CMC Strategic Communication: Media, Stakeholders, and Social Media

Introduction and Background of CMC

This paper examines CMC, a corporate entity that assists in the acquisition, distribution, and advertising of produce in the Antigua and Barbuda region. It looks at the specific relationship that CMC has with large and small media — as manifested through news and broadcasting — as well as with social media and bloggers. Central Route Persuasion theory is harnessed as a lens of interpretation. In the second task, the paper examines the complex overlap among CMC, the media, stakeholders, consumer opinion, and inter-organizational strategy and policy, using systems theory as an interpretive lens.

The origins of the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC) date back to 1974, when it was established via an act of Parliament as a means of providing an entity for the acquisition, storage, distribution, and marketing of farmers' fruits and vegetables. The concept behind the creation of the company was to give farmers an immediate way to sell their goods through a secure and certain market. In this manner, farmers could be relieved of anxiety and trust a more experienced entity to handle marketing and distribution. CMC is overseen by a board created by the Ministry of Agriculture. This board is the body that CMC communicates with directly; together they observe the company's performance, managerial conduct, and the public and private policies that directly affect the company.

CMC also has the responsibility of verifying that national agricultural policy directives align with the corporation's mandate and that management adheres to the pillars of sound corporate oversight. This mandate also means that CMC is responsible for developing methods that ensure all produce is handled to the highest standards of quality. Any company that deals with produce needs the most efficient strategies to maintain freshness. CMC is empowered to both buy and sell produce, as well as to import and export it. However, one major issue CMC faces is that it has not engaged meaningfully in the export aspect of its business for many years, largely because agricultural planners have continued to fail to develop a successful national production plan that would allow export needs to be properly forecast.

Media Perception of CMC

The media perception of CMC's adopted inter-organizational strategy is, at present, very negative and often misconstrued. The media consistently portrays CMC as mismanaged and financially troubled — unable to meet its financial obligations or its debts to the smaller agricultural entities it works with. Some branches of the media even portray the company as deliberately attempting to exploit small farmers. It can appear that even the most innocuous story is misconstrued by the media in order to manufacture controversy.

For example, one of the more routine things that CMC does is import rice and sugar through long-standing importation agreements with reputable suppliers, which allow the company to purchase these goods at a slightly lower cost. Such a move is typical in nearly every business around the world: securing supplies at a lower price point is a common business practice. However, the media tends to present such strategies as though CMC is attempting to swindle suppliers or purchase items at exploitatively low prices. When an agreement was made to purchase five 20-foot containers of white and brown sugar per month at an annual value of more than $10 million, several media outlets portrayed this as exploitation of the world's sugar farmers. Negotiating competitively with suppliers is essential for almost any business, and many people consider such a move to be simply business as usual. Yet the media likes to portray such moves as the company being manipulative and exploitative of local farmers.

CMC is known for offering competitive prices direct to consumers in the meat and vegetables market and across essentially all its products. However, the company has not been able to maintain a strong market share because of factors such as inconsistent supply and crippled distribution capacity, compounded by financial resource constraints. Multiple media outlets gave the appearance that the company was floundering and approaching financial ruin, with more than one even arguing that CMC had damaged its relationships with suppliers.

When considering media perception of CMC and its internal strategies, one can accurately assert that there is a wide range of significant domestic and international media that impact the company. The domestic media influence on CMC is twofold: it consists of a combination of big and small media. Big media refers to large print and broadcasting organizations — major newspapers, magazines, and news programs. The influence these entities have had on CMC has been largely twofold: in some instances they simply report the facts about the company, while in others they join a particularly negative bandwagon if it appears that everyone else is doing so. Big media is often controlled by governments or by corporations with governmental influence, meaning its interests frequently come under fire (Turner, 2004). Small media can sometimes appear just as powerful and persuasive as big media. Small media refers to individuals online who have platforms: bloggers, YouTubers, social media influencers, and others who are able to sway opinion in small but significant pockets by expressing their views.

The Importance of Media for CMC

For any major business entity, the media is important. The media helps perpetuate an atmosphere of transparency and keeps people informed of relevant actions, reactions, changes, and mergers that a company may have undergone. The media is also significant because it offers opinion and can sometimes highlight risks or concerns that members of the public might not be aware of at a given time. One of the major factors that underscores the importance of the media is that it has a tremendous influence on how human beings interpret information.

