IGA Communication Audit final - Weebly212130966.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/2/4/30242145/iga... ·...

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COMMUNICATION AUDIT Prepared by: Bree Graham Isabella Harrison Eleanor Johnson David Wallis Jack Wilby

Transcript of IGA Communication Audit final - Weebly212130966.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/2/4/30242145/iga... ·...

Page 1: IGA Communication Audit final - Weebly212130966.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/2/4/30242145/iga... · Page7’of27’ Target)Audience) In!this!audit,!we!used!Maslow’s!Hierarchy!of!needs!and!Gruing!and!Hunts!Linkages!

     

COMMUNICATION AUDIT

Prepared  by:  Bree  Graham  

Isabella  Harrison  Eleanor  Johnson  David  Wallis    Jack  Wilby  

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Executive  Summary    This  communication  Audit  based  upon  IGA  stores  located  within  Mt  Eliza  Mornington  region  of  Victoria  has  been  conducted.  This  has  been  done  to  view  how  effective  and  successful  the  small  grocery  stores  communication  tools  have  been  and  evaluate  whether  the  company  is  successful  in  promoting  their  image  throughout  the  local  community.  After  completing  the  report  on  IGA  it  was  found  that  the  communication  between  the  stores  was  quite  successful  and  effective.  The  communication  between  IGA  stores  within  the  specified  region  to  the  local  community  was  also  successful,  however  could  be  improved  in  order  to  promote  their  slogan  of  ‘Where  the  community  benefits’  making  sure  that  the  customers  understood  that  their  main  concern  was  the  community,  along  with  strengthening  their  online  communication  tactics.  Throughout  the  audit,  multiple  communication  tools  were  used  in  order  to  help  the  expansion  of  the  report  and  then  entail  helped  us  create  the  recommendations  for  IGA.  Our  target  public  for  the  audit  was  the  small  population  of  the  Mt  Eliza  Mornington  region  that  surrounds  the  local  IGA,  inclusive  of  workers,  parents  and  students.  Thorough  and  extensive  research  including  multiple  interviews  with  customers,  employees  and  IGA  CEO  Fred  Harrison  himself  a  list  of  recommendations  has  been  created  in  order  to  help  further  the  internal  communication  between  the  stores  and  head  office,  also  the  communication  between  IGA  and  its  target  public;  the  customers.                                                        

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Table  of  Contents  

EXECUTIVE  SUMMARY   2  

INTRODUCTION   4  

METHODOLOGY   4  

AUDIT  DIARY   6  

TARGET  AUDIENCE   7  

COMMUNICATION  ANALYSIS   9  

INTERNAL  COMMUNICATION  TOOL   9  EXTERNAL  COMMUNICATION  TOOL   11  

MEDIA  ANALYSIS   13  

SOCIAL  MEDIA.   13  PAPER  MEDIA   13  BROADCAST  MEDIA   13  

ESSENTIAL  STRATEGIC  COMMUNICATION  STRATEGIES   14  

RECOMMENDATIONS   16  

CONCLUSIONS   17  

REFERENCES   18  

APPENDICES   19  

WEEKLY  MEETING  SHEETS   19  IGA  CUSTOMER  SURVEY  TOTALS   24  IGA  EMPLOYEE  SURVEY   25  TRANSCRIPT  OF  INTERVIEW   26                      

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Introduction    IGA  started  out  as  a  small  locally  owned  general  store,  providing  produce  for  the  local  community  in  Frankston,  Victoria.  However,  now  it  has  expanded  enormously  with  more  than  1400  stores  throughout  Australia;  IGA  now  provides  the  best  and  finest  stock  for  local  communities.  For  this  audit  we  looked  at  the  store  located  within  the  region  of  Mt  Eliza  and  Mornington  evaluating  how  effective  their  communication  tactics  are,  not  only  from  internally  but  also  communicating  to  their  target  public;  the  customers.  Local  customers  play  a  big  role  within  the  company,  as  their  main  key  mission  and  purpose  is  to  give  back  to  the  community,  which  they  do  through  the  use  of  the  community  benefit  card  implementation.  This  communication  technique  has  helped  IGA  donate  over  $33,859,970  to  the  community  in  Victoria  alone.  IGA  has  a  main  mission  that  involves  that  they  value  their  people  above  all  else,  therefore  making  communication  between  themselves  and  their  customers  extremely  critical  and  of  the  highest  priority.  IGA  faces  multiple  competitors  such  as  Woolworths  and  Coles,  especially  in  the  targeted  region  where  this  survey  was  conducted;  this  is  as  all  stores  are  situated  just  kilometers  apart.  It  is  critical  that  IGA  has  paramount  communication  tools  and  that  they  are  being  utilized  to  the  greatest  extent.  Furthermore,  the  purpose  of  this  audit  is  to  discover  how  effective  both  internal  and  external  communications  are  whilst  building  on  the  current  tactics  to  help  the  shop  develop  their  communication  more  effectively.    

