Maisy Marsh

Assignment Three
Corporate communications is how a business keeps their message, with everybody. It isn't just how the company speaks to the marketplace, which is known as branding, or how the company deals with the media, which is called public relations. Corporate communications involves, the market, media, communities and the staff itself, through training sessions and messaging that always reinforces the mission and vision of the company. The worker in the department of corporate communication will often report directly to a company’s chief executive and serve as advisers in managing the company’s reputation. They help leaders prepare for media interviews, develop messages to deliver to investors and employees and suggest new initiatives to keep the company on cutting edge with the communication to their stakeholders.
MEDIA RELATIONS

This may be the function for which corporate communication managers will be best known for.
Media relations work includes many things such as writing and distributing new releases and responding to media inquiries. Corporate communications will be in charge of various news conferences, which may include selecting the site for an event, or preparing packets of information to distribute to the media and prepare executives to speak at these news conferences. Media relations also involves arranging for spokespersons to appear on local television and radio programs. Corporate communicators monitor newspapers, television news broadcasts and other outlets to see what the media is saying about the company and to devise strategies to address misinformation. PUBLIC RELATIONS

Building relationships with customers and responding to inquiries from the public fall under the public relations function of corporate communications. Duties in this area include producing newsletters, brochures and other printed materials designed for the general public. Corporate communicators also manage a company’s website and social media presence, which includes monitoring what customers and clients are saying about the company on social networking websites and responding to inaccurate posts or requests for information. Communication professionals may respond directly to calls and emails from customers or the public with questions about a company’s plans or activities. They arrange for speakers from the company to make presentations to local community groups and may facilitate group tours of a company’s operations.
I have chosen a company who I work for which is Marks and Spencer. Marks & Spencer (M&S) is one of the UK's largest, best-known retailers and their brand has been synonymous with reliability, value and quality for generations. Marks & Spencer has been viewed as setting the standards that other retailers have striven to match over the years and, until recently, was recognised as one of
Britain's best-managed companies with an enviable track record of successful growth and profits.
The company has consistently been rated as Britain's 'most favoured company' in surveys among business leaders. The name Marks & Spencer, like Harrods, had become a national icon for British business in terms of honourable trading and, in complex ways, had become a cultural icon representing all that was fairness and just about the British character. However, Marks & Spencer's position as the UK's most successful retailer suffered a serious dent as a result of a media-led crisis that was to shake customers, shareholders and general public confidence in the company which would have seemed impossible a few years ago. This decline in M&S's position was reflected in the market fall of its share price. They would need to ensure that had effective corporate communications to stop this drop from continuing and begin to build the companies name back up to the UK’s most successful retailer.
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Mission Statement
A mission statement is a businesses declaration of their organisations core purpose and a focus that will normally remain unchanged over time. They will serve as filters to separate what is important from what is not and clearly state which markets will be served and how, lastly communication a sense of intended direction to the entire organisation.
For example Marks and Spencer’s mission statement is “To be the standard against which others are measured, to make aspirational quality accessible to all and quality value, service, innovation and trust.” Marks and Spencer have used this mission statement to show that they are focused more on the quality of its products and service, rather than the value at which it is delivered. The word “value” is used in their mission statement, but the clever use of the word “quality” before it highlights that they would rather charge a slightly heavier price but with good quality than a cheapened, lesser quality product or service.
Due to them offering such high quality service and products marks and spencer have managed with the help of their mission statement they have managed to up their customer base due to the customer knowing they are getting quality products. Through this Marks and spencer have been able to rebrand themselves through fashion and target their consumers.
As profits fell and in no uncertain terms, academic and industrial journalists started to criticise the company's internal management such as its relations with suppliers and store operational policies and its external management in terms of customer and media relations. M&S realised that external perceptions of the organisations had to be brought closer to those perceptions held internally by the organisation itself and closer to the way management wished itself to be perceived by others. The rapidly changing consumer trends and marketplace reflect this, particularly in the non-food retail sector which has always tended to be viewed as cyclical, even though Marks & Spencer have not followed this trend. Marks & Spencer had relied for too long on the belief that its reputation for quality and value for money would insulate it from the fluctuations in consumer tastes and demand within the fashion sector and its management appeared to have overlooked the fact that many of its competitors had caught up and even overtaken Marks & Spencer in terms of the quality and value for money. As Marks & Spencer's performance began to falter, criticisms of its management's failure to move with the times and adapt to a changing retail environment began to gather pace. The company suddenly found itself under attack by the British media on a scale never previously experienced by the company. The obvious immediate reaction was for management to go on the defensive, but it was clear that M&S management had been stung into action and had recognised that something drastic needed to be done. Like many British retailers, M&S had to retain key elements of its traditions and culture which investors, employees and customers related to and identified with, while redefining corporate strategy to meet the expectations of critics and devotees alike. A public relations priority was identified in which the mission needed to be re-emphasised to clarify the kind of business M&S was now in, reflecting the modern nature of its traditional products and services, while articulating and correcting where necessary conflicting perceptions and misconceptions. 1 M&S had to create profit centres with simpler management structures, faster decision-making and distinct targets for shareholder value.
