A Public Relation Plan - Assignment Example

A Public Relation Plan Faculty I. Introduction II. Situation Analysis II.i. Competitor Analysis II.ii. SWOT Analysis III. Target Publics IV. Client's Strategy IV.i. Objectives IV.ii. Key Messages IV.iii. Tactics IV.iv. Evaluation V. Budget VI. Conclusion VII. References I. Introduction Public Relation is vital for any business today. A good PR strategy targeted towards the fraternity, with right kind of message and using right mode of communication helps organisation to improve its images and give a right direction to the business. Any company will be able to reach to the market leader's position if it is able to satisfy its stakeholders. Public Relations provide a tool to reach the target group and strengthen an image. The organisation discussed here is Sainsbury's Supermarket LTD. Sainsbury has its own history in the UK market. It was established in 1869 and is listed on London stock exchange. By November 2005 it had 443 supermarkets and 287 convenience stores. For decades this chain of stores was number one in the UK market. It lost its position against TESCO in 1995. It reached to third position behind Wal-Mart owned ASDA in 2003. The reasons for this were better strategies adopted by the other two companies than Sainsbury, leadership and customer satisfaction. In today's scenario when economy is largely based on service industry globally, it becomes very important to review and analyze various services. Services are deeds, processes and performances. (Zeithaml & Bitner pg 2) In today's scenario one's daily life is full of examples of services. When one think about service, service marketing triangle or rather pyramid comes to his mind, which has following components in it. Company Customer Providers Technology (Zeithaml & Bitner pg 17) Company with external marketing makes promises to the customers, through internal marketing it prepares employee to enable those promises. Technology supports the overall activities. The first part of the paper covers the situation analysis for Sainsbury. It includes competitor analysis and SWOT analysis. These two factors are important for any marketing, media or publicity decisions. This self-analysis and market analysis gives an opportunity to list all the factors important for the organisation. A good analysis throws light on various issues and topics, which can be utilised successfully for the publicity purpose. The next section deals with the target public section. This group deals with the fraternity group towards which the publicity plan will be targeted. According to this target group the publicity plan will have message, mode and timing of communication. Client strategy includes the message, objectives and other details of publicity plan. At the end the budget related to the publicity plan would be discussed. II. Situation Analysis Sainsbury has faced various marketing conditions. One time leader had reached to third position in the market. Any strategy to make a new brand is easier as compared to re-establishing any brand. The media group has not been favourable for Sainsbury till 2005. This is a strong influencer for all readers and audience. The current favourable scenario from the media group is one of the good signs for Sainsbury. Sainsbury can in cash this opportunity along with other strategies. II.i. Competitor Analysis As per the news on Guardian appeared on March 2006, the big four - TESCO, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Morrisons account for nearly 75% of the 95bn UK grocery market. The main competitors for Sainsbury are TESCO and ASDA. These two chains of stores are leading Sainsbury. TESCO TESCO has more than 30% market share of UK grocery market. It is more than double of its nearest competitor ASDA.TESCO is market leader in UK.240, 000 people are working for TESCO. "Tesco now has 100 Extra hypermarkets, 446 superstores, 160 Metro stores, 546 Express neighbourhood stores, and "over 500 other fascia-ed stores not judged worthy of the Tesco name but that still bring in the cash" (The Times, pp. 8-9, 13/4/05). Core purpose for TESCO as it appears on their website and other communications is "To create value for our customers, to earn their lifetime loyalty". TESCO is one of the most admired companies in UK. It has a loyal customer base. ASDA: ASDA is subsidiary of Wal-Mart group. It has 17 % of UK retail market share and it is the one of the biggest retail chain in UK. At June 2004 ASDA had 122,000 employees. ASDA promises to deliver shopping as an experience. It utilizes various channels of communicate with customers. It keeps on giving attractive offers and product bundling. From last few months it has been in the news for its unfair employee treatment, external marketing stunts and as an irresponsible company. As clear by the above-mentioned statement. SAINSBURY: John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury founded it in 1869. Initially it was opened in London's poorest areas. The initial popularity gained by Sainsburys' shop was due to its offerings of high-quality products at low prices. The tore was successful. Soon other branches of stores were opened and some of new stores sold a wide range of 'high-class' provisions. In the later phase the new stores were elaborately decorated than the earlier shops. Soon the sector started attracting more players into retail industry. Large multinationals like Lipton and other new players posed serious challenges for Sainsbury. 