Communication Plan Assignment

School of Communication & Media

PR 3380: PR Strategies and Tactics (Hybrid)

Fall Semester 2016

Communications Plan Assignment: Alexi Kicklighter

Communications Plan Assignment ▪ Page 1 ▪ Alexi Kicklighter ▪ Fall Semester 2016

Background and Situation Analysis

Since the merger, leaders are not speaking with one, united voice about the

company or key messages, leaving employees uncertain and confused.

Leaders need consistent internal communication channels to communicate

effectively with each other and with employees so key messages are clear

and understood.

Employee engagement has decreased over the years given changes and

uncertainty within the company. Employees are suffering from burnout and

are leaving the company, creating expensive consequences for the company

and hurting overall morale.

The goal is to improve employee communication and engagement through

employee appreciation programs and improved internal communication

channels.

The media relations team is handling issues reactively instead of proactively

and using outdated methods and tools to interact with external media.

The media relations team needs a consistent, proactive approach for dealing

with media-related issues and should interact with media through newer

methods such as social media.

Through uncertainty caused by changes in the company and lack of effective

internal communication, company morale has suffered. Changes need to be

made from the top down to improve morale and bring happiness back to the

company culture.



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Audiences

Leaders

Employees

Media Relations



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Key Messages

Leaders

Leaders of ABC Company have an opportunity to re-establish the way they

communicate with their employees.

We want leaders to know their role as leaders and their importance to the

company.

We want leaders to feel empowered to make decisions for the good of the

company and their employees.

We want leaders to focus on communicating consistently to employees in an

effort to improve overall company communications.

Moving forward, leaders should use their power to effectively improve

communication and influence the organizational culture of ABC Company.

Employees

Employees currently are not receiving the attention and communication from

leaders that they should.

We want employees to know that the company in headed in the right

direction and making progress toward more efficient internal communication

and recognition of employees.

We want employees to feel confident and proud to work for ABC Company.

We want employees to stay engaged and productive in their work as the

company progresses.



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Moving forward, employees should stay involved in ABC Company and expect

improved communication from leadership.

Media Relations

The media relations team is not proactively using updated and effective

methods of engaging external media.

We want the media relations team to know that the company is working to

improve these methods.

We want the media relations team to feel prepared to use newer and more

effective methods to better engage the media.

We want the media relations team to use methods such as social media to

improve media relations and gain positive media attention for ABC Company.

Moving forward, the media relations team should expect changes in the way

they engage the media and should prepare to learn new methods and skills.

Strategy

ABC Company will continue to grow and thrive with strong, united leadership,

effective communication with employees and a positive external company image

and internal culture.

Goals and Objectives

1. Improve communication among leaders by 25% over the next 12 months to

create one united voice through forums, monthly meetings and engagement with

employees.



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2. Increase employee engagement by 25% over the next 12 months to improve the

company culture through employee appreciation programs, special events and use

of an improved internal portal.

3. Increase social media followers and engagement by 25% over the next 12

months in an effort to improve engagement with external media by educating the

media relations team and updating the company’s social media platforms.

Tactics

Leaders

Hold monthly meetings for the top 100 leaders of the company to increase

communication among leaders and create one unified to voice to share key

messages.

Create an online forum for the top 100 leaders of the company as a

communication channel to share ideas, keep in contact and discuss key

issues.

Increase use of the internal portal by leaders and establish the platform as

one of the company’s main communication channels for leaders and

employees to communicate information, collaborate and connect with each

other.

Hold quarterly town hall meetings led by the CEO so leaders can

communicate with the community and employees by sharing key information

and opening up two-way communication.

Post feature stories of 5 key leaders on the company website and internal

portal each week to humanize leaders and allow employees to get to know

them on a personal level. These feature stories can also be included on the

website’s newsroom page, in press packets and media kits.



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Employees

Create a page on the company website dedicated to employee profiles,

encouraging employees to share their personal stories through video

interviews so members of the company and community can get to know

them on a personal level and employees will feel important to the company.

Create a bimonthly community outreach program to promote volunteerism

among employees and encourage them to write about their experiences on

the internal portal in an effort to promote pride in the company culture and

bring employees together.

Host a company-wide event called “Cocktails and Coworkers” to encourage

employee engagement in the company, make them feel appreciated and give leaders a chance to share key messages and connect with employees on a personal and social level.

Educate employees on use of the internal portal through an education

seminar to encourage engagement and insure they receive important information from leaders.

