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These professionals work hard at developing a good, positive relationship between a firm and the public it reverse. Investing in good public relations for your business will help achieve its objective efficiently. Effective Public Relations can create and build up the image of an organization. During times of adverse publicity an effective Public Relations can remove the misunderstanding and can create mutual understanding been the business and the public. This paper will focus on how Cutbacks uses public relations to create brand and influence public opinion.
It will then focus on how the 21st century has help Cutbacks adopt social media websites to help promote its business. Next, we will look into a people of crisis Cutbacks has dealt with. Lastly, we will look into similarities and differences between public relations campaigns of Cutbacks and a nonprofit organization. Cutbacks is a roaster and retailer of coffee with over 9,031 company-operated retail stores and 7,972 licensed stores worldwide. (Cutbacks Corp.. (MS: SCABS)) Cutbacks is a business that prides itself on more than just retailers of coffee, but being a place for people to come in and chat, meet up or even work. Now this was true for me, use to use Cutbacks coffee shops to work on my homework, back when I attending lasses in-residence. Had the toughest time trying to do homework at home so I would either go to the coffee shop or the library. “We’re a neighborhood gathering place, a part of the daily routine” (Cutbacks, 2011). Public Relations play a vital role in developing a credible and recognizable brand online and offline for any business and it harnesses the power of third party testimonials in the media. It delivers a tremendous return on investments because the articles and stories generated n the media are credible.
When a PR program is implemented in conjunction with marketing and advertising programs, a rand can be developed and strengthened over time. A brand is not tangible. A successful brand lives in the minds and hearts of your customers. It is all of the things they think of when they think of your company or your product. Cutbacks Public Relations professionals recognized this when building the brand of their company, since the very first store opened in 1971, Cutbacks as a brand has been evolving. The Siren has been a part of Cutbacks from the beginning. Her image, originally derived from a twin-tailed siren in an old sixteenth-century Norse woodcut, was at the center of Cutbacks original go. She embodies Cutbacks and our coffee – evoking coffee’s allure and its seafaring tradition” (Brand Evolution FAQ, 2011 Senior Vice president of marketing at Cutbacks, Anne Saunders, said “it really is about connecting with someone in a more intimate, experiential way that we think will have longer lasting ability to build affinity than a 30-second TV commercial or an ad” (Schools, 2011).
Cutbacks spends very little money on advertising, preferring instead to build the brand cup by cup with customers and depend on word-of-mouth and the appeal of its storefronts. They relied on consistent arrive and quality to get customers talking, and once they started talking, it seems they did not stop and the Cutbacks brand was born. The public relations decision to leave it to the consumers to spread the word about the new brand was sketchy to other big-named businesses, but this word-of- mouth technique has served the company well in more ways than one.
According to our text, “Today more than ever, the world needs not more information but also savvy communicators and facilitators who can explain the goals and aspirations of individuals, organizations, and governments to there in a socially responsive manner” (Cameron, 2008). This choice has been effective for Cutbacks by separating itself from the mass commercials thrown at the public, but the technique itself lends Cutbacks an air of sophistication. By not falling into the hype of commercials in its marketing, Cutbacks established what it values most- people rather than profit.
Cutbacks technique of brand marketing has given other Public Relations professionals a creative method to follow when creating campaigns for their clients. It’s not always effective to do what everyone else is doing. Sometimes TTS not about keeping up with trends. In order to keep a positive image in the publics eye it is crucial for any business to run a public relations campaign, however, the traditional modes of running such a campaign are slowly becoming obsolete.
It is more necessary now than ever for businesses to update their public relations campaign for the 21st century, and tackle the new methodologies and tools, which include flogging and social media sites. The Internet allows companies to take on a new benefit that they would not be able to use in the real world. Having the availability to create services inline will ensure your brand is stronger than the rest and the web is just to place to do it. Unlike other media, online customers can interact with the brand and its identity in a way no other medium can offer.
Our text said, “Public relations personnel are expanding their communication tools to account for the fact that no single mass medium will be a good vehicle for reaching key publics” (Cameron, 2008). Social media sites, like Backbone is a huge opportunity for businesses to promote their brand online to millions of people at once and at no cost. Stardust’s social media strategy incorporates overall different elements into the mix and combined together, these elements create a social media plan that works well to create millions of fans for the brand and keep them involved in what the brand is doing.
Cutbacks uses social media sites such as Backbone, Twitter and Linked to create a digital dialogue with its customers. Alexandra Wheeler director of Digital Strategy was hired on by Cutbacks to “conduct research into how the company could use digital media and explain to the business how it could help drive customer satisfaction and sales, as well as save money” (Shore, 2010). Soon after Wheeler provided the company with the necessary information Cutbacks entered the social media scene with the ‘My Cutbacks Idea site’, which allowed customers and employees to interact and suggest ways of improving the company’s services and products.
Since the beginning of Cutbacks, they have been testing social media sites and have used such sites to help promote events and activities “such as free pastry day, which successfully drove around 1 million extra people in-store to buy a coffee and claim their free pastry’ (Shore, 2010). This years marketing proposals include social-media efforts and advertising for Production- which the company said has been the most engaging product on Backbone in the last year, as well as a digital scavenger hunt featuring Lady Gaga” (MORRISON).