1890 to 1900 was the vast growth period for Sainsbury's. Its branches trebled from 16 to 48. It has been responding to customers' requirements for safe, healthy food, Sainsbury's led the way on a variety of food issues, development of organic products and the promotion of biodiversity in farming. It is innovative and has launched ranges such as Taste the Difference, Be Good to Yourself, Blue Parrot Caf and Basics helped Sainsbury's to cater for all customer tastes and demographics. Sainsbury stores keep non-food items as well to provide consumer full shopping experiences and services "At Sainsbury's we will deliver an ever improving quality shopping experience for our customers with great product at fair prices. We aim to exceed customer expectations for healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food making their lives easier every day." II.ii. SWOT Analysis A SWOT Analysis is a structured approach to evaluating the strategic position of a business by identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. An organisation knowing its strength can capitalise on it, it can overcome the weaknesses, gain profits from the opportunities and prepare itself for the threats in the market. The strengths and weakness of any company is internal to the company. The opportunity and threats are present in the industry the company is operating within. Various external environment factors like social, political, legal and technological factors pose threat or offer opportunity to the corporate. With proper environment scanning corporate can identify these factors and get leverage or develop safe strategies for them. Strength Distribution Channel Strong Work force Brand Name Quality Products New Product Development Processes Involvement in various community activities. Strong leadership Opportunity Changing customer attitude Favourable media New zones for the super markets and hypermarkets. Overall Industry growth Market for low carbohydrate, low fat food in the market. Market for healthy eating options for children. III. Target Publics The target publics for Sainsbury Public relations plan can be divided in the following major groups: Primary Group Customers/Consumers Employees Investors Secondary Group Local Community Others Customers/Consumers The primary concerns of this group are convenience, cost, comfort and availability. The Publicity plan targeted to this group should include the information related to these topics. One of the major problems faced by UK consumers is the parking facilities and availability of the products in the Sainsbury stores. This increases during the weekends and the peak shopping periods. The media planning along with proper operational strategy the positive image among this group can be created and maintained. Employees This group is important part of the service marketing triangle/pyramid. This is the group, which offers service to the target consumer, take care of their grievances and help them in shopping. Internal communication within the organisation and external communication including interview of satisfied employees will not only help in attracting new talents from the job market but also create a good image among the other stakeholder groups. Investors Any communication targeted to this group should include the profitability factors, future growth prospects and return on investments. The information provided should not be biased or ambiguous. Local Community Any corporate operates within a social environment. The society has impact on the business activity of the corporate and corporate has impact on the society. The welfare and social concerns for the community can be communicated well. This will help building strong image of the company. Any corporate responsibility project backed by publicity will benefit to the social concern and company both. Others The other group includes Government, activist groups and other group of people or organisations. These have influence on the proper functioning of the organisation. A company following rules and regulations and following tax related regulations properly is appreciated. The publicity plan targeted to this group can represent the company as a responsible corporate citizen working within the framework of Government regulations. IV. Client's Strategy Client's strategy for the Publicity plan would be to build strong image among the stakeholders. IV.i. Objectives Followings are the objective of the Publicity plan: To encourage investors to invest. To encourage customers to shop more by building a strong image for quality, cost, availability, service standard and convenience to the consumer. To create a positive image in the community. To create a positive image among employees and associates. The duration to achieve these targets is eleven months. Out of these eleven months first three months would be spent on detailed analysis of the situation, primary feedbacks from the various stakeholder groups and mapping the image on a scale of various parameters. This scale will help in evaluating results after implementation of publicity plan. The post implementation feedback can be placed against the previous study. It will give the information related to results and achievements of the objectives. IV.ii. Key Messages The punch line of Sainsbury "Try something new today" can be promoted throughout the publicity campaign. The key messages would include Messages targeted to the customers can be related to convenience, value for money, cost, availability, serviceability and others. The key messages related to employees can include the facilities offered to the employees, the growth perspective within the organisation, organisation support in the career enhancement of the employee and other benefits offered by the company to the employees. IV.iii. Tactics Any publicity strategy plan has stakeholders concerns on priority. Stakeholders need to know about the progress of the company, the profit and losses, growth and expansion plan, leadership qualities and other things. These things help them maintaining their trust and loyalty towards the organisation. Stakeholder groups vary in their information need and tools they use to get this information. Based on these the devices used for the publicity campaign can range from the simple press presence to large press conference. It depends on the publicity requirement or the organisation. It can be combinations of various publicity tools. For example if it is launch of new chain, it should be a pre launch publicity on various web portals like guardian, BBC and other corporate portals followed by well organised press release and television interview and post launch coverage. During all the process the vision of the organisation, the aims, expectation from the store, uniqueness of the store and other things should be well communicated. Public relations are important for various purposes. Media coverage increases credibility among the fraternity. It helps in attracting the quality prospects for consumer group, talent from job market, investors and others. It helps to avoid price competition though loyalty and trust building. It offers the best way to launch or re-launch