 

 

 

                                                                                           

       

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Methodology      This  audit  of  IGA  consists  of  both  internal  and  external  analysis  to  better  grasp  any  and  all  communications  issues.  Three  separate  surveys  were  undertaken  directed  at  separate  stakeholders  of  the  business.  Firstly  a  one  on  one  interview  with  the  owner  of  IGA  to  gather  qualitative  information  and  for  the  audit  group  to  gain  a  strong  understanding  of  internal  practices  and  how  high  positions  in  the  business  view  their  communication  policies.  Secondly,  two  separate  surveys  were  undertaken  to  collect  qualitative  data.  One  survey  was  directed  at  employees  such  as  general  part  timers  hired  to  stack  the  shelves,  serve  customers  and  other  sundry  functions  to  recognize  how  lower  placed  roles  within  IGA  consider  communication  practices  in  everyday  store  processes.  The  second  survey  was  composed  to  assess  the  external  communication  issues  and  was  directed  towards  customers.  This  survey  was  undertaken  by  approaching  customers  as  they  shopped,  questions  were  focused  on  how  loyal  they  were  to  IGA  and  which  communication  tactics  are  most  effective  in  reaching  their  target  public.      A  media  analysis  was  conducted  to  ascertain  the  organizations  current  uses  of  social  media  and  other  contact  methods.  The  effectiveness  of  these  methods  was  assessed  via  the  surveys  and  interviews  to  identify,  which  were  operating  to  their  full  potential.    The  audit  team  consisted  of  five  members  and  each  member  of  the  team  was  required  to  be  present  at  each  meeting  throughout  each  stage  of  the  audit.      The  findings  and  recommendations  have  been  compiled  into  a  table  of  results  and  detailed  reports.      

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Audit  Diary  

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Target  Audience  In  this  audit,  we  used  Maslow’s  Hierarchy  of  needs  and  Gruing  and  Hunts  Linkages  Model  to  help  us  figure  out  who  our  target  audience  will  be  when  focusing  on  Richies  IGA  the  target  area.  The  focus  and  the  audience  of  this  report  is  the  current  customers  at  the  local  store  and  also  future/potential  customers.        

   

Current  Customers/Shoppers  at  Richies  IGA:  The  current  shoppers  at  the  evaluated  stores  evidently  have  an  extremely  pronounced  knowledge  about  the  company  and  what  is  being  brought  to  the  local  community.  The  ages  vary,  however  with  most  of  the  regular  shoppers  sitting  between  an  age  bracket  of  25-­‐65  due  to  the  high  number  of  families  within  the  community.  The  customer’s  main  focus  is  on  services  provided  to  them,  also  how  the  company  gives  back  into  their  community.  The  customer’s  main  reason  to  shop  at  IGA  is  that  they  believe  by  shopping  there  they  are  doing  their  bit  for  the  community.  The  company  appeals  to  this  local  region’s  belonging  need,  community  faith  and  the  self-­‐esteem  needs  of  Maslow’s  hierarchy.  They  appeal  to  the  belonging  needs,  as  the  shop  provides  a  small  and  personal  environment  making  all  the  customers  feel  welcomed  and  also  a  sense  of  ‘belonging’.  It  also  appeals  to  the  self  esteem  needs,  as  by  shopping  at  these  local  supermarkets  and  using  the  community  benefit  card  the  customers  believe  they  doing  the  right  thing;  giving  back  to  a  charity  of  their  choice  providing  an  improvement  on  personal  self  esteem.              

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Potential  Customers/Shoppers  at  Richies  IGA:  Targeting  potential  customers  whom  shop  at  competitor  chain  supermarkets.  The  likes  of  Coles  and  Woolworths  have  customers  who  may  not  be  aware  of  the  benefits  of  shopping  local  The  best  way  to  communicate  to  this  target  group  is  to  provide  information  on  how  they  will  benefit  from  shopping  at  these  local  stores,  along  with  benefits  of  comparisons  provided  over  the  stronger  supermarkets,  chains;  education  of  the  community  rewards  card  is  one  option.      

