Finding and maintaining an appropriate identity, image, and reputation is crucial for every company. But how are these concepts defined, how companies distinguish themselves from others, and how can image be managed? These are the questions I will deal with in this posting.
What are Identity and Image?
A company’s identity is the visual manifestation of the company’s reality as conveyed through the organization’s name, logo, motto, products, services, buildings, stationery, uniforms, and all other tangible pieces of evidence created by the organization and communicated to a variety of constituencies (definition found in the textbook).
Image is the reflection of an organization’s identity; it is how the organization is perceived by constituencies. Since constituencies can differ, there can be several images for one company. Organizations should be aware of their image. In order to evaluate the own image, organizations should conduct qualitative and quantitative research with constituents.
Differentiating Organizations through Identity and Image
In today’s competitive environment products and services frequently have similar or even identical features. So identity and image can be the only distinctive feature consumers can use to make purchasing decisions. Often differences in identity and image might be the decisive point for costumers to select a certain company’s product and not that of a competitor.
Shaping Identity
In order to build an appropriate corporate identity, organizations have to consider three major points.
First of all, a company should communicate an inspirational corporate vision, which contains core values, philosophies, standards, and goals. A successful vision provides orientation for all constituencies and influences the way they perceive an organization. Communicating the vision in terms of a narrative or a story can support the perceived coherence of a vision.
Additionally organizations should carefully choose names and logos, because names and logos function as identification tags. They can be used to quickly identify and evaluate an organization. Therefore, successful branding strategies can add great value to a company. On the other hand, poor branding can have significant negative impacts on a company’s value. Changing a brand name can either enhance a company’s identity, or it can confuse consumers and thus, damage the company’s identity.
Although branding is important, organizations should be aware of the fact that branding alone can never successfully shape a company’s identity. It should be embedded into a coherent overall identity management.
That is the third point corporation should consider, in order to create a positive corporate identity: A company should present itself consistently across all its identity elements.
Identity Management in Action
A method that has been successfully used by many organizations to manage the identity process consists of 6 steps.
In step 1 the company has to conduct an identity audit, which helps to assess the current reality. Then, the company’s senior management should set identity objectives that explain how each constituency should react to specific identity proposals. Step 3 is called: Develop design and names. Companies should be careful when choosing a design or name in order to avoid the possibility of trademark and name infringement. Therefore, companies should use the support of a consultant. After having conducted step 3, it is time to develop a prototype of a company’s name and design. In step 5 this new identity should be launched and communicated. When doing this, it is necessary to emphasize the strategic importance of the changed name and design. The last step is to implement the program and to create a consistent identity. Identity consistency can be reached by developing identity standards. The whole communication process of implementation can take several years.
In the Eye of the Beholder
Even before customers interact with a specific company they have a certain image of that company. This image can change after the customer interacts with the organization. The goal is to have that image better than before, not worse. Because one bad experience can destroy the relationship with a customer, each and every interaction is important.
Building a Solid Reputation
Managers can build a solid reputation by aligning an organization’s image and identity. In order to achieve this goal, managers should shape a unique identity and project a coherent and consistent set of images to the public (according to Charles Fombrun, New York University professor emeritus).
It is important to understand the difference between reputation and image and reputation and identity. Here is the explanation of Paul A. Argenti’s book Corporate Communications: “Reputation differs from image because it is built up over time and is not simply a perception at a given point in time. It differs from identity because it is a product of both internal and external constituencies, whereas identity is constructed by internal constituencies (the company itself).”
Class Discussion (02/21/2008)
In class, we talked about our understanding of the word “image” in a business context. We came to the conclusion that an image is a personal perception of a company. Since perceptions are subjective, an individual’s image of a company might be different from another individual’s image of the same company.
Professor Szul showed us the logos of different car companies and asked us to write down the first 5 adjectives that crossed our minds when we saw the logo. This method revealed our personal images of that company. It was interesting to see what the class thought about the different companies.
We also introduced the definitions of identity and reputation and discussed the difference between identity, image, and reputation (see explanations above). It is important for a company to align its identity and image, and to build a solid reputation in order to assure that the public perception of the company is positive.
Examples/Personal Experiences
I experienced an example of identity management in Germany. The company “KarstadtQuelle”, which major business was retailing, went into trouble because its sales went down due to a bad reputation. In the 1970’s and 1980’s Karstadt was known as quality retailer, but this reputation worsened during the 1990’s. In 2005, the bad development forced KarstadtQuelle to file for bankruptcy. KarstadtQuelle developed a plan that had the objective to organize the recovery of its business activities. One measure was to improve its image. KarstadtQuelle changed its corporation name to Arcandor (see: http://www.arcandor.com/en/konzern/konzern.asp). The change of the corporation name showed that a new period had begun that should be more successful than the past period. Also, the corporation wanted to emphasize that it consisted of more businesses than just the retail business. Simultaneously, Arcandor strived to improve their stores that were subject to critiques. The whole campaign was a success. Today, Arcandor is a profitable company.
An example for a business that needs a good identity, image, and reputation management is banking. The business of banks is based upon their reliability. Because banks deal with the money of other persons, they are in a very delicate business. Banks need to assure that they have a solid reputation in order gain the deposits of their customers. Individuals will not give their money to organizations they do not trust. Thus, a bad reputation can seriously hurt the business of banks. This makes banks a good example of companies that need a thorough reputation image.
In Germany, banks played a major role in the Great Depression from 1929-1933. At the beginning of the crisis, the public got to know that the German banking system was not refunded appropriately. The public became nervous and lost their faith in the banking system as a whole. Because so many people wanted to withdraw their deposits and savings, there were long lines in front of bank buildings were the result. Although the message of the improper refunding referred to the banking system as a whole, each and every bank went into trouble due to the loss in the banking system’s reputation. This example shows how sensitive the public is to the banking business. Furthermore, it shows another important point: The trust of the public is the most important asset a bank or the banking system possesses.
