The Focus of the Public Relations Campaigns - Case Study Example

Assessment of Three Public Relations Campaigns BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL HERE HERE Assessment of Three Public Relations Campaigns Edison – The Energy Provider In each part of the country, Edison has a unique name usually synonymous with the region in which each division performs energy work. In Michigan, the energy service provider is known as DetroitEdison, and so forth. Edison, in an effort to boost social support for its energy services and maintain a competitive edge, in areas where there are multiple providers to choose from, has developed a customer-focused PR campaign. This campaign is centered on promoting the values of Edison directly in relation to issues of satisfying customers. The focus of the PR campaign consists of the development of different informational pamphlets that describe the ongoing efforts to improve services and the nature by which these services are provided by trained personnel. Blended with this are many different customer-focused television advertisements carrying the same theme, with situations highlighted such as diligent workers pulling long hours in the middle of the night to respond to emergency needs or typical lost power issues after a thunderstorm or other weather phenomenon. This public relations campaign is designed to give the business a better reputation and show that it consistently has the needs of the client as the primary business goal. One particular television advertisement shows a late night worker who smiles into the window of an onlooking youth consumer who is acknowledging his support for the man working in the rain to restore power. This customer focused PR campaign is targeted at no special audience, just the general public. This campaign is ingenious as it uses the company’s billing statements for insertion of newly-developed promotional materials. Since bill payment is a monthly obligation of the consumer, they cannot miss the PR materials and might be more apt to find out about new service- and customer-focused aspects of the company’s philosophy. Several objectives of most PR campaigns are to displace prejudice against the organization, encourage a belief, or overcome misunderstandings (Rinrattanakorn, 2008, p.40). Edison is an organization that must operate a live support hotline for consumers that are experiencing power outages and Edison likely faces overwhelming volumes of calls from frustrated groups of consumers on a daily basis. If consumers do not understand the nature of service provision and operations, based on their general behaviors, they will be apt to lash out at the firm for failing to respond quickly enough to their needs. This PR campaign is designed to offer this education about the operational and service-based components of the company to avoid flooding operational budgets related to the hotline, forcing extra labor cost from ongoing complaint generation, and also show Edison’s dedication to rapid response and consumer needs. It is rather basic consumer knowledge that linemen (and linewomen) work quite hard at their jobs and do the best they can to service what is usually a widespread or geographically-displaced schedule of outage corrections. Such television advertisements are expensive and not worth the budget since it only reinforces what consumers already know. Instead, any television ads should focus more on informing consumers by describing the processes involved with restoring power by giving them a tour of the facilities, the support hotline environment, executive leadership, etc. in order to promote knowledge about the entire system restoration process. Tesco – The International Grocery Chain Tesco is currently running a public relations campaign that seeks to educate consumers about the advantages of sustainable development and reduction of the carbon footprint. Using print advertisements, published pamphlets, and various press releases, Tesco highlights its innovations in greener building designs and attempts to get customers to buy into different green products and initiatives. In this case, Tesco is attempting to encourage a certain belief that is closely related to the company’s values. This gives them a competitive edge against other supermarkets that use product-based marketing to build higher sales and customer support. By using these different types of media, Tesco is able to guarantee higher sales of certain eco-friendly products, which strengthens their relationships with product suppliers, and also reinforce the importance of the consumer role in helping with ecological matters. Tesco does not take advantage of opportunities to use low-cost television advertisement which could further reinforce this new core value on green living and sustainable development. The markets they serve are diverse and television is one of the best forums to reach consumers in many different locations. Even though the costs of this type of advertising are much higher than published knowledge materials, the gains from higher consumer loyalty to Tesco would be measured by increased sales. To link television-based green initiatives to consumer lifestyle would involve taking consumers through different sustainable buildings and showing them their innovations first-hand. For example, the development of a rainwater recovery system on the building would be valuable in promoting this belief and perhaps make some consumers seek how to incorporate these elements into their own households. The best gains for Tesco with these changes is increased loyalty in a very competitive environment. Shell Gasoline – The Innovators Shell research and development teams have come up with a new type of gasoline with multiple varieties of cleaning agents designed to surpass the most stringent EPA standards. At a time where the consumer carbon footprint is common in many corporate advertisements and other public relations information, Shell attempts to simply create awareness of their innovations in gasoline modifications in a way that is meaningful to customer groups all over the country. By highlighting Shells’ fuel innovation as a means to improve engine performance, at a time where gas prices are notoriously high and consumers actively discuss this, the new Shell V-Power Premium Gasoline® is targeted at consumers that demand high performance and even as an attempt to promote a new desire in buyers that would not normally consider paying premium prices for better gasoline products. The product is described as “boasting the highest concentration of the Shell Nitrogen Enriched cleaning system that actively seeks and destroys engine gunk even faster than regular Shell gasoline” (prnewswire.com, 2009, p.1). Television advertisements are the media format of choice, along with materials that are available in-store at Shell locations (or at the pump) that describe the benefits of this product to promote awareness of the scientific breakthroughs and competitive advantage that Shell has over certain gasoline producers. It shows three very reputable looking scientists, in white labcoats, using scientific instruments and animated graphics to create awareness of how this gasoline works in comparison to other gas brands. The people chosen to represent Shell is very important to finding success in this campaign since any well-intentioned PR campaign, no matter how well-supported and constructed, will not receive public support because of the chosen message sender (Hill & Welch, n.d). The likeable group chosen by Shell is one key advantage to their PR campaign. The goal of this campaign is to improve buyer loyalty to Shell, give them a source of advantage in their markets, and also highlight the firm’s ability to surpass the toughest environmental standards passed down by the government. They do this well, however the campaign could benefit from one modification. Shell operates in a very competitive environment where different gas brands are practically available on every corner. Premium cleaning agents are important to high-performance-minded customers, but not the general public. In order to create more awareness and public support for Shell, they should consider an online element to this campaign, using television to invite consumers to visit the Shell website to enter a contest such as “V-Power for Life”. The online environment gives the PR manager the opportunity to adjust promotions in a way that is low-cost and could provide interactive features, such as a step-by-step animation that shows V-Power products compared to other gas brands. This would not only create awareness, but could encourage a belief that Shell is superior to competition and make them identify with the corporate logo through this PR effort. References Hill, P. & Welch, D. (n.d.) “The Role of PR for Technology”. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/uchill2.htm Prnewswire.com. (2009). “America Decides Winners of Shell V-Power(R) Fuel My Passion Contest & Sweepstakes”. United Business Media. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/america-decides-winners-of-shell-v-powerr-fuel-my-passion-contest--sweepstakes-69749217.html Rinrattanakorn, Pariya. (2008). “Public Relations Campaign”. Retrieved April 2, 2010 from http://espuc.east.spu.ac.th/eoffice/Journal/filepdf%5CA4739.pdf Read More