Public Relations Campaign - Research Proposal Example

Public Relations Campaign Proposal Executive Summary Although several Chinese phone manufactures have tried to enter the Australian market, they have not made much impact because of poor perception of Chinese products, which are seen, as inferior to American and Korean brands. Oppo, a Chinese firm will try develop a PR campaign targeting potential Australian consumers with the objectives of changing their negative attitude towards Chinese technology, encouraging them appreciate the differently products and increase the uptake of their Oppo smartphones. This will be achieved through strategically targeting the low income, youth and upper class markets with adverts and products that are designed to fit their budget and needs. The PR strategy will involve adverts and product promotion on social media and traditional media as well as celebrity endorsements. The ultimate success of failure of the international PR campaign will be determined by the attitudes created as well as increase in sale volumes (Griffith, 2014). Situation Analysis Oppo is a Chinese Smartphone manufacturer that has for the last two years, been in competition with mainstream brands such as Apple and Samsung (Francis, 2014). Although the mobile phones it makes have more less the same specification with those of leading brands not to mention being considerably cheaper, its uptake in Australian is still low. The main weakness of the company in Australia is poor brand recognition mostly because a Chinese company makes the products in china. On the other hand, Oppo has a major opportunity to establish itself in the Australian market since its phones are relatively high quality and have been proved both durable and effective with most users giving them positive reviews. However, the firm is faced with numerous threats key among which is competition by more popular brands such as Samsung, LG, Apple, Nokia Lumia and others. In addition, the Chinese brand is weakened by negative perception among Australians in as far as Chinese goods are concerned. The Chinese labels tend to elicit suspicion of counterfeit or cheap poor quality goods. This is what has driven the firm to establish an international PR campaign to promote the image of Chinese products. If this is not done, it is likely that the Chinese brand may never get a foothold into the market despite its quality goods. Additionally, this negative reputation needs to be repudiated so that the Australians can recognize that Chinese goods are just as high quality as others are and challenge the negative stereotypes, which prevent them from accessing low priced technology. International public relations as a discipline is hardy in such a situation since it gives organisations the opportunity to develop positive reputations, goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics (Heath, 2003). From an intercultural point of view, this is often very complicated since a different society may hold divergent values on quality making it difficult to market products in one place using techniques from another (De Mooij, 2005). For example, Chinese manufactures will struggle to create phones with high specifications at low prices since the Chinese consumer will consider both before buying. In Australia however, price might be more highly regarded since it is usually associated with good quality. A good PR campaign however, aims are transcending such cultural differences and creating a positive image between the organization and its customer (Chia and Synnott, 2012). Objectives Help increase the market share of Oppo in the Australian market from less than 1% to 10% within one year by putting as many phones in Australian hands through sales promotions and offers in addition to regular selling To improve brand awareness and image among the Australia population as well as cultivate a positive attitude about the product and disabuse the negative stereotypes about Chinese products To encourage people to make objective comparisons between Leading Smartphone brands such as Samsung with Oppo focusing on specifications so they can discover for themselves the similarities and advantages of the latter Publics Youthful customers, low-income earners and other smartphone users were identified as target publics since they would potentially be the main consumers of the product and different strategies could be tailor made for each of them Youthful Customers The PR campaign will target youthful customers with who are the largest consumers of smartphones in Australia. By targeting, those about to get purchase their first phone the PR campaign can ensure to get lifetime customers since it is assumed they will keep buying their products after the first purchase. In addition, the devices by Oppo are made in such a way as to appear trendy and modern which will make them an easy Sale in this category. Low Income Earners Everyone wants to own a smartphone but given the prohibitive cost of leading brands, many people opt to remain with old models rather than pay hundreds of dollar for an upgrade to the latest apple or Samsung smartphone. The campaign will therefore also target people in this group by marketing Oppo as a less expensive but just as effective and fashionable smartphone. Given the high prices of competition