Links:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/08/10.html
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Con-Cos/Corporate-Identity.html
http://www.morrisseyco.com/insight/pdfs/MVRv6_1.pdf
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Internal Communications
In the past, managers mainly focused on the communication with customers. Today, managers dedicate the same attention to their employees because they realized that employees are major contributors to a company’s success.
Thus, an important question for companies is how to establish successful relationships with employees through internal communications. This will be the issue of this posting.
Internal Communications and the Changing Environment
The business environment has strongly changed in the last decades. These changes also affect internal communications.
In many ways today’s employees are different from former employees. Today’s employees obey modern values, they are more knowledgeable, and they have higher expectations of their careers. Modern employees have the skills and the expectation to be increasingly engaged in their company’s vision and strategy. Managers need to recognize that they should provide information to employee and that they should listen to what their employees have to say. By doing this, employees will be able to contribute all their strength to their company’s achievement of its goals.
Besides the employees, also the workplace has changed dramatically during the last decades; tighter staffing, longer hours, greater workloads, and more emphasis on performance are the norm. The increasing number of layoffs (often a consequence of outsourcing) has caused great uncertainty among the workforce.
Companies have to adapt their internal communications to the changing environment in order to recruit and retain the best talent. A forecast of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a labor shortage of 5 to 10 million by 2010. Obviously, this environment will make it very hard to recruit and retain skilled workers. Companies better should prepare themselves for this situation by establishing good internal communications.
Organizing the Internal Communication Effort
There are some things that should to be done when a company wants to organize its internal communication effort. A first step can be a communication audit. A communication audit can help to determine the employee’s attitudes about a company and can functions as a base to develop goals for effective internal communications. These goals should support the overall mission of the company and reinforce their employee’s beliefs that they are important to the company.
An important question that needs to be answered when a company’s internal communications are organized is where internal communications should report. The answer to the questions depends on the specific situation of a company. However, regardless of where internal communications is positioned in a company’s organizational structure, the company should make sure that internal communicators work closely with external communicators. The messages sent to internal and external constituencies should be consistent. When company’s news becomes open to the public, employees should be informed beforehand.
Implementing an Effective internal Communication Program
Implementing an effective internal communication program is the final step of a organizing a company’s internal communication efforts. Regarding that issue several suggestions can be made:
First of all, it is important to communicate up and down. Organizations should give employees the chance to communicate upward to the management and create a workplace environment in which employees feel free and secure to ask questions and offer advice. The most helpful employee feedback can usually be achieved when a company’s supervisors communicates with employees through informal discussions.
The next suggestion is: Make time for face-to-face meetings. In order to provide employees the opportunity to access senior management, this senior management should hold regular, in-person meetings with as small as possible groups of employees. In these meetings specific problems can be solved and employees can ask questions in an open forum.
Although meeting face-to-face is very important, it is a necessity for companies to communicate online. Intranets make it possible to reach employees easily. For example, corporate news can quickly be sent to a great number of internal constituencies. Furthermore, a corporate intranet can be a platform that gives employees the opportunity to meet and share ideas.
Another suggestion regarding the implementation of an effective internal communication program is to create employee-oriented publications. Often it makes sense to hire a former journalist who writes these publications for the employees.
When a company tries to reach its employees, it should consider that modern ways of communications are visual. An increasing number of companies run their own television studios to communicate with their employees.
As mentioned earlier, companies should align internal and external communication in order to avoid confusion among constituencies. This suggestion also refers to the use of branding. Besides the external branding, a company should also thoroughly create an internal branding strategy (especially, when a company’s identity s in the process of change).
The last suggestion is: Consider the company grapevine. A company grapevine is an informal communications network. Employees use it to talk privately, share the latest anecdotes, and exchange information. A company should consider this informal network when implementing a communication program.
Management’s Role in Internal Communication
A company’s top management is especially important for internal communications because top mangers are a company’s visionaries and its culture carriers. Since all organizational communication starts with them, top managers should work closely with internal communication professionals to make sure that their messages are received and understand by the relevant audience.
Class Discussion and Online Recruitment Activity (02/14/08)
Last week, we had an online chat. In a group of three persons we discussed several questions that dealt with the issue of employee recruitment and retention. We talked about the opportunities of working from home, online recruiting, changes in work related values, the need for companies to adapt to the changing environment, corporate culture, corporate identity, work ethics, and many other issues related to employee recruitment and retention.
Based on the chat, each of us created a to-do list for managers who want to improve their company’s recruitment and retention capabilities. My to-do list was a result of previous literature research, a video called “Generational Divide,” which we found on the Wall Street Journal’s webpage (www.wsj.com/businessinsight), and our online chat. This is the to-do list I created:
1. Create an informal corporate culture if this is possible for your specific business.
2. Build a positive corporate reputation. Be social responsible.
3. Choose an organizational structure that is as flat as possible.
4. Provide the opportunity to work from home.
5. Do a lot of work through team projects.
6. Reward your employees. Do not only use money as reward. Positive feedback is important.
7. Give employees the chance to advance. Provide internal and external training opportunities in order to develop skills.
8. Make sure that employees develop self-confidence.
In class we talked about advantages and disadvantages of communicating via online chat. An advantage is that people who do not like to speak in front of a group (in our case the class) often have fewer problems with communicating via chat. Because they have more time to formulate their ideas, they participate more intensively. This is especially an advantage for international students who often need time to translate their thoughts. In an online chat, they have this time.
A disadvantage is the slow pace of the conversation. An online chat needs too much time to exchange little information. Often person have to wait for another person to write his or her response. If the persons that are communicating via online chat do not use a webcam, confusion can arise whether a person is responding or whether she or he needs more time to respond.