2 It had to change the way it bought goods both in the UK and overseas by giving its selling and marketing functions more say in what they had to offer.
3 It had to restore profitability overseas by reorganising its local business to serve local customers.
4 Finally, M&S had to build on the success of its financial services business.
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Marks and Spencer put in a system to show their customers that they were making plans for the future, such as Plan A which showed their customers that they were looking into environmental changes for the better and bring in more customers with the purpose of purchasing from Marks and
Spencer because they liked this new environmental side to the business. This brought in a lot more customers. 
How it can help the business with their corporate communications
A mission statement can help a businesses communications by gaining framework for furthering their evaluating opportunities and help the business decide whether they can fit the core business model and strategy. It can help a business define and establish their brand and help the employees focus their efforts and suggest ideas that can fit with what the business is trying to do.
It can also put into place the company direction, ensuring the teams in the business know why the company exists and how this makes the company successful. The mission statement can be seen as serving as a ‘North Star’ that keeps everyone clear on the direction of the business. This can then lead to the mission statement helping the employees focus on the company’s future. This is often known as the vision, which is different than the mission. The vision is about the future. The mission tells us what the business are doing at current time that will take the business where the want to go in the future.
It can provide a template for decision making. A clear mission sets important boundaries which will enable business owners to delegate both responsibility and authority. It is also known for forming the basis for alignment. So when a new employee is hired it is critical that the new employee knows what the company does and where the company is going. This mission statement forms the basis for alignment not only with the owner, but the entire team and organisation.
It welcomes helpful change. Many people are resistant to change because it causes us to feel insecure and sometimes out of control. However, if the mission is clear, then team members are
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more likely to see the value of the change and how it helps the organisation accomplish the mission.
This helps to create a culture that welcomes change when warranted.
It shapes strategy. Every business needs a strategy. With the help of a mission statement business can understand that strategies must not be created in a vacuum. It helps to show that instead of looking at what’s new or what competitors are doing and trying to copy them, wise business owners create the most effective strategies possible to accomplish the mission.
Lastly a mission statement can help a businesses communication through it facilitating evaluation and improvement. It has been said that “What you measure will be your mission.” If you have a clear, written statement of mission you will know exactly what to measure and how to measure it.
Clarity of mission brings clarity on every other level of the organisation.
How it could damage the businesses corporate communications
If they go against what they state they are going to do as a business. Mission statements often include a company's moral or social values and how it wants the public to view its operations. But if a company's mission statement is too grand and ambitious, it can harm its employees ability to meet stated goals. For example, a company that enters the marketplace with a mission statement of becoming a £200 billion company and the leading company of its kind worldwide in five years, may be too unrealistic and directly affect its employees morale when year after year, those grand ambitions go unmet. Though mission statements should be bold and strive to change the culture, creating realistic goals will motivate a company's workers far more than goals that are high-minded but not achievable.) This would then draw customers away from the company because they aren't achieving what they said they would do. Only those stakeholders who are interested in finding out the mission statement will actively take the time to find it. Many people would not bother to read this type of communication.
Logos
A Logo is a design symbolising ones organisation. It is a design that is used by an organisation for its letterhead, advertising material, and signs as an emblem by which the organisation can easily be recognised, also called logotype. Logotype is a graphic representation or symbol of a company name, trademark, abbreviation, etc., often uniquely designed for ready recognition. These days you also have to consider the reproduction cost. More detailed and colourful logo designs are harder to reproduce and they of course cost more. You also have to consider the size that your logo is going to be used at. The perfect logo design will look great on a sign board as well as on a business card or on a pen for example.
A logo is represented in every aspect of the businesses communication and is the basis of the brand, so getting it right is critical. Marks and spencer has a logo that is recognised world wide, it's the visual style of Marks and Spencer’s communication material that identifies the business and its personality. Corporate identity also helps determine the positioning of the business in the marketplace. Creating a positive, and memorable corporate identity can increase the value of the business and generate positive exposure for the business.
A logo is an extremely important aspect of your business branding. Marks and Spencer have provided a successful logo as it it known world wide and their logo has helped their business to stand out from the pack and differentiate from thousands of competitors. It has also provided a face for Marks and Spencer that has helped their consumers remember them.

