Public Relations Assignment: Implementation Of PR Campaign by Violet Crumble

Question

Task: Task aim
One of the skills of PR practitioners is their ability to scan the local environment for emerging issues that may impact the reputation of an organisation. In this assessment, you will write an essay that applies theoretical knowledge of public relations theories and concepts to a recent public relations (PR) campaign.

Public Relations Assignment Task Description
Identify and discuss how public relations is used to communicate with and engage target publics and stakeholders. Some specific concepts you may want to consider for your essay include:
Whether persuasive communication techniques like source credibility, which aim to influence the public's perception and behaviour about an issue, are evident in the campaign
The kinds of public relations activities that have been deployed in support of the campaign, including resourcing such as in-house or consultancy work
Who the target audiences, publics or stakeholders of the PR campaign are?
How are theories like framing, situational theory of publics and the four models of public relations relevant to the PR campaign What research was or should have been undertaken to determine whether a PR campaign was necessary
What do you think the crisis response strategy would be in the event of negative media coverage about the campaigne?

PR Campaign: Violet Crumble
The re-acquisition of Violet Crumble by an Australian company, Adelaide-based business Robern Menz, in 2018 generated a fair amount of media coverage, supported by PR firm, Society Communications. The company continues to promote its ownership and expansion of the brand. Search for media coverage about the brand to see how public relations has been utilised e.g. Violet Crumble drives Robern Menz sales but Polly Waffle fans must wait (indaily.com.au)

Answer

Public relations (PR) are considered as the strategic communication process which creates mutually beneficial relationships between the company and their publics. It creates and maintains a positive public image for the enterprise among its targeted audience. This public relations assignmentis aiming to explore information regarding how public relations is being used by Violet Crumble to communicate and engage their targeted stakeholders and the public. It will discuss the identification of the stakeholders and targeted audiences with the help of a PR campaign by Violet Crumble. Further discussion will be completed based on the different types of PR activities is being deployed by this mentioned company.

Persuasive communication technique in the views of Mayrhofer et al., (2020, pp. 166-186), is that type of communication that helps the campaign manager to persuade the consumer chain to buy a certain product. At the same time, Persuasive communication techniques help the campaign manager to make the consumer chain believe in the credibility of the organization or the brand that is selling the particular product. In a similar context, it has been seen that the PR Company, Society communications that were involved in letting the consumer chain know about the takeover of Violet Crumble by Robern Menz; focused on the positive changes that would be brought in by the company. Hence, by doing so, the PR Company Society communications penetrated a positive thought about the organization Robern Menz’s changes for Violet Crumble to the consumer chain.

The PR Company essentially highlighted the factors such as re-introducing the products of Violet Crumble with nostalgic formats by the organization Robern Menz for the consumer chain. By taking this initiative, and engaging in persuasive communication, Society Communications effectively helped the organization to create a positive impact in the mind of the consumer chain and helped the company to sell their product (AUSFoodnews, 2018). Similarly, it should be known that the credibility of the sources, such as the brand value of Robern Menz had a substantial effect on the consumer chain as well. In the views of Ratriyana, (2021, pp. 365-375), the credibility of the brands, and sources play a huge part in pursuing the consumer chain. In a similar context, it has been seen that Robern Menz already is a major seller of chocolates (Han, 2018). Hence the PR Company’s highlights on these sources of credibility about the company helped the company to achieve consumer attention.

Public relations are extremely important for market penetration. In a similar context, it has been seen that the Public Relations activities that were deployed by Robern Menz were done with the help of PR Consultancy Society Communications. In the views of Sebastiao et al., (2017 pp.863-871), Consultancy work in terms of Public relations is that, where a PR consultancy company helps a certain business to attain the desired public attention for market penetration. Similarly, in the case of Violet Crumble, the public relations activities that were deployed by Society communications were those of Media relations and strategic communication.

In the views of Bonnes et al., (2020 pp. 74-88), media relations is that strategy taken by the PR companies that helps a certain company to attain a positive reputation in the consumer chain with the help of the dominant media. Similarly, it has been seen that the media strategies which were taken By Society for Violet Crumbles were those of exclusive stories running on Breakfast TV, and South Australia Media coverage followed by the stories which ran on breakfast stories about Violet Crumble’s takeover (Society, 2021). These have been the primary media strategies that were deployed by the PR Company for Violet Crumbles. Society has worked closely with Robern Menz for improving new talking points as well as visual opportunities and talking points which would achieve media interest throughout Australia. In this context, the different media approach which has been included by this company are offering an exclusive story to breakfast TV (Society, 2021). It also includes local media events within South Australia for gaining attention from their targeted audience group.

The targeted audiences, publics or stakeholders about the PR campaign of Violet Crumbles are the people whose age group is in-between 8 years to above 30 years. As opined by al Serhan and Rahrouh (2020, pp..1471-1488), the targeted audience is considered as the particular group of customers who willingly purchased the products or services promoted by the company for satisfying their own needs. In this context, for the PR campaign of Violet Crumble, all age group customers who prefer fresh and a high-quality chocolate bar. Along with that, people are also concerned regarding their health and diet due to which Violet Crumbles is producing chocolates with mixed fruits for gaining attention from their targeted audience group. As mentioned by Cheng et al., (2017, pp-765-773), new products and services are being promoted by the company for gaining attention from their targeted audience group. In this regard, Violet Crumbles have transformed the chocolate bar by changing its flavour into a refreshing beverage with the release of “Violet Crumble Chocolate Honeycomb Flavoured Milk”. Apart from that, the targeted audience groups have shown interest in getting specific information regarding the availability of their newly launched above-mentioned beverage. In this aspect, after the launching of the new drink, the main targeted audience of Violet Crumbles who have purchased the product belongs to the age group in-between 18 years to 39 years. As per the view of Mogensen (2017, pp.605-614), a stakeholder is stated as the party which has an interest within an organisation and can either impact by the business. In this context, the internal stakeholder for the PR campaign of Violet Crumble are employees, the company owner and the managerial department of the company. in addition to this, the external stakeholders are customers, government and suppliers.