Personal Experiences/ Examples
When I had an internship in a logistics company, I experienced a successful method of organizing internal communications. The company had a suggestion box that was intensively used by the employees. Each employee who had a suggestion could write an
anonymous message and put in into the box. On regular bases, the management conducted discussion meetings with its employees to talk about the collected suggestion. But the suggestions were not the sole purpose of the meetings. The employees were given the opportunity to ask questions and the management shared new company information with the workers. The open communication channels of the company created a positive work climate. The employees liked to work for their company and strived to contribute as much as they could to its success. I think this is a really good example for good internal communication management.
As mentioned earlier, one big issue of our online chat was online recruitment. This topic is becoming increasingly important (see: http://www.indiawebdevelopers.com/articles/internet_recruiting.asp ). As I learned when I applied for an internship in a bank, many companies do not even accept non-electronic applications anymore. It is much easier for companies to handle electronic applications. Electronic applications are fast and convenient, can be replied to easily and do not create as much waste as real paper applications.
Links:
http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm
http://performance-appraisals.org/Bacalsappraisalarticles/articles/comstrat.htm
http://www.edelman.com/image/insights/content/Edelman_Employee_Communications_Trend_Report.pdf
Thus, an important question for companies is how to establish successful relationships with employees through internal communications. This will be the issue of this posting.
Internal Communications and the Changing Environment
The business environment has strongly changed in the last decades. These changes also affect internal communications.
In many ways today’s employees are different from former employees. Today’s employees obey modern values, they are more knowledgeable, and they have higher expectations of their careers. Modern employees have the skills and the expectation to be increasingly engaged in their company’s vision and strategy. Managers need to recognize that they should provide information to employee and that they should listen to what their employees have to say. By doing this, employees will be able to contribute all their strength to their company’s achievement of its goals.
Besides the employees, also the workplace has changed dramatically during the last decades; tighter staffing, longer hours, greater workloads, and more emphasis on performance are the norm. The increasing number of layoffs (often a consequence of outsourcing) has caused great uncertainty among the workforce.
Companies have to adapt their internal communications to the changing environment in order to recruit and retain the best talent. A forecast of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a labor shortage of 5 to 10 million by 2010. Obviously, this environment will make it very hard to recruit and retain skilled workers. Companies better should prepare themselves for this situation by establishing good internal communications.
Organizing the Internal Communication Effort
There are some things that should to be done when a company wants to organize its internal communication effort. A first step can be a communication audit. A communication audit can help to determine the employee’s attitudes about a company and can functions as a base to develop goals for effective internal communications. These goals should support the overall mission of the company and reinforce their employee’s beliefs that they are important to the company.
An important question that needs to be answered when a company’s internal communications are organized is where internal communications should report. The answer to the questions depends on the specific situation of a company. However, regardless of where internal communications is positioned in a company’s organizational structure, the company should make sure that internal communicators work closely with external communicators. The messages sent to internal and external constituencies should be consistent. When company’s news becomes open to the public, employees should be informed beforehand.
Implementing an Effective internal Communication Program
Implementing an effective internal communication program is the final step of a organizing a company’s internal communication efforts. Regarding that issue several suggestions can be made:
First of all, it is important to communicate up and down. Organizations should give employees the chance to communicate upward to the management and create a workplace environment in which employees feel free and secure to ask questions and offer advice. The most helpful employee feedback can usually be achieved when a company’s supervisors communicates with employees through informal discussions.
The next suggestion is: Make time for face-to-face meetings. In order to provide employees the opportunity to access senior management, this senior management should hold regular, in-person meetings with as small as possible groups of employees. In these meetings specific problems can be solved and employees can ask questions in an open forum.
Although meeting face-to-face is very important, it is a necessity for companies to communicate online. Intranets make it possible to reach employees easily. For example, corporate news can quickly be sent to a great number of internal constituencies. Furthermore, a corporate intranet can be a platform that gives employees the opportunity to meet and share ideas.
Another suggestion regarding the implementation of an effective internal communication program is to create employee-oriented publications. Often it makes sense to hire a former journalist who writes these publications for the employees.
When a company tries to reach its employees, it should consider that modern ways of communications are visual. An increasing number of companies run their own television studios to communicate with their employees.
As mentioned earlier, companies should align internal and external communication in order to avoid confusion among constituencies. This suggestion also refers to the use of branding. Besides the external branding, a company should also thoroughly create an internal branding strategy (especially, when a company’s identity s in the process of change).
The last suggestion is: Consider the company grapevine. A company grapevine is an informal communications network. Employees use it to talk privately, share the latest anecdotes, and exchange information. A company should consider this informal network when implementing a communication program.
Management’s Role in Internal Communication
A company’s top management is especially important for internal communications because top mangers are a company’s visionaries and its culture carriers. Since all organizational communication starts with them, top managers should work closely with internal communication professionals to make sure that their messages are received and understand by the relevant audience.
Class Discussion and Online Recruitment Activity (02/14/08)
Last week, we had an online chat. In a group of three persons we discussed several questions that dealt with the issue of employee recruitment and retention. We talked about the opportunities of working from home, online recruiting, changes in work related values, the need for companies to adapt to the changing environment, corporate culture, corporate identity, work ethics, and many other issues related to employee recruitment and retention.
Based on the chat, each of us created a to-do list for managers who want to improve their company’s recruitment and retention capabilities. My to-do list was a result of previous literature research, a video called “Generational Divide,” which we found on the Wall Street Journal’s webpage (www.wsj.com/businessinsight), and our online chat. This is the to-do list I created:
1. Create an informal corporate culture if this is possible for your specific business.
2. Build a positive corporate reputation. Be social responsible.
3. Choose an organizational structure that is as flat as possible.
4. Provide the opportunity to work from home.
5. Do a lot of work through team projects.
6. Reward your employees. Do not only use money as reward. Positive feedback is important.
7. Give employees the chance to advance. Provide internal and external training opportunities in order to develop skills.
8. Make sure that employees develop self-confidence.
In class we talked about advantages and disadvantages of communicating via online chat. An advantage is that people who do not like to speak in front of a group (in our case the class) often have fewer problems with communicating via chat. Because they have more time to formulate their ideas, they participate more intensively. This is especially an advantage for international students who often need time to translate their thoughts. In an online chat, they have this time.
A disadvantage is the slow pace of the conversation. An online chat needs too much time to exchange little information. Often person have to wait for another person to write his or her response. If the persons that are communicating via online chat do not use a webcam, confusion can arise whether a person is responding or whether she or he needs more time to respond.
Personal Experiences/ Examples
When I had an internship in a logistics company, I experienced a successful method of organizing internal communications. The company had a suggestion box that was intensively used by the employees. Each employee who had a suggestion could write an
anonymous message and put in into the box. On regular bases, the management conducted discussion meetings with its employees to talk about the collected suggestion. But the suggestions were not the sole purpose of the meetings. The employees were given the opportunity to ask questions and the management shared new company information with the workers. The open communication channels of the company created a positive work climate. The employees liked to work for their company and strived to contribute as much as they could to its success. I think this is a really good example for good internal communication management.
As mentioned earlier, one big issue of our online chat was online recruitment. This topic is becoming increasingly important (see: http://www.indiawebdevelopers.com/articles/internet_recruiting.asp ). As I learned when I applied for an internship in a bank, many companies do not even accept non-electronic applications anymore. It is much easier for companies to handle electronic applications. Electronic applications are fast and convenient, can be replied to easily and do not create as much waste as real paper applications.
Links:
http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm
http://performance-appraisals.org/Bacalsappraisalarticles/articles/comstrat.htm
http://www.edelman.com/image/insights/content/Edelman_Employee_Communications_Trend_Report.pdf
Corporate Advertising
This blog posting deals with the issue of corporate advertising. Because corporate advertising is an easy and fast method of communicating a company’s identity, many companies use it. In order to communicate successfully, companies should consider that any corporate advertising campaign should be strategic (should look toward the future of a company) and consistent (advertising should fit with company vision).
What is Corporate Advertising?
According to our textbook’s author Paul A. Argenti, corporate advertising can be defined as “paid use of media that seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its products or services alone,” (2007), p. 87. It is important that companies choose corporate advertising campaigns that are consistent with product advertising campaigns because all forms of a company’s advertising contribute to its image.
There are three different categories of corporate advertising: image advertising, financial advertising, and issue advocacy.
Image advertising serves the purpose to reinforce a company’s identity or enhance its reputation. Often image advertising is used by companies that have experienced structural changes because these companies need to explain their new vision and strategy.
Financial advertising is used to attract investments and to enhance a company’s image in the financial community. Companies using a financial advertising hope to raise their stock prices. And indeed, Professors at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business conducted an econometric analysis and determined that corporate advertising has a statistically significant positive effect on stock prices.
The goal of issue advocacy advertising is to influence opinions. It used when a company’s environment challenges the status quo and, by doing this, threatens the company’s business. Since issue advertising usually deals with controversial subjects and almost always offends particular groups, companies should be very cautious when they decide to use this kind of communication.
The History of Corporate Advertising in America
At the beginning of the 20th century, corporate advertising campaigns started to become popular. AT&T published an issue-oriented campaign that had the objective to defend its monopoly status and create public faith in the company’s good intentions. This was one of the earliest corporate advertising campaigns in the USA. Because corporate advertising seemed to be successful, during the 1910’s, many companies used this form of identity communication. After World War II corporate advertising lost its significance until its revival in the 1970’s, when oil companies needed to influence the public opinion to fight accusation of exorbitant profits during the oil crisis. Today, corporate advertising is intensively used by companies.
Who Uses Corporate Advertising and Why?
Corporate Advertising is often used by large, diversified companies that need to build a coherent reputation out of a variety of activities and by companies within “controversial” industries, such as tobacco, oil, and pharmaceuticals.
There are several reasons why companies invest in corporate advertising campaigns. The most important ones refer to the points that corporate advertising creates a stronger reputation (see the posting “Identity, Image, and Reputation”), helps to recruit and retain employees (see the posting “Internal Communications”), and (indirectly) increases sales. Although the relationship between corporate advertising and increased sales might not be as clear as the relationship between product advertising and increased sales, many companies regard corporate advertising as a strategic investment that indirectly raises sales.
Class Discussion (02/07/08)
In class, we discussed the difference between corporate and product advertising. While product advertising serves the sole purpose of selling a product, corporate advertising is a much broader concept. Corporate advertising refers to a company’s image, identity, and reputation.
Personal Experiences/Examples
An example for good corporate advertising is the oil company BP. I like the television ads of BP, which I saw in Germany as well as in the USA. The ads deal with the issue of environmental responsibility in the energy industry. Originally, BP stood for British petrol, but today, the company’s advertising campaign translates BP as “Beyond Petroleum”. These words show that BP cares about more than just the oil business. The message of BP’s corporate advertising is that the company strives to find sustainable and environment-friendly solutions for the controversial energy industry. The fact that I know the campaign shows that I paid attention to it. I know the message of the campaign and appreciate the environment policy of BP. This all demonstrates BP’s corporate advertising campaign was a success, in Germany as well as in the USA.
Another positive example for corporate advertising is the German company Bayer. Bayer is a global producer of pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Sometimes, Bayer is subject to controversies because of drug testing. Furthermore, Bayer’s chemical business (now called Lanxess) has the image of being harmful to the environment. In its corporate advertising campaign Bayer tries to enhance its image by illustrating how the benefits of its products improve the lives of people worldwide. The TV ads show how science can contribute to the health of people. Additionally, Bayer shows the modern technology it uses that avoids polluting the environment.