Grunig  and  Hunt  Linkage  Model:              

 

                                           

RICHIES  IGA  

Enabling  Linkages:    Fred  Harrison  Stake  Holders  Board  of  Directors     Functional  

Linkages:    Employees  Suppliers  Customers    

Normative  Linkages:    Coles  Woolworths    

Diffused  Linkages:    Media  Mornington/Mt  Eliza  Community  

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 Communication  Analysis  

Internal  Communication  Tool  In  the  day  to  day  operations  of  IGA  there  are  many  different  forms  of  communication  that  are  used  to  communicate  with  staff  and  management.  Internal  communications  are  used  to  inform  staff  of  changes  to  policy,  uniform,  meeting  times  and  other  general  house  keeping  business.  Staffs  use  different  forms  of  communication  to  change  shifts,  call  in  sick  for  work,  or  leave  a  message  for  the  following  staff  that  are  due  to  work  after  them.  Overall  the  staff  at  IGA  stated  that  the  most  common  forms  of  two-­‐way  communication  are  face  to  face  and  phone  conversations,  and  the  most  common  form  of  downward  communication  from  management  to  frontline  staff  is  the  newsletter  and  posters  that  are  placed  within  staffing  areas.  A  small  percentage  of  staff  said  they  did  not  pay  attention  to  the  staff  newsletters,  although  a  large  portion  said  they  understood  it  was  a  part  of  their  job  to  remain  up  to  date  with  policies  and  procedures  of  their  workplace.    

 As  IGA  is  a  very  community  based  organisation,  it  is  a  credit  to  them  that  they  attempt  to  keep  their  internal  communications  also  very  personable.  As  can  be  seen  from  the  below  graph,  the  most  common  form  of  communication  between  departments  in  IGA  is  either  face  to  face  communication  or  over  the  phone,  sometimes  written  notes  are  also  used  to  communicate  with  staff  who  may  not  be  there  at  the  time.            

0%  10%  20%  30%  40%  50%  60%  70%  80%  90%  

Internal  Communication  Tools  

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                               When  communicating  between  different  IGA  stores  and  with  higher  management,  the  most  common  form  of  communication  is  still  phone  conversations,  with  conference  calls  still  playing  a  large  role  in  the  communication  of  day  to  day  business.  Communication  though  emails  is  the  next  common  method  of  communication  amongst  higher  levels  of  management  and  also  other  stores.  Internal  email  system  allows  members  of  staff  who  have  access  to  the  email  system  to  quickly  search  other  co-­‐workers  and  send  them  an  email.                                              When  younger  staff  are  communicating  with  each  other  in  order  to  swap  or  cover  shifts  they  tend  to  use  SMS  and  Phone  calls  more  than  any  other  form  of  communication.  Staff  informed  us  that  the  reason  they  use  these  forms  of  communication  is  that  it  ensures  they  get  an  almost  immediate  response  to  their  request.  The  older  staff  expressed  that  they  don’t  feel  the  need  to  contact  their  co-­‐workers  out  of  scheduled  work  time.    

13%  

65%  

22%  

Communication  with  other  stores  

Email  

Phone  Call  

Conference  Phone  calls  

51%  33%  

16%  

Store  based  communication  

Face  to  face  

Phone  Calls  

Communication  books  (written  notes)  

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External  Communication  Tool    IGA’s  external  communication  tools  are  used  in  a  specific  way  to  ensure  their  personable  approach  is  portrayed  through  their  different  types  of  communication.        When  customers  and  local  residents  were  asked  how  they  generally  hear  about  specials  at  IGA,  they  stated  that  TV  advertisements  and  catalogues  were  by  far  the  most  common  form  of  external  communication.    

   Another  question  which  was  asked  was  through  the  surveying  process  was  if  local  residents  would  consider  regularly  communicating  with  IGA  over  social  networking  platforms.  50%  of  people  said  they  would  consider  communication  with  IGA  over  social  networking  platforms.  

