winehouse and Steve Jobs • The death of Osama Bin Laden and Colonel Gadaffi • Summer riots in the UK
Top Stories in 2011-12 • Capitalism protests outside St Paul’s Cathedral • Coca Cola celebrates 125 years of being “The Real Thing” • John Lewis reports biggest weekly sales figure on record • Past Times, La Senza and Pumpkin Patch go into administration • Twitter sees record activity during 2012 superbowl • Glencore and Xstrata announce $90 billion merger • Facebook’s IPO
Planning Promotional Campaigns • Determine the target audience • Determine specific campaign objectives • Determine the budget • Determine the message • Determine media strategy • Determine the campaign approach • Determine campaign effectiveness (Czinkota, Ronkainen & Zvobgo, 2011, 528)
0 Planning Promotional Campaigns • The target audience • Expectations have to be researched to ensure the appropriateness of campaign decision making • Some campaigns may be targeted at multiple audiences (publics) • An important aspect of research is to determine multimarket target audience similarities. • Companies are engaging in corporate image advertising in support of their more traditional tactical product-specific and local advertising efforts (Czinkota et al., 2011, 528-530)
0 Planning Promotional Campaigns • The target audience • An umbrella campaign may help multidivisional companies to either boost the image of lesser-known product lines or make the company itself be understood correctly or perceived more positively • Companies may announce repositioning strategies through image campaigns to both external and internal constituents
0 Planning Promotional Campaigns • The target audience • Costs may also be saved in engaging in global image campaigning, especially if the same campaign or core concepts can be used across borders • In some cases the product may be standard but the product’s positioning and subsequently marketing communications has to change (Czinkota et al., 2011, 529-530)
Campaign Objectives • Objectives should be clearly defined and measurable (SMART) • Set global, regional and local objectives • Objectives may be product or service related or related to the entity itself • Typical objectives aim to increase awareness, enhance image and improve market share • Local objectives are typically developed as a combination of global and regional, and country organisation involvement (Czinkota et al., 2011, 530)
The Promotional Message • The marketer must determine customer’s motivations • The idea may be global, but overseas subsidiaries tailor the message to suit local market conditions and regulations • Marketers often want to localise international symbols e.g. celebrities • Aesthetics plays a role in localised campaigns • Environmental conditions call for modifications – culture, economic development, lifestyle • (Czinkota et al., 2011, 537-539)
Media Strategy • Consider media availability, product or service characteristics, media habits • Major problems can arise due to conflicting national regulations • Viewers choice has been expanded across borders, leading to competition among government-run channels, state channels from neighbouring countries, private channels, and global channels • Marketing communication needs to work within markets and across countries (Czinkota et al., 2011, 530-533)
What is Public Relations? • PR is a global occupation • PR is a product of economic and political circumstances • PR is used in a wide range of industries • PR is about image • All organisations need PR • PR is about managing communication • PR is about building relationships
Definitions of Public Relations • “The art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organisational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action which will serve both the organisation and public interest”.(Newsom et al., 2000, 2) • “Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you”. (CIPR, 2009) (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 6-7)
Public Relations • Image – the way a multinational corporation relates to and is perceived by its key constituents • Public relations is the marketing communications function charged with executing programmes to earn public understanding and acceptance • Richard Edelman on the 2012 Trust Barometer Findings - YouTube (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007, 599)
Starbucks – Reputation Survey • 44% say Starbucks serves the best tasting coffee • 33% say McDonald’s serves the most reasonably priced coffee • 46% say Starbucks acts in the most socially responsible way • 66% want the chunky white mugs to stay • 47% believe high street chains threaten independent coffee shops • 46% say the logo redesign is a waste of money • Source: OnePoll.com (2011) Starbucks stays on top, PR Week, 21 January, pp24-25
The Importance of the External and Internal Context • If PR is about establishing and maintaining goodwill and maintaining mutual understanding, an examination of the external and internal environment is essential • The environment contains issues over which an organisation may or may not have control • These issues may have an impact on existing relationships or may lead an organisation to develop new relationships • An examination of key issues will enable an organisation to identify information which needs to be communicated to different publics
Internal Public Relations • Internal communication is important to create an appropriate corporate culture • A basic part of most internal programmes is the employee publication • Other media include e-mails, films, videotapes, slides, video conferencing, booklets, manuals and handbooks (Czinkota et al., 2011, 548)
External Public Relations • External public relations (marketing public relations) is focused on the interactions with customers • Marketers are concerned about establishing global identities to increase sales, differentiate products and services, and attract employees • External campaigns can be achieved through the use of corporate symbols, corporate advertising, customer relations programmes, and publicity (Czinkota et al., 2011, 548)
PR Objectives • To promote an awareness of the existence of an organisation, its products and services • To anticipate and counter criticism of a company and to minimise damage to the corporate image • These can be based on: • Product issues • Corporate conduct • Business arrangements
PR Objectives • To overcome prejudice against the use of the company’s product • To promote and establish a brand image in a foreign market • To increase a company’s sphere of influence and achieve a high profile
