INTRODUCTION

Hi!

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The Clothing and Textile Association (CTA) has decided to employ external researchers to help their member companies shape up their corporate communications initiatives.

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In order to provide realistic feedback to its clients, CTA is employing youths between 17 and 24 years of age to research, report and recommend changes to their clients.

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You and your team are chosen for this important task to improve the relationships between companies and their relationship with their target audiences (see RESOURCE for an explanation of what is a target audience).

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· INTRODUCTION
· PROCESS
· TASK
· RESOURCES
· MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)
· CONCLUSION

PROCESS

The FIRST thing is to organise yourselves into groups of 4-5 agents as this is a group mission.

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The SECOND stage is to select a well-known clothing/apparel company whose products your group is familiar with. This company will be the one that you will investigating.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To make your investigation easier, you might want to select a brand or a company which has an existing web-site. If the company chosen has no website, you must have easy access to its printed annual reports. DO NOT INVESTIGATE THE SAME COMPANY AS THE OTHER AGENTS.

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The THIRD stage is to analyse the company’s corporate communication initiatives either through interviews, news research, the company website or its annual reports. Refer to the questions in the TASK to help you carry out your mission

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The FOURTH and final stage is the creative oral presentation to CTA.

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Now proceed to read the DETAILS of your mission in the TASK section of this web-page.

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· INTRODUCTION
· PROCESS
· TASK
· RESOURCES
· MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)
· CONCLUSION

TASK

Mission Instructions:

Your job is to analyse a clothing company of your group’s choice.

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Here are the four questions to help guide you along.

• 1. Identify the CORPORATE VISION, MISSION and VALUES. In some companies, these are clearly spelt out or labelled in their web-sites or company literature. In others, this information is hidden inside the “ABOUT US” web-page. Alternatively, you can go out and interview the employees if the company does not have web-sites or company literature.

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2. Evaluate its corporate image:

A. What attracts you to the brand or what do you dislike about the brand?
B. Is the philosophy expressed in the form of its vision, mission, and values supported by your observation/reading of the company’s day-to-day operations? Does the company live up to the expectations in the corporate philosophy? Give examples.

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• 3. In the company literature or web-site, pick TWO segments that cater to different audiences (see RESOURCES for the definitions of the different categories of audiences).

A. Compare the difference in the way the materials are written. (CLUE: pick a segment for Consumers/Customers and another segment for Investors, the differences will be greater!)

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• 4. You and your group are the consumers that are targeted by the company. Suggest TWO original channels/methods the company can use to communicate with you better.

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At the end of your reseach, each group will have to give a 30-min oral presentation of their findings. You may choose to present in any creative form such as skit, game show, talk show or a powerpoint presentation. You may include a short video clip or a music video. Every member must perform as he/she will be assessed.

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· INTRODUCTION
· PROCESS
· TASK
· RESOURCES
· MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)
· CONCLUSION

RESOURCES

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CLUES: You need to understand the corporate communication strategies employed by the company that you have selected. The people who are important to the companies are known in the corporate communication world as "audiences". You as a customer of the company is a Consumer. Consumers form one “audience” that a company must establish a relationship with. Below are examples of “important audiences” that a company must deal with:

1. Consumers
2. Investors
3. Government
4. Media
5. Employees
6. Social Activists

You can find out more by clicking on the words in the next section OR refer to the Corporate Communications handbook.

Consumer Investor

Government Social Activist

Employees Media

Here are the various web resources to help you define other key terms:

MISSION STATEMENT CORPORATE VISION

OTHER USEFUL ON-LINE RESOURCES FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS:

Institute for Public Relations This website provides a good resource for looking up definitions of PR and Corporate Relations terms. It also provides additional description of what is a public etc. URL: http://www.instituteforpr.com/pdf/Dictionary.pdf


This is another web-based resource from Marketing.Com. It defines mainly marketing terms but appropriate for corporate strategy definitions eg Vision Mission, Values, Goals. URL: http://www.marketingpower.com/mg-dictionary.php

Yet another web-based PR/Corporate Relations dictionary that is useful in helping you to define certain terms. The Public Relations Academy helps you understand how PR works. URL: http://www.learnpr.com/Refer_pages/pr_glossary.htm

Here are a few more web-sites thrown up by the weird and wonderful world of wikipedia!!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

PR Watch a publication of the Center for Media & Democracy, specializes in exposing deceptive and manipulative public relations campaigns. URL: http://www.prwatch.org

About Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America. URL : (http://www.prsa.org/_Resources/Profession/index.asp?ident=prof1)

Here is a web-tutorial to teach you on how to construct an efficient Powerpoint presentation. Just click on the link for the tutorial. Web Tutorial

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· INTRODUCTION
· PROCESS
· TASK
· RESOURCES
· MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)
· CONCLUSION

MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)

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Hi Team,

This is how your mission activities will be scored by your tutor.

Total Marks : 30 %

Group Number: __________________________

Group Members and Number in Register:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

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· INTRODUCTION
· PROCESS
· TASK
· RESOURCES
· MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)
· CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

Well done and congratulations.

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You have successfully completed your assignment. You would have a better understanding of what a company needs to do in order to succeed as a good, profitable one. All good companies have a STRONG CORPORATE IDENTITY. These companies are still around as profit generation centres because they have a good relationship with their consumers or other audiences.

A strong corporate identity must first start with MISSION STATEMENT and a CORPORATE VISION. In this aspect, you have also learnt much about the importance of a Mission Statement and a Corporate Vision for a company.

You learnt that to be a good company does not mean simply dramatic words or fancy advertising as companies will have to fulfill whatever corporate promises they make to their various audiences. The Mission and Vision of a company is the soul of a company and is not to be taken lightly.

Congratulations and Well DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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· INTRODUCTION
· PROCESS
· TASK
· RESOURCES
· MARKING SCHEME (GRADING CRITERIA)
· CONCLUSION