Individual Written Assignment

For a company that is not achieving its potential the best solution for it is Public Relations. Public Relations can be used to either make or break a company’s image. How a company interacts with the public is extremely important, as this will determine how successful it will be now and in the future. Many companies big or small have used Public Relations to help improve its image. This ultimately leads to increased profits as people like being associated with good companies. Publicity is therefore important whether good or bad. The question is how the company uses this publicity. Depending on which direction they choose to take it will make the difference to them. That is where a Public Relations firm comes in. Their work is to come up with strategies that best suit a company so that they can improve their overall image in the eyes of the public. This is also beneficial for companies that are starting up. Public Relation firms will help them put their name out there.

Sunny General Store is a firm that has been in existence for fifteen years. It started out as a small shop selling basic wares and as the years went by the proprietor, Sunny Dolat opened a bigger store and began to stock more goods. After seeing how successful his shop was, Mr. Dolat slowly opened more shops around the same area. People liked his services as they felt that it promoted family values and they chose to promote their own. As years went by Sunny General Store became known as Sunnymart with a chain of stores all over the country. Sunnymart has about three thousand employees currently all using the same ideals that the company started out with promoting family values. The company hopes to open more stores worldwide and with the current competition, they feel that it is important that they get their name known first. They would also like to be recognized for their quality services so that they are distinguished from the rest of the service providers in the market. Through an effective Public Relations campaign, they are confident that their venture will become a success.

Executive Summary

Sunnymart is an ideal company to work with as they have already established a name for themselves in the market. It has great potential to become a great company and a success as a franchise in the entire world. The use of family values as its corporate image is ideal as it makes society identify with it. The company directors have unfortunately failed to recognize some loopholes in the company that will make it have even more presence in the industry. The company has a number of opportunities that it is not using to its advantage. For instance they should come up with an after sale service for their customers that buy furniture from them. By offering delivery services, they are assured that more people will opt to use them since they will deliver the goods they have bought.

The company can also use to their advantage the positive things that it has achieved since its onset. For instance, they have provided employment to over three thousand people. This means that there are people that depend on them for their livelihood. The company should also not underestimate the power of corporate social responsibility. They already have a number of small programs that they have started on their own. They should continue to use this tool of publicity to market themselves to the rest of the world. They can also collaborate with other companies so that they are able to help more people. In doing so, they are able to get more publicity from the journalist. This publicity comes free and it is able to reach more people than the ordinary means. The company is also given a human face thanks to giving back to the community. There are more ways that when used appropriately will help advance the company’s image in the public’s eye.

Goal

The goal of this campaign is to improve Sunnymart’s image in the publics’ eyes. Management hopes to improve the way people look at the company and what they associate it with in terms with what they do. They would like to change people’s opinion and show them that their values that they started with are still being used. Over the years, some people have felt that the family values slogan of the company has taken a backseat to making profits. Management would like to show the public that the company is still run and managed with the family values slogan at heart. Another goal that they have is to ensure that when they venture into foreign territories they are embraced with those communities because of the positive things they intend to bring to them. Making profits is also important to the company. This is because they want to continue paying competitive salaries to their employees so that they can continue offering quality services to their customers.

Research and Situational Analysis

Sunnymart has already recognized that they have lost touch with the public. They would like to regain the respect they commanded in the market a few years ago. Upon analysis of the market, it was found that the public felt the company had lost touch with its customers. They had stopped putting the goals of the clients first. As a result, people felt more comfortable going to shop elsewhere than coming to Sunnymart. It was also found that the store was not pocket friendly. It did not store cheaper goods that appealed to the public at large. Lack of these products made people prefer to go to other stores to do their shopping. This led to reduction in profit margins of the company. Issues like these are what the company wants to resolve. Through finding solutions, the company will be restored to its former glory. After expanding they will also know how to sort these problems incase they arise again.

Specific Objectives

To achieve what Sunnymart’s objectives there are a number of steps that the company can adopt. First, they can carry out campaigns in the media to show what they have achieved so far. They should let the public know of their achievements so far. Also let them know of the plans they have in store for them. They should also retrain their employees about customer care. They should teach them the importance of treating their customer well and offering them the best service. They should also come up with number programs that give back to the community. This ensures that they are playing their part in making the world a better place. They should find new ways of packing their commodities so that they make the environment a better place. For instance, they can use recyclable bags for packaging as opposed to paper bags. They should also incorporate after sale services for their clients that buy bulky goods like furniture from them. They should also introduce the cheaper products in their stores that customers were complaining were not there.

Target Public

Apart from customers that Sunnymart serve there are also other people that they need to convince that they have improved their services. These people determine the places that people will want to shop. Since Sunnymart strives to show people that it values family, they should ensure that they attract other services to their stores. For instance, they should collaborate with firms that champion children’s rights. They can sponsor family days that are for the family. They also need to convince bloggers to talk about them ultimately creating a buzz about them on the internet. They also need to convince news networks to talk more about them in their programs and news. Thereby publicizing them about the good, they are doing.

Strategy

The best strategy Sunnymart can use is to rally with the media. They should ensure that the media houses have shown the good they are doing to the society. They can mobilize the public to help them out when they participate in corporate social responsibility projects. They can let people know in advance when they have a project so that they can come help them out. Sunnymart can also ensure that they have rallied with their employees to ensure that customers get the best services from them. This is through ensuring that any problems that a customer has it are addressed immediately and efficiently.

Tactics

The tactics that the company can employ is the use of social media. They can communicate to their customers through Facebook, twitter or email. If a customer has any issue, he or she can use these avenues to voice out their problems. They should also ensure that the managers of the stores on the ground are approachable and willing to resolve any problems customers have. Sunnymart can also use mainstream media to highlight their achievements they have made and are in the process of making.

Main Message

The message that Sunnymart will have for its target public is that they are there to serve them. They should let them know that they are here to serve them. To ensure that they have given quality service that will make them come back. They will want the public to know that serving their interest is their top priority.

Budget

The initial budget for the Public Relations campaign will be around 500,000 dollars. To train their employees on customer care will cost around 300,000 dollars. They will need to come up with a program that will make sure that everyone is trained. Therefore, managers and top management will be trained first and the rest will follow. Initially, 150,000 dollars will be used to cater for the after sale service project. This money will be used to buy cars that will be used to transport goods. The stores will be expected to budget for the fuel costs on their own after that. The remaining 50,000 dollars will be used to finance and hire the people that will run the social media sites. They will also need extra customer care staff that will cater for the customers needs as they arise.

Evaluation

To show whether the campaign has been a success the first thing is that Sunnymart expects more profits. This is because it means that they have convinced more people to come shop at their store. Also depending on their social media presence, they will be able to know how many people are talking about them. They will also get feedback on how people are rating their services. If it is positive then it means that they are doing the right thing. If negative then they will need to find out where they went wrong. Public Relations will have therefore been used to help Sunnymart improve its corporate image. Upon venturing into other markets, they will be well equipped to handle any problems that they might face.

 

Reference:

Watson, T., & Noble, P. (2008). Evaluating public relations: A best practice guide to public relations planning, research and evaluation.London: Kogan Page.

 

 

 

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