Identifying Publics • Research for the proposed programme will have identified key publics • Groups are often not homogenous and have different interests and concerns • The type of campaign will determine segmentation criteria • Stakeholders can be categorised depending on the amount of power to influence others and the level of interest they have in an issue • Categorisation helps identify blockers and facilitators
Ways to Segment Publics • By geographics – where they live, work • By demographics – age, gender, income • By psychographics – attitudes, interests, opinions • By group membership – e.g. clubs, societies, parents • By overt and covert power – e.g. religious leader, information gatekeeper • By role in decision process, e.g. financial manager, CEO (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 185)
Publics/Stakeholders • Customers • Suppliers • Distributors • Government • Regulators • Pressure groups
Publics/Stakeholders • Employees • The financial community • Media • Local community • General public
Publicity • Publicity is the non personal stimulation of demand that is not paid for by a sponsor which has released news to the media • A company has less control over how the message will be used by the media • Methods include contribution of prizes, sponsorship of activities, release of news about the company’s product, plant, and personnel, and announcements about the promotional campaign (Onkvisit & Shaw, 2009, 520)
Publicity • Publicity is the securing of editorial space to further marketing objectives • The public perceives it as more trustworthy than advertising • With growing and evolving technology, consumers can find or initiate topics of interest and engage in online discussions that strongly affect their and others’ views • The public relations function can be handled in-house or with the assistance of an agency (Czinkota et al., 2011, 549)
What is Strategy? • The direction that the organisation chooses to follow in order to fullfil its mission (Bennett, 1996) • A plan as a consciously intended course of action • A ploy as a specific manoeuvre intended to outwit an opponent or competitors • A pattern representing a stream of actions • A position as a means of locating an organisation in an environment • A perspective as an integrated way of perceiving the world (Mintzberg et al, 1998) (Oliver, 2007, 2)
Strategy • A communications strategy is the grand plan, the who, why, what, where, when and how to achieve the stated objectives • Change is constant and the strategy will need to be flexible enough to evolve as different situations arise • Prioritise audiences and agree the desired response • PR objectives are nearly always achieved by influencing someone either to take action or not to take action
Raising VisibilityPublic Relations Activities • Publicity • Media relations • Public speaking • Events • Sponsorship • Exhibitions and conferences • Corporate communications • Advertising, sales promotion, direct mail
Raising VisibilityPublic Relations Activities • Lobbying • Research • Crisis management • Financial relations • Community relations • Special events • Customer relations • Internal Communication • Corporate identity (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 189)
Table 2.1 Example of how public relations activity may be structured at various stages of the organisational lifecycle Source: Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 25
What do PR People do? • Corporate PR • Media Relations • Internal communications • Business-to-Business • Public affairs • Community relations • Investor relations • Strategic Communication
Figure 9.5 Framework for multi-project public relations plans Source: Adapted from Gregory, 2000, 46 in Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 179
Operating around the Globe • The actions of individuals and organisations in one part of the world may be felt instantly and irrevocably by people around the globe • Companies can become the most prominent standard bearers of their countries • All foreign companies operating internationally must constantly reinforce a notion of responsibility and concern
Why has Public Relations become a Global Phenomenon? • Shifts towards democracy • Developments in worldwide communications • Formation of trading alliances • Formation of public relations associations e.g. Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management, CIPR
Finally … • Organisations desperately need professional communicators to navigate through the new world of instantaneous communication • As global competition intensifies, so will global communications
Case Study: Narnia series sails back into popularity • Objectives • To raise awareness of the launch of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader • To restore the magic of Narnia for the third film • To create excitement and anticipation (Murphy, 2011, 4-5)
Case Study: Narnia series sails back into popularity • Strategy and Plan • Create a seaworthy replica of the Dawn Treader • Get an amateur crew and their parents to sail it in the Atlantic Ocean • Set up partnerships with broadcasters in major markets • Make fly-on-the-wall documentary for peak-time broadcast • Upload daily footage to Narniafans.com • Arrange trip up the River Thames for the international press call • Narnia Fans - Voyage of the Dawn Treader Narnia Movie News
Case Study: Narnia series sails back into popularity • Measurement and Evaluation • Awareness among non-core Narnia fans rose by 42 per cent • The film made £2.5m in box office sales in the UK on its opening weekend and $24m in the US • Twelve international markets were involved in theatrical activity (Murphy, 2011, 4-5) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Trailer2 - YouTube
References • Baines, P., Egan, J. & Jefkins, F., (2004) Public Relations, Contemporary Issues and Techniques, 2e. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann • Czinkota, M.R., & Ronkainen, I.A., (2010) Global Promotional Strategies. Retrieved from February 25, 2010 from http://www.pearsoned.co.uk • Czinkota , M.R., Ronkainen, I.A., Zvobgo, G., (2011) International Marketing, Andover: Cengage • Fill, C., (2009) Marketing Communications, Interactivity, Communities and Content, 5e. Harlow: Financial Times, Prentice Hall • Gregory.A, (2000) Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns. • Hollensen, S., (2007) Global Marketing, 4e. Harlow: Pearson Education • Murphy, C., (2011) PR Week Campaigns Showcase, PR Week, December • Oliver, S., (2007) Public Relations Strategy, 2e. London: Kogan Page • Smith, R.D. (2009) Strategic Planning for Public Relations, 3e. Abingdon: Routledge • Tench, R. & Yeomans L., (2009) Exploring Public Relations, 2e. Harlow: Financial Times, Prentice Hall