Your Company has been recently accused of
compromising quality goods by the regulatory authority and has been asked to
withdraw its prime product from the market. As a public relations manager of
that company, design a public relations campaign that is aim at and ensuring
that your company does not lose it public image and or client on the account of
this incident.
INTRODUCTION
In
every organization, the main role of a public relations is problem solving
between an organization and its publics. The problems come in different forms
but mainly center on communication matters. Like the popular saying goes “in a
world where there is absence of communication, anarchy and chaos set in”. That
is to say what join or connect an organization with its publics is the right
information that the public have about the organization. So, the organization
ought to make sure it creates an avenue where its publics can have the right
information about the organization which is the active functions of the public
relations.
From
the various terms that try to define the concept of public relations such as;
the British Institute of Public relations, the Mexican Statement, the American
Public Relations Association etc; we observed that all talked about how to
build a relationship and how to retain it. According to the British Institute,
it is not something that occurred by mistake or by accident, but a deliberate
action from the mind of the organization who executes the actions. Since the
problem at hand is critical because the company is standing a chance of losing
it publics and jeopardizing its image, the company has to take immediate and
precautionary actions before the situation get out of hand.
MY CAMPAIGN PRINCIPLES
According
to Hanson (2005) cited in Rabiu (2013), states that there are five campaign
principles a company has to take note of when facing crisis:
i.
Be prepared:
The most important aspect is to have a crisis plan. For every company, there
are certain things that are unlikely to happen but would be enormously damaging
if they did. Such events could, if serious enough, put the existence of the
company at risk by damaging it most important assets: credibility and
reputation.
ii.
Be honest:
One of the problems with lying is that liars are often caught. Cover-ups almost
always end up being exposed and the cover up looks more damaging than the
original problem itself. The truth is going to get out. It will be suicidal if
a public relations officer to try to deny any problem concerning the company
knowing quite sure that such problem is in a existence. So, better get it out
of your lips.
iii.
Apologies and mean it:
The Company should respond with real actions not just words.
iv.
Move quickly:
Public relations critics say that how a company reacts in the first few hours
after a crisis occurs will determine how the crisis is perceived from the point
on. Paul Schrivastava cited in Hanson (2005) says all crisis have a window of
opportunity to gain control of 45 minutes to 12 hours. Beyond that point,
people will have already decided what they think about the crisis, and once
they have made up their minds, they are reluctant to change them.
v.
Communicate with the press and
other constituencies: These include the company’s own
employees and management, stockholders, government regulators and customers as
well as the press.
MY TECHNIQUES, METHODS AND
APPROACHES
Just
like in the course, there are different models use in carrying out a public
relations campaign, such as Sam Black, the RACE,
Frazer Seitel, Frank Jefkins etc. all emphasized that there are various steps
to be taken in order to address any problem confronting an organization. Since
the situation is more of problem solving and urgent action needed to be taken,
I will like to use the RACE model
which I think is more effective. RACE
is an acronym of the following steps:
i.
Research
ii.
Action
iii.
Communication
iv.
Evaluation
SAMPLE
OF MY CASE OF STUDY
For
instance, if I am a public relations manager working for Unilever Nigeria Plc. under the toothpaste production marketing
department and there was a recent report and been accused by consumers that the
quality of the toothpaste has been compromised, causing the consumers peel of
their lips either causing sore or change in the color, which is abnormal of the
product. The evidence were prove to be true by the regulatory agencies and the
company was asked to be withdrawn it prime product which is the close-up
toothpaste from the market, I will use the RACE
model thus, to address the situation and to retain the image and the public
of the company.
A.
RESEARCH
Before there could be any public relations campaign
or plans of actions, there must be a problem or aims. Therefore, in this
situation which the goods quality is being compromised, the first thing I will
do as the public relations manager is; to go on research on what the real
problem is, analyze the problem and find it causes. Is it that there was an
error in the production, or there was another co-pirated production which uses
the company name and brand.
