Go right each time!

This is not academic- nor am I trying to create a thumb rule. I am just talking through experience, which has taught me to think inwardly in order to convince myself before getting into any activity whatsoever.

The document relates to three kinds of marketing and communication tools
1. Events
2. Promos
3. Public Relations

It deals with the following must dos:
• Rationalize participation
• Clarify objective
• Select occasions
• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise
• Analyse what participation entails
• Examine cost benefit analysis
• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics
• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external
• Ensure post analysis right after

The post analysis forms the most important part of any activity - is it worth a repeat? What did we gain by it?

The entire set of guidelines is in the form of questions you ask yourself before taking a plunge- with some advantages and limitations whenever required - it is totally hands on, and covers from concept to execution.

There is one aspect that we constantly need to bear in mind while using these communication tools. They will never be used in isolation, or under ideal situations. Other things will also never remain the same- it is a dynamic situation.
So we must ensure that there is harmony, and cohesion- we must never stray from the broad objective for that period. We can certainly use more than one tool or all tools at a time.

EVENTS

• Rationalize participation

 Is this what we really need at this time?
 Does this address my target audience?
 Is the timing right?
 Does it conflict with any other activity I am doing?
 Are my partners trustworthy- organisers and suppliers?

• Clarify objective

 What am I trying to achieve with this event?
 Am I looking at an event with mass appeal, or am I looking at niched TA?
 Am I trying to build brand with this activity?
 Either ways, am I confident that it is in line with my objective?
 If I put myself in my customers’ shoes, do I think I will like the experience?
 If no, then, what shall we do to make it appealing, and objective driven?
 Can we talk to the organizers to modify it?
 What kind of spend am I looking at?

• Select occasions / events which are identifiable with the brand

 Does this event tie in with my brand personality?
 Are my brand values reflected in this activity?
 Who are the other participants?
 How has competition responded to the proposal that the organizer may have presented to them?
 Do I want to be seen with the other brands which are a part of this exercise?
 If not, can I not wait for another more befitting event to come my way, or else, create one?

• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise

 Will this impact my brand favourably?
 With which other brands would I be rubbing shoulders?
 Are they of good stature and reputation?
 Are there any conflicting brands?
 What status does my brand have in the event?
 Am I being seen in the right forum?
 What is it that is making my participation different from others?

• Analyse what participation entails

 How much money would I be spending?
 What am I getting in return?
 Can I look at this as a PR opportunity?
 Will I be able to mobilize internal resources for this activity- are they not tied up elsewhere?
 Have I checked with other participating departments on their consent and help?

• Examine cost benefit analysis

 Basis the money I am spending, am I getting the mileage?
 What am I gaining- market share, revenues, acquisition, retention, visibility, image, brand salience, or what?

• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics

 Have I detailed out every task in the process note and run it through all departments which will be taking part in this exercise?
 Have I modified it according to their inputs?
 Have I nominated the team leader and the team?
 Am I working with an event agency?
 If I am, have I seen and approved all communication material material for the event?

• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external

 Have I taken approval for budgets and concept before going ahead?
 Have I made my points amply clear to the organizers as well as to my team members?
 Am I clear about the operational details and logistics? Have I closed all gaps?
 Have I documented the details, and stated specific instructions?
 Am I briefed on the progress by the team leader or first person responsible at predecided intervals?

• Post analysis

 Did the event go off well?
 How was the branding onsite?
 How were the media releases?
 Was it executed to perfection as per plan?
 If not, what were the gaps?
 Whom did the gaps impact?
 Did our TA turn up?
 Was it received well by the TA?
 Was the event the talk of the town?
 Coverage in news papers?
 What can I recommend to make it better and more effective?
 Can we do this sort of activity again?




ADVANTAGES

 Events provide high brand visibility
 They are capable of providing value plus to the existing service if handled well
 They are a sought after tool for customer satisfaction, esp here in Gujarat.

LIMITATIONS

 Impact of any event on TOMs is very shortlived
 It is expensive, and requires massive logistics and coordination
 It never translates into direct sales- always has an intangible impact


PROMOTIONS

• Rationalize participation

 Is the market ready to accept a promotion?
 Will it impact my bottomline favourably?
 Is the market stable/unstable?
 Will my promo stand out, or will it be lost in the clutter?
 What is the nature of the promo I want to do?
 What is our business objective?
 Is the promo helping me realize the business objective?

• Clarify objective

 What am I looking for- acquisition, retention, revenue growth through enhanced usage, or all?
 What is the target category I am looking at? Customers ( what segment, i e youth, corporates, general, etc) / channel?
 What is the percentage enhancement in revenues/user base that I hope to achieve through this promo?

• Select occasions

 Is another partner with a similar target audience available for a tie up?
 Or am I looking at a price driven promo?
 How can we create a win win situation?
 What is competition doing?
 Can I create a ripple with a bang on idea, as against following the market trend?
 Do I have the capacity to think out of the box?
 Will the partners, beneficiaries be happy with this promo?
 Will it induce them to buy, or be more loyal to us?

• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise

 How will this promo help me in enhancing brand recall?
 Will it tie in with my brand values- e g the good life?

• Analyse what participation entails

 What kind of monies are available for this promo?
 Can I run this promo on this money without cutting corners?
 Are my partners reliable?
 Have I worked out sound logistics ?
 Is this exercise mutually beneficial- or is my partner twisting my arm?

• Examine cost benefit analysis

 Basis the money I am spending, are my returns assured?
 Is the investment of mandays justified?

• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics

 Have I clearly defined content and activity, broken up into tasks?
 Have I defined a team, and each member’s responsibility?
 Have I got due approval from the heads?
 Have I ensured feedback system so critical for the promo?

• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external

 Have I taken approval for budgets and concept before going ahead?
 Have I made my points amply clear to the organizers as well as to my team members?
 Am I clear about the operational details and logistics? Have I closed all gaps?
 Have I documented the details, and stated specific instructions?
 Am I briefed on the progress by the team leader or first person responsible at predecided intervals?

• Post analysis right after

 By how much did sales increase with the promo? Did we meet with our projections?
 Was the execution glitch free?
 Did we have the support of all participants?
 Can we evaluate the feedback qualitatively?
 Could we capture customer profiles in order to assess the quality of participation?
 Did the market compare simultaneous promos from competitors?
 Can we modify the promo to make it more effective?
 Can we run a similar promo again?


ADVANTAGES

 A well executed promo has the capacity to enhance sales substantially
 It is a controlled exercise, and therefore execution can be optimized

LIMITATIONS

 The prevalent trend of BOGOF (buy one get one free), freebies, etc has spoilt the market, exhorting customers to ask for more each time
 Excessive promotions may cheapen the product
 Also, promos with lesser brands may also position our product in the wrong perspective
 Logistics need to be very clearly defined in order to make the promo successful


PUBLIC RELATIONS ( Essentially media outreach. Here, we deem media as important influencers)

• Rationalize participation

 What is it that we can say to our stakeholders through a public relations exercise?
 Will it impact my organisation’s image favourably?
 Do I have a set of key messages for sharing with media?
 Do they embody the business objectives, the core values, the desired positioning, the brand personality, attributes?
 Will my key message stand out, or will it be lost in the clutter?
 What is the kind of media I am looking for and why?(There are wire services, mainlines, business dailies, vernaculars, lifestyle media, corporate magazines, news magazines, periodicals, entertainment, fashion, technology journals in print media. There are similar segments in broadcast and electronic media too)

• Clarify objective

 Why do I want a PR exercise?
 Is it a major corporate announcement, a product launch, senior appointments, financial news, strategic alliances, an update, a CEO visit, what?
 What is the target category of media I am looking at, corresponding with my needs?
 What do I want to tell them? ( Each of the occasions demands a set of focused messages, with the common key messages’ thread running through in terms of core values, brand personality, desired positioning and customer orientation)

• Select occasions

 Is it fair to have a press conference for this announcement?
 Or will a media briefing of select journalists do?
 Perhaps we can just get away with two or three good detailed interviews and a statewide/national press release to all others?
 Or simply a press release?
 What does my agency say?
 Have they prepared a briefing dossier for the occasion
 Is this news good for the public?
 Will they receive it well?
 What is it that will make them sit up and say wow!?
 How can I build it up to make it more value loaded?
 I have to deliver whatever is announced - is that possible?

• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise

 How will this PR exercise help me in enhancing brand equity?
 Will the readers respond with queries, interest in the announcement?

• Analyse what participation entails

 Who will be the spokesperson?
 How will we prepare him with statements and usable data?
 What are the salient points that the spokesperson needs to know?
 Are we doing a presentation to media?
 Will we encourage a Q & A? On phone or e mail?
 What is the PR Agency’s role?

• Examine cost benefit analysis

 The monies involved are negligible except when we have a press conference
 Is the PR Agency worth their retainer?

• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics

 Have I clearly defined content and activity, broken up into tasks?
 Have I defined a team, and each member’s responsibility?
 Have I got due approval from the heads?
 Have I briefed participating teams? (esp Customer Care who get a lot of calls whenever any announcements are made)
 Have I ensured a coverage tracking system with the agency?

• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external

 Have I taken approval for budgets before going ahead?
 Have I briefed the PR Agency thoroughly?
 Have I made my points amply clear to the agency and to my team members?
 Am I clear about the operational details and logistics? Have I closed all gaps?
 Have I documented the details, and stated specific instructions?
 Am I briefed on the progress by the agency or first person responsible at predecided intervals?

• Post analysis right after

 What was the coverage we received?
 What media covered us?
 Was it in line with the nature of the news we disseminated ?
 How was the (KMD) key message delivery?
 Have I created a spreadsheet to capture coverage details?
 Has the agency proactively faxed me the coverage daily?
 Has the agency followed up for staggered coverage?
 Have I ultimately got a compiled dossier for records of the activity?

ADVANTAGES

 Focussed messaging results in enhancing brand equity, building positive public opinion, and desired image building
 Press release coverage should necessarily coincide with the advt campaign, to make the entire communication very effective
 Editorial coverage serves as an endorsement which an advertisement can never do
 Public Relations esp media relations touch the stakeholders directly, making the interaction more meaningful
 Media are important influencers and can create positive hype when handled expertly

LIMITATIONS

 Often, media tends to distort facts, create sensations- we need to be very careful about our media interaction
 The media spokesperson in every organization needs to be clear and crisp, with all media interactions planned well in advance, and statements vetted internally before giving it to press
 The entire exercise needs to be balanced, an overdose can be lethal( take the case of Microsoft where every small movement was reported because of their flamboyance, and public opinion impacted negatively)



STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF AN IDEA

 Generate idea
 Discuss with carefully selected external partners / agency if any on the possibility- broach cautiously
 Throw it open for internal discussion (mktg) through a preliminary concept note
 Take inputs, refine, create detailed concept note with budgets
 Talk internally with participating divisions, e g Technical, IT, Product, F & A, Customer Care, etc to check on possibility of system support, F & A intervention
 Flesh out the concept, create detailed note for approval, complete with team, responsibilities, process, financial implications, timelines.
 Seek approval of Department Heads
 Assign responsibilities, update schedules, WIP meetings, create formats.
 Proceed as per timelines, coordinate with each team member on progress
 Keep participating partners in the loop
 Complete execution
 Create summary report
Create detailed report with analyses and recommendations