For producing the desired effects, the objectives of a campaign must obey several rules. First of all, they have to be strictly correlated with the impasse that a company tries to solve. Secondly, they have to be established according to reality and they must also be achievable. Thirdly, they have to allow an easy measurement of the outcomes obtained (Newsom, Turk & Kruckeberg, 2004).
In the TMB's case, the three objectives corresponding to the informational, attitudinal and behavioral levels of Hendrix's hierarchy were: building awareness, changing the negative attitude and generating visits to dealers (and, implicitly, purchases). All of them were closely related to the significant decline in sales and looked realistic and achievable, at the same time. Moreover, they could be easily measured by calculating notoriety rates, the percentage of people who would buy TMB caravans, the percentage of people who visited dealerships and the total volume of sales or market share achieved after completing the campaign.
4. The program tactics
The main tactics that BRAHM used in order to get to potential customers' hearts consisted of motivating the mass media and dealers to exert influence on the targeted public.
On one hand, media were approached in several ways. First of all, the company used them for advertising the TMB's new corporate identity. Secondly, it informed them on the organization's intentions and explained the core idea behind the PR campaign. Thirdly, it took advantage of several news which discredited certain means of transport or hotels (e.g. The delay in airport travel in the summer of 1999 was exploited by emphasizing the freedom that caravans offered; the negative articles published by the Hull Daily Mail on the conditions offered by some Spanish hotels were taken advantage of by posting an advert with the following title - "Instead of a holiday from hell, have one hell of a holiday"; the 2000 peak winter holiday season was exploited by inserting features and advertisements focused on the possibility of carrying ski equipment, taking hot showers etc.). Fourthly, it provided subjects to journalists by taking them to different sites in U.K. Or overseas or by inviting the press to various shows (Gregory, 2002).
On the other hand, BRAHM concentrated on dealers. These were promised significant profits if they accepted to update their knowledge and selling techniques through trainings. Secondly, they were invited to collaborate with the TMB by providing suggestions, reporting progress, helping the manufacturers build a customer database. Thirdly, they were offered several facilities such as low cost brochures and cut-away caravans for attracting customers and thus boosting sales (Gregory, 2002).
In conclusion, one could state that, in the mass media's case, BRAHM used the agenda setting theory because it tried to and finally succeeded in exerting a significant influence on gatekeepers, i.e. those persons who choose the news that is going to receive the 'red carpet treatment'. Thus, the PR firm has managed to urge journalists to positively write and broadcast about touring. Unlike the mass media, dealers were approached through the social exchange theory as these were motivated to obey the TMB's instructions by both the perspective of higher profits and the major benefits received from the producer. Furthermore, the persuasion theory was implemented by using prestigious representatives like the chairman of the TMB, famous and likeable personalities such as the British comedian - Bill Oddy or persons perceived as holding similar positions to the audience like the two journalists who recounted their touring journey between the extreme points of Great Britain (Gregory, 2002).
These tactics above described were perfectly...
Thus, the media took care of conveying the new identity and the corresponding messages to the public while dealerships significantly improved their appearance at trade shows and shifted the focus from the product to the benefits and the trendy image provided by caravans.
5. The program tools
Tools may be considered those levers that a company uses for implementing its tactics. In TMB's case, the main tools considered by the PR firm were: press packs mailed to journalists, full covered advertorials which resembled newspapers articles, brochures and coupons attached to them, phone calls, competition entries for winning the Range Rover Freelander, features, news releases for the media, radio types, touring journeys and trainings for journalists, trainings for dealers offered by the Caravan Industrial Training Organization on the basis of the £100,000 award received from the Government Department of Trade and Industry, cut-away caravans, newsletters offered to dealers, caravanning shows, and the three main projects - the Tourer 2000 Millennium Survey, Tourer for the Millennium and Breakout Magazine (Gregory, 2002).
These tools were closely related to tactics and strategy as they succeeded in both attracting the media's attention due to their interesting, newsworthy profile and convincing dealers to co-operate thanks to the advantages (cut-away caravan, cheap brochures, free trainings) and the up-to-date information offered by the manufacturer.
Moreover, tools were tailored according to the informational, attitudinal and behavioral objectives. Thus, they managed to inform due to the brochures and newspaper articles, to influence attitude through the positive features and broadcasts and to determine action by compelling potential customers to go to dealers for receiving the visa needed for participating in the Range Rover contest or by organizing shows where they could take a look at the improved comfort and design of the TMB caravans.
6. Conclusion
To conclude with, the PR campaign that BRAHM carried out between 1996 and 2001 proved to be effective because it clearly defined the targeted public and successfully molded over the characteristics of each segment. Thus, the company chose carefully the mass communication channels and the newspapers or broadcasts that enjoyed impressive circulation, and, respectively, audience. Moreover, BRAHM also addressed to dealers as these were important opinion leaders that exerted a significant influence on customers' options.
Consequently, one could state that the PR campaign's success was due to both the integrated approach that BRAHM used and the long-term perspective (five years) dedicated to supporting repositioning efforts.
Bibliography
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3. Hendrix, J 2004, Public relation cases, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California.
4. Newsom, D, Turk, JV & Kruckeberg, D 2004, 'Theory and theoretical frameworks', This is PR: the realities of public relations, Thomson Wordsworth, Belmont, California.
5. Newsom, D, Turk, JV & Kruckeberg, D 2004, 'The place of research in public relations', This is PR: the realities of public relations, Thomson Wordsworth, Belmont, California.
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