The application of social media as an advertisement strategy
Unit V: At P&G, the application of social media as an advertisement strategy in reaching great masses is characterized by the openness of the web 2.0 environment, which potentially enables participation, dialogue, and community building. In light of these advances, P & G empowers its employees to manage the customers by giving them voices. This is based on the assumption that compound influences in branding policy consequences to more convincing and dependable influences, more than the massive manager-centric single influence (Icha & Agwu 1).
This strategy is, however, temporary since the environment within social media is defined by openness, which threatens the organizational control principle of the top-down information distribution model. Due to the openness, that defines Web 2.0, P&G may not reach the entire target population through the social media due to the uncontrolled practices within the media and the need to balance objectives, control, and governance (Icha & Agwu 1). Operating as a social business demand the company to integrate the social media into communications, and supply chain among other departments. The company will besides be required to listen actively and lay down rules of engagement in dealing with varied scenarios. Social media as a marketing strategy demands that the company manage intelligently and purposefully its customers and employees for exponential benefits. This is highly tasking for a company that seeks to remain transparent in its operations as well as hoard knowledge internally.
Besides this, reaching out to the huge population through the social media demands that the company increases its capital to respond to customers in a timely fashion (Icha & Agwu 1). Social media is a continuous process, which may offer false feedback on the platforms. Rather than becoming proactive, the company may be compelled to assign some employees the role of monitoring the accounts to respond to customer’s comments and concerns directly and appropriately.
Social media is a supplement to other advertising strategies such as mass media due to the limited target population it reaches. Mass media is a useful strategy to advertise since it uses small content for large quantities of people. Furthermore, mass media is not confined to a region but it is worldwide. Since mass media emphasizes on the content, quality is fundamental in applying to the majority population. Mass media audiences are in tens of millions of both local and international customers. Social media, on the other hand, is a useful strategy for collecting information from the public regarding their interests and motivations. Consequently, the business is likely to collapse in the event that customers and clients are absent to frequent local businesses and offer information using their services.
Unlike social media, mass media can be employed to maintain current loyal customers and attract new businesses. This is because it reaches different groups of people at a short time. This is through its constant adverts that need minimal constant contribution from the company. Through the strategy, loyal companies can be channeled to peer-to-peer marketing while new consumers can be inspired to try the products.
Mass media is universal as everyone uses some form of the media. P&G can target their market to old and rural population, which can be challenging through the social media. With regard to the varied masses, the company can expect to enjoy immediate results from the advertising, which may be challenging to other forms of advertising. As a company that desires to enjoy a quick response for the products advertised, mass media offers the best alternative to social media which demands patience coupled with a long-term focus.
Unit 6: Communication refers to the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver, while communication strategy is the blueprint on how to exchange information. Communication strategy encompasses verbal, non-verbal, and visual communication strategies. P & G uses different communication strategies to run the business smoothly. Fiorini discusses verbal communication processes that helped P & G resolve the complexity in maintaining GBS as an outsourcing structure due to the required capital investment. The top reason Fiorini for employing verbal communication strategy was to identify the problem and solve it at the managerial level. GBS was not a component of the company’s main operations and that its presence may result in the likelihood of losing competitive advantage in innovation (Fiorini 4).
A second reason Fiorini holds for maintaining verbal internal communication at the administrative level is that keeping GBS was the minimum option for the company and GBS altogether. The company was still in the stage of establishing itself and thus it required more time to define its sophisticated suppliers and customers. It was more difficult for GBS to enter into a competitive market alone since its expertise was still insufficient in competing with more experienced BPO businesses (Fiorini 5). The third reason Fiorini holds that applying communication strategy through internal communication to the employees was a necessary position since the staff needed to be informed of the developments and become empowered in understanding the full picture. Fiorini holds that employees cope better with change when the management minimizes uncertainty by offering a clear view of the situation and frequent update messages to the employees (Fiorini 6).
It is important to have good communication with the employees for empowerment and update of the company’s situation. Applying verbal communication in solving the issue of outsourcing for the company was. Therefore, the most applicable strategy. This is because the strategy offered opportunities to the managerial team to discuss the issue, and share the situation with the employees who required to be informed.
Application of the strategy was also timely since the employees obtained opportunities to learn about the principles and culture of P & G. furthermore, keeping employees in the dark would have been detrimental to the morale and performance of the employees. The sales department felt as equally valued as the supply and chain department staff. In meeting prospective clients and competitors, the sales department staff confidently marketed their products while the supply and chains staff ensured that raw materials were of better quality. In addition, lack of knowledge would have resulted in rumors, uncertainty, and fear for the safety of their positions. Verbal communication was useful in overcoming speculation and rumors and encouraging feedback.