According to contextual principles of public relations, substantial classes of people may be divided into four categories based on both knowledge of and involvement with an enterprise or subject. It discusses why some people have an interest in learning about a topic than many others. Following the recognition of the different publics, public relations professionals can choose and communicate with one of these groups to achieve an objective is the main significance of situational theory. According to Duong et al. (2019, p.133-151), if a public relations professional wants to communicate about a product, they may need to persuade a passive audience that not having the product is a problem. Alternatively, they may need to tell a receptive audience how to obtain the goods and that there are few roadblocks in their path. Similarly, this process has been considered significant with Violet Crumble, since they have returned to local ownership and have collaborated with a local organisation. As per the views of Tao et al. (2021, p.44-65) If a public relations professional wants to communicate about a product, they may need to persuade a passive audience that not having the product is a problem is part of framing theory. Alternatively, they may need to tell a receptive audience how to obtain the goods and that there are few roadblocks in their path. Traditional publicity, public information, persuasive communication, and two-way symmetrical models are the four PR models. Therefore, it can be determined that with these models Violet Crumble can efficiently adopt the necessity to merge with local collaboration to get the extra benefit of the organisation.

A public relations strategy may increase the visibility of any business or concern without costing a lot of money. One can not ever guarantee coverage in the media, but there are a few things one can do to improve the likelihood of a successful initiative: plan, do the investigation, choose the right medium to approach, and comprehend how well the media works. Because marketing communication is mostly about building connections, one must devote time and effort to ensure that they are greatly agreeable (BBC, 2018). If Violet Crumble is used correctly, it can increase the odds of a campaign's success. Remember one thing: because they were back in local hands, the media covered news for marketing. Violet Crumble jeopardises their reputation if they squander their time. It's crucial to remember, though, that what isn't news to one medium can be fascinating to another. As stated by Siebert (2018), The "Wall Street Publication" won't care whether they acquire commercial space, but one local economic journal may. The increased business might not have been noteworthy, but a satisfaction survey that reveals a shifting corporate trend is. Tying a narrative to tournaments, such as imminent regulations that might affect the firm, can also assist. The effectiveness of the PR campaign is rigorously dependent on media coverage by which it could be analysed that how and why Violet Crumble returned to Adelaide’s local ownership. According to the scenario, it has been observed that a PR campaign is effectively necessary because it helps to understand the company's relation with local stakeholders. As stated by Reaney (2018), a good business should always be started from a home location by which Violet Crumble could grow faster and help to grow Australia’s economical condition. Numerous strategic communications emergencies are in the background, although there are five steps to be taken to properly handle a problem. To begin, a firm in distress should respond promptly, including the audience as immediately as the issue is identified. Furthermore, since this society is so much more willing to excuse an honest mistake than that of a deliberate lie, the firm in question would maintain its reputation. As supported by Kim and Park (2017, p.76-104), being informed is essential because when a firm in disaster fails to create knowledge, the market and indeed the community at large will spread misinformation. Therefore, after regaining local ownership, Violet Crumble should need to be informative like theoretically have to disclose their internal problems after local ownership to the media. Therefore, Violet Crumble could be safe from fake rumours which would develop by the local public. There are high chances that the rumours can do enough harm with the reputation of the organisation. Moreover, it can be predicted that crisis victims must resolve to show the support and care which the organisation possesses for the benefit of the public and their activities.Henceforth, it would be necessary to maintain the last step of the two-way communication which can predictably help in the PR campaign. In this case, Violet Crumble also needs to communicate with the public as well as stakeholders in times of crisis. Because, Cheng (2018, p.58-68) argues that, if they do not maintain communication with local people then they might spread fake rumours which could impact negatively on their business. As stated by Vignal Lambret and Barki (2018, p.295-305). This is crucial since monitoring may reveal a lot of information public perception to a firm. Following five strategies must be used in each catastrophic strategic communications situation. According to a study conducted in the United States, the majority of young people follow companies on at least one social media site, with price being the most important element in purchasing decisions. If a discount of 30% or more is provided, two-thirds of young people say they will switch brands. It can be stated that it can create a negative impact on the PR campaign of the organisation thus affecting their reputation and leading to improper crisis management. The circumstantial system of social relations illustrates why some audiences seem to be more aggressive than us in their search for information on a specific topic. If a strategic communications specialist wishes to advertise products, one may also need to educate a favourable impression that not obtaining the merchandise is an issue or explain how to get the products to a passive consumer. The four PR models include classical exposure, publicly available, marketing messages, and regularly spaced models. Violet Crumble can effectively adapt the need to combine with local engagement to gain the organization's additional advantage. Any business or organisation may benefit from a public relations plan that is free of charge.

References
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AUSFoodnews, 2018. South Australia’s Robern Menz acquires Violet Crumble from Nestle. [online] www.ausfoodnews.com.au. Available at: [Accessed 4 October 2021].
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Reaney, N., (2018). Violet Crumble is quintessential brand-driven nostalgia, but do millennials care. Available at: https://mumbrella.com.au/violet-crumble-is-quintessential-brand-driven-nostalgia-but-do-millennials-care-494603 [Accessed on: October 1, 2021]

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