IMC Hawks Blog

Category: Corporate Communication

  • Syringe? Wooden Screw? Pepsi?

    PepsiCo has always been a leader in the beverage industry and in 1993, proved this to be true with how they handled their almost-crisis. Earl and Mary Triplett of Tacoma, Washington made the Seattle news when they reportedly found a syringe in a can of Diet Pepsi. Once news of this disturbing incident hit, reports from all over the United States poured in. Within one week, people from 23 states came forward claiming that objects such as a bullet, broken sewing needle, wooden screw and cracked vial were found in their Diet Pepsi cans.

    With such serious reports, you would think PepsiCo immediately recalled their product. However, PepsiCo didn’t believe in the reports. After all, with manufacturing facilities in many different locations the likelihood of such a crisis on a national level is slim to none. Instead of throwing in the towel and losing millions of dollars, PepsiCo decided to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to find the root cause of the crisis. In deciding that PepsiCo wasn’t going to recall, they knew they had to explain to the public that this decision is the right choice. How do you communicate this? By using the first ever video news release (VNR).

     In having 4 VNRs, PepsiCo was able to reach 265 million viewers. These VNRs allowed the public to hear and see the facts; that the whole scare was a cruel scam. With exclusive B-roll of Pepsi’s bottling process and surveillance camera footage from Colorado of a suspect tampering with a Pepsi can, PepsiCo was able to keep their brand name clean. At the end of all this madness, the crisis resulted in 20 arrests, each facing five years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines for their false claims.

    On June 21, “Pepsi is pleased to announce…nothing” became the headline of PepsiCo’s full page advertisement, placed in 12 national newspapers and hundreds of publications. PepsiCo had already planned on a summer promotion and by using their recent crisis; the company took advantage of their media coverage and tweaked their advertisement accordingly.

    What is most important to take away from this crisis was PepsiCo’s ability to invite the media in, letting them know the facts allowed for the truth to come forward and stifled speculation. Media can be a powerful tool, as we have seen through PepsiCo’s crisis scare.

    Meghan French and Gracie Anderson

  • Pain Relief Recall

    Last Monday, October 18, Johnson & Johnson announced their sixth recall of the year for Tylenol products.  This recall was due to a musty odor found in Tylenol 8-Hour packaging.  Historically, Tylenol has a reputation consisting of recall after recall ranging from unpleasant odors to fatal issues.  This being said, Tylenol is still a top brand and has remained at the top despite these crisis situations.

    How are they able to maintain such a successful image and business if their name is continually in the news for negative reasons?  Tylenol does a phenomenal job of informing their publics through immediate press releases and publicity about current issues as well as issuing recalls in order to protect their consumers.  For example, the company’s website quickly updated information with numbers to call to gain additional information, instructions on how to go about obtaining a refund, and specific details of the reasons for the recall and reasons for the odor.  This use of corporate communication is what solidifies their customers’ trust and loyalty.

    Although Tylenol has experienced a more than usual amount of crisis situations where they could have potentially lost customers, their quick actions through their strong corporate communication have continued to make them a stable and reliable company.

    -Haley Williams

     

  • Corporate Communication in the Real World

    If you go to any store you will see multiple products that are essentially the same.  There are several websites that serve the same purpose, but we don’t use all of them.  So, how do we choose or distinguish between the products?  The answer lies within the company’s corporate communication.  A company creates its own brand and identity through their images, logos, and slogans.

    One company that has done a good job of creating a distinct identity is SocialCast.  It is a company that my cousin founded to serve as a social media network for businesses.  In order to create a brand that is different from the other social media networks, SocialCast hired a team to specifically handle their corporate communications.  They use Twitter, Facebook, his company’s website and other blogging sites to manage the company’s visual and corporate identity. This creates exposure for the company and engages with its consumers. By doing this, they can manage the company’s identity to fit the changing needs of the marketplace and the needs of the consumers.

    The corporate communication team is constantly revamping their logo and website to keep up with the current trends of society and to engage more with their consumers to better suit their needs, wants, and values.  They engage with their stakeholders through their blog, twitter account and website, which gives them ideas to communicate better with the public.

    The example below shows one of the ways in which SocialCast has modernized their corporate identity. By changing the logo and making it more up-to-date, the company is keeping up current trends to attract more recognition.

    Old Company Logo

     

    New Company Logo

    SocialCast is only one example of how corporate communication applies to companies and careers, but there are many other options and career paths for people interested in this field.

    – Megan Regele

  • Branding, It’s Not Just For The Cows!

    When we think of branding, yes we can think of cows that are marked to receive their distinction, but in the business world it’s a company’s trademark. In communication, we typically think of the term in regards to businesses. Branding is a necessity for businesses, but it’s also important for professional individuals. Our theme this week is careers in corporate communication. Now that the end of the semester is in close sight and many are looking at graduating, we thought self-branding would be a good topic to discuss.