As I have stated the Unilever Nigeria plc. As my
case of study with the above problems, the principle of my research will center
on moving quickly and on communication with the press and my constituencies.
This can be done within the internal publics such as the management board, the
stakeholders, the employees, and the external publics such as the customers,
the press etc. This will enable me to have the real situations at hand which
will enhance the effectiveness of my actions plans.
B.
ACTION
At
this stage of the campaign, I will draft out my actions plans, starting from
what tools to be use such as press release, video news release, press kits, and
special events which will serve both the company and the public interest,
including the budget and all the necessary items that will warrant
effectiveness of the campaign.
The
first step I will take is to summon a quick conference meeting between the
managements and the stockholders and explain to them the situation at hand.
Telling them the causes and the damages it has caused the company and more
damages it will if, adequate actions are not put up immediately. Here, I can
also table my budget plan to the company for approval. With this information,
even the stock holders can say something reasonable about the situation when
confronted by any press or public.
After
the meeting, I will write a press release to the media houses such as; the
radio, television, magazines and the newspaper as the quickest move action
before the public developed their perspectives about the situation and the
company.
In
witting press release one has to take note of some certain areas. According to
Leadership Newspaper, below are the reasons that make some press release not to
be published or read by the public. They are as follows:
i.
Spellings matters
ii.
Don’t bury the lead
iii.
Follow the inverted pyramid style
iv.
Don’t forget about the quote
v.
Sweet the details
vi.
And include data
The press release will
be thus:
UNILEVER NIGERIA
PLC
A PRESS RELEASE
(For
Immediate Release: Thursday, 23th April, 2015)
PRESS RELEASE ON
THE CASE OF CLOSE-UP
We, the Unilever
Nigeria plc. hereby wishes to address the general public concerning the issue
of the company’s product “Close-UP” which its quality was recently reported for
been compromised.
Regarding to the situation, it is not in
our ethics or our will to serve you our publics with such services that will
one way or the other endanger your life. So, we sincerely hereby apologize to
you for the inconveniences.
According to our investigation and
finding, we observed that that there was an error in the production due to some
mechanical fault. The error arises as the normal amount of sodium fluoride
(1450 ppm fluoride) added in order to destroy germs was mistakenly added up to
1950 ppm. Appropriate measures have being put in place to handle the situation.
But first we are trying to recollect the faulted products and promising you
that such situation will not repeat itself.
Once again, we are saying sorry for the
damage caused. For those who are seriously affected, the managements are trying
to make a way on how to compensate you. For more information contact our
customer service on: 080086453837 or visit our website www.closeup.ng.org
Sign,
Management
(Unilever Nigeria plc.)
The
next part of my action plan of the campaign will be to organize a press
conference between the company and the prominent external publics such as; the
press, the wholesalers, the retailers, the distributors, the marketers etc,
where the company manager can meet with them and get to know their own state of
mind and perception about the company by attending to their questions. They can
give the company the necessary information they need to know about their
consumer perception about the situation since they are the links, the middlemen
or the go between the company and the consumers.
The
press conference paper will be thus:
PAPER PRESENTATION ON THE CASE OF
CLOSE-UP QUALITY
BEEN COMPROMISED:
BY THE GENERAL MANAGER OF
UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC
We,
the Unilever Nigeria plc. hereby, wishes to address the general public
concerning the issue of the company’s product “Close-UP” which its quality was
reported recently for been compromised.
As you all know, Close-up is a cinnamon flavored brand of toothpaste which is marketed by Unilever. Launched in 1967,
it is the first gel toothpaste in the
world. In 2003, Unilever sold the exclusive licensing
rights of CloseUp in United States and Canada
to Church & Dwight. This sale did not
affect the brand in other countries, like
India where Unilever and its subsidiaries
continue marketing Close-Up. The brand is
positioned to target the youth segment with a
lifestyle appeal in its advertising campaigns.