6%  

38%  

16%  

38%  

2%  

How  do  you  hear  about  IGA  specials  

Newspapers  

Catelogues  

Social  Media  

TV  adds  

Word  of  Mouth  

18%  

29%  53%  

How  do  you  communicate  with  other  staff  outside  of  work  

Social  Media  

SMS  

Phone  Call  

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One  of  IGA’s  main  forms  of  communication  with  their  target  publics  where  they  make  use  of  their  slogans  ‘How  the  locals  like  it’  and  ‘where  the  community  benefits’.  As  seen  in  the  graph  below,  locals  do  find  the  advertisements  effective,  and  do  not  see  them  in  a  negative  aspect  at  all.  The  communication  form  is  said  to  portray  the  staff  and  organisation  in  appositive  light,  with  the  staff  appearing  friendly  and  the  organisation  being  very  community  orientated.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

ineffective  

Unsure  Effective  

Very  effective  

How  effective  do  you  Find  the  television  advertising  

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Media  Analysis  

Social  Media.  IGA  sufficiently  utilizes  the  Internet  and  social  media  with  the  incorporation  of  these  processes  within  their  everyday  procedures.  The  research  conducted  shows  that  on  average  50  percent  of  customers  communicate  via  IGA’s  social  networking  sites,  where  the  minority  gains  access  to  promotions  via  the  Facebook  page  and  majority  of  customers  never  utilize  this  feature.  Along  with  the  initial  IGA  website  provided  for  social  interaction  with  consumers,  there  is  a  set  of  different  Facebook  pages.  One  being  for  the  promotion  of  IGA  as  company,  where  basic  information  is  provided  to  its  followers;  information  provided  of  current  events  with  local  fundraisers,  the  work-­‐in-­‐progress  reports  on  projects  is  posted  here.  Another  being  the  Richie’s  local  loyalty  card  where  this  is  solely  used  as  a  promotional  base  for  the  card  specials  and  loyalty  rewards  are  featured.  The  social  media  presence  is  working  in  accordance  of  the  agenda  setting  theory  where  by  the  ability  of  these  social  media  forums  are  being  used  to  potentially  influence  the  salience  of  topics  on  the  target  community’s  agenda.    

Paper  media    Information  provided  by  the  interviewee  of  IGA  head  cooperation  stated  the  belief  that  their  communication  tactics  were  not  completely  received  by  their  target  public.  His  beliefs  that  pamphlet  and  newspaper  advertisements  are  not  affective  as  tools  of  communications  as  there  is  an  overwhelming  outsource  to  the  public  where  by  it  is  evident  consumers  have  stopped  being  as  responsive  overtime.    Situational  analysis  has  provided  an  examination  via  both  internal  and  external  environments,  which  has  shown  a  reflection  of  how  throughout  the  relationship  with  long-­‐term  consumers  communication  tactics  have  been  changing.  This  has  provided  benefit  to  both  IGA  as  a  company  and  the  target  customer  base  as  factors  as  evaluated  to  provide  stronger  objectives,  strategy,  and  capabilities  within  hard  advertising.    

Broadcast  Media    Television  advertisements  are  a  strong  tool  utilized  by  IGA  to  reach  their  key  audiences.  Research  gathered  has  shown  that  the  highest  percentage  of  effective  media  coverage  was  through  broadcast  media  where  by  television  adverts  where  slightly  more  affective  than  radio.  The  key  communication  message  of  lowest  prices,  high  quality  food  and  community  involvement  are  strongly  projected  through  these  tactics  of  campaigning.  Coordination  of  communication  in  attempt  provide  the  Principle  of  Who  or  What  Really  Counts  in  effect  with  the  Stakeholder  theory  as  IGA  have  the  ability  to  physically  show  their  target  public  their  efforts  of  duty  to  put  the  community  first.    Provided  through  the  surveys  conducted,  (Refer  Appendices)  it  is  evident  through  consumer  feedback  these  communication  strategies  put  in  place  by  IGA  have  been  thoroughly  effective  in  reaching  the  necessary  target  public.    

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Essential  Strategic  Communication  Strategies    The  table  below  discusses  a  basic  template  to  follow  in  order  to  achieve  the  essential  strategic  communication  practices  and  communicate  the  desired  messages  with  the  target  audience.  It  breaks  up  each  communication  practice  into  the  issues  involved  in  the  practice,  and  how  each  one  can  be  implemented.  The  table  goes  on  to  discuss  how  evaluation  is  key  to  the  long  jeopardy  of  the  messages  and  the  external  communication  of  the  company.    

COMMUNICATION  PRACTICE  

ISSUES      

IMPLEMENTATION  

Identifying  target  audience   As  IGA  is  a  supermarket,  it  can  be  hard  at  times  to  identify  a  specific  target  audience  or  market,  and  thus  it  is  difficult  to  target  certain  publics  with  communication.  Even  if  specific  target  publics  can  be  found,  these  can  tend  to  waver  their  support,  unless  identified  to  be  extremely  loyal  to  the  company,  which  is  rare  within  this  industry.  

