International Corporate Communications in KFC - Essay Example

?International Corporate Communications in KFC Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 International Communication Strategy 4 Engaging People within Organisation 5 Corporate Ethics in KFC 6 Corporate Reputation 7 Communication Framework 9 Communication Models 10 Communication Theories 12 Conclusion 13 References 14 Introduction In every organisation, communication is regarded as a continuous business activity. Communication comprises sending and receiving information, thoughts, facts and feelings. It is one of the essential marketing components in the corporate world where people share information and collaborate with organisation. For any business corporation, communications with the clients, investors, and employees are considered as key assets which require cautious management and satisfactory investment. Without effective communication, the business activities will become awkward and organisations will lose concentration on the operational goals. In the international corporate environment, majority of communication is external i.e. between organisation and customers, and without effective communication strategy, organisations will be unable to recognise market demand and ultimately lose effectiveness and market position (Smith & Et. Al., 1999). The paper describes the international communication strategies of KFC, which is a famous chain of fast food restaurants. The main focus of the paper is related to how KFC uses communication models, frameworks and theories in its business as well as how the company maintains its reputation and corporate ethics through proper communication media. The objective of the paper is to understand the importance and the aspects of communication in the international business environment and the way KFC has utilised those aspects in their business. International Communication Strategy International communication strategy is based on selecting the communication modes in a specific market. It is concerned about deciding communication themes in the international business environment. The choice of communication media can be achieved in terms of uniform method which indicates the application of same tool in every nation or identical selection method for selecting communication tools and media which are active in every market. Usually, an organisation requires differentiated approach as the international culture is different from nation to nation which can impact on the usage of media or availability of media (Morschett & Et. Al., 2010). The international communication strategies of KFC are targeted towards attracting the young customer segments. There are several communication tools available for an organisation in the international market such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling. Advertising: Advertising is one of the most vital communication media used by marketers to enter in the international market. KFC has participated in several advertising cooperatives and developed advertisements for appealing customers. KFC had developed several humorous and Claymation advertisements as a means of communication. In advertisement communication, KFC uses differentiated approach by considering the culture of a country. For instance, in China, people prefer to maintain a family tradition such as admiration, care, assistance and friendship among others. Thus, the advertisements of KFC reflect the theme of common Chinese people. KFC applies localisation approach in their advertisement communication by considering the culture, values, and ethics of customers (YUM! Brands, Inc, 2010). Promotion: Promotion is the other communication media used by KFC to communicate about the products to the target customers. Promotion is the other method which can help to entice chicken lovers to the offerings of KFC. In order to attract young customer segments, KFC uses premium strategy i.e. providing gifts such as wristwatches, keychain, coffee beaker, T-Shirt, and toys. In several stores, KFC provides customers with numerous inducements to purchase its products. For instance, coupons are offered to the customers who spend a particular amount, through which they can enjoy free meals or drinks. At times, KFC also offers meal vouchers through print advertisement which is aimed for attracting middle and lower consumer segments who search for inexpensive meals. In order to communicate about the company, at times KFC organises exhibition for letting people understand about the products. As exhibitions entice people from several age groups and societies, it can help KFC to expand its customer base and increase the brand awareness (Scribd, 2011). Engaging People within Organisation Engaging with people in organisation is vital for conducting business. Engaged employees are more productive and they can provide better customer service, engaged customers can show much higher loyalties to the brand, engaged shareholders are more dedicated to invest in the company. Therefore, KFC also seek to engage with people to develop the insights and opinions about the brand. KFC uses the social media for higher engagement with the customers. For instance, in Australia, KFC had launched integrated campaign in popular social media ‘Facebook’ in the year 2007 to engage with the customers. In order to attract customers, KFC had developed several ‘Premium Poll Ads’ in the company’s ‘Facebook’ page. The objective of this engagement was to attract more customers to the new product launch of KFC. As a result, there was 4% boost in the in-store business throughout the campaign and 3% growth in sales in comparison with previous years. Customer engagement has resulted in increase of fans of KFC in the social media to above 235,000 supporters (Cheng, n.d.). KFC also uses mobile to engage with the customers and increase the brand loyalty. In order to