According to Holbeche & Matthews (3), people cope better with change when the administration reduces uncertainty and offers a clear outlook of the situation. The Early announcement of the P & G to its employees was besides useful in minimizing rumors, maintaining the good image of the company to its staff, and reducing frustration on the part of the staff. In communicating with the staff, P & G was authentic and consistent in maintaining the values of the company. Allowing employees to participate towards the decision made in outsourcing was an honored approach in upholding the principle of employees as the most valued asset of the company.
Having the sender and the receiver of the message at different positions can be detrimental to any business since the issue of positioning creates judgment and suspicion on either side of the party. Regarding outsourcing GBS, P&G made the decision when its employees had varied perspectives. The company believed that outsourcing was the best decision for both the company and GBS whereas the employees felt that the possibility of change would result in an uncertainty of their future employment position.
It is equally necessary for the managers to provide clarity and sense of direction to explain the need for change. This calls for strong internal communication channels to engage the employees even after the announcement. For this reason, it is paramount that the company understands the motivations of the business and clearly articulates the reasons. This is because it is easier for the firm to convince its employees to accept the controversial proposal as long as benefits are outlined clearly.
To integrate communication strategy into the present organization, it is necessary for the administrators to allow consistency at the horizontal levels as well as in vertical levels. This will provide for the staff a sense of ownership with the cooperation of the managers. Consistency at the vertical and horizontal levels is necessary for involvement of the employees in the decision-making process and in contributing to the changes as they occur. Employees in return develop a sense of value and control in their lives.
Managers should ensure that they communicate both good and bad news since the staff understands that every company faces challenges (Business Matters 2). Communicating good news only makes a staff become suspicious of the internal communications. Such communication is useful in
In conclusion, communication is the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver, while communication strategy is the proposal on the exchange of information. Fiorini
discusses verbal communication processes that helped P & G resolve the complexity in maintaining GBS as an outsourcing structure. The verbal communication strategy was applied to identify the problem and solve it at the managerial level, at the staff level, and for employee empowerment and update of the company’s situation. Verbal communication in solving the issue of outsourcing for the company was the most applicable strategy since it offered immense opportunities to the managerial team to discuss the issue, and share the situation with the employees. Integrating verbal communication strategy into my present organization is necessary through consistency at the horizontal and vertical levels. Verbal communication strategy provides the staff with a sense of ownership and allows cooperation of the managers.
Unit 7: Leaders and managers are assumedly similar as they assume critical roles in the administration. However, leaders and managers perform different roles with regard to the positions they assume in the organization. This is apparent in P & G where managers and leaders utilize different strategies and approaches in communicating to their subjects.
In P & G, managers utilize the meetings to gather the attention of the staff and force employees to listen. Within these staff meetings, managers engage the employees by either asking questions related to the subject of presentation or creating an open forum where staff can air their issues for a solution. Supervisory managers in this organization employ writings in form of emails to relay information. This is a useful strategy for making the necessary frequent communication with the staff. Similar to other nonverbal cues, emails lack the immediate response of the receiver making it a medium of misinterpretation. Emails are written therefore in a precise form to avoid much misunderstanding. Managers in higher positions in relaying information to the employees employ other conventional communication forms such as newsletters, memos, and letters.
General and organizational managers employ the utilization of telephone for better communication. The telephone is a more indispensable tool than email for brainstorming and involving the input of the employee in the conversation. However, the use of telephone creates nonverbal cues. This is because expressions and gestures used for interpretation of the message conveyed and may be missing during the conversation. Face- to- face conversations are interestingly taken in the offices and in a one-to-one situation where the manager can take in the nonverbal expressions from the employee. These often guide the manager on the kind of tone to use to the employee and the response the staff may give.
Leaders at the highest positions such as the CEO understand the need for having trust in their organizations and therefore, they endeavor to create an environment of trust through their communication with their employees (Beslin & Reddin 1). Having leaders as heads of Communications Departments entrust them with the responsibility of communicating with the staff and stakeholders on a frequent basis. As people to be followed, leaders must create a trust for easier alignment. Trust in return builds loyalty, increases credibility, and supports effective communications (Beslin & Reddin 1). The trustworthy environment is beneficial in managing doubt for understanding and belief. The heart of developing trust is through communications. Leaders build on communication by creating the right channels where employees are encouraged to discuss issues. In this regard, effective leaders communicate sincerely, honestly, and regularly. This enables them to measure the progress of the company.
