According to Steyn, “By adapting the organization to values, trends, events, issues and
stakeholders in the environment, it can be regarded as ‘adaptive’ [PR]
strategy. It [PR strategy] also focuses on relationships, symbolic actions and
communication, emphasizing attitudinal and cognitive complexity among diverse
stakeholders and societal interest groups, the essence of ‘interpretive’
strategy.”(2007)
Considering the date the article was published, social media
for business purposes was rather new. Provide an example of an organization
(more than 10 years old) that has adapted its PR/communication strategy through
the use of social media. Answer the following questions in your response:
- Which social media sites does the organization utilize?
- Is the organization consistently engaged with followers? (How so or why not?)
- Would you consider the social media sites “likeable”, as per Kerpen? (Authentic, honest, transparent, engaging good or bad, etc.)
*Provide examples and use the texts to support your response.
 |
| Haagen Daz, Facebook copyright 2015 |
Food for Thought: To give you an example, some of you may remember from previous classes the case study of “Haagen Daz Loves HoneyBees” launched in 2008 from the widely popular ice cream company Haagen Daz. While this was a very
successful example of a PR campaign which did leverage social media to a certain
extent, there were some missed opportunities to engage stakeholders using
social media. If the campaign was to launch in 2015, my guess is that social
media engagement would have played a
larger role. Check out what I mean by
visiting the homepage of Haagen Daz
and/or check out their Facebook
page. For example, the “get involved” section tells the consumer to buy ice
cream or donate to UC Davis. That’s it…the link to the bottom of the page is broken
or missing. Where’s the link to social media sites? Where am I as a stakeholder
supposed to go? I want to donate and talk to others that share the same passion
about the cause as I do! (Hypothetically speaking- but for the record, I ❤ honey bees)
Cited References:
Steyn, B. 2007. Contribution of Public Relations to Organizational Strategy Formulation. Retrieved from: http://www.prconversations.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/excerpt-excellence-book.pdf
Haagen Daz Official Website. 2015. Retreived from: http://www.haagendazs.us/
Haagen Daz Facebook: 2015. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/HaagenDazsUS/timeline
Hi Kim, great topic this week! I really enjoyed the readings we had this week for Kerpen (2011) regarding customer relationships and how to engage and monitor those.
ReplyDeleteI looked into the Haagen Daz issue and you're absolutely right with the broken link, what a bummer. They seem to have their Facebook page in order though as it is really engaging and has over one million likes. I love their "Honey, Please Don't Go" banner, it's so catchy but the one missing link really puts everything down. I wonder if you can write a post to them that the link is not working, I am sure they'd appreciate it. According to Kepren (2011), "responding with an apology and a quick solution to the problem is essential" (p. 83). Knowing this, hopefully Haagen Daz will get back to you quickly and address the broken link so you can support this honey bee cause!
Thanks Kara,
ReplyDeleteGood call, I will try it on their Facebook page and see if they engage me back! They do have a great Facebook page and a lot of likes. One thing that I noticed is that all of their posts are product based, which I find interesting since the Honey Bees campaign to me seems like a great opportunity to engage consumers and other key stakeholders through Facebook on a societal/environmental issue which could really enhance their brand and image. I would use social media to create a "buzz" (pun intended) and ensure there were links to the conversation on the parent site.