COM401 Media Management 30 September 2010 Week 5, Lecture 2 Watermelon PR Who are they?

y? o Leading media solutions firm in the UAE, Dubai o Dabbles in Advertising Media PR Direct marketing Event management Interactive o Clients Panasonic Hermes Kaya Skincare o Established in SG only this month, 1st branch in SEA Managing directors role o Media facilitation Hierarchy o Account director manager executive trainee POMC o Objectives Bring existing clients forward Bring new clients in o In Dubai 5 people x 3 teams Based on strengths and clients needs Complement one another Sharing ideas across teams o Motivating Doesnt need much Sense of involvement, as people build company together People are inherently self-motivated Happens indirectly, in the background o Controlling 1 hour meeting every week on Friday Understanding each others workload Bounce ideas off each other Feedback The other perspective

Monitoring and facilitating Training programme for a month Understanding everyone (Clients and Co-workers) Communicating More face-to-face discussions than emails Less chance for confusion Brainstorming sessions Keeps up with news to understand the clients and industry Close-knit agency Sharing sessions with clients once a month Negotiating Using designers in advertising arm in Watermelon Very self-sufficient Establish friendly working relationship Be understanding Able to utilize relationships to enhance success and manage crisis Key takeaway Long-term r/s with stakeholders are important Know not only PR, but also clients work No single-fit communications strategy for every client Brainstorming sessions are very important

VOX Group of Companies Event management group o Made of other specialized companies (Octopod, Voyage!, MNFC, VOX Productions, VOX Studio) Octopod Asia o 10 years of experience in show management o 100 shows a year o Events for entertainment industry, government agencies, NGOs Company culture o No hierarchy restrictions But follow common hierarchy Different personnel can handle other aspects o Relaxed working atmosphere o Recreational facilities for workers to distress Planning element (In-house Events) o Brainstorming/R&D o Draft out budgeting for event, and report to project director Proactive stance in budgeting to cover as many possible areas o Marketing and presentation Visuals for the event o Obtaining support Sponsors and permission to hold events

Planning element (external events) o Budgeting proposal o Information sourcing o Pitching to client o Secure talents o Create contract and confirm client acceptance o Project manager will handle the in-house activities and liaise with the Account Executive, the AE will liaise with the client Organizing element o Decide role of fellow colleagues o Liaise with various organizations o AR can take on more than 1 project Motivating element o Light-hearted atmosphere Less stressful, managers treat employees to food o Office welfare Employees given off