engage with the employees, the leadership teams of KFC usually conduct regular assemblies and focus group discussions to converse about any updates regarding the business. These kinds of discussions also help to introduce new products and improve customer service (YUM! Brands, Inc, 2008). Corporate Ethics in KFC KFC is very strict regarding maintaining the corporate ethics. For example, suppliers of KFC need to fulfil the ethical standards of the company in order to secure a business deal. In other words, no supplier of KFC is able to utilise under age employees, engage in biased pay, and place unsafe chemicals in the products among others. KFC abides by the corporate ethics while selecting the business associates such as contractors or producers. In the workplace, KFC seeks to ensure safe and healthy work environment. KFC’s envoys insist that the workplace is free from harmful threats. KFC always certifies that the employees work gladly without any force. There is only little protest regarding the performance of KFC’s administration of managing uncommon incidences (Bowie & Beauchamp, 1983). The business practices of KFC are also ethical, as the company never differentiates the employees with respect to race, sex, infirmity and other aspects. The recruitment procedure of KFC is mostly concentrated on the abilities of potential applicants without considering the social background or race. In accordance with this, KFC offers overtime work to the employees who agree to work more than usual working periods. Besides, the company has also shift arrangements so that any kind of overburden is avoided. With respect to wages, the company abides by all corporate ethical standards. KFC considers that employees should be remunerated in keeping with their efforts. Fairness is the other aspect of corporate ethics. In terms of fairness, KFC provides in excess of minimum wage in a few nations such as UK and Canada. The company pays the employees with satisfactory amount which is permitted by labour union (Bowie & Beauchamp, 1983). Corporate Reputation In present business environment, establishing and preserving a robust corporate reputation is significant for an organisation. It can produce confidence among stakeholders which results in long-term corporate advantage. Through a strong corporate reputation, an organisation can get benefits through: Allowing easier access to the investment market and enticing more monetary assets Appealing towards, encouraging and holding talented employees Enabling to provide premium priced products and announcing new products successfully Achieving new consumers Source: (TNS, 2011) KFC has strong corporate reputation in the international market and the brand has successfully positioned itself as delicious fast food company. In order to manage the corporate reputation KFC uses the available media successfully. In the year 2005, KFC had faced food related problems due to using colour in the sauce. In order to manage the bad reputation, KFC used internet media and responded to the queries of customers to gain their confidence. In the corporate website, KFC had provided information regarding the safety of its products. KFC has also changed its advertisement from displaying the price or promoting the tastes of the new products to showing the preparing procedures of the products. The advertisement was aimed for providing customers assurance that their products are safe to consume. KFC understands the importance of maintaining good corporate reputation and uses marketing strategies to communicate with the customers to manage the status in the international market (Yang, n.d.). In order to develop a strong reputation in people’s mind KFC along with other organisations which are under the parent company of Yum Brands organise initiative campaigns. In the year 2010, Yum Brands had launched ‘World Hunger Relief’ campaign as a part of public relation. This campaign helped to generate responsiveness of people for hungry people around the world and also created fund for ‘World Food Program’ and numerous hunger relief organisations. Since 1997, Yum Brands has contributed almost 550 million USD to the hunger relief organisations in the USA. Presently, KFC is reputed as an international leader in chicken food categories (YUM! Brands, Inc, 2010). Communication Framework Effective international marketing requires formulation of communication strategy for promoting a brand or an organisation and the products or the services. Exercising an expressive and intensive communication strategy is vital for a company, when it attempts to develop a clear brand personality for itself by the means of graphical advertising or other forms of media, in order to communicate efficiently with the customers. The ‘corporate communication framework’ can provide an analysis of business communication for an organisation. Source: (Argenti, 2007). According to the above communication framework, it can be observed that the three communication variables named ‘the organisation’, ‘the constituency’ and the ‘messages’ are related with each other. The exclusive interrelationship of these variables can decide which messages will be efficient at what moment for enticing customers. Organisations need to decide regarding when it is going to ‘respond’ to the changing demand in business environment. The corporate communication framework is spherical which replicates that communication is a constant procedure and not just like a system which has an opening and a completion (Argenti, 2007). KFC’s communication strategy has been framed in such a way that entices the young customer segment. The communication message of KFC for its customers is “finger-licking good” which replicates the brand image and makes it easier for the organisation to develop a legacy in the fast food sector. As communication is a constant procedure, at times it is required to change