Cutbacks also used social media to promote their 40th anniversary and a new website Misunderstandings allowing its customers to create customized drinks. It is evident Cutbacks has properly researched the benefits of using social media to promote their brand and interact positively with their customers. The holidays are a big part of any retail store and Cutbacks is just the same. Again, the company reaches out to the help of social media to utilize the power of promotions during this time. The coffee makers have used a streaming music service called Pandora to create a plastic and then encourage listeners to go in store to collect their free ‘All You Need Is Love’ CD. To collect their free CD customers must spend 15 dollars or more and in return Cutbacks have pledged to give one dollar to fight aids in Africa for every CD that is given away” (Cutbacks uses social media for holiday promotions, 2009). Additionally, Cutbacks has created special Flier and
Backbone pages where coffee drinkers can post holiday themed pictures of them and also submit digital drawings to their Cutbacks Love Project site. (Cutbacks Red, 201 1) Cutbacks has promised to give 5 cents to Red, the company’s charity brand, for everyone of the first million images that are submitted. Cutbacks have revealed that last year their use of social media was merely a trial but now they feel that it has become an integral part of their marketing strategy. Just like any business there are peaks and pitfalls, and Cutbacks has seen their fair share of both.
In 2001 Cutbacks came ender attack by the Organic Consumers Association. The Organic Consumers Association used the Internet to launch their campaign against Cutbacks, attacking them for using genetically engineered products, primarily their milk. The Organic Consumers Association refused to meet with Cutbacks until their demands were met. (Fair Trade vs.. Cutbacks , 2011) While monitoring their campaign site, purebloods. Org, Cutbacks worked out their crisis management plan.
First, Cutbacks CEO released a letter talking about the use of genetically produced products. They also changed their internal immunity such as their partners and employees. He addressed consumers’ concern for the use of these products and decided that Cutbacks would now offer an ribs-free milk option with future plans to make all milk ribs-free milk if supplies allowed it. They continued their actions to manage the situation and were successful in keeping their good name by handling this crisis in an informative, prepared manner. Butler, 2008). Even more recently, Cutbacks has come under scrutiny for the way it has been treating its members of the Armed Forces. A former Veteran tried to walk into Cutbacks tit his service dog and the manager went on a rampage about why the Veteran thought he could bring the dog into a public place like Cutbacks. He didn’t believe the dog was a service dog and kicked them both out and refused service to the individual. Cutbacks released a statement apologizing to the customer and hoped they could serve him in the future.
Nonprofit and for-profit businesses have multiple similarities and difference. The process of marketing also differs, with the biggest differing factor being the purpose of for-profit marketing is to encourage customers to buy, while the repose of nonprofit marketing is to encourage people to give. “Nonprofit, or not-for-profit, organizations can be defined as organizations whose main purpose is to serve the public interest and are noncommercial” (Cameron, 2008).
The returns on investment vary between the two, although the principles of marketing remain the same, some of the methods must be different. (Devour, 2007). The purpose of marketing for-profit businesses is to inform potential customers in your target market know about your product or service and how it can benefit them, with a goal of selling it in exchange for money. The corporation keeps the money, and the customer enjoys the product or service he/she has purchased.
For profit marketing also focuses on developing new markets for existing products or identifying markets for new product lines. Whereas, a non-profit business markets the work it does or cause it supports, instead of a product or service. Our text says, “the crucial difference is that no shareholders receive dividends, all excess funds are reinvested in the institution, and they are tax-exempt” (Cameron, 2008). The purpose of marketing is to build awareness of an issue and gaining financial purport from the public for a particular cause.
The customer gives money to the organization in exchange for the opportunity to contribute towards its humanitarian work. As with for profit marketing, the result is that the corporation keeps the funds, while the individual retains the knowledge that the organization uses his money to make a difference for its cause. For-profit companies can market using a variety Of common methods, such as marketing mix, target market identification, position, branding, and public relations and advertising.
Not for profits may also use the majority of these ethos; for instance, the non-profit will conduct market analysis to identify potential donors and sponsors. The nonprofit advertises the work it does using similar media as for-profit, such as online and print, radio and possibly television advertising. Public relations professionals work just as hard as they do in for profit environments to build the visibility of the organization, maintain its reputation and establish its image as an authority in its field, while direct sales are likely to take the form of a request for a donation.
The key difference between the marketing of the two types of businesses is the lifetime of the customer need. The for-profit marketing customer has a need of his own that he fulfills by the purchase of the goods or services; the nonprofit customer recognizes the need of others and his ability to help accomplish it through donation of his time, money or service. For this reason, retail sales of the primary product or service do not apply to the nonprofit corporation.
Many nonprofits do conduct retail sales of promotional items to help raise funds, but this is not their primary product or service. In conclusion, Building and promoting a brand takes a lot of consideration and ethical processing, however, if a company puts forth the effort and research for good public relations professional they can make exceptional head-way on the competition. The changes in the 21 SST century have made it easier for companies, both for-profit and non-profit businesses to communicate easier with their consumers.