Thorough  and  prolonged  market  research  is  the  number  one  key  to  identifying  the  target  audience  of  IGA  stores.  Through  customer  surveys  it  becomes  much  more  clear  which  types  of  people  are  frequenting  the  stores  and  also  how  it  is  best  to  communicate  with  the  majority  of  the  customers.  Once  an  understanding  has  been  grasped  through  market  research,  all  other  types  of  communication  will  become  much  more  effective.  

Developing  key  messages   With  a  similar  issue  to  ‘identifying  target  audiences’,  within  the  supermarket  industry  it  can  be  difficult  to  develop  a  broad  message  as  there  are  so  many  possible  target  audiences.  This  causes  many  problems,  as  these  key  messages  must  effectively  speak  to  everybody  in  the  market,  as  everyone  is  a  possible  customer  or  target  public.  

Through  the  same  market  research  as  it  mentioned  above,  key  messages  can  be  created  once  the  target  publics  are  more  obviously  specified.  Once  these  target  publics  are  known,  you  can  begin  to  develop  the  key  messages  that  you  want  to  get  along  to  the  major  publics.  As  has  been  mentioned,  these  will  need  to  be  quite  broad  as  the  target  publics  will  be  broad  across  society  themselves.  However,  without  any  research  done,  it  is  clear  

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that  messages  must  put  across  the  key  values  of  the  organisation:  low  prices,  community  engagement,  and  quality  goods.  

Communicating  key  messages  

Once  target  publics  and  key  messages  are  discovered  and  developed,  the  organisation  must  then  decide  upon  the  vessel  within  which  they  will  get  this  message  to  the  target  publics.  This  is  where  the  accounting  and  marketing  side  of  the  company  must  come  into  play,  as  advertising  and  marketing  can  be  very  expensive  ventures.  As  well  as  this,  it  is  vital  to  communicate  this  information  through  the  correct  channels  in  order  to  reach  the  determined  target  publics,  as  pushing  information  through  the  wrong  channels  is  a  counter-­‐productive  and  costly  mistake.  

Choosing  the  correct  channels  within  which  to  communicate  the  key  messages  is  the  most  important  implementation  tool  at  your  disposal.  Within  this  there  is  much  room  for  both  innovation  and  creativity,  but  also  much  room  for  failure.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  essential  strategic  communication  practices  as  it  is  the  actual  delivery  of  all  the  research  carried  out  in  the  first  two  points.  

Monitor  and  Evaluate   Once  the  key  messages  are  being  communicated  to  the  chosen  target  publics  through  the  correct  channels,  it  is  easy  for  an  organisation  to  think  their  work  is  done,  however  this  is  rarely  the  case.  All  of  the  above  points  must  be  evaluated  at  regular  intervals  in  order  to  maintain  their  effectiveness  and  poignancy.  Without  this  the  entire  campaign  may  become  counter-­‐productive.  

All  aspects  discussed  above  must  be  addressed  at  regular  times.  This  means  possibly  re-­‐conducting  market  research  in  order  to  distinguish  changes  in  the  target  publics  opinions,  discussing  changes  in  the  key  messages  being  communicated  to  match  these  changes  to  the  target  publics,  and  thus  changing  the  way  the  messages  are  being  communicated  accordingly.  

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Recommendations    

1. Increase  efforts  for  social  media  promotion;  where  by  employing  additional  staff  to  solely  focus  on  social  networking  promotions  whereby  strengthening  the  online  presence  of  IGA.    

2. Increase  efforts  to  promote  the  key  message  of  IGA  to  the  target  audience,  without  the  overshadowing  dominance  of  stronger  competitors  (Woolworths  and  Coles).  

   

3. Increase  of  media  awareness  to  promote  charity  programs  without  losing  focus  of  intended  message;  this  results  in  a  positive  image  for  the  company.    

4. Implement  a  communications  and  marketing  team  to  ensure  opportunities  within  this  area  are  not  missed  therefore  having  the  ability  to  increase  the  scope  of  current  communication  processes.  

 5. Focus  on  stronger  television  and  radio  advertisements,  as  this  will  

resonate  on  a  personable  level  with  the  target  public.    