models, this obvious niche market can be exploited to give Oppo the footing it needs Other smartphone Users Despite the fact that Oppo devices are cheaper, they have similar specification as the leading models and in some cases, they have even been found to be better in terms of quality, size and power retention capacity. To promote the product among those who use competing goods, the campaign will also focus on the advantages of Oppo products over the more popular smartphone by capitalizing on specific advantages. Strategy Marketing Interculturally While marketing is a key part of PR and vice versa, they are not necessarily the same thing since each is concerned with a different core business (Hutton, 2001). Loosely explained, marketing involves getting customers to like and buy a given product or service and it is essentially advertising, PR on the other hand is more brand centered and less concerned with a specific product. In this context, creating a positive cultural vibe for Chinese goods through the PR serves to market the products by making them more appealing to potential users. Chinese cultural values are seen as very different from Australian and this in part contributes to the low uptake of the former’s products. They are perceived as poor quality because of common assumptions of manufacturing culture based on quantity rather than quality. The PR campaign will therefore not be selling just the product but also the country. The first step will be to create awareness of the Authenticity of Chinese products by creating adverts that show Australian the finer aspects of Chinas production culture. Many firms tend to want to minimize the fact that their goods are from China due to the negative reputation, however Oppo will take the opposite approach and embrace its heritage. Creative video clips will be crafted showing the intercultural and business relation between China and Australia and pointing out the quality goods imported from China. Such include industrial goods firm chemicals, textiles and other essentials; then the Oppo smartphone will be presented as the crowning achievement of the partnership. Celebrity Marketing To appeal to the young consumers, Oppo will invest in product promotion contracts with leading Australian actors and pop stars such as Kylie Minogue and Delta Goodrem and Iggy Azella. This way they can use their celebrity status and authenticity as Australians to create a positive association between the “foreign” products and local taste. Chinese-Australian celebrities can also be approached to market the products. For example, Adam Liao, a Chinese Australian celebrity chef is liked and admired by many Australians and his endorsement would play a significant role in improving the public image of Chinese product. Give-away and subscription Oppo will collaborate with Australian mobile service providers with whom promotion deals will be made such that they can sell their cellphones and bundled subscriptions for a reduced price. This way instead of buying the phone directly, clients can buy a year’s subscription of the network and in return get a highly subsidized phone. Using such offers, the product will increase its brand image by working with local companies as well be released into the market in larger quantities. Product Diversification One of the reasons why Samsung has successfully made inroads into Apple’s market is the fact that their products transcend social economic categories. There is a smartphone for the low-income earners and one for the high-end group similarly; Oppo will similarly differentiate its products ranking the low-income ones at prices between $150 to $ 299 and the upper end ones upwards of $350 but ensuring they are lower than the competition’s but not so low as to make them appear poor quality. Tactics To achieve the aforementioned objectives and implement the strategies the firm should take to account several social-political and technological factors (Wilcox et al., 2003). The key stakeholders and public will first be consulted widely through surveys both phone and one on one interviews. Using a generic theory framework, the surveyor will ask questions in the context of intercultural communication (Grunig and Larissa, 1998); this way they can determine the assumptions of potential Australian clients towards Chinese products. Questions will include 1. a. Would you buy Chinese made products? b. If No, Why 2. a. If you had to choose between Oppo (Chinese) and [American/Korean] Brands with similar specifications, which would you, choose? b. What would increase your chances of choose a Chinese product? Through such open-ended questions, the firm will learn what consumers want in their smartphones and it can capitalize on the information to improve sales. Secondly, the marketing department will invest at least 5% of projected revenues in product promotion and advertising its goods. This will be used to create interactive video clips that give insight into Chinese production techniques, and the impact they have had on the world and Australia in general. Then post those on social media pages as well as mainstream television channels to get encourage conversation about Oppo products. Social Media Marketing The key to effective public relations is communication and this makes media and content critical