new product and services. The brand can occupy the top of the mind of the consumer. It helps in communicating the messages with which the fraternity group can associate themselves positively. There are various ways through which a company can do its publicity. Any publicity plan includes the following in it: Organisation Description Promotions or hiring of new executive Major Announcements New research New activity for society New stores New range of product Change in service delivery Change in business directions Spokespersons Public Relations Person Organisation descriptions include the history and progress of organisation. It is supported by proper facts and figures. As in the case of Sainsbury, it is one of the oldest supermarkets in the history of UK. It started its operations in 1869. The market leader TESCO has started its operations in 1919. The duration from which it is serving UK population is more than any other store is serving. It is a strong fact. The history of Sainsbury is can be one of the attractions. Its struggle against time and its victory against all the odds of the market are some factors to be highlighted to build a strong image among the fraternity group. It can be done through press release, spokes persons, video, participating in some programs by being media sponsors and others. The publicity kit for this will include description of the organization, key facts and figures, biographies of the principals, a history, and success stories on current trends and issues. It can also include photographs and video clippings. Promotion and hiring of new executives or person in any key position can be one particular for the press release or publicity. A new talented executive with proven record joining Sainsbury will motivate employee and investors and strengthen the overall public image. Announcements for the change of the layouts of the store, addition of new product ranges and services, opening of new building in new area etc are other factors to be communicated. For example if Sainsbury offers new service of providing information for active living habits among young children to their parents and encouraging children to follow a proper schedule of eating and overall living through some child experts and dieticians it will be a component of good publicity news. This is due to the fact that more than 1.5 million children are suffering from childhood obesity in UK. Any effort towards fighting this cause can be a matter for publicity. Apart from it concept like "meet the CEO today" kind of campaigns which provide customers a chance to meet CEO or people from management and talk about the services they receive helps in boosting the brand image. Any new building in a particular geographic area should be communicated through the publicity as well i.e. interviews of the spokesperson of the company for the strategical issues, future perspective, employment opportunity offered by company, expected sales and customer service concerns and other things can be communicated. Major Announcements include new product developments, new major service offers or major business changes. These announcements cover proper space on the print media, radio and television. The article size in print would be more. It would include photograph and other diagram according to the need of description. It might be in form of interview or by-line story of the spokes person of the company. The radio campaigns can be announcement or interview in infotainment format. Television coverage can be on site coverage or studio discussion of product, service or stakeholders interests. Others: This includes trend press releases, which help in establishing a reputation as a source. These press releases talk about the trends in the industry and include inputs related to the organisation. These can include the comments of CEO's, managing directors or spokespersons of the company, comments on latest trends, development of overall industry, vision of their company and other vital information. Apart from this web presence, press conferences, spokes persons visibility on various media platforms are other important areas. Figure: Implementation Plan IV.iv. Evaluation The best way to evaluate any publicity plan is before and presents survey. Before launching the publicity plan the target group should be interviewed on the publicity aims of the organisation. Once the publicity plan is launched a carried out the company can again have a market survey and get the feed back from the target group. V. Budget S.N. Particular Cost ($) 1 Print Media Coverage (Coverage in 5 National news paper, 3 Lifestyle and family magazine and 465 local newspapers) 25.000 2 Television (2 Entertainment channel, One Business Channel and 2 news channel) 40,000 3 Local Cable 25,000 4 Press Conference (One each month) 50,000 5 Training to Spokespersons (5) 25,000 Total 1,65,000 VI. Conclusion It is clear by the information available that Sainsbury has a good source of information to be shared with the target group of audience. This information can be utilised in the best way in the publicity plan. The publicity plan should be aimed at building positive brand image. This positive brand image would help various group of fraternity to make decision-making process. This can be done through a proper Publicity planning. The coverage of any important news and information regarding company or company policy should be covered in all the national and local news channels. In the grass root level the investment in publicity along with advertisement always builds a strong brand image. VII. References Zeithaml Valarie A. and Mary Jo Bitner, 2002 'Services Marketing-Integrating Customer Focus Aross the Firm'. 2nd Ed., New York: Tata McGraw-Hill ASDA/WAL-MART, Corporate Watch UK, Completed November 2004 http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/lid=800 accessed on 6th December 2005 http://www.fooddeserts.org/images/suptime.htm accesses on 15 March 2006. The Cheap Food Mantra - "Stack it High, Sell it Low" 21 accessed on 15 March 2006 from http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/lid=705#choice Supermarkets: A report on the supply of groceries from multiple stores in the United Kingdom accessed on 15 March 2006 from http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/2000/446super.htm Read More