the ‘messages’ to the people. Several people have become more aware about aspects of health and obesity, therefore in the year 2011 KFC has changed its communication message to ‘so good’ which depicts a healthier brand image. It allows KFC to effectively communicate about the brand to the customers and the public (Cave, 2011). Communication Models The growth of corporate communication in an organisation differs along with the progress of the nation, the democratic situation and the financial position. The communication models can be different in any organisation with respect to notifying the target customers about the brand’s products and offerings. The various communication models for business organisations are as follows: Bureaucratic Communication Model A company which uses bureaucratic communication model generally does not want to listen to anything from public judgment or target customers and never feel the requirement to elucidate something to them. This kind of organisations expresses a strong brand attitude and does not change or feel the requirement of change. Bureaucratic communication model can be found in production oriented companies. In present days’ competitive environment, this model is inappropriate for organisations to survive in the market (Kirdar, n.d.). Manipulative Communication Model The manipulative communication model is quite extensive from the perspective of notifying to the people as well as preparing to notify them. The purpose of this model is to manipulate customers rather than providing proper communication (Kirdar, n.d.). Democratic Communication Model The major characteristics of democratic communication model are honesty, strength, steadiness, and impartiality. Democratic communication model is useful in most of the organisations that desire to be acknowledged by the target customers. In this model, information is provided to the target customers and organisations listen to the opinions of public (Kirdar, n.d.). KFC generally follows the democratic communication model for maintaining good relationship with the customers and the public as a whole. When KFC’s brand reputation was damaged due to inappropriate components in the food products, the company not only attempted to resolve the problem formally, but also had answered to the enquiries of people. KFC uses the internet media to get customers’ feedbacks from their services and to interact with them. In democratic communication model, the requirements and the demands of customers are considered which help KFC to gain competitive advantage. In this competitive environment, it is necessary for KFC to satisfy the requests of customers and thus the company started to make its presence in the internet to know customers’ opinion regarding the brand (Yang, n.d.). Communication Theories In international corporate communication strategy, there are several theories which help to understand the impact of communication in the business. Gatekeeping Theory Gatekeeping theory is devised by a German psychologist named Kurt Zadek Lewin. According to this theory, a person who takes decision is regarded as ‘Gatekeeper’ and he decides what type of information are required to be transferred to the people. This theory is concerned with personal influence in relation to providing information. The main aspect of this theory is to control the information regarding the company and to make the society and the people move towards the right path (Roberts, 2005). Meanwhile, KFC transfers the right information to the people so that it can reduce any misperception regarding the products and its ingredients. KFC acts according to the culture of a market and provides facts which are appropriate to generate a positive image regarding the company. Hypodermic Needle Theory In present generation, the media plays a significant role to influence the people. The Hypodermic Needle theory assumes that through the use of media an organisation can spread a message directly to the target customers which can result in immediate reaction to them. According to this theory, people are passive and they are unable to resist to the message provided by media and accordingly react to it (Stacks & Salwen, 2008). KFC also uses Hypodermic Needle theory for corporate communication. It utilises the media to spread their message to the broad audience. It is based on human nature and KFC can reach to wide customer segment through media. Conclusion The international corporate communication strategies of KFC are effective and have helped the company to successfully develop a unique position in the fast food market. Through applying suitable communication tactics in business, at present KFC is known globally as a delicious brand which specialises in chicken food products. Communication is necessary in international business environment for multinational organisations, as the aspects such as culture, society, ethics and values can heavily impact on the business. Through accurate communication, a company can adjust the organisational culture in accordance with the nation where it operates the business. KFC has used the communication media successfully and efficiently to deal with the problems arising in international market and also has engaged with the customers competently as means of gaining corporate advantage. References Argenti, P. A., 2007. Strategic Corporate Communication. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Bowie, N. & Beauchamp, T., 1983. Ethical Theory and Business. Prentice-Hall. Cheng, B., No Date. KFC Australia. Advertising Case Study. [Online] Available at: http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/KFC_Australia_CaseStudy.pdf [Accessed December 09, 2011]. Cave, A., 2011. KFC Abandons 'Finger Lickin' Good Slogan In A Bid To Boost Its Image. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 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