Celebrate employee birthdays, anniversaries of employment and promotions on the company website and internal portal to show appreciation and

improve company morale.

Publish a monthly employee magazine and provide employees with access to

it in their break room to improve employee morale, create a positive company culture and communicate key messages.

Media Relations

Institute a social media conference at the company headquarters and invite

young experts to talk to the media relations team, leaders and employees about the impact of social media, how to use it professionally and how to

engage the media.



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Update and improve the company website, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

accounts and create a detailed social media schedule that outlines dates and

posts/tweets for these sites. The schedule will assure regular, current posts

with company information, photos and videos, new company hashtags and

establish frequent two-way communication with followers.

Establish quarterly editorial board visits to maintain relationships with the

media and update company status.

Create a “newsroom” page on the company website and social media

accounts that includes all news releases and feature stories from the

company listed from most to least recent to give media easy access to

important newsworthy information.

Design a sustainable media kit that can be easily distributed for media use

and features key facts and figures about the company, organizing content in an appealing way and preparing reporters ahead of time, rather than forcing

the company to react to media inquires.

Hold a press party dinner as an opportunity to establish relationships with

the media and give them a chance to get to know the company better.

Members of the press will also be provided with a press packet containing

key information on the company.



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Best Practices

Similar to our tactic for online leader feature stories, Coca-Cola used an internal tactic called “10 Questions” that was meant to humanize leaders and

allow employees to get to know them on a personal level. It was an interview with a feature story. The stories were then posted on the company website

and internal portal. The feature story, accompanied by a picture of the featured leader, shared information on how long they had been with the company and asked questions such as, “Tell us where you were born and

raised…and a bit about your family,” and, “Do you have an earliest Coca-Cola memory?”



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Similar to our community outreach tactic, Starbucks hosts an annual Global

Month of Service where Starbucks partners around the globe join together to lead service projects with the participation of volunteer customers and members of the community. Projects address a variety of needs in local

communities including renovating houses and schools, planting trees, cleaning parks and working with youth. This tactic can encourage employee

involvement, bring happiness to the company culture, create a reservoir of goodwill in the community and attract positive media attention.



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Like our newsroom tactic, SunTrust Bank’s website includes a newsroom

page that provides news of interest to shareholders, clients and the general public. Here they are able to navigate reports, read releases and stay updated on important company issues and information. The releases are up-

to-date which creates transparency.



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Measurement

To measure progress in leadership communication we will use qualitative methods and conduct quarterly checkpoint meetings with a core team of 25

leaders. This will provide an opportunity to hear feedback from leaders and share a summary with them of progress in the company to help complete the

feedback loop. We will also measure engagement on the leaders’ online forum and internal portal and attendance at monthly leadership meetings.

To measure increases in employee engagement we will use qualitative methods and conduct monthly focus groups and one-on-one interviews with

employees. We will also document total number of participants in company volunteer programs, attendees at the company-wide event and at town hall meetings, and postings on the internal portal by employees. We will also use

quantitative methods and conduct 10-question, 5-minute pulse surveys every month in order to gauge how engaged employees feel, if they feel more

connected with leaders and more positive about the company, and to see if our tactics are effective.

To measure increases in social media use and engagement by the media relations team we will use qualitative methods and measure the number of

site visits, shares, followers, posts from the company and overall social media engagement.

All measurement results will be shared with leaders at quarterly checkpoint meetings, with employees through the internal portal and employee

magazine, and with the community at quarterly town hall meetings in order to insure that the feedback loop is completed.



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Budget

Tactic Estimated Budget

Company-Wide Event $50,000

Social Media Conference $50,000

Community Outreach Programs $30,000 per event

Town Hall Meetings $20,000 per meeting

Employee Magazine $10,000 per edition

Press Party $10,000

Leadership Meetings $8,000 per meeting

Editorial Board Visits $8,000 per meeting

Media Kit $5,000

Internal Portal Education Seminar $5,000

Online Forum for Leaders $0

Use of Internal Portal $0

Online Leader Feature Stories $0

Online Employee Profiles $0

Online Employee Celebrations $0

Social Media schedule and

maintenance

$0

Online Newsroom $0



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Timeline



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Plan Wrap-Up and Results

1. Create an inventory of all materials and documented results.

2. Meet with leaders, employees and media relations to debrief and document what was successful and what should be improved in the future.

3. Create an executive summary including results, achievements and things we learned. This will be shared up, across and down the entire organization.

4. Thank all audiences and individuals involved in this process.

Documents

Communication Plan Assignment