strat comm

Question 1

What is strategic communication?

Answer 1

Strategic communication is the practice of deliberate and purposive communication that a communication agent enacts in the public sphere on behalf of a communicative entity to reach set goals. In Layman’s terms, not all communication is strategic communication.

Question 2

What does strategic communication involve?

Answer 2

Strategic communication involves a strategy, specific messages for specific outcomes, and must happen in the public sphere

Question 3

How do you accomplish strategic communication?

Answer 3

Through various disciplines of strategic communication

Question 4

What are Various disciplines of strategic communication?

Answer 4

Throughout this emerging and constantly growing field, this can be accomplished by a various of disciplines through advertising, public relations, and integrated marketing communication.

Question 5

What are the three levels of analysis?

Answer 5

Meso, macro, micro.

Question 6

What is the meso level?

Answer 6

The meso level is the organizational environment, where strategic planning occurs.

Question 7

What is the macro level?

Answer 7

The macro level is the external environment-societal, political, cultural often overlapping where a communication problem or project exist.

Question 8

What is the micro level?

Answer 8

The micro level is the communication level, where tactics are implemented, messages are encoded / decoded, and research is conducted on how stakeholders process information.

Question 9

What are the two approaches in strategic communication?

Answer 9

Inside out and outside in

Question 10

What is the inside-out approach?

Answer 10

The inside-out is the traditional approach focuses on the organization and leaderships set goal of a project. Beginning with the question “what do want from our stakeholders?”

Question 11

What is the outside-in approach?

Answer 11

The “outside-in” approach focuses on the question “what do our/my stakeholders want from us?” This approach is often used by politicians based on their stakeholders beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. The messages are developed based on their needs and desires, referring to message framing.

Question 12

What are the key elements of a successful strategic communications campaign

Answer 12

The three key elements of a successful strategic communication campaign are foundation, application, and implementation. Each element has a unique purpose and focus, but each serves as building blocks in order to have a successful campaign.

Question 13

What is the first stage in the strategic communications campaigning process?

Answer 13

The foundation

Question 14

What are the three main components of the foundation stage?

Answer 14

The three main components to consider when establishing a strong strategic plan: vision, mission, and values.

Question 15

What is the purpose of the vision component in the foundation stage?

Answer 15

The vision statement places a heavy emphasis on aspirational goals that are future oriented.

Question 16

What is the purpose of the mission component in the foundation stage?

Answer 16

This transitions into a mission focus which articulates how the vision will be accomplished, what is the purpose, and why is it happening.

Question 17

What is the purpose of the values component in the foundation stage?

Answer 17

The foundation stage is built on values, values that lay the groundwork for the vision and the mission. Values support the organization and are the core values of the organization. Each component is essential for the foundation to be strong for the rest of the strategy.

Question 18

What is the second stage of the strategic communications planning process?

Answer 18

The application stage

Question 19

What is the first step of the application stage

Answer 19

Problem statement

Question 20

What is the application stage of the strategic communication planning process?

Answer 20

The stage aims to determine, what challenges could the campaign face, what hurdles would need to be overcome, identify problems, nd objective settings in order to accomplish the goals set out in the mission statement.

Question 21

What is a key part of the application phase?

Answer 21

This is accomplished through SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats).

Question 22

Why is SWOT important?

Answer 22

When the SWOT analysis is conducted, which tells the communicative entity’s strengths and weaknesses, which are internal, and its opportunities and threats, which are external.

Question 23

What is important about objectives?

Answer 23

The objectives must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. The strategies are then written to explain how the objectives will be accomplished. the goal is for the objective(s) to negate the problem.

Question 24

What is the third and final stage of the strategic communications process?

Answer 24

The implementation stage

Question 25

What are steps of the implementation stage?

Answer 25

Step 1. Research: You will learn how to conduct scientific research to understand your stakeholders, their attitudes and knowledge (Chapter 6).
* Primary and secondary research

Step 2. Stakeholder segmentation: Research will enable you to determine the groups of people you need to target with your communication strategy (Chapter 8).
* These stakeholders can be internal, such as employees, donors or a board of trustees, or they can be external, or outside of the communicative entity, stakeholder interest, research, actions,

Step 3. Message strategy: Research will guide you to understand what your stakeholders know, what they believe and how they act. This will allow you to design messages aimed at getting specific outcomes in your communication strategy (Chapter 11).
* Each message can be different for different audiences.

