Page 3

Alyssa Townsend7 December 2012Public Relations final projectJ.R. Simplot Company community relations campaignSituational Analysis:Mission:The J.R. Simplot Company is one of the nations largest privately owned food and agribusiness companies. Simplot produces frozen potatoes, frozen vegetables, fertilizers, seeds, agriculture services and beef cattle. The company started in 1923 in Boise, Idaho as just a one-man operation and grew to the agricultural empire it is today. Simplot has kept its headquarters in Boise since the beginning and remains nestled in the heart of Treasure Valley. Simplot is also located all over the world, including a thriving branch in Australia. The Simplot Company utilizes its large phosphate reserves and large pieces of land to produce vegetables, cattle, and other agriculture by-products. The company prides itself its use of experimental farming techniques.The Simplot Company, although large, is still very family oriented with four Simplot family members on the executive committee for the board of directors so that they can continue to serve J.R. Simplots mission of Bringing Earths Resources to Life.The Simplot Company is most widely known for its role in providing approximately half of all of McDonalds fries. J.R. Simplot was able to make this deal with McDonalds after being the first person to create commercially sold frozen french fries in the 1940s (About Simplot, J.R. Simplot Company website). Simplot Company also provides frozen french fries to other fast food chains like Burger King and Wendys. The Simplot Company mostly sells its products to be resold by vendors, but also does a few wholesale items. Many attribute Idahos potato fame to The Simplot Company. While Simplot is an international company with branches specializing in a wide variety of goods and services, it still remains the privately family held company that it started as. Even though not every employee is in the actual Simplot family, the company likes to keep and portray the family oriented image. The families of employees are our families; the communities the Company works in are our communities. Were all connected, were all responsible (About Simplot, J.R. Simplot Company website). External Environment:Weather is an extremely important external factor because it determines if the crops will thrive or die. On top of that, Simplots competitors present a large external factor. A lot of smaller farmers produce the same product and some people prefer helping an individual out rather than a whole company. Since the community values small farmers, this is can be a big economic and community factor. Large agribusinesses, like Simplot, have a bad reputation for how they treat livestock. The media has recently exposed a lot of information about how unhealthy some of our food is that comes from large agribusinesses. Morgan Spurlocks movie Super-Size Me and a collection of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) videos were just the beginning, it exposed the general public to how some companies mistreat and neglect their livestock. This has become a huge characteristic of the agribusiness industry; the publics negative outlook on this industry could really affect Simplots support in the Treasure Valley community it resides in. This is a social external environment factor because this stigma will continue to exist with or without Simplot; the company will be attached to this stereotype without even doing anything wrong. Business Analysis:Simplots competitors are other vertical integrated agricultural business like Cargrill, Incorporation, Golden State Foods Corp., and McCain Foods Limited. Although agribusiness is an extremely competitive field, Simplots innovative farming techniques and world-wide operations puts it at the head of the pack. Both a threat and opportunity for success is Simplots partnership with McDonalds. This partnership is a threat because other food vendors, especially health conscious ones, may view Simplots practices to be unhealthy just because of the partnership. McDonalds unhealthy image may fall onto Simplots shoulders. It is also an opportunity for success because McDonalds is very large and successful. For Simplot to serve McDonalds, it shows that the company has the capacity to produce fast and efficiently. Simplot is not trying to cut ties with McDonalds, but rather help to reinforce the companys commitment to healthy lifestyle values. The relevant strengths of the company are its well-known name and large production capability. The companys internal resources are its very specialized employees and large workforce. In the past decade Simplot has become less involved in the Treasure Valley area in Idaho. The scholarship program hasnt been as active and the company no longer partners with many advocacy or philanthropic organization as they used to. Many residents in the Treasure Valley noticed that Simplot was separating itself from the community; as a result a negative image toward the company was beginning to form. Simplot recognized this discrepancy and acted quickly to rectify the issue. While the scholarship programs and philanthropies are back in use, the community is still unaware of the steps forward that Simplot has taken to improve their community relation. A person really has to search on the company website to find out how Simplots philanthropic improvements. This information is not easily found and is not being put in multiple media outlets, so the general public still hasnt changed their opinion towards Simplot. The Treasure Valley residents have been informed of Simplots new sustainable practices, scholarship, internships, or philanthropic endeavors. The next step for Simplot will be a community relations campaign targeting the Treasure Valley residents. Located in the Southwestern portion of Idaho, the Treasure Valley is the most populated area of the state. The Treasure Valley has a population of approximately 600,000 makes up