6. Gain  a  greater  understanding  of  the  customers  needs  through  allowing  them  a  voice,  this  enables  IGA  as  a  company  to  understand  the  market  required  and  adjust  processes  as  needed.    

         

 

       

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Conclusion    This  Communication  Audit  conducted  on  Richies  IGA  stores  within  the  regional  community  of  the  Mornington  Peninsula  it  has  become  evident  that  strong  communication  strategies  are  put  in  place.  With  the  companies  main  mission  to  provide  a  local  community  based  supermarket  communication  is  a  durable  tool  that  must  be  utilized;  findings  suggest  strong  tactics  in  doing  so  are  put  in  place.  Internal  and  external  analysis  of  the  communication  breakdown  has  provided  outcomes  of  strategies  with  the  use  of  theories  to  support  these.  Maslow’s  Hierarchy  of  needs  and  Gruing  and  Hunts  Linkages  Model  have  been  used  to  analyse  the  target  audience,  where  use  of  agenda  setting  theory  and  situation  analysis  theory  have  been  used  to  evaluation  the  processes  of  communication  through  different  media  outlets.  With  the  audit  focusing  strongly  on  how  IGA  as  a  company  communicate  with  their  target  publics,  community  feedback  has  been  gathered  to  furthermore  evaluate  the  consumers’  opinion  of  their  belief  of  how  useful  the  company’s  communication  tactics  are  to  personal  needs.  It  has  been  uncovered  that  social  media  is  a  communication  area  that  will  need  to  be  strongly  focused  on  for  the  future  benefit  of  the  evolution  of  media  networking;  where  by  reliability  on  television  and  radio  marketing  has  proven  to  still  be  consumers’  most  favourable  tactic  of  communication.  Key  messages  of  communication  for  the  IGA  brand  must  channel  essential  strategic  methods  to  make  sure  all  efforts  are  beneficial  within  practice.                            WORD  COUNT:  2827  excluding  executive  summary,  table  of  contents  ,references  and  appendices              

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References    Diggs-Brown B, et al. 2006, ALR 279 Public Relations Management 3rd edition, Ligare  Pty  Limited,  Melbourne.    Doorley  J  and  Garcia  H  F,  2007,  Reputation  Management  –  the  key  to  successful  public  relations  and  corporate  communication  ,  Routledge,  New  York    Downs  C  W  and  Adrian  A  D,  2004,  Assessing  Organisational  Communication,    Guildford  Press,  New  York    Facebook  |  2013.  IGA  Victoria  |  [ONLINE]  Available  at:  https://www.facebook.com/IgaVictoria  [Accessed  August  2013].    Facebook  |  2013.  Richies  Benifits  |  [ONLINE]  Available  at:  https://www.facebook.com/Ritchies.Supermarkets    [Accessed  August  2013].    Grunig,  J.  E.  &  Repper,  F.  C.  1992,  ‘Strategic  management,  publics,  and  issues,’  in  Excellence  in  Public  Relations  and  Communication  Management,  ed.  J.  E.  Grunig,  Lawrence  Erlbaum,  Hillsdale,  NJ.    IGA  Supermarkets  |  Independent  Grocers  of  Australia.  2013.  IGA  Supermarkets  |  Independent  Grocers  of  Australia.  [ONLINE]  Available  at:  http://iga.com.au/.  [Accessed  September  2013].    Jong,  M,  et  al.  2007.  Jong  Communication  Audit  Tool  Evaluating  the  Communication  Satisfaction  Questionnaire  as  a  Communication  Audit  Tool.  Management  Communication  Quaterly,  [Online].  20,  261-­‐281.  Available  at:  http://mcq.sagepub.com/content/20/3/261.full.pdf+html  [Accessed  September].  

Smith  R  D,  2005,  Strategic  Planning  for  Public  Relations,  LEA,  Mahwah  NJ      

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Appendices  

Weekly  Meeting  Sheets   Date: 21st August 2013 Week Number

5

Organisation Name

IGA

Name of Reporter

Eleanor Johnson

Name of students in the group

Bree Graham Isabella Harris Eleanor Johnson David Wallis Jack Wilby

Name of students attending meeting

All attended

Action:

Responsibility:

Writing up of questions to ask CEO of IGA Bree and David Writing up of questions to ask employees and customers

Eleanor and Isabella

Who will meet with the CEO to have the questions answered

Isabella

Making the layout Eleanor Finding example communication Audits for the group to view

David and Jack

Filling in the meeting sheets Eleanor Finishing off the questions to be asked Bree Questions to ask tutor next lesson Should we keep the audit to one certain area of

Melbourne? For example: The Mornington Peninsula.