Step 4. Tactics: Tactics are the specific ways you wish to convey your messages. This would include the full range of communication techniques at your disposal, from media to other forms of communication (Chapters 9 and 10 among others).
* strategies are achieved, such as through television advertisements, Instagram stories, long-form video on Facebook and YouTube, promotional programs, Google advertisements, YouTube or Facebook advertisements, billboard advertisements, blogs on the website, etc

Step 5. Timeline: In the timeline you break down when you wish to execute your specific tactics. The typical timeline for a communication strategy is three years with annual review and revision. It can be shorter, for instance one year in a political campaign that has a very specific deadline, such as an election or the promotion of new policy (Chapter 13).

Step 6. Budget: Although not all tactics cost money, buying media or producing media content can be extremely expensive. The budget for executing your strategy should be well-planned and included in your departmental or agency budget. Agencies are often expected to make big investments in campaign development before clients reimburse them (Chapter 13).

Step 7. Human resources: This helps you to determine if a strategy can be executed in-house, if employees have the necessary skills, if you need to develop skills in certain employees, or need to make use of agency services or freelancers (Chapter 13).

Step 8. Measurable results: You need to provide evidence that your campaign will deliver the results you intended. You can use the results of your benchmark research to determine the results you want or other indirect measures such as other research conducted in organizations (Chapter 13).
* evaluating the success of the campaign include click-through rates on social media posts, the communicative entity’s website and any specific advertisements posted on Google, YouTube or social media. Another approach to evaluating the success of a campaign is analyzing whether or not the campaign resulted in a certain amount of revenue for the entity.

Question 26

examples of implementation stage

Answer 26

CROCS

Question 27

What are the four key media elements that should be utilized during a campaign?

Answer 27

paid, earned, shared, and owned. This is known as the PESO model

Question 28

What is Paid media?

Answer 28

Paid media is the most reliable form of strategic communications because it is guaranteed and the message is controlled, making this the most important form of media in strategic communications.

Question 29

What’s important about paid media?

Answer 29

Paid media is controllable

Question 30

Difference of paid media with traditional/new media?

Answer 30

Paid media is traditionally thought of as traditional advertising such as magazine ads, newspaper display ads, television and radio spots, billboards, and online advertising (digital display ads and paid search). The growth of social media has changed the landscape of paid media.

Question 31

Examples of Paid media?

Answer 31

Influencer marketing

Question 32

What is earned media?

Answer 32

Earned media is traditional PR. Through relationships with journalist that gains publicity
Earned media relies on a third-party to communicate the message to the stakeholders. The most common form of earned media is through public relations.

Question 33

What makes earned media important?

Answer 33

It comes from a 3rd party content who reaches stakeholders and serves as credible and trustworthy

Question 34

Examples of earned media?

Answer 34

Can be seen as a press release or news stories or even customer reviews

Question 35

Difference of earned media with traditional/new media?

Answer 35

Traditional – press releases, news stories new media and social media twitter trending –icebucket challenge 200 million challenges raising money

Question 36

What is Shared media?

Answer 36

Shared is similar to earned media, except shared media is the posting of a CE’s content by stakeholders (i.e., fans and followers) on social media. WOM

Question 37

What is important about shared media?

Answer 37

Like earned media, shared media is free and provides third-party credibility. However, the message in shared media is not controlled by the CE and therefore the message can be negative.

Question 38

Examples of shared media?

Answer 38

TACO Bell created a snapchat filter for Cinco de mayo gaining publicity, now they paid 700k for 24 hours for that filter, However the filter was used 224million times and which generated engagement helping brand increase and sales increase

Question 39

What is owned media?

Answer 39

Owned media refers to all the assets that the communicative entity owns and controls.

Question 40

What is important about shared media?

Answer 40

controllable

Question 41

Examples of ownedmedia?

Answer 41

Companies blogs, website, channels, platforms

Question 42

BP’s SWOT

Answer 42

strengths - history, geographic diversity, revenue, and portfolio
weaknesses - controversial oil leaks and safety precautions
opportunities - to expand to other geographic regions
threats - an uncontainable oil leak