for about 36% of the Idahos population (Idaho Department of Health & Welfare website). Despite its comparatively higher population, the Treasure Valley still preserves its agriculture and rural roots. Almost 47% of the Treasure Valleys 1,644 square miles are designated as farmland (Idaho Dept. of Commerce website). These Treasure Valley residents value the environmental consciousness and economic stability. In todays tough economy the residents of this area really value job stability. Since Idaho is a very rural state in general, the public really fights to keep agriculture and framing practices in the area while trying to keep big businesses out of the equation. The residents lack of awareness of Simplots interest in the community is a huge threat to the company. The Plan:Goal:The companys new public relations goal is to improve relations with the Treasure Valley residents. Hopefully by doing this the Simplot employees will gain a greater sense of pride for the organization they work for. In doing so, this goal will hopefully increase morale and productivity. Also, this goal aims to make the Treasure Valley residents ambassadors for the company. We want these residents to become ambassadors for the rest of Idaho. In essence Simplot will be indirectly saying, We have a relations problem and need your help. This is a community relations and impression management goal. Since Simplot is a very large and lucrative company, money restrictions are not as tight as would be for a small business. Objective 1:Both objectives to achieve this goal are informative. The first objective is to increase awareness among 300,000 Treasure Valley residents of Simplot's commitment to the community. This will be done through situational theory, which describes that members of each public have different levels of interest or involvement. In this instance, situational theory would help explain how important the companys philanthropy really is to the Treasure Valley. The first step in this theory is helping the residents recognize that Simplot has a community relations problem. This has already been established and is the whole reason this PR campaign is being created. After talking with a few Treasure Valley residents who are between the ages of 50 -65, so they have seen the Simplot company through many different stages, they all used the word selfish to describe the company. The second step is making the residents care about this issue. This is easily done because the whole plan is about helping make their home in the Treasure Valley a better place for their family to live in. There is a very personal emotional attachment to the area in which a person lives and raises a family, so making the residents care about the well-being of the community is already established. The third step is proving that the residents can do something to help. This will happen by Simplot asking the residents to not only listen to what the company has to say but also change their opinion on the company. This will hopefully lead the residents to be ambassadors and spread the word about Simplots humanities. We are giving them the chance to actively think and contribute to the PR plan. Strategy 1:On strategy is to use public speaking and social media to educate the public on Simplots philanthropies. Tactic 1:A tactic to accomplish this would be to speak at a high school scholarship assembly to inform upperclassmen in high school and their parents about the Simplot scholarship and internship opportunities. While the scholarships have always been active, they havent been well advertised or promoted in the past year so very few students that will soon be graduating know about these opportunities. Since all high schools already have scholarship assemblies in place, this a cost and time effective way to inform some of the target audience not only on the scholarship and internships but also on the Simplot company in general. The first scholarship assembly speech will be at one of the bigger high schools in a Boise, Idaho, like Boise High, Bishop Kelly High School, or Centennial High School. The chosen high school will then hopefully inform other high schools in the area about Simplots scholastic generosity and in doing so this will hopefully get the company invited to speak at other scholarship assemblies. This will be using the educational system to widely spread information about Simplot scholarships and internships. This tactic will be evaluated by having a representative of Simplot talk to all of the Treasure Valley high schools counselors. High school counselors are very knowledgeable on competitive scholarships; they are the first people to expose students to scholarship opportunities after the scholarship assembly. Interviewing the counselors will gain crucial insight on how parents and students are viewing the Simplot scholarships. This will be a lot faster than interviewing thousands of parents and teenagers. Also, the counselors may have good insight on how to improve the scholarship overall. By creating a personal relationship with the counselors, they may be more likely to get the students to apply for the Simplot scholarship. This evaluation gathers great information and also sets up a relationship that Simplot can then use to further community relations in the future. Tactic 2:Another tactic to accomplish the strategy would be use Facebook and Twitter to post updates and pictures about Simplot executives and employees doing their community service projects. Showing these actions actually being done will speak louder than just words in a press release. By exposing Simplots philanthropic side in a very open medium like social networks, we are hoping to remind the Treasure Valley residents of all the good Simplot is doing. Also, Facebook and Twitter will be used to post scholarship application links and the results of who won the scholarship. The social networks will help Simplot be more personable by adding actual faces