element of the campaign (Curtin, 2007). Online marketing will be especially used to reach the younger users and create interactive forums where they can ask questions about the product and read reviews from satisfied customers. Therefore, social media, which is the platform on which robust amount of integration both locally and internationally occur, is an excellent platform to turn theory into practice. By having an active Facebook and twitter presence, Oppo can maximize the number of people who encounter its products and raise curiosity about them. With time, these followers could be converted into potential customers. In marketing China as a source of authentic products, I would design a lineup of products with a made in China tag including market leaders such as apple and Samsung and Huawei smartphones. Part of the social media marketing would involve placing pictures of the brands side by side and displaying the logo to prove that even the industry’s “best” were made in China. I would also use traditional media such as billboards to in major towns such Sidney, for every Samsung and apple Billboard, I would put one of Oppo just as big and strategic so that when people look at the leading brands they can also see mine and make a positive association. Through both traditional and new Media, the PR campaign will show will help the Australians see past the negative Chinese stereotype and appreciate the product for the work that was put in creating it as well as its authenticity, class and affordability. Calendar In the first month, create and release five different adverts through mainstream media and put up 15 billboards within and in the outskirts of each of the capital major towns Hold a product launch where the phone would be promoted by both Chinese and Australian models. The launch should involve a combination of both Chinese and Australian shareholders as well as cultural symbols to underscore the intercultural ties The first 2 months of the campaign agree to the terms with a service provider and distribute at least a hundred thousand handsets. The comparison images showing how Oppo and other brands are actually all China made would be released after 2 months to get the attention of those who may be ambivalent about buying the product based on its origin After the first four months, when more people are talking about the products, the Celebrity endorsements would be commencing through photo-shoots sponsored concerts. They would each be provided with a phone and given a bonus for every time they were caught on camera using it. Evaluation The success of any PR strategy is can be measured by the response of the target consumers in the short or/and long term (Black, 2002). In this case, it will be based on the number of handsets sold, the number of potential customers making enquires about the product and the reactions on social media. For example, if the Facebook page failed to have at least a 100, 000 likes within the first 6 months, then the conclusion would be that the social media marketing aspect has flopped Intensive surveys would be conducted in areas where the marketing had targeted and customers will be asked to comment on their feelings about the brand after the campaign. Their answers will be used to determine how if the campaign had succeeded in changing the perception of Oppo and Chinese smartphones in general Most importantly, the number of handsets sold would be the main benchmark on which the performance of the campaign would be based. Given the current low figures, the campaign is expected to triple the percentage of handsets sold within the first year so it can hope to achieve its ambition of taking a 10% market share in the 2 years. References Black, C., 2002 The PR Practitioner’s desktop guide, Sydney: Richmond, pp. 61-74 Chia, J. and Synnott, G., 2012 An Introduction to Public Relations and Communication Management Sydney: Oxford University Press, pp4-12 Curtin, P.A., 2007 International Public Relations. Negotiating Culture, Identity, and Power. London: Sage, pp. 51-76 De Mooij, M., 2005 Global Marketing and Advertising. Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. London: Sage, pp. 163-189 Francis, H., 2014. Whats an Oppo? Chinese company goes after Apple and Samsung with worlds thinnest phone. Sydney Morning Herald. [Online] 30 June. Available at: [Accessed on 08 November 2009]. Griffith, C., 2014. Chinese join rush to enter handset market. The Australian. [Online] 30 June. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/technology/chinese-join-rush-to-enter-handset-market/story-e6frgakx-1227044245279 [Accessed on 08 November 2009]. Grunig, E. and Larissa, G., 1998. The relationship between public relations and marketing in excellent organizations: evidence from the IABC study. Journal of Marketing Communications. 4(3), pp141-162. Heath, R. L., 2001 ‘Defining the Discipline’, In: Heath, Robert L. ed Handbook of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 1-9 Hutton, J. G., 2001 ‘Defining the Relationship between Public Relations and Marketing’, In: Heath, Robert L. (ed) Handbook of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 205-214 Wilcox, D.L., Glen, T. Cameron, P.H. and Warren, K.A., 2003 Public Relations. Strategies and Tactics, seventh edition, Boston: Pearson, pp. 27-57 Read More