Leaders employ both informal and formal communications with their subjects. Informal communication offers methods, which are more specific and constant in making the necessary changes. Unlike the managers who employ meetings for communicating, leaders employ open formal and informal forums. Meetings are useful for managers to address issues quickly and flexibly (Fox 1). In a formal meeting, managers quickly read and address numerous issues. Within these round tables, managers are able to create a positive environment that allows the staff to participate in the question and answer forums. The major objective of the positive environment is to enable people to communicate and participate in the question and answer.
Similar to the managers at P & G, leaders in open forums are able to note the nonverbal messages relayed by the employees and thus know whether the information in question is positively or taken negatively. Both leaders and managers utilize interviews and focus groups to involve their subjects and capture feedback. Within such discussions, the managers and the leaders may employ trust-measurement tolls to gauge staff perceptions and gaps between the employees and the leadership. In addition, engagement surveys are employed by both the managers and the leaders to evaluate the perceptions of the staff regarding their seniors in terms of trustworthiness. Surveys are a useful strategy since the leadership can employ unequivocal questions.
Unit 8: According to Matz (1), a wide-ranging and logical communication network, which is comprised of numerous communication channels, is highly essential for organizational success at regional and national levels. A successful diffusion of innovations is dependent on systems of communication through specific channels over time. Within an organization, communication participants create information, share the information, and act as agents of change. These change agents (facility champions and peer leaders) work to support and champion the implementation of change in the organization within a change champion network. To foster change and innovation at P & G, an open communication strategy is employed.
Open communication between the leadership and the subjects creates an atmosphere of trust. In the creation of trusting culture, the management has to take the first step by sharing information with employees on a frequent basis. Organizational and communication managers are P& G initiated open communication by sharing relevant information with the employees. This included both good and bad news. These open forums included monthly departmental meetings between employees and the general manager and intranet forums for sharing information and responses.
Using these channels, leaders were able to communicate their openness to hearing innovative ideas from the employees who were closest to the customers. In the event of outsourcing, the managers were at the forefront in informing the staff on the news and the position of the company at the time. This information was sent to the departments through meetings and open discussions with the top management team. Through this strategy, leaders were able to sustain innovation by offering multiple opportunities. Besides this, the CEO ensured that open communications included face-to-face contact with the management team, a move that made the front-line workers feel valued.
For open communication to be included in the culture of the organization, leaders had to create a psychological environment that fostered sustained innovation in all departments. In addition, it was necessary to appreciate the incremental value and major innovations, the psychology of innovation and promotion of innovative culture. Managers at the organization discovered the need to establish a clear sense of direction, which was fundamental in the creation of a psychological condition that favors inventive thinking.
As the organization developed, the management experienced some challenges in using this strategy. There were increased instances of barriers to small-scale enhancements where some departments began feeling left out from the operations of innovation and rarely provided revolutionary ideas. After identifying this challenge, the top leadership focused on establishing the right psychological condition where the leaders and the managers were able to consider individual assumptions on innovations and their responsibility in developing and changing organizational culture.
Irrespective of the size of the organization, the management ensured that the challenge of bureaucracy was controlled. This was made possible by through faster implementation that encouraged inventive thinking. Leaders and managers in addition related innovations and rewards to the teams and individuals responsible for the implementation. The managers and the staff were therefore motivated to work quickly towards implementing great ideas. This led to a competitive atmosphere, which further discouraged smaller and less dramatic improvements. The strategy motivated event the counterproductive teams to compete with each other for rewards. To create optimism among workers, the leadership eliminated projects that no longer contributed to the practice. This was because it was challenging to keep up with optimism and higher performance while some activities were still unproductive.
Works Cited
Beslin Ralph & Reddin Chitra. “How Leaders can communicate to Build Trust.” Ivey Business
Journal. 2004. http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/how-leaders-can-communicate-to-build-trust/. Accessed on February 18th 2017.
Icha Oyza & Agwu M. Edwin. “Effectiveness of Social Media Networks as a Strategic Tool for Organizational Marketing Management.” J Internet Bank Commerce S2:006. 2015. http://www.icommercecentral.com/open-access/effectiveness-of-social-media-networks-as-a-strategic-tool-for-organizational-marketing-management.php?aid=66382. Accessed on February 17th 2017
Fiorini Maia Mayra. “Effective Communications on P & G’s restructuring Decision.” University of Brighton Business School. Pages 1-13
Fox Tom. “Tips to Communicating Better with your Employees.” The Washington Post. 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2014/08/08/tips-for-communicating-better-with-your-employees/. Accessed on February 18th 2017.
Matz, W. Mary. “Strategies to Foster Communication.” VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry.