Course: Corporate Communicaton and Marketing Strategy
Discussion Post responses: Provide a response to each of the following posts (Post 1 and 2) in 200-245 words each with 2 scholarly journal articles. Include volume, pg and link for reach reference.
Post 1: Stakeholder engagement can be achieved by tailoring the messages to different stakeholders. Messages should address different stakeholders’ concerns and should be provided in a format accessible to the stakeholders (Hendricks, 2019). Organizations should therefore have key and supporting messages (SPARK, 2006). Key messages are applicable to all stakeholders. These messages should be repeated throughout all communications to all stakeholders to assist in achieving business goals and they should be well understood by all those who are likely to be communicating about the organization to others. Supporting messages are specific and relevant to one or more of the organization’s target audiences. The first step in developing stakeholders’ messages is to identify and prioritize the stakeholders that are affected by working towards the organizational goal and the importance of each stakeholder in achieving this goal. Stakeholder’s attitudes (neutral, critic, blocker) towards the organizational goal should be assessed to help the organization decide what actions are required from the stakeholders as a result of communication and therefore the suitable message that the organization needs to deliver to specific stakeholders (The National Archives, 2013). Tailoring message orientations to specific stakeholders and detecting the tone of the messages help organizations avoid second-guessing objectives and needs and focus their attention on messages that are consistent with the expectations of stakeholders (Belasen and Belasen, 2018). Creating a single message for stakeholders is an archaic concept considering the changes in the environment of organizations (Smith, 2013).
The CVFCC highlights the fact that organizations operate under the burden of contradictory and often inconsistent expectations coming from diverse constituencies. These expectations should be balanced in order to build a strong organizational identity and a credible image (Belasen and Belasen, 2018). Investors for example can be addressed using transformational messages aiming at creating a strong belief in the company’s future and growth potential. Regulators can be addressed using confirming and validating messages focusing on legal and ethical accountability and adherence to laws, regulations, codes, and standards imposed by regulators. Employees can be addressed using relational messages that focus on facilitating collaboration, teamwork, and social identity. Customers can be addressed using messages that focus on advancing the image and reputation of the organization (Belasen and Belasen, 2018). To ensure delivering a clear and consistent message and not having contradictory messages, the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) can be used. Integrated Marketing Communication focuses on using promotional elements in a unified way so that a synergistic communication impact is developed and achieved (Rehman and Ibrahim, 2018). “Integrated Marketing Communications is the process of unifying a brand’s messaging to make it consistent across all media that the brand uses to reach its target audience” (Pecánek, 2022).
Post 2(The response is okay to be at least/just 200 words since post is short): Establishing the most effective communication process for target stakeholders is a necessary action for an organization. This assists with the distribution of a message and communicates adjustments or advancements necessary to satisfy the stakeholders. As there are many different types of stakeholders, managing the communication that is made available to them is important. Investing in each stakeholders desires, wants and needs helps navigate their response to organization’s and their current stake in the market (Bourne, 2016). Failure to structure and maintain proper communication could result in a negative response from stakeholders (Gore, 2014). Brands have the opportunity to structure the message sent to stakeholders by utilizing segmenting, this allows the organization to focus on the different targeted audiences depending upon various factors. These factors could include their geographic location, age and gender.
For example, a message about a new product line from Savage X Fenty varies depending upon the targeted audience and segmenting. In the case of Savage X Fenty, the company would target market segments for affordable, accessible and quality consumers. As the seasons change, the quality of the designs would attract consumers who are interested in design, whilst seasonal price discounts would attract consumers interested in affordable products, while consumers who are interested in purchasing the products as soon as possible are satisfied with the accessibility of the products. This brand can utilize multiple methods of communicating these messages to stakeholders. The goal of this messaging is to ensure that stakeholders are able to identify their wants and interests.