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Date: 22st August 2013 Week Number

6

Organisation Name

IGA

Name of Reporter

Eleanor Johnson

Name of students in the group

Bree Graham Isabella Harris Eleanor Johnson David Wallis Jack Wilby

Name of students attending meeting

All attended

Action:

Responsibility:

Dividing up sections to be completed by each student

Everyone

Deciding which stores will be targeted Bree, Isabella and Jack Determining which communication tools are used in the organisation for discussion with the group

Eleanor and David

Questions to ask tutor next lesson What is included in the word count

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Date: 4th September 2013 Week Number

7

Organisation Name

IGA

Name of Reporter

Eleanor Johnson

Name of students in the group

Bree Graham Isabella Harris Eleanor Johnson David Wallis Jack Wilby

Name of students attending meeting

All attended

Action:

Responsibility:

In this meeting we showed each other where we were up to with our individual sections and began placing them into the layout where applicable. Executive Summary Isabella Introduction Isabella Table of Contents Eleanor Audit Diary Eleanor Methodology David Target Audience Isabella Communication Analysis Eleanor Media Analysis Bree Essential strategic communication strategies Jack Conclusion Bree Recommendations Bree Questions to ask tutor next lesson

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Date: 5th September

Week Number

7

Organisation Name

IGA

Name of Reporter

Eleanor Johnson

Name of students in the group

Bree Graham Isabella Harris Eleanor Johnson David Wallis Jack Wilby

Name of students attending meeting

All attended

Action:

Responsibility:

Returned surveys Everyone completed 10 surveys each and these were posted on a Facebook page so they could be easily accessed.

We all dissected the information that was provided to us the CEO of IGA to ensure we all understood what we wanted to take from the transcript to use in different sections of the assignment

All team members

Reviewed all meeting sheets to ensure they were up to date

All team members

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Date: 10th September 2013 Week Number

8

Organisation Name

IGA

Name of Reporter

Eleanor Johnson

Name of students in the group

Bree Graham Isabella Harris Eleanor Johnson David Wallis Jack Wilby

Name of students attending meeting

All attended

Action:

Responsibility:

For this meeting we all read through each others sections and edited everyone’s sections to ensure the audit flowed and that no ones sections overlapped with anyone elses sections. This has been the final meeting where we put the finishing touches on the assignment and did the submission process.

                             

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IGA  Customer  Survey  Totals          

         

1 2 3 4 5 How loyal are you to IGA over other major supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths 1 = not loyal – 5 = extremely loyal

12 13 11 2 14

How much attention do you pay to the weekly specials and catalogues 1 = no attention – 5 = a lot of attention

14 10 13 7 1

Do you hold a community benefit card

Yes 22 No 32

How do you rate the friendliness of the staff 1 = Not friendly – 5 = Very friendly

6 24 24

How do you rate the product knowledge of the staff 1 = Not knowledgeable – 5 = Very knowledgeable

6 7 29 12

How do you rate the variety of brands 1 = Limited value – 5= Great variety

7 6 22 12 4

How effective do you find the television advertising 1 = Not effective – 5 = Very effective

7 18 19 10

Would you consider communication with IGA via social networking

Yes 27 No 27

Do you enter IGA competitions

Yes 18 No 36

If no, would you consider entering competitions

Yes 21 No 12

How often do you visit the IGA Facebook page 1 = Never – 5 = Frequently

34 10 8 2

Please specify how many times per month you would access the IGA Facebook Page

9(once a week) the rest said not at all

Where do you find out about the IGA specials (Please circle one) Newspapers 3 Catalogues 21 Social Media 9 Television Advertisements 21 Word of Mouth 1 Do you receive CB mobile offers Yes 13 No 41

Customer  Survey  

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IGA  Employee  Survey          

     

1 2 3 4 5 Do you enjoy working at IGA 1 = Do not enjoy – 5 = Thoroughly Enjoy

1 3 5 1

How well do you communicate with the customers 1 = Not well – 5 = Extremely well

1 3 6

How well do you communicate with your managers 1 = Not well – 5 = Extremely well

5 3 2

Do you think the communication techniques used at IGA are effective 1= Not effective – 5 Very effective

8 2

How do you communicate with your fellow employees

Circle the relevant communication tools and number from 1 being most used to 6 being least used

Facebook SMS Face to Face Email Phone call Blogs

3 5 9

What percent of customers understand and use the community benefit card.

