Cordial Public Relation - Term Paper Example

Public Relations and New Media Planning Table of Contents Table of Contents Part – I: Proposal for the Launch of the New Range in the Flagship Oxford Street Store 2 Understanding the Situation 4 Objective of the Entire Project Work 6 Strategic Objectives 7 Public 7 Media and Techniques 8 Budget 10 Assessment of the Entire Situation 10 Part II: Press Release Announcing the Event to Journalists 10 References 13 Bibliography 14 Part – I: Proposal for the Launch of the New Range in the Flagship Oxford Street Store ‘Public Relation’ is a term which describes a company’s endeavour to manage its reputation and also it helps in building public consent about the enterprise. In the present competitive business environment, a company can not assume public approval as it has to be earned on a continuous basis by using cordial public relation. Public relations help organisation and individuals in building communication and relationship with groups i.e. public in order to create a mutual goodwill (Onabajo, O., 2006). Top Shop will be launching a colourful range of make-up spirited collection of fashion brights this month. It is the biggest news for the fashion chain since they hired the eponymous Kate Moss to front a range of clothing. Six Point Plan is a type of strategic plan which is used in public relations. The plan is used by companies as well as external consultancies for formulating strategies before launching a product. The plan helps in formulating a comprehensive and researched plan focusing on all the aspects of the project and also it reduces the possibility of failure and over spending. The plan is made up of 6 steps as stated below: 1. Understanding the situation in hand for creating a proposal of the event 2. Objective of the entire project work 3. Public i.e. the target audience for the promotional event 4. Media and techniques that are to be used for the event purpose 5. Estimating a budget that is required for conducting the event 6. Assessment of the entire situation Understanding the Situation Top Shop is one of the most successful chain stores mainly operating in the clothing segment. The store of Top Shop in Oxford Street, London is its one of the flagship stores of the chain. It is regarded as the world’s largest store in the fashion range. The new products launched by Top Shop are generally launched in its Oxford Street Store. This time, Top Shop will be launching a range of make-up this month; The Top Shop make up items consists of make up for eyes, nail, skin, lips, etc. The new range of make up will add more spice to the existing list with addition of more colours, spirited collection of fashion brights, in luxe professional finishes. As discussed earlier, the news is definitely great since they hired Kate Moss as the principal endorser of their clothing products (Topshop, n.d.). The SWOT analysis of the situation shows that the Top Shop store situated in the Oxford Street area is a large and famous store. The store has a range of items made available by the retail store. The popularity, capacity, and location of the store make it a popular destination among the visitors. Therefore, this popularity should be encashed by putting emphasis on the flagship store location in promotional campaign. The store and the retail chain are very popular among the youth and fashionable people. The use of Kate Moss as their brand ambassador has made a tremendous impact. This popularity has to be utilised to attract the crowd in the product launching event. A separate shop floor has to be created with the new products. The special features have to be highlighted by the attending sales persons to the visiting customers to attract their interest. A questionnaire with a set of relevant questions can be asked to the visiting customers to get their opinion about the launched product. Top Shop has always maintained as cordial media relationship throughout the past. The fashion store has been known for its outstanding collection of clothing range. Therefore, to remind the consumers of their other offerings, this event will be an important one. The event can go a long way in bringing in the crowd to the Oxford Street store (Fashion Marketing in London, 2008). Objective of the Entire Project Work The creation of objectives ensures that the entire campaign is conceptualised and measured within a parameter. This also helps in ensuring that the success or failure of the entire campaign is being measured. The objective has to be divided as long term, medium term or short term. The aim of the project is to create awareness among the consumers of the latest product offerings of Top Shop. Also, it intends to make the consumers responsive to the new features and benefits that the product offers to the consumers. The make up items are made fashionable and trendy with latest mix of bright colour and professional touch. Therefore, the young consumer segment aged up to 35 should be given the main priority in the promotional campaign. The entire press fraternity has to be made part of the entire campaign as it would facilitate to spread the news throughout the region. This will make more and more consumers aware of the products also this will enable the brand to be highlighted in all the media like that of electronics and print. Strategic Objectives Long term (5 Years) objective of the entire campaign is to place the make up section of Top Shop at par with their clothing range to enable them to increase their profit margin further. As a brand, Top Shop is already well established. Therefore, this launch of make up products will increase the attraction of the already popular brand. In the medium or short term, the prime objective of the event is to create awareness among the mass about the product. The event also enables the new features to be displayed among a whole host of audience and media and press. This helps in publicity of the product as the entire media will be invited their, so it will enable the strong point of the product to be highlighted. Public The term ‘public’ relates to the target audience of the entire program. The target audience of the program includes consumers, the media and the opinion formers. The consumers are the entire population of people that are being invited to the event especially that of the female audience as the launched product is directed towards them. The entire event set will provide the audience with the knowledge on the product which are being launched in the store. It will attract the crowd towards the product and also enable customers to pay a revisit. Media, here, includes the gathering of journalists from all the leading newspapers, television and radio media. Media has a big role in building a products image. Therefore, a strong media presence can work as publicity for the newly launched product. So, the presence of journalists should be made an important affair in planning of the event. The main opinion formers of any news event are the journalists. The leading journalists of The Daily Mail, The Guardian etc has to be targeted for the event. The celebrities whom most of the target consumers prefer can be approached to be present at the event. It will