to the good work being done, whether that be an executives doing a community service project and an outstanding teen from the community winning a scholarship for college. By making these programs more personal, accessible, and tangible we are helping uncover Simplot as the community involved company that it really is. At the end of the scholarship application, a small questionnaire asking where the applicant found the scholarship will help gather information. If a lot of applicants say they found the application on social networking pages then we will know that this particular tactic is useful. Also, it is important to see if the Simplot posts and pictures on social networking pages are getting more positive responses. If the number of positive responses is more than originally, then using social media to inform the target audience is working. Strategy 2:Another strategy to accomplish the first objective is to use mass media and controlled media to inform people on Simplots new and continually improving sustainable practices. Tactic 1:The first tactic would be to create a media relations campaign, including quarterly press releases, on Simplots sustainability. This would also include making the sustainable tab on the company website easier to find and more aesthetically pleasing, with link to articles and features about Simplot. This media relations campaign would be pitched to Idaho media located in the Treasure Valley area. This would include newspapers like Idaho Press-Tribune, Idaho Statesman, Boise Weekly, and Idaho Business Review. The Idaho Press-Tribune and Idaho Statesman are the two largest newspapers in the state; they are also the only state-wide papers. By using these newspapers the press release will get the most visibility in the Treasure Valley area as well as in the rest of Idaho. The information about Simplots sustainability will also be pitched to the states largest television news stations, all of which are located in the Treasure Valley. This would include KBOI2 News, KTVB News, and KIVI TV. This tactic can be evaluated by observing how many more stories and articles that end up in the newspapers and news channels, the better the tactic is working. If none of the newspapers and news channels are actually using the information on Simplot that we are giving out, then it is important to try and make it more interesting. It is important to use news values to pitch the stories to media outlets. Tactic 2:Another tactic would be to create a short video on Simplots sustainable practices at work that would be displayed on the company website, YouTube, and also linked on social networking sites. This would help expose the sustainable practices to people that dont necessarily like to read the newspaper or use other news-like mediums to get their information. This may include the young adult demographic of ages 17-24. That way both tactics would help reach more of the target audience. The short video would have footage of things like Simplots solar panels that give power to approximately 6,000 homes. Also, include an employee reciting J.R. Simplots quote, When our children grow up, the world will look different than it does today. Simplot will be even more challenged to feed more people using less acreage, less water, and less energy. Whether we are feeding livestock, improving agriculture, or delivering our food products are the world, our efforts will be bigger than the challenges we face. Using the companys founder J.R. Simplot positions a historically respected member of the community and opinion leader as the face of the companys sustainable efforts. Although almost no one in the living generations knows J.R. Simplot personally he is still a well-known name in the community. By using numbers, visuals, employee endorsements and images of real people, the video will actually show that Simplot is doing what they claim to do. The sustainability will become real and not just words on a page. Seeing how many people actually watch the video will help evaluate if it is being placed in the correct online area and if the message is being heard. YouTube records how many people watch videos and where there account originates, this information can be used to evaluate the videos effectiveness. Objective 2:The second objective is to increase awareness among 300,000 of the Treasure Valley residents of Simplots family and traditional values. We will use framing theory to accomplish this because we will be emphasizing the caring and family side of the company. Framing theory suggest that through the selection of facts to report, themes to emphasize, sources to interview and word choices PR practitioners can frame what the importance of the story is for the media We frame company to seem like relatable small farmers that are just trying to make a living for their family, and not use any images that shows the company as the huge profitable agribusiness that it also is. We will frame the company to seem more like individuals instead of one combined company entity. Strategy 1:The first strategy would be to use controlled media to inform the public about Simplots values. Tactic 1:A tactic would be to approach McDonalds and ask to be featured in one of their farmer ad campaign. McDonalds launched its new ad campaign on January 2nd to highlight the quality of ingredients used in McDonalds restaurants. All of the ads so far have featured four farmers that produce potatoes, lettuce, and beef for McDonalds. Since Simplot is similar to this example and supplies large quantities of goods for McDonalds it only makes sense that the company is featured as well. These ads connect consumes with the origins of the food they eat. McDonalds spokesman, Danya Proud, says the ads tell the story of where the journey begins for McDonalds food. It should come as no surprise that we have struggled with perception about what our food is and where our food comes from for many years, she says. This campaign