80%

Do you regularly serve people that you know personally Yes No (all said no as its not allowed)

What percentage of customers are normally up to date with the weekly specials

60%-70%

Are you regularly consulted on ways to improve communication between front line staff and management? 1 = Never – 5= Very Frequently

7 3

How loyal are you as a customer to IGA in your personal shopping? 1= Not loyal at all – 5= Very frequently

1 2 7

         

Employee  Survey  

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Transcript  of  interview    Website,  PR  Agencies,  Press  Releases,  advertising  (tv,  local  paper)    

• how past communications were handled? Past communications were done internally. Local store managers were responsible for their own communications to the public and coordinating their own marketing strategies. However, this did not meet the desired results as often the strategies would not be consistent and the communications fragmented, with some managers communicating more than others.

• How do you inform the public about your business? What works? What doesn’t? We do it via pamphlets, postings on website, newspapers, press releases, advertising (TV, radio)

• Are your graphics coordinated and messages consistent? Yes. The company hires external graphics design company to manage all forms of communication design related activities (i.e. TV, newspaper, pamphlets and website)

• Who are your key audiences? What do they currently know about your business, service, product or organization? Being a supermarket there are no real key audiences. However, when Ritchies were a relatively smaller company they targeted more the older community by reason that those people in the demographic aged above 50 years of age tended to support Ritchies by reason of the Community Benefit Card. Currently, the community knows about Ritchies, our brand and the services we provide but don’t know a great deal about the organization specifically. This means many people find it hard to differentiate Ritchies to IGA, which is not in itself a problem due to the fact the companies are related, however when a person has a negative experience at IGA’s this is reflected on Ritchies. Particularly, as there was a study released by Channel 9 recently which said IGA’s are more expensive than Woolworths which obviously affects the Ritchies brand.

• What are your key communication messages? The key communication messages are low prices, high quality food and that your money goes back to the local community

• do you reach your audiences with the right messages? Hard to answer due to the recent dominance of Coles and Woolworths as the messages seem to be lost in all the current advertising by the big 2.

• What media coverage do you receive? Is it effective? What media opportunities are potentially missed? Media coverage is sporadic and hard to predict. At present media coverage is positive due to the fact the ACCC has come down hard on Woolworths and Coles due to their petrol scheme and their advertising. However, due to size advertising is often missed or not paid attention too. There could be more of a focus on identifying Coles/Woolworths as “the bad guys” and making Ritchies look more favorable due to their community work and the fact they reduce prices in the supermarket rather than in the petrol pump.

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• Do you successfully tell your story through communications? And how? Yes and no. Successfully in that when the message reaches people it resonates but hard to reach a broad range. We reach it through press releases, advertising and in store promotion.

• Need and want to know about how consumers prefer to be reached? Consumers tend to want to be reached

• Strengths and weakness in current communications programs? Strengths in that messages seem to be well coordinated for a company of Ritchies size. Weakness is that too many opportunities are missed as no dedicated communications/marketing manager resides in Ritchies therefore there is scope to increase communications.

• What are potential opportunities for future communications? More influence on Ritchies independence and give back to community and casting Coles/Woolworths in more of a negative light

• What are your current goals and objectives for communications? Goals and objectives are to continue to try and push the “Community Benefits” message and to reach a broader demographic of people. I.e. younger people still tend to shop at big chain stores. Ritchies is also more popular in country Australia rather than suburban Australia which is another goal.

• How well is the current Communications Plan working? Okay. Again could be better with a dedicated team.

• Are your messages clear and consistent? Do you have a coordinated graphic identity? Yes as now communications are more consistent due to reduction in reliance of in-store advertising and independence of managers. However, as managers still have control of how their in-store promotions are managed and delivered there is real difficultly in ensuring the messages are consistent across the 80 grocery stores and 60 liquor stores due to diverse managers.

• Are you reaching key audiences with our messages and moving them to action? Yes – sign up community benefit card has increased over last quarter.

• What communications have been most effective? TV and radio – not newspaper and pamphlets as consumers are flooded with paper these days

• What do customers think of your communications? Hard to tell but okay.

• Do our communications support our overall strategic plan for our business or organization? Yes – but could improve to ensure we are aiming for more efficiency and higher profit

• What would make your communications more effective in the future? More of it and a dedicated team/manager who is able to broadcast the plan across the board to each store to follow