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When Marks and Spencer changed their logo to your m&s on their shopping bags, it became a new worldwide recognised logo that people liked for its simplistic reasons and showing that the business is for the customer due to ‘your’ m&s.


How it can help the business with their corporate communications
A logo gives a company an easily recognised visual symbol. By placing this image on all correspondence materials, marketing collateral, a website and emails, it gives people consistent exposure to the brand. The more people are exposed to the logo, the more synonymous the logo becomes with the businesses name and brand. This allows the business to put their logo on promotional materials and even products as a stand-alone representation of the business when their name won't fit or doesn't look as good. This is crucial to corporate communications because it is for the customers reasoning to look good to them and bring in more customers. The logo can effectively help the business to target their audiences and promote their business as professionals, which is what helps them bring in their specific target market to what they are offering to sell. It also makes it a hole lot easier for the business to advertise to their customers, and with effective advertisement brings in more customers. Customers recognise this wherever they see it.
How it could damage the businesses corporate communications
This could damage the businesses corporate communications through several ways, one being that after a while the customers may become bored of the logo and this could drive them away from the business. This could also be a problem because the whole of the business will have to be complimented on these colours of the logo and the workers may get tired of the same old thing and so may the customers.
Livery
Livery is the colours or design which are put on a company's vehicles and other things that it owns or sells.
Marks and spencers current livery is made by a company clothing specialist Incorporatewear, who designed and produced the uniforms for M and S. Around 750 M and S staff have sported the fashionable yet functional wardrobe, which includes a variety of design options for staff to choose from, helping to set it apart from traditional bank attire.The M&S Bank uniform includes a charcoal
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Maisy Marsh grey suit complemented by striking green accessories. Customisable options include shirt sleeve length and a choice of trousers, skirt or grey dress for the ladies and a waistcoat and/ or jacket for the men. The clothing was made from state-of-the-art nanotechnology spill-resistant fabric, making it practical and durable too. Only now they have brought in a new uniform. Which is more to do with the logo, being black and green.
Uniform are great for company identity because they clear display that your business pays attention to every detail and that you care about the image you portray. People tend to assume that businesses who implement a uniform are of a higher standing and authority. This is because of the professionalism generated from the suave attire. All businesses need to pay great attention to their corporate identity. This is a key component in determining the successfulness of any company.
Work uniforms play a chief role in this because they help to achieve a professional, sophisticated and unified aura surrounding your business. This is a very successful method as it shows a great image to the stakeholders of the business and shows they think about the business in the means of design. How it can help the business with their corporate communications
Asking employees to wear distinctive uniforms in the colours associated with the company can go a long way in establishing an impression in the mind of the consumer. Uniforms identify workers as individuals who are associated with a company and its products, and they help to brand the company by distinguishing it from the competition. Consistency in employee appearance can create a positive impression on the customer and contribute to projecting the corporate image. Uniforms can enable customers to identify employees in a store setting, eliminating the possibility of a customer erroneously asking a fellow consumer for help. Employees wearing a uniform inspire confidence in the consumer by announcing that the individual is a professional with product knowledge and a willingness to help. A uniform puts the force of the corporate reputation behind the individual, making him look reliable and trustworthy as a company representative. Just as a police uniform identifies a law officer, a uniform can identify an employee who is out in the field making a service call or delivery to a customer’s home. Uniforms can also ease the mind of people handing over their keys when their car needs servicing, or when taking advantage of valet parking at a restaurant. This can help the corporate communications in many ways as they are clearly showing who they are to the customers to invite the customer to ask for help and so on.
How it could damage the businesses corporate communications
Fashion-conscious employees may not like how the uniform looks on them, which can make them feel self-conscious while wearing it. Some independent-minded employees may see the uniform as a symbol of control by their employers and might resent having to wear it. This could result in them not wanting to work for the business, and telling their friends not to work there either. Customers can clearly see who works there and if something bad happens that they see then they may be put off shopping there and therefore the communication between the business and the customer will be broken. If an employee doesn't like the uniform then they may cause a conflict between the manager and themselves which will break the communication between the manager and employee and the work wont be able to be completed.
Endorsements
Endorsements are a form of brand or advertising campaign that involves a well known person using their fame to help promote a product or service. Manufacturers of perfumes and clothing are some of the most common business users of classic celebrity endorsement techniques, such as television ads and launch event appearances, in the marketing of their products.
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The management tried to fight the negative image of M&S of being old-fashioned and outdated through engaging in a range of celebrity endorsements that included famous personalities such as
Myleen Klass, Danii Minogue, Noemie Lenoir, Twiggy, Elizabeth Jagger, Laura Bailey and Erin
O‟Connor. When it comes to a celebrity selling a brand, few do it better than Kate Middleton. She has become the iconic British lady of beauty and fashion. Photographed wearing Marks & Spencer
Shoes, the styles she was wearing were sold out in hours and have become the store's best-selling shoe style.
Marks and spencer have been voted the best UK store due to who they use to advertise and how quickly their sales are increasing due to this. This method has helped Marks and Spencer a large amount, their sales have gone up large amounts due to the customers wanting to have what the celebrities are wearing.
Marks & Spencer saw sales increase over the last three months, helped by celebrity endorsements from the likes of the England football team and ex-player Jamie Redknapp as well as the World
Cup. But new boss Marc Bolland admitted that the recent budget has made the company cautious about the outlook for consumer confidence and spending

