Whole Foods Partial Ethics

Whole Foods demonstrated questionable ethics by not properly training staff to label foods that are priced per pound, which resulted in price gouging. It was revealed by an investigation by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs that some items were priced over $4 more than the weight in the package dictated (Casey, 2015). This allegation against Whole Foods was revealed almost exactly a year after they faced punishment in California for similar mis-charging (Rylah, 2014). The article by Casey (2015) interviewed an employee who said that this scandal was a result of the company eliminating a position that was focused on checking scaled weights and relying on improperly trained part time employees to save on labor costs. The California investigation ended with a levy of fines totaling over $750,000, so it is questionable whether they saved that much in the end (Rylah, 2014).

Initially, after the NYC claims Whole Foods denied wrong doing and customers took to Facebook to complain (Peterson, 2015). Whole Foods already had a reputation for high prices that they justified with their commitment to organic and sustainable products and fair wages to farmers. However, they changed their tune a couple of days later and the CEO’s put an apology video on YouTube (Meyers, 2015). The apology received mixed reviews on social media, some accepted as sincere and some customers were still enraged as they were not seeing any direct refunds. In general, releasing one response and then changing your mind will decrease trust in the company. That is why Whole Foods had to commit to publish independent auditing and a review of new practices in 45 days in an attempt to earn back customers trust. This crisis is a clear result of putting profit over values and one that we see play out frequently in Corporate America. However, Whole Foods had placed itself on a pedestal of good values in order to charge more which meant they had farther to fall.

RFP Response Recommendations

A proposal needs to blend the skill of the agency creating the work and what the client is looking for. I think it is best to mimic the type of work you will be creating for the client. It is best to always include the logo of the client and your agency. I think another important consideration is including a table of contents and page numbers. There is almost no time where a black and white presentation with Times New Roman will be the most interesting. Of course, if that is what they specify in the RFP, you should follow that. Generally, the colors uses should be inspired by the website and logo of the client. Unless they are completely illegible, like Lemonlight Media I mentioned last week, uses yellow. Yellow font on a white background is hard to read and on black it is annoyingly bright, so use yellow highlights.

I found this article by Sanders (2014) to say exactly what I mean, “Before you even begin to analyze the RFP, study the prospect’s industry and brand.” He recommend to create a theme, and use it consistently throughout the proposal. Do not switch writers in the middle because the voice will be different. You want to fulfill their needs, even ones they haven’t asked for, because you should know the client’s pain. He also mentioned that people might not read the whole work. Always be brief and highlight the important information. Charts and numbers create interest and a break from reading long paragraphs. Should you always use landscape? No. It is hard to set hard and fast rules because your format should change to fit the client.

Technology has created a number of formats for sharing presentations. There is no reason to always go with a word document. Maybe experiment with creating a Prezi or Slideshare presentation because using cloud based resources ensure that they are always compatible with your clients technology (https://prezi.com/)( http://www.slideshare.net/). Microsoft PowerPoint has really lost its edge with these newer companies offering more updated looking presentations. If you are creating a presentation, you need to create a separate handout that has the full details. Assume that there will be people that miss the presentation but still need all the information.

Sanders, B. (2014, January 06). Winning RFP proposals: 10 rules. Retrieved from http://www.sandersconsulting.com/winning-the-rfp-process-10-rules/

Best daily reading

What do you read every day? A full newspaper? A section? I subscribe to so many email lists that I skim a lot and focus on a full story very little. I just got 2, 2! books out from the library because I have 3 weeks without class reading. I could ahead for my next classes but that is no fun!

Anyways these are my daily subscriptions-
Council on Foreign Relations
This newsletter very detailed, unbiased news on every corner of the globe everyday
Foreign Policy
Shorter, more editorialized style. I am honestly more likely to actually read through this everyday.
The Daily Skimm
This was made for us Millennials. A little bit of news of everything. More celebrity stuff than you need but hey that is good to know for small talk!
When I am taking public transportation, I love looking through the Washington Post Express. And then I get to play sudoku as long as I am sitting on the metro.
I have found myself on the Forbes and Inc websites all the time lately doing my research for class. I should subscribe to one of those for real. I love print and don't ever really want an e-reader. Give me nice glossy magazines and newprint fingers any day!

Edit- I forgot what inspired me to write this post! The Daily Muse. Articles like this one highlighted today make me more confident in my job search.

Any other suggestions for PR sites? I clearly haven't moved on from my IR only days.

North Face PR Study of Goals, Objectives, Strategies

The North Face is an outdoor equipment and apparel company. They make everything from winter boots and coats to tents and sleeping bags ("The North Face," n.d.). They have an active social media presence on the big three sites: Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. They also have a Pinterest, Google+,  and Instagram account. They market to outdoors sports people and team athletes. They use social media mainly as a medium to share photos of the great outdoors taken by people who are brand ambassadors.

The North Face was struggling financially when purchased by VF corporation in 2000, a company that also owns other outdoors brands such as Timberland and Jansport backpacks ("VF Corporation Is Set to Purchase North Face," 2000). They had already crossed into mainstream appeal as of 2005, as a news article about teenagers stealing the coats off people’s backs demonstrates ("Suspects Nabbed in Jacket, Car Robberies," 2005). They had grown significantly by 2010. A goal for North Face is to increase revenue and increase direct to consumer sales. They last shared their objective in 2010, and it was to increase to $3 billion in revenue by this year, 2015 (VF Corporation, 2010). As of 2014, they are currently generating approximately $2.3 billion a year in revenue (VF Corporation, 2015). At this point, an objective of increasing revenue by $700 million dollars in a year is not realistic.

The North Face products are available in their own retail stores which exist mostly in major cities around the US. They are also in outdoors shops such as EMS and REI where their products will be sitting next to competitor’s products like Columbia which might have a lower price. They also sell products online through their own website and through REI. Since they allow other stores to sell their goods at discount, reaching the consumer directly is a great benefit and can help raise revenue. In their 2010 goal-setting press release they noted “Currently accounting for 19% of global revenues, The North Face expects growth in its retail store base and e-commerce will drive its total global direct-to-consumer business to nearly 25% of revenues by 2015”(VF Corporation, 2010). They are on their way to meeting this objective as they increased direct-to-customer sales 30% in the fourth quarter of 2014 (VF Corporation, 2015).

The strategy is to demonstrate that their products are superior quality to their competitors. In order to do this, their tactic is to is to create the best products, so they invest in research and development to have products with innovative uses (Arcieri, 2015). Their PR strategy is to appeal to outdoorsy types with a social media presence that reflects people using their products in real adventures. Their tactic is to show that real athletes who use their products for training and in competitions are successful. By having a successful public relations strategy, they can link people directly to their website for purchases. An inspired individual might not seek out other sources to buy the product.

            The reason that North Face takes this strategy of focusing on one specific type of customer is that this is working for them. They currently capture about 33% of the outdoor apparel market (Moore, 2015). Their casual customer that only buys a coat may not even know the origins of the brand or the variety of products they make. They do appeal to city folks in ads such as this one with a cab taking random New York City dwellers on adventure, which can help expand their audience (The North Face, 2015). A city dweller might not have a need for a tent, so they must continue to appeal to true outdoorsmen and women who can benefit from their full line of products. A customer who needs a pack, tent, gear, and shoes will spend more than someone just buying a coat every 3 years. This customer has more brand value, and is the one that needs to be reached and converted to a loyalist.  

The article by Moore (2015) states that the North Face is a brand leader by sticking to the origin story. They do not dilute the image of the brand or the quality of the products to reach a more general market. Instead they stick to the script. However, the article by Arcieri (2013) challenges this assumption, saying that hardcore enthusiasts are questioning the North Face’s commitment to technical quality. It is hard to argue with the numbers. Compared to REI, they have similar revenue amounts despite REI having a much wider product line and more retail locations (Vanderpool, 2015).

References

Arcieri, K. (2015, August 23). Is The North Face slipping for VF Corp.? Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/2013/08/is-north-face-slipping-for-vf-corp.html

Moore, F. (2015, February 17). North Face – The pinnacle of a brand. Retrieved from http://bigriveradvertising.com/blogs/fredmoore/2015/02/17/north-face-the-pinnacle-of-a-brand/

The North Face. (2014, December 3). The North Face: See for Yourself Cab [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUo6GwEw_Bw&list=PLb8M2N__cpL-2-V7MSmqdp9nEYqC85Nqw

The North Face. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2015, from https://www.thenorthface.com/

Suspects nabbed in jacket, car robberies. (2005, February 14). Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/feb/14/20050214-104619-4377r/

Vanderpool, V. (2015, March 23). REI revenue hits all-time high in 2014. Retrieved from http://www.bicycleretailer.com/retail-news/2015/03/23/rei-revenue-hits-all-time-high-2014#.VWtV-0_BzGc

VF Corporation. (2010, December 15). VF Corporation's The North Face(R) brand: Geared for growth [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.vfc.com/news/press-releases?nws_id=9777F06A-7746-000A-E043-A740E3EA000A¤t_page=1&strKeyWords=North%20Face

VF Corporation. (2015, February 13). VF reports 2014 fourth quarter and full year results; Announces outlook for 2015 [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.vfc.com/news/press-releases?nws_id=0EF80514-889E-6030-E053-A740E3EA6030

VF Corporation is set to purchase North Face. (2000, April 08). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/08/business/company-news-vf-corporation-is-set-to-purchase-north-face.html

Pretend Toyota Product Announcement

Dear Team Members,

I have a quick message for you today about our newest product innovation. We are starting our journey to be the first automotive manufacturer to produce an alternative fuel truck. This will be called the Tonenergi project. We will be starting with the smaller Tacoma/Hilux frame with hopes of producing an engine capable of powering the Tundra and commercial vehicles while meeting our current towing capacity limits. We will be watching the market launch of the new Hybrid Rav4 for sales cues about how to reach our largest truck market, Americans. We are also considering the price point for the future truck. The Mirai fuel cell vehicle currently has a very high price tag ("Toyota Mirai," n.d.). The evolution of more hydrogen vehicles will lower the cost of parts and production and make them all more accessible. Our current Prius technology is aging and begging for future innovation. The battery market is rapidly evolving so there are many options for how to power this truck ("Powering the Future," n.d.).

This will revolutionize shipping all around the world. Farmers will no longer have to worry about the environmental effects that getting their produce to market will have on their future. Families going into the great outdoors can be assured that they are depleting their children's access to beautiful parks. Construction workers can get to their job sites with less waste and keep more money in their pocket.  With the growth of online shopping and the rise of corporate responsibility, we can expect commitment from major firms to purchase fleets of green vehicles.

We are pursuing this ambitious goal because of the possibility of a future without oil. With our strong commitment to kaizen we will start working to increase efficiency now, so that Toyota can be prepared for that future (Barabba, 2007). With our long history of building ever improving small trucks, we feel we are in the perfect position to put this vehicle on the market. Our commitment to our global vision includes developing the vehicles that will make society less carbon dependent  ("Quality Durability Reliability," n.d.).

This will mean a shift in certain research and development dollars. We will be working with both the current hybrid and fuel cell development groups. There will be a competition between both groups to see which can produce a more efficient engine that will meet our power requirements. To meet our commitment to American-made trucks for the American market, we will move production of the chosen engine to our Texas plant. This will be a big shift for some of us. We have not worked with American engineers enough and this will provide excellent opportunities for growth and innovation. We have previously expanded production of vehicles to overseas plants with great success and we expect to have the same results with this new challenge (Mueller, 2004).

We fully expect that this new truck will meet all of Toyota’s Quality, Reliability and Durability standards. Thus, while the challenge will start with input from the alternative energy teams we will also need to set up the Tonenergi as a whole new truck.

In response to this change, I will expect A3’s from all research department heads within a month (Shook, 2009). The competition for engine design will have 6 months to make all calculations and provide the Tonenergi development department with production ready models in a year. We hope that this research will provide us with more than just the answer to get one truck to market. Hopefully this will spur a new research team which can start a marketplace revolution. By being the first to innovate, Toyota will secure its place in the future.

References

Barabba, V. P. (2007). The Toyota innovation model. Strategy & Leadership, 35(4).

Mueller, U. (2004). Toyota expands export strategy. Automotive News, 79(6112), 30. doi:219363019

Powering the future. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.toyota-global.com/innovation/environmental_technology/fuelcell_vehicle/

Quality Durability Reliability. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.toyota-global.com/innovation/quality/

Shook, J. (2009). Toyota's secret: The A3 report. MIT Sloan Management Review, 50(4). Retrieved from http://sloanreview.mit.edu/

Toyota Mirai. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://www.toyota.com/fuelcell/

Media & Policy Change

This video is about a high school group trying to raise awareness of students’ view on education funding. They are appearing on a local news segment to share how they are disseminating this information ("Pittsburgh Students Use Media to Advocate for Change," 2012). From this video, it seems like they developed only 2 media campaigns: a commercial and a billboard. The effectiveness of the billboard depends on many factors that were not addressed. The message, “Cutting our funding is cutting our future.” is quite memorable. People generally are not opposed to funding schools.  Voters realize that education is an important public good that the government is supposed to provide. That is why the debate over charter schools and voucher programs are so loud and still ongoing. This billboard alone will not change many minds. In fact, it’s difficult to determine both what action it is trying to encourage and whether the intended audience is politicians or voters. They need a link to a website with more information on the billboard. Just one billboard in one part of town won’t reach very many people. This billboard leaves people with questions, rather than answers, leaving them unmotivated to advocate for the policy change.

One of the students said they went and met with Board of Education members. This is an excellent avenue for advocacy. Politicians can’t ignore you if you are in a private meeting with them. I couldn’t help but notice while watching how much these students need help developing their public speaking skills. Fortunately this is a skill that develops over time and they are clearly getting the practice they need. Despite being in a media advocacy club, they aren’t very verbose yet. Focusing on developing media advocacy skills without developing speaking skills is not effective.

In other context, media can be an excellent way to advocate for policy change. This avenue has been used since President Theodore Roosevelt used the media as a bully pulpit ("American President: A Reference Resource," n.d.). Media should start with a real life event and use the media coverage of that event. I have participated in public advocacy since college. After many many years of failure we successfully updated the New York State bottle bill ("NYPIRG ... Bottle Bill," n.d.) We combined actual events like clean-ups and meeting with representatives with media.

If media didn’t work alongside advocacy, the Koch brothers wouldn't spend so much money working to change public opinion about public lands, or the many other places they dip their hands ("State Efforts ... Koch-fueled ALEC," 2013). Media campaigns to change deeply entrenched public opinion must be larger than one where there is already general support, like we had for the bottle bill. Every big lobby uses the media to advocate for change. That is why there is an entire field of public opinion. People are the voters at the end of the day and they are necessary to see policy change.

Public opinion is heavily influenced by media. What we see in the news influences how we think. What stories they choose to run changes what we talk about with our peers. In order to get traction we need to get people to communicate. Lobbying groups use the media to share their topics. This is a departure from the old gatekeeper role of the media as they are now more of the exploited worker. Living in Washington DC, you can see how directly lobbyists use media. There are billboards for defense companies in the metro stations and the newspapers. You won’t see these ads in your local paper because they are directly targeting a specific audience.

Social media is also an important avenue that can be used to advocate for policy change. Since the audience is so large and so active, you aren't as ‘in control’ of the message as you are with traditional media. However, it can be much less expensive to get the exposure you need for your message. Social media can go viral and have a much larger impact. Using social media, you can get people to go do something that has an actual impact on policy change, like writing to their representatives. The actual link between creating public awareness and support and getting a policy change put into action is not always clear. A recent story from New Hampshire really illustrates this point. A group of 4th grade children worked on their civics lesson by having a bill introduced to name an official state raptor (Stern, 5014). They went to watch as it was voted on by the full House after successfully getting out of committee. There was more intense debate and opposition than the teacher had probably anticipated and the bill ending up failing.

In conclusion, there are many great reasons to use media to advocate for policy change. And there are many different approaches to using media for this end. But the students campaign in Pittsburgh isn’t focused on results enough that it will be very successful in doing anything beyond getting some people to think for a couple of seconds.

Pittsburgh students use media to advocate for change [Television series episode]. (2012). In Our regions business. Pittsburgh, PA: WPXI-TV. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1vyskFWjtI

Leader vs Manager

Explain how a person can be both a leader and manager, why communicating a clear vision is important for communication leaders, and how fear and power are interconnected in leadership communication.

I have learned much from reading Denning (2007) and Black (2007) and considering how what they said related to my personal experience. From this I have developed my own definitions of a leader and a manager. A person can be either a leader or a manager or, rarely and in the best situations, they are both. A leader is someone who inspires their co-workers. A manager is someone who drives coworkers and enforces established rules without question. A leader works for change and believes that it can always be better. A manager just maintains the status quo. A leader seeks approval from coworkers and helps and support them.

A person who is a leader but not yet a manager has to be able to convince a higher up to promote them. This should be easy if you have a clear vision. A clear vision is important because without it you are just a manager. Without clarity, you will not be able to achieve the goal. It is easier to get buy in, or support from your coworkers, if you can articulate why it benefits them (Denning, 2007).

What Cathie Black (2007) implies is that a good leader uses their own personal fear as motivation to reach their vision. A bad leader uses the fear of their co-workers to force them to work towards the leaders vision. Good leadership means inspiring others to use their power toward a shared vision.