The
product has a range of brand of gels such as; Close-Up Deep Action Red Hot, Close-Up Diamond Attraction,
Close-Up Deep Action Eucalyptus Mint, Close-Up Deep Action Lemon Mint and Close-Up Deep Action
Menthol Fresh.
Close
up, since its launch, has been synonymous with 'Freshness' that gives you the
confidence in social situations. The brand has
always been unique and fun, encouraging people to open up by getting over their
self doubt. It is aimed at every person who is young at heart.
Regarding
to the situation, it is not in our ethics or our will to serve you our publics
with such services that will one way or the other endanger your life. So, we are
hereby apologizing for the inconveniences.
According
to our investigation and finding, we observed that that there was an error in
the production due to some mechanical fault. The error arises as the normal
amount of sodium fluoride (1450 ppm fluoride) added in order to destroy germs
was mistakenly added up to 1950 ppm. Appropriate measures have being put in
place to handle the situation. But first we are trying to recollect the faulted
products.
Once
again, we are saying sorry for the damage caused. For those who are seriously
affected, the managements are trying to make a way on how to compensate you.
Thanks.
For
the fact that seen is believing, the next part of my public relations action
plan for the campaign will be to take the press and others prominent public to
a tour and show to them all the production process down to the packaging for
them to have a convincing perception about the company. Therefore, good and
effective story will be written in favor of the company, bringing great remedy
to the situation.
A. COMMUNICATION
At
this stage of my campaign, I will have to choose the best medium I will use in
order to meet my target publics. Since the users of the Close-Up product are
diversified and scattered around the country, so, in trying to meet these
people I have to device the necessary means to get to them.
For
the target publics at the urban area I will use the above-the-line media. The
media are the mass media of communication such as; newspapers, magazines,
radio, television and the internet because they service can be access easily.
Meeting with the pressmen will be easy as I must have cultivated a lot of
relationships with the pressmen as the says goes, “you make friend with the
boat man in the dry season, so that when the rain falls you will be the first
he will make a cross”.
For
the public in the rural areas, I will use below-the-line because bad
information flew like the air they must have heard about the incident or
experience the same situation. For instance, in a community where the mass
media and the internet are not easily accessible, I will use the barbecue. This
will be more and best effective when applied to the rural areas because and
meeting with the affected persons is easy and it will give me the chance to
explain to them the situation and the latest development on the issue.
B. EVALUATION
The
last stage of every model public relations emphasized that there is need for
follow up, monitoring the output of the campaign, evaluate to see if there is
still needs for modification of the action plans. The evaluation can be done
through the feedback gotten from the targeted publics, the success and failure.
If it is successful, then the aims and objective of the campaign is been
achieved. But if it fails, then there is still need for another proactive
measure to be taking.
CONCLUSION
So, in handling cases like this, one needs to look from the
various stages and steps I listed and uses from above, in carrying out an
effective campaign to handle the situation confronting the Unilever Nigeria Plc.
and other related issues confronting any organization, first, one need to know
his objective and principles. Which includes: be prepared, be honest, apologies
and mean it, move quickly and communicate with the press and other agencies.
One needs to choose a model which will serve as a guide in
which you will use to break down your campaign strategies. There are many
models but to me the RACE is the
best and preferable in handling quick and urgent situation like this. As the
process in the model starts with researching for the problem and analyzed it to
find its causes and the damages it will cause to the company. Moving on to the
action plans where the main job of the public relations officer commences. His
job which includes; briefing the stockholders and the press, presenting a press
release to be published or aired, organizes a press conference and takes both
the stockholders and the press to the production unit to see things for their selves.
Choosing the best medium to use in order to meet the targeted publics of the
campaign and after which, one need to evaluate the processes again to see how
effective it was and see if there are necessary follow up plans to be retaken.
REFFERENCES
·
G.J.
Chiakaan and C.T. Chile:
Modern Public Relations Theory and Practice
in Nigeria (page 68)
·
M.S.
Rabiu: The World Of News: A Career Prospect Journalism and
Mass Communication.
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