Links:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/25/magazines/fortune/pluggedin_gunther_exxonmobil.fortune/
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-8608.2006.00460.x?cookieSet=1
http://www.reputationinstitute.com/members/nyc06/Rubin.pdf
What is Corporate Advertising?
According to our textbook’s author Paul A. Argenti, corporate advertising can be defined as “paid use of media that seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its products or services alone,” (2007), p. 87. It is important that companies choose corporate advertising campaigns that are consistent with product advertising campaigns because all forms of a company’s advertising contribute to its image.
There are three different categories of corporate advertising: image advertising, financial advertising, and issue advocacy.
Image advertising serves the purpose to reinforce a company’s identity or enhance its reputation. Often image advertising is used by companies that have experienced structural changes because these companies need to explain their new vision and strategy.
Financial advertising is used to attract investments and to enhance a company’s image in the financial community. Companies using a financial advertising hope to raise their stock prices. And indeed, Professors at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business conducted an econometric analysis and determined that corporate advertising has a statistically significant positive effect on stock prices.
The goal of issue advocacy advertising is to influence opinions. It used when a company’s environment challenges the status quo and, by doing this, threatens the company’s business. Since issue advertising usually deals with controversial subjects and almost always offends particular groups, companies should be very cautious when they decide to use this kind of communication.
The History of Corporate Advertising in America
At the beginning of the 20th century, corporate advertising campaigns started to become popular. AT&T published an issue-oriented campaign that had the objective to defend its monopoly status and create public faith in the company’s good intentions. This was one of the earliest corporate advertising campaigns in the USA. Because corporate advertising seemed to be successful, during the 1910’s, many companies used this form of identity communication. After World War II corporate advertising lost its significance until its revival in the 1970’s, when oil companies needed to influence the public opinion to fight accusation of exorbitant profits during the oil crisis. Today, corporate advertising is intensively used by companies.
Who Uses Corporate Advertising and Why?
Corporate Advertising is often used by large, diversified companies that need to build a coherent reputation out of a variety of activities and by companies within “controversial” industries, such as tobacco, oil, and pharmaceuticals.
There are several reasons why companies invest in corporate advertising campaigns. The most important ones refer to the points that corporate advertising creates a stronger reputation (see the posting “Identity, Image, and Reputation”), helps to recruit and retain employees (see the posting “Internal Communications”), and (indirectly) increases sales. Although the relationship between corporate advertising and increased sales might not be as clear as the relationship between product advertising and increased sales, many companies regard corporate advertising as a strategic investment that indirectly raises sales.
Class Discussion (02/07/08)
In class, we discussed the difference between corporate and product advertising. While product advertising serves the sole purpose of selling a product, corporate advertising is a much broader concept. Corporate advertising refers to a company’s image, identity, and reputation.
Personal Experiences/Examples
An example for good corporate advertising is the oil company BP. I like the television ads of BP, which I saw in Germany as well as in the USA. The ads deal with the issue of environmental responsibility in the energy industry. Originally, BP stood for British petrol, but today, the company’s advertising campaign translates BP as “Beyond Petroleum”. These words show that BP cares about more than just the oil business. The message of BP’s corporate advertising is that the company strives to find sustainable and environment-friendly solutions for the controversial energy industry. The fact that I know the campaign shows that I paid attention to it. I know the message of the campaign and appreciate the environment policy of BP. This all demonstrates BP’s corporate advertising campaign was a success, in Germany as well as in the USA.
Another positive example for corporate advertising is the German company Bayer. Bayer is a global producer of pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Sometimes, Bayer is subject to controversies because of drug testing. Furthermore, Bayer’s chemical business (now called Lanxess) has the image of being harmful to the environment. In its corporate advertising campaign Bayer tries to enhance its image by illustrating how the benefits of its products improve the lives of people worldwide. The TV ads show how science can contribute to the health of people. Additionally, Bayer shows the modern technology it uses that avoids polluting the environment.
Links:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/25/magazines/fortune/pluggedin_gunther_exxonmobil.fortune/
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-8608.2006.00460.x?cookieSet=1
http://www.reputationinstitute.com/members/nyc06/Rubin.pdf
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Communication Theories
Last week, we talked about communications as a science. Several communication theories have been developed by sociologists and political scientists after World War II. I would like to introduce them in this posting.
Harold Lasswell Model
The first discussed theory was a linear communications model of Harold Lasswell, which was developed in 1948. The model includes a sender of a message, a channel, and a recipient of the message. The result of the message is the effect, which can consist of a variety of outcomes.
The Harold Lasswell Model, 1948
Who (speaker) --> What (message) --> Channel (or medium) --> Whom (audience or listener)
= Effect
Shannon and Weaver Model
The next model was developed shortly after Lasswell’s model by Shannon and Weaver. This model emphasizes the transmission of information; the message is not as important in the Shannon and Weaver Model as it is in most other communication models. Shannon and Weaver were of the opinion that communication does not contribute to meaning; the sole purpose of communication is getting information from A to B. Shannon and Weaver introduced the term “noise” and described ways to overcome the problems that are related to the occurrence of noise. Noise is defined as an interference of communication; thus, it is a disruption of the transmission of information. Noise can be overcome by redundancy: The sender should say things twice when he thinks the problem of noise could exist.
Because of his important theoretical findings, Shannon is called the “father of information theory.”
Schramm’s Model
While Shannon is called the “father of information theory,” Schramm is referred to as the “founder of communication studies.” Schramm elaborated on Shannon’s models and included some very important new findings.
His later models were the first ones to describe communication as a circular process. Schramm included the recipient’s response to the sent message in his model. This feedback creates a communication circle, which connects sender and recipient. Additionally, Schramm introduced the terms encoding and decoding. Encoding is the sender’s way to create a message and decoding is the recipient’s way to take a message apart. Successful encoding and decoding necessitates the use of a common vocabulary. Schramm defined the common field of experiences, which is an area of commonalties or an area that both (sender and recipient) know about. Messages have to be in this common field of commonalities in order to be understood appropriately. If they are not in this field, communication is disturbed and frustration can arise.
Katz and Lazarsfeld Model
Katz & Lazarsfeld’s Model is important because of its political implications. The political scientists Katz & Lazarsfeld observed that individuals are greatly affected by opinion leaders who are able to reach a great number of people through the (at their time) newly developed mass media. Katz & Lazarsfeld’s model of communication through mass media is linear again.
Wesley MacLean-Model
The next discussed model was the Wesley- MacLean model, which describes potential messages as “events.” The model includes an advocate who supports transmitting an event.
Kincaid’s Model
The last model we talked about was the Kincaid’s Convergence model. The model describes the way to create and share information in order to reach mutual understanding, which is defined as the final result of successful communication. Kincaid’s model depicts the fact that communication is a cyclical process. Kincaid uses the term information rather than the term message.
My personal opinion about communication theories
Models are a simplistic description of the reality. Therefore, they provide a convenient way to look at complicated relations of reality. The advantage of models is simultaneously a threat to everybody who works with models, because models should not oversimplify the reality. If that happens, models will lose their capability to appropriately describe the reality.
The communication models help us to understand the important facts of communication, which I should consider when I try to become a good communicator. In consequence of our class discussion, I recognized that today’s communication is understood as a circular process. The feedback is an important component of communication. Feedback should be analyzed in order to figure out whether a communication process was successful.
Another important point is the necessity to use a common vocabulary to avoid frustrating communication experiences. Some people who are experts in a specific field often use their “technical language” when talking to persons who do not know much about that specific field. The consequence is a bad understanding of the message and frustration because the sender and the recipient do not communicate in a “common field of experiences.” This mistake should be avoided in order to effectively communicate.
Examples/ Personal Experiences
I had bad experiences when I communicated with my university in Germany. I emailed a certain office of the university in order to figure out what I had to do to apply for a specific waiver. Unfortunately, I got no response the following week; it took the office of the university 10 days to write a response. A few weeks later, I had another question and emailed the same office again. Again, I had to wait several days for an email response. This was a frustrating experience. However, this occurrence helped me to recognize the importance of feedback. I learned that communication is a circular process, and that after a message is sent, there should always follow a response.
This finding is very important for companies that want their customers to be satisfied with their service (or product). When it takes too long to respond to a customer’s message, the customer can become frustrated and unsatisfied. The dissatisfaction could induce the customer to choose a competing company the next time he wants to purchase a similar product or service.
My university had not to be afraid of losing a customer, because it seems to be clear that once a student has been enrolled, it is unlikely that the student will leave the university and choose another with a better customer service. This is especially true for German universities, because German universities do not face very tough competition, because they are all state owned.
That is another thing a learned from this occurrence: Competition forces companies to be good communicators; if there is only little competition, companies do not have a strong incentive to communicate efficiently.
I had a positive communication experience with my bank in Germany. The bank assigned one certain person I could contact whenever I had questions, wishes, or some transactions to do. This person was responsible for my satisfaction regarding financial issues. Therefore, she was very kind and helped whenever she could (she gave positive feedback). I felt that I, as a customer, was a very important person for the bank. That gave me an idea of how communications should be if companies want to achieve their goal of customer satisfaction.
Links:
http://www.cicsworld.org/blogs/psekhar/2006/12/post.html
http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/papers/volkmer.html
http://plan9.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.pdf
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/
Harold Lasswell Model
The first discussed theory was a linear communications model of Harold Lasswell, which was developed in 1948. The model includes a sender of a message, a channel, and a recipient of the message. The result of the message is the effect, which can consist of a variety of outcomes.
The Harold Lasswell Model, 1948
Who (speaker) --> What (message) --> Channel (or medium) --> Whom (audience or listener)
= Effect
Shannon and Weaver Model
The next model was developed shortly after Lasswell’s model by Shannon and Weaver. This model emphasizes the transmission of information; the message is not as important in the Shannon and Weaver Model as it is in most other communication models. Shannon and Weaver were of the opinion that communication does not contribute to meaning; the sole purpose of communication is getting information from A to B. Shannon and Weaver introduced the term “noise” and described ways to overcome the problems that are related to the occurrence of noise. Noise is defined as an interference of communication; thus, it is a disruption of the transmission of information. Noise can be overcome by redundancy: The sender should say things twice when he thinks the problem of noise could exist.
Because of his important theoretical findings, Shannon is called the “father of information theory.”
Schramm’s Model
While Shannon is called the “father of information theory,” Schramm is referred to as the “founder of communication studies.” Schramm elaborated on Shannon’s models and included some very important new findings.
His later models were the first ones to describe communication as a circular process. Schramm included the recipient’s response to the sent message in his model. This feedback creates a communication circle, which connects sender and recipient. Additionally, Schramm introduced the terms encoding and decoding. Encoding is the sender’s way to create a message and decoding is the recipient’s way to take a message apart. Successful encoding and decoding necessitates the use of a common vocabulary. Schramm defined the common field of experiences, which is an area of commonalties or an area that both (sender and recipient) know about. Messages have to be in this common field of commonalities in order to be understood appropriately. If they are not in this field, communication is disturbed and frustration can arise.
Katz and Lazarsfeld Model
Katz & Lazarsfeld’s Model is important because of its political implications. The political scientists Katz & Lazarsfeld observed that individuals are greatly affected by opinion leaders who are able to reach a great number of people through the (at their time) newly developed mass media. Katz & Lazarsfeld’s model of communication through mass media is linear again.
Wesley MacLean-Model
The next discussed model was the Wesley- MacLean model, which describes potential messages as “events.” The model includes an advocate who supports transmitting an event.
Kincaid’s Model
The last model we talked about was the Kincaid’s Convergence model. The model describes the way to create and share information in order to reach mutual understanding, which is defined as the final result of successful communication. Kincaid’s model depicts the fact that communication is a cyclical process. Kincaid uses the term information rather than the term message.
My personal opinion about communication theories
Models are a simplistic description of the reality. Therefore, they provide a convenient way to look at complicated relations of reality. The advantage of models is simultaneously a threat to everybody who works with models, because models should not oversimplify the reality. If that happens, models will lose their capability to appropriately describe the reality.
The communication models help us to understand the important facts of communication, which I should consider when I try to become a good communicator. In consequence of our class discussion, I recognized that today’s communication is understood as a circular process. The feedback is an important component of communication. Feedback should be analyzed in order to figure out whether a communication process was successful.
Another important point is the necessity to use a common vocabulary to avoid frustrating communication experiences. Some people who are experts in a specific field often use their “technical language” when talking to persons who do not know much about that specific field. The consequence is a bad understanding of the message and frustration because the sender and the recipient do not communicate in a “common field of experiences.” This mistake should be avoided in order to effectively communicate.
Examples/ Personal Experiences
I had bad experiences when I communicated with my university in Germany. I emailed a certain office of the university in order to figure out what I had to do to apply for a specific waiver. Unfortunately, I got no response the following week; it took the office of the university 10 days to write a response. A few weeks later, I had another question and emailed the same office again. Again, I had to wait several days for an email response. This was a frustrating experience. However, this occurrence helped me to recognize the importance of feedback. I learned that communication is a circular process, and that after a message is sent, there should always follow a response.
This finding is very important for companies that want their customers to be satisfied with their service (or product). When it takes too long to respond to a customer’s message, the customer can become frustrated and unsatisfied. The dissatisfaction could induce the customer to choose a competing company the next time he wants to purchase a similar product or service.
My university had not to be afraid of losing a customer, because it seems to be clear that once a student has been enrolled, it is unlikely that the student will leave the university and choose another with a better customer service. This is especially true for German universities, because German universities do not face very tough competition, because they are all state owned.
That is another thing a learned from this occurrence: Competition forces companies to be good communicators; if there is only little competition, companies do not have a strong incentive to communicate efficiently.
I had a positive communication experience with my bank in Germany. The bank assigned one certain person I could contact whenever I had questions, wishes, or some transactions to do. This person was responsible for my satisfaction regarding financial issues. Therefore, she was very kind and helped whenever she could (she gave positive feedback). I felt that I, as a customer, was a very important person for the bank. That gave me an idea of how communications should be if companies want to achieve their goal of customer satisfaction.
Links:
http://www.cicsworld.org/blogs/psekhar/2006/12/post.html
http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/papers/volkmer.html
http://plan9.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.pdf
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Communication Technologies and Elevator Speech
Communication Technologies
Technological progress has significantly increased the number of tools available to communicate. Today, the choice of communication media is larger than it has ever been before. Therefore, today’s communicators have the opportunity to vary their communication channels depending on the audience they want to reach. Possible new channels are, for example, E-mails, blogs, and electronic newsletters; just to name a few. The greater choice goes along with higher efforts to thoroughly analyze the appropriateness of a communication tool in certain circumstances, because the selection of the wrong channel can make the delivery of the message ineffective.
Moreover, the technological progress, especially the advance of the internet, has made information easily accessible. Today, valuable information is often just one click away. A downside of this trend is the possible information overload and the loss of privacy. Data protection, for example, becomes increasingly difficult.
Additionally, improved technology has made communication cheaper. Today, a long distance call can be cheaper than a local call was 25 years ago. If somebody uses the internet, a call will even be for free regardless of the distance of the call. The fallen price of communication led to a more intense use of communication tools. Today, people use communication tools whenever they need them without thinking about the price of the communication. That has caused the mental distances between people to disappear, even if the physical distances are great.
Finally, communication is much faster today than it was in the past. The possibility of quickly exchanging information especially affects the business world. Many businesses, which are dependent on the rapid flow of information, benefit from modern tools of high speed communication.
Class Discussion (01/17/08)
The development of modern communication media has given us a lot of new tools to communicate. In class, we discussed the new possibilities of communicating via Skype and teaching in online class-rooms. We concluded that Skype is an example of the trend that communication becomes increasingly convenient, cheaper, and faster. Today, there are a lot of communication tools available which make it possible to communicate with every person we like to communicate with. On the one hand, online class-rooms are an opportunity to disassociate education from physical location. This could be beneficial for people who are not able to physically move to a college campus. On the other hand, online class-rooms make it easier for students to cheat. Furthermore, online education is impersonal because usually no personal relationships between teachers and students develop in an online class-room. Furthermore there is no physical community like a college campus in the virtual world.
At the end of the discussion, we inferred that it is important to get to know the new communications tools. Only if an individual has made experiences with a special kind of communication tool, he or she can evaluate its advantages and disadvantages and make a decision whether he or she is willing to use it. In our organizational communication course we will experience a variety of ways of communication. This will help us to assess what tools suits best to us.
Examples/ Personal Experience
I experience the benefits of the communication technology progress during my time in the USA. I am really glad that today it is no problem to stay in touch with my family, girlfriend, and my friends back in Germany. The internet makes global communication cheap and convenient. When I want to call somebody in Germany I use Skype or ICQ. Even if somebody is on vacation in another country it is no problem to talk to him or her. For example, I often call a friend of mine who studies in Denmark.
I also use instant messengers to send written messengers. Instant messengers provide the opportunity to talk to different person simultaneously. However, if information becomes more complex, it is cumbersome to use an instant messenger to convey a message. Another drawback of instant messengers is that there is no opportunity to use non-verbal communication in order to convey your message.