How it can help the business with their corporate communications
Celebrities are viewed as more credit, expert and trustworthy than non-celebrities. The affinity consumers have for certain celebrities can greatly influence their purchases. People may have the attitude, "If the product is good enough for her, it's good enough for me." This philosophy is often the impetus behind advertisements for makeup, skin creams, hair products and attire, this means that more customers will go to the store that is selling the product and therefore communications will need to be effective to ensure that there are enough of these products in the stores before the endorsement is advertised. Celebrities in advertising build brand awareness, according to
"Supermarket News," a publication covering the food distribution industry. And they build it much more quickly than traditional types of advertising. Brand awareness measures the percentage of people who are familiar with a particular brand. Small businesses spend lots of money and time for exposure to incrementally increase brand awareness among consumers. The use of a local celebrity can do much to enhance consumers' awareness and understanding of what a small business offers.
This has helped to completely rebrand Marks and Spencers and it’s products, therefore his is the most successful method of creating awareness for the product because in today’s society people will pay a lot more attention to TV advertisements and celebrities.
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How it could damage the businesses corporate communications
Consumers may focus on the celebrity, not the product. This is a particular danger when celebrities endorse multiple products at a time, this may result in the customer not actually purchasing the product which is the reason of the advertisement. Celebrities make mistakes. And when they do, they can affect the brands they endorse, this would greatly damage the communications of the corporation due to ruining the reputation of the store, meaning the managers will have to work effectively together to bring their reputation back up.

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