Grabone’s Annual Communications Strategy Claire O’Keeffe

Communications Audit Institutional analysis – Internal and external Staff brainstorm Talk to other departments Talk to internal stakeholders Survey the membership Host focus groups Query non-members

Feeding future Strategies Evaluate results and ensure findings inform ongoing annual communications strategy Results will set a benchmark against which communications department can measure success

Annual External Communications Strategy Define Audience Define Audience: Members, merchants, prospective members, prospective merchants, community, media Identify tools: Identify tools: Flyers, Website, Social Media, Newspaper (local, national), Posters, T-Shirts, Radio, TV, Phone, Report covers, (not exhaustive) Define Objectives: Promote merchants’ understanding of Grabone, Position brand as fun, savvy, friendly, highly professional Encourage enthusiasm in internal stakeholders about strategy changes

Objective One: Promote merchants’ understanding of Grabone First-class service is essential for establishing merchant loyalty and driving word-of-mouth advertising. Periodic/consistent Communications Promotion Network Retail Smarts

Objective 1 (a) Informing Merchants Periodic/consistent Communications: Fast, effective communication lets merchants know you care. Establish best practice response time to merchant’s queries. Set up automatic replies to acknowledge or message receipt if a fast response is not feasible. Establish best practice correspondence time for existing merchants. Ongoing communications will solidify existing relationship, clarify its symbiotic nature, and strengthen confidence in Grabone. Promotion : Use web tools, netiquette, and offline marketing to get the word out. Offer first time buyers Grabone/ Grabbie T-Shirts and/or posters

Objective 1 (b) Informing Merchants Network : Find like-minded professionals in the sales industry and learn about your competitors. Attend local and national industry networking group meetings. This gives you a chance to illustrate Grabone’s benefits and how it stands apart from the competition. You can articulate what you are looking for in business relationships and make available any necessary information to existing and potential merchants on the spot. You can find networking groups and clubs on the Internet, in newspapers and in trade publications. Retail Smarts : Stay informed, know your customers/merchants and study your competitors.

Objective Two: Position brand as fun, savvy, friendly, highly professional To properly position the brand, there must be a multi-faceted approach. Staff Style Presence Role in community Media -focus

Objective 2 (a) Positioning Brand Objective 2 (a) Positioning Brand Staff Evolve the brand - Monthly brainstorming session with all staff to develop brand positioning. This will serve to harness ideas and gives staff ownership of the company’s identity - promotes staff loyalty and awareness. Every (internal and external) communiqué should promote identity and brand (voice mail, out of office, signatures, advertisements, etc). Style Promote Irish foundations of Grabone. Allow customers and merchants to feel allied with you. Localize the website copy and apply local and national events and culture wherever applicable. For example, Limerick is the city of culture, and the copy could weave this event into the sale of a weekend break in a Limerick hotel on the Escapes page. Cork has a very recognisable vocabulary and dialect. Use local lingo to promote a beauty package - “Love the nails gurl.” It’s important not to overdo this because it could become very annoying very quickly. Insert ‘Grabbie’ logo into all pages and give him a personality. Keep all online graphics simple, consistent and clean. Staff Evolve the brand - Monthly brainstorming session with all staff to develop brand positioning. This will serve to harness ideas and gives staff ownership of the company’s identity - promotes staff loyalty and awareness. Every (internal and external) communiqué should promote identity and brand (voice mail, out of office, signatures, advertisements, etc). Style Promote Irish foundations of Grabone. Allow customers and merchants to feel allied with you. Localize the website copy and apply local and national events and culture wherever applicable. For example, Limerick is the city of culture, and the copy could weave this event into the sale of a weekend break in a Limerick hotel on the Escapes page. Cork has a very recognisable vocabulary and dialect. Use local lingo to promote a beauty package - “Love the nails gurl.” It’s important not to overdo this because it could become very annoying very quickly. Insert ‘Grabbie’ logo into all pages and give him a personality. Keep all online graphics simple, consistent and clean.

2 (b) Positioning Brand Presence The website should always define and promote the brand promise. “When we buy together, we save together ” is a viable promise and should be broadcast more often via the website, ads, confirmation s, correspondences etc. It could certainly be made more visible to existing and potential stakeholders. Increase visibility through target audience channels like Youtube, Google, Facebook. Create a ‘VIP’ vibe for social media audience. With daily interaction and friendly conversation, allow members to feel they get special recognition and are exposed to the best offers. This will increase social media audience. Start conversations about what products and services the customer would like to see on Grabone Pro-community role Visibly promoting social justice. Affiliate yourselves with the causes your audience care about. Initialise Sponsorship of musical events and environmental awareness, animal welfare and education programs. Increase influence on media Boost press release and advisory output Ensure all staff members are aware of how to deal with the media Ensure press releases go to local press – more likely to print and less costly Apply for all awards that are applicable – winning awards inspired credibility and confidence

Objective Three: Encourage enthusiasm in internal stakeholders about the strategy changes Create a stakeholder mapping system o Determine which stakeholders need the most reassurance. Prioritise their requests and advance information sharing. Advise stakeholders of improved customer/merchant service o Develop a complaints system – reference manual o Devise periodic membership satisfaction surveys New processes and training for staff o Staff are more privy to and more involved in management decisions about the development of the organisation o Flexible plan for staff roles to evolve

Strategy Preparation Establish Timetable o With identification of objectives, audiences and tools, quantify results in calendar grid that outlines what projects will be accomplished, when.

Evaluate Result Formulative (not summative) evaluation. Show if KPIs were reached or not and reasons how and why. Present results in annual report with bi- monthly updates with internal stakeholders.

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