not only make the event more glamorous but also will attract many more audiences. Events such as catwalk launch of the new product range may be organised to display the products to the audience. Media and Techniques To implement the entire event plan discussed above the choice of media plays a vital role. This event requires a lot of other supports such as printed literature of the event, photographs, brochures, etc. For choosing the print media the circulation or readership has to be considered. The design of the entire promotional event has to be done keeping in hand a sufficient lead time. Designing an event usually takes time in completing. For printing purpose a minimum of 10 days lead time has to be taken. The photographers, models who will display the new make up items, and studio where the event will take place should be prepared with time in hand. Among the press, the likes of National broadsheet newspapers e.g. The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Independent should be invited to the event. Tabloid people like from The Sun, The Express, The Mirror, and The Daily Mail has to be cordially invited to the event. Regional newspapers like Evening Standard should also be invited. The weekend supplements like The Weekend etc should also get the invitee. Print media can help in targeting such consumer sections that may not be present at the event and also from the far fetched areas of the country. Journals, Fashion and regular Magazines etc can be made used to communicate the news. Women’s magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Elle etc could be used to spread the news about the launched product. Radio stations like Radio1 and 2, Virgin radio, Capital FM could be used in the promotional aspect the radio listeners can be considered as the target audience. Television channels like BBC News, ITV news, Channel 4 news and also their presenter could be utilised to spread the news of the event and the product launch. Internet sources like Top Shop’s own website could be utilised in the promotional purposes. Other most visited websites should also be targeted (Owens & Palmer, 2003). Budget For organizing the entire event, a substantial amount of money has to be allocated. The editorial media is free of cost but other media publications such as written press release, arranging the entire event, attending meetings and similar initiatives require a budget to be kept for the event. Events such as printing, photography, media and allied techniques require a substantial amount of money. Sponsorship for the event could be of very much help a long way in fixing the budget for the event. Assessment of the Entire Situation After the completion of the entire event, an assessment has to be conducted to judge how successful the event has been. The success of the event has to be judged by evaluating the performance against the set objectives of the event. The success of the event can result in establishing the new make up brand in the market, increasing upon the existing market share of Top Shop, the number of press clippings and column used for the event can also give us an idea about the success of the event. Public opinion poll and public feedback will help in evaluating the success of the event. Part II: Press Release Announcing the Event to Journalists Dated May 28, 2010 To The Journalists of The Times The Telegraph The Guardian The Independent The Sun The Mirror The Express The Daily Mail Evening Standard Top Shop will be launching a range of make-up this month, which is a colourful, spirited collection of fashion brights, in luxe professional finishes. It is the biggest news for the fashion chain since they hired the Kate Moss for the purpose of front a range of clothing. The launch of a new product will mark as an effort on the part of Top Shop to revamp their make up items. Top Shop is noted for its designer clothing items. The event will be organised in Oxford Store in London. It is regarded as the largest retail store of the world. In the event famous personalities and celebrities will be present. Also, in the function, there will be an event with catwalk of the models with the latest launched product. The new products are launched keeping in mind the latest trend in the fashion sectors and the taste, preference of the targeted generation of people. The new products are made with a professional touch. It also has more colourful offerings. The success of the event will mark a new beginning in the Top Shops’ make up product range. References Fashion Marketing in London, 2008. Topshop SWOT Analysis. Marangonimarketing [Online] Available at: http://marangonimarketing.blogspot.com/2008/11/week-2-excercise-topshop-swot-analysis.html [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Onabajo, O., 2006. Proactive Corporate Management and the Dynamics of Public Relations. KRE PUBLISHERS. [Online] Available at:http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JSS/JSS-12-0-000-000-2006-Web/JSS-12-2-083-158-2006-Abst-Text/JSS-12-2-083-158-2006-Web/JSS-12-2-119-124-2006-264-Onabajo-F/JSS-12-2-119-124-2006-264-Onabajo-F-Text.pdf [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Owen, L. & Palmer, K. L., 2003. Making the News: Anarchist Counter-Public Relations on the World Wide Web. California State University Northridge. [Online] Available at: http://www.csun.edu/~vcspc00g/454/anarchy&webpr-csmc.pdf [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Top Shop, No Date. Make Up. Stores. [Online] Available at: http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=19551&storeId=12556&categoryId=206987&langId=-1&top=Y [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Bibliography Baines, P. & Et. Al. Public relations: contemporary issues and techniques. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004. Bullert, B. J.,2000. Progressive Public Relations, Sweatshops, and the Net. Plymouth. Sweatnet. [Online] Available at: http://oz.plymouth.edu/~sshirley/sweatnet.pdf [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Brand Republic, 2010. Orange launches digital campaign to support partnership with Glastonbury. Public Relations. [Online] Available at: http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/PublicRelations/News/1006188/Orange-launches-digital-campaign-support-partnership-Glastonbury/ [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Chartered Institute of Public Relations, 2010. CIPR social media panel launches. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.cipr.co.uk/news/releases/2010/March/CIPR_social_media_panel.html [Accessed May 28, 2010]. How to Write a Press Release, 2004. Sample Press Release, Alou Web design. [Online] Available at: http://www.alouwebdesign.ca/smallbusiness/how_to_write_a_press_release.htm [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, No Date. Public Relations/ Media. . Communications. [Online] Available at: https://intranet.seas.harvard.edu/offices-services/communications/public-relations-media-outreach [Accessed May 28, 2010]. Jefkins, F. Public Relations. M+E Handbooks, 1999. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. Wong, V. & Saunders, J. Principles of Marketing. FT Prentice Hall, 2008. Read More