For a company like CMC, given its size and level of public exposure, redirecting communications according to Central Route Persuasion theory needs to happen so that CMC can influence both big media and social media influencers on the strength of its arguments. Influencing consumers is equally crucial, as they are the systematic decision-makers. It is important to bear in mind that consumers are social beings, and that the consumption of company products is also a social and cultural process. Using its media platforms, CMC needs to engage more actively in central route persuasion through its social media accounts and also work to connect with consumers on a deeper social and cultural level. The more that CMC is able to connect with people on these levels, the more likely it is to become part of the rituals of individuals and communities.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Media Coverage

Strengths

The strengths of media — particularly big media — for a company the size of CMC are obvious. Large advertising companies are able to create polished campaigns for the corporation and essentially shape its image and brand identity in whatever way it desires (Olenski, 2015). The company can invest significantly in finding ways to appear more personable, more affordable, or as though it carries the freshest products. The advertising companies CMC hires are able to promote it quickly and powerfully in exactly the manner desired. Furthermore, CMC can use its social media platforms to fill in the gaps that big advertising can create. For example, the company's Instagram account can show consumers and followers the "softer side" of the business: how executives break bread with farmers, how they give to charity, and how they support their communities. This can give the company a strong sense of authenticity and build trust with its consumer base very rapidly.

Weaknesses

One of the major weaknesses of the media's treatment of a corporation such as CMC is the media's tendency to highlight negative news. News programs are highly competitive with one another, and one way to attract attention is to focus on distressing topics. This pattern gives viewers the impression that they must stay informed because something disastrous is always happening. As one source notes, "Newspapers, radio, and television programs broadcast the news 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to avoid bad news and the negative influence it has on our lives. School shootings, terrorist attacks, and airplane crashes, as well as the incessant onslaught of violence from all forms of media, can have long-lasting psychological repercussions and ultimately lead to thoughts of our world falling apart, stress and anxiety" (CIP.org, 2018). This tendency can have a negative impact on corporations like CMC. If there is one small snafu — an issue with shipping or with a supplier — it can appear as though big media is there to put a negative spin on the incident.

Furthermore, in terms of small media, more and more conspiracy theorists are gaining platforms online through blogs or YouTube accounts, causing significant controversy for CMC and similar companies. A study found that "mere exposure to a popular conspiracy theory can make you less pro-social — and less likely to accept established scientific principles" (van der Linden, 2015). For example, people who watched a short clip of a popular conspiracy theory film on global warming were less likely to believe proven evidence on climate change, less likely to sign a petition to counter global warming, and less likely to volunteer their time (van der Linden, 2015). As van der Linden (2015) observes, "just watching a two-minute clip about how it all might be part of a global conspiracy appears to be enough to compel us to dismiss science and make us feel less inclined to engage with important societal issues in general, including helping others in need." Conspiracy theories online need to be appropriately managed, or they can damage brands and companies (Brotherton, 2016).

This impact has been felt by CMC on a small scale. Negative influencers and conspiracy theorists have spread false claims about CMC online — alleging crimes against workers, denial of bathroom breaks, and use of child labor. Most of these conspiracy theories have had little practical impact on CMC: the company has been largely unaffected aside from manageable negative online blowback. However, this experience has demonstrated the power of such actors and how crucial it is for CMC to protect its image and brand identity.

One recent example that illustrates the pressure of social media and broader internet media is an incident from several years ago in which an armed gunman robbed a CMC staff member on company grounds, taking money and goods before fleeing in a waiting vehicle (Malone, 2014). The local news pounced on this story, decrying it as evidence of a lack of safety within CMC property and of management's irresponsibility in not providing a safer environment for employees. Critics argued that the company's inter-organizational policies must have been negligent if a lone gunman could simply enter company property. Company leadership was blamed, and some people online argued that workers should boycott CMC. This was an incident where traditional advertising had to be harnessed as a means of reassuring the general public and re-establishing a sense of safety.

On the other hand, a story about CMC's involvement in several social improvement initiatives received far less attention. For example, "the Social Transformation Zero Hunger programme is targeting low income single female-headed households with children, with the provision of Food Vouchers of EC $100 weekly and linked to the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC) and other satellite outlets as a food security and nutrition programme" (Gordon, 2016). Although this news was distributed by several major news sources, it did not make much of an impression online. There were some tweets and retweets, but it did little to improve the overall perception of the company's image.

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