    According to the U.S. Department of Labor, people change careers approximately 3-6 times during a lifetime for various reasons. Our world is constantly changing and evolving and a career-oriented professional has to keep up with the times. Generations before us found a job after college and it was considered the norm for a person to stay with the same company and in the same field until they retired. Not many people do that now. This is one reason why it is important for us to brand ourselves. As most of us begin to carve out a career path over the next few months, there has been a lot of talk about what we want to do with our lives. The main focus is what we are passionate about and where are strengths lie. An interesting article points out that self-branding is the difference between “just a job” and a career. It can make you employable in a profession you are passionate about and open doors you never thought existed.

    There are many steps to self-branding and the first step for the college graduate is to discover what you are passionate about and where your strengths are within that passion. This brings to mind a chapter in one of our textbooks entitled, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. He finds that the great companies follow the Hedgehog Concept. In short, the Hedgehog Concept is about aligning

    1) What you are deeply passionate about?
    2) What can you be the best at?
    3) What drives your economic engine?

    As you see, self-branding sets us apart from the rest of the cattle out there. Let’s go make it happen!

    Sarah McIntosh, Sean O’Connell, Eliza Wadson, Jocelyn Walson

  • Careers in the CC Realm

    Careers in corporate communication are not limited; there are endless opportunities for success and growth within a corporate setting. Often while looking for a job, the term “corporate” may intimidate one due to the fact that most corporate jobs equal large corporations that have maintained their reputation and entering their teams may entail a large workload. Settings of corporate communication careers vary widely; however, the worldwide web is becoming one of the main channels for corporate communication.

    A Corporate Communication Director is just one example of a career within the corporate communication realm. This position requires the understanding of the way communication is interpreted by individuals and in group settings through the study of theory and the nature of communication throughout history. While in this career, one will learn how to evaluate and do an analysis of communication, in print and orally. This career typically requires with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies and can continue into the Master’s level. A person who has completed the required elements to become a Corporate Communication Director may also become a Public Relations Director, Advertising Director, Lease Negotiator, etc.

    Public relations and corporate communication tie directly into each other in the aspect that corporate communication professionals deal with external public relations for the most part. Through brand exposure, public relations increase industries’ media personnel and journalists. While dealing with the public relations aspect, relationships are formed with key personnel to maximize the quality of the exposure.

    In any career that deals with corporate communication, the person must have sound analytical skills and knowledge of the many theories of communication and be able to evaluate what is placed in front of them at any point in time.

    Kelly Wiley

  • Event Planning- Glamorous or Not?!


    As a new intern at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation, I didn’t realize how many careers could all be considered “corporate communication” titles. It is a small office, consisting of six women and myself. Their titles are: Annual Gifts Officer, Major Gifts Officer, Administrative Associate, Special Events Officer and Finance and Stewardship Officer. One of the main issues associated with all of these titles is how wordy they are and the fact that all of these women undertake several tasks outside of their job titles.

    Our professor often touches on the realities of event planning; I can relate well to this since I work under the Special Events Officer at NHRMC Foundation. The realities of this corporate communication position are long hours, planning with some very opinionated committee members, having to constantly be organized, the ability to multitask and working with a limited budget (especially in a non-profit office). Third party events are also a majority of this position’s responsibility. So far for our Pink Ribbon Event, there have been third-party events consisting of: Monty Miller’s Boot Camp, Rock for the Cure, Pink Martinis at Ruth’s Chris, TrySport’s 5k and Angie’s Amazing race…and these are just for one event! The special events officer is responsible for attending all of these.

    This is just insight on ONE corporate communication career, the list of other titles is almost infinite. While event planning may not be as glamorous as films such as “The Wedding Planner” portray it to be, it is a very rewarding and fabulous career for the right person!

    -Emily Hunter

  • Does the word “corporate” in a job title mislead people?

    How are careers in corporate communication defined exactly? What kind of careers are even designated to the field of corporate communication?

    Jobs and professions in today’s society are categorized much more specifically by their titles than just being a doctor, dentist, blacksmith, plumber, or teacher. For example, careers that fall under the category of corporate communication are: corporate communications director, corporate communications specialist, internal corporate communications specialist, corporate communications/public relations manager, and corporate communications coordinator. What does all this mean? From the job title alone, it is hard to know what exactly the job description is and what it will consist of.

    Careers in corporate communication can be linked to jobs in public relations, advertising, integrated marketing communication and other related fields in communication studies. If you are searching for a job in any of these fields, don’t be afraid by the word “corporate” if it is in the job title. Society has given emotion to the word, corporate. It is made out to be this tough, professional, dictating vocation where everyone walks around in blue and grey suits all day. Yes, in reality there are people that wear blue and grey suits daily, but those are popular business colors. But, in all actuality, the word corporate is defined as “belonging to a corporation or company; pertaining to a united group.” Therefore, when a company assigns a job title with the words “corporate communication” in it, they are most likely informing people that they are looking for someone who can handle the specific communication tasks between many people either within their own corporation or with outside corporations whom they do business with. These companies are looking for people who can perform the needed skills in the public relations and advertising fields for a large company, not a small, local business for instance.

    -Danielle Dorantich