Links:
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/index.php/blogs-wikis-and-im-communication-tools-for-subject-specialists/
http://www.worldhistorysite.com/cthistory.html
http://www.worldhistorysite.com/ctimpact.html
http://www.myownbusiness.org/s3/
Elevator Speech
Last week, every student presented a thirty second “elevator speech.” Our task was to sell a product by explaining its features and benefits in the short period of thirty seconds. Some people may think this is an easy task because you could not make many mistakes in such a short period; but this isn’t true.
In order to make a good elevator speech, you have to be well-prepared. One of the most important things is to be confident, to speak clearly, and to choose an appropriate pace of speech. Even though you will probably be nervous; you should avoid showing this. One method to achieve self-confidence is to practice. I learned that it is important to practice your presentation in front of a mirror; try to use different kinds of body language and different kinds of wording. You should do this until you are satisfied with your presentation. Although I practiced a lot, I was very nervous when I stood in front of the class. I figured out that another way to control my nerves could be the method of imagining my audience naked and I would be the only one who wears clothes. This helps to become more confident. I think the elevator speech was a very interesting experience.
As mentioned above, it is hard to believe that making such a short presentation could be such a difficult task. Now I experienced the importance of being confident when making a presentation. In a few weeks, we will have a second thirty second presentation. Then I will have the opportunity to apply the things I learned in my first elevator speech.
Links:
http://www.quintcareers.com/elevator_speech_dos-donts.html
http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/career/content/elevatorspeech.pdf
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jun2007/ca20070618_134959.htm
Technological progress has significantly increased the number of tools available to communicate. Today, the choice of communication media is larger than it has ever been before. Therefore, today’s communicators have the opportunity to vary their communication channels depending on the audience they want to reach. Possible new channels are, for example, E-mails, blogs, and electronic newsletters; just to name a few. The greater choice goes along with higher efforts to thoroughly analyze the appropriateness of a communication tool in certain circumstances, because the selection of the wrong channel can make the delivery of the message ineffective.
Moreover, the technological progress, especially the advance of the internet, has made information easily accessible. Today, valuable information is often just one click away. A downside of this trend is the possible information overload and the loss of privacy. Data protection, for example, becomes increasingly difficult.
Additionally, improved technology has made communication cheaper. Today, a long distance call can be cheaper than a local call was 25 years ago. If somebody uses the internet, a call will even be for free regardless of the distance of the call. The fallen price of communication led to a more intense use of communication tools. Today, people use communication tools whenever they need them without thinking about the price of the communication. That has caused the mental distances between people to disappear, even if the physical distances are great.
Finally, communication is much faster today than it was in the past. The possibility of quickly exchanging information especially affects the business world. Many businesses, which are dependent on the rapid flow of information, benefit from modern tools of high speed communication.
Class Discussion (01/17/08)
The development of modern communication media has given us a lot of new tools to communicate. In class, we discussed the new possibilities of communicating via Skype and teaching in online class-rooms. We concluded that Skype is an example of the trend that communication becomes increasingly convenient, cheaper, and faster. Today, there are a lot of communication tools available which make it possible to communicate with every person we like to communicate with. On the one hand, online class-rooms are an opportunity to disassociate education from physical location. This could be beneficial for people who are not able to physically move to a college campus. On the other hand, online class-rooms make it easier for students to cheat. Furthermore, online education is impersonal because usually no personal relationships between teachers and students develop in an online class-room. Furthermore there is no physical community like a college campus in the virtual world.
At the end of the discussion, we inferred that it is important to get to know the new communications tools. Only if an individual has made experiences with a special kind of communication tool, he or she can evaluate its advantages and disadvantages and make a decision whether he or she is willing to use it. In our organizational communication course we will experience a variety of ways of communication. This will help us to assess what tools suits best to us.
Examples/ Personal Experience
I experience the benefits of the communication technology progress during my time in the USA. I am really glad that today it is no problem to stay in touch with my family, girlfriend, and my friends back in Germany. The internet makes global communication cheap and convenient. When I want to call somebody in Germany I use Skype or ICQ. Even if somebody is on vacation in another country it is no problem to talk to him or her. For example, I often call a friend of mine who studies in Denmark.
I also use instant messengers to send written messengers. Instant messengers provide the opportunity to talk to different person simultaneously. However, if information becomes more complex, it is cumbersome to use an instant messenger to convey a message. Another drawback of instant messengers is that there is no opportunity to use non-verbal communication in order to convey your message.
Links:
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/index.php/blogs-wikis-and-im-communication-tools-for-subject-specialists/
http://www.worldhistorysite.com/cthistory.html
http://www.worldhistorysite.com/ctimpact.html
http://www.myownbusiness.org/s3/
Elevator Speech
Last week, every student presented a thirty second “elevator speech.” Our task was to sell a product by explaining its features and benefits in the short period of thirty seconds. Some people may think this is an easy task because you could not make many mistakes in such a short period; but this isn’t true.
In order to make a good elevator speech, you have to be well-prepared. One of the most important things is to be confident, to speak clearly, and to choose an appropriate pace of speech. Even though you will probably be nervous; you should avoid showing this. One method to achieve self-confidence is to practice. I learned that it is important to practice your presentation in front of a mirror; try to use different kinds of body language and different kinds of wording. You should do this until you are satisfied with your presentation. Although I practiced a lot, I was very nervous when I stood in front of the class. I figured out that another way to control my nerves could be the method of imagining my audience naked and I would be the only one who wears clothes. This helps to become more confident. I think the elevator speech was a very interesting experience.
As mentioned above, it is hard to believe that making such a short presentation could be such a difficult task. Now I experienced the importance of being confident when making a presentation. In a few weeks, we will have a second thirty second presentation. Then I will have the opportunity to apply the things I learned in my first elevator speech.
Links:
http://www.quintcareers.com/elevator_speech_dos-donts.html
http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/career/content/elevatorspeech.pdf
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jun2007/ca20070618_134959.htm
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