really showcases the hardworking farmers and ranchers who not only share, but uphold McDonalds mission and standards to deliver safe, high quality food to our consumers (Grebner). The featured farmers describe their family, land, and dedication to quality food. Images with healthy livestock, spacious green fields of crops and livestock, and smiling farmers with their families will be emphasized. This video will help keep Simplot tied to one of the companys biggest customers, McDonalds, and also help fight the big agribusiness and food company controversies. This ad would be a type of a corporate advocacy advertisement. Since we are approaching McDonalds and asking for their assistance, cost would be low and dispersal of the ad would go nation-wide. Tactic 2:Another tactic would be to create a new tab on the company website to expose the Simplot employees and family member executives to the general public. This tab would include bios and fun facts in order to make the employees and executives seem approachable. This reestablishes the family oriented image that many Treasure Valley residents have forgotten. The residents are just seeing a huge company, but not the individuals within it. This helps frame the company to appeal to the average person; they are just like me mentality will help create relationships between the target audience and the company. This is also considered an advertising persuasion technique called the plain folks appeal. The websites tab will include statistical information about how many Treasure Valley residents and Idaho residents that Simplot employees. Since one of the main values of the Treasure Valley is job stability, the employment information would be very useful for the residents to know. This will also reinforce the idea that Simplot really cares about the community. Strategy 2:The second strategy is to use social media to improve and create new two-way communication channels. Hopefully this will encourage feedback that can be used to better improve the company in general. Tactic 1:The first tactic is to use Facebook and Twitter to emphasize that Simplot values the health of everyone in the Treasure Valley area, including employees and consumers. This will be done by posting articles, photos, and general information about what foods are in season. A recent fad has begun, in which people are very interested about where their food comes and how organic it is. By giving out this information, Simplot is showing it cares about providing quality foods. As previously mentioned, the residents of the Treasure Valley value farming in the area, so they will also value that information about seasonal food is now easily accessed online. Tactic 2: Another tactic is to use Facebook to write short updates with photos on what the Simplot family members and employees are doing currently; personal achievements and humanitarian stories will be featured. Twitter will be used similarly to Facebook. Search optimization will be used when tweeting about the executives and employees accomplishments and interests. For example, say one of the Simplot head farmers won a grant to research different irrigation techniques, the tweet will include the hash tags: #Simplot #farming #irrigation #grant. This will link other Tweeters who are interested in farming to this tweet, then the employee and finally the company. Ultimately, if someone looks up Simplot on Twitter he/she will be linked through the Simplot hash tag to more personal tweets about the individual family members. By making Simplot seem more individual and personal it will encourage communication to and from the company. Putting individual faces on the company will make residents feel more comfortable and confident in providing feedback that they know will actually be heard, evaluated, and put into action. Evaluation:All of the evaluations will be done about year from now, Jan. 2013, when all of the scholarships have been awarded and enough time has passed to prove that Simplot will be continually committed to the Treasure Valley community. This needs to be a plan that is always continually being enhanced and ongoing to prove that Simplot is actually improving its relationships. One of the main reasons to improve community relations was to make employees feel more pride towards the company they work for. To evaluate this overarching goal, an employee survey would be crucial. It would be a required survey for employees to fill out. The survey would be sent in an email and only be sent to the Simplot employees who work at the company headquarters and other Treasure Valley offices. Another overall plan evaluation will be to monitor social networking pages. Compare how many new comments, likes, favorites and retweets are used after the plan is completed. The amount of positive feedback will show if the plan is working. This will also help track of how many new ambassadors are positively talking about Simplot now.

WORKS CITEDGrebner, Meghan New ad campaign highlights producers. Brownfield Ag News. Brownfield Ag News, 3 January 2012. Web. 2 December 2012. http://brownfieldagnews.com/2012/01/03/new-ad-campaign-highlights-producers/

Idaho Department of Commerce. Idaho Department of Commerce, 2012. Web. 2 December 2012. http://commerce.idaho.gov/

Idaho Department of Health & Welfare. Idaho Department of Health & Welfare, 2012. Web. 2 December 2012. http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/The J.R. Simplot Company. Sustainability, 2012. Web. 2 December 2012. http://www.simplot.com/sustainability

The J.R. Simplot Company. About Simplot, 2012. Web. 2 December 2012. http://www.simplot.com/about

McDonald's Beef Supplier, Steve Foglesong: Raising Cattle and a Family. Youtube. McDonalds, n.d. Web. 2 December 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8sjPnAYwdNI

Proud of our suppliers. Youtube. McDonalds, n.d. Web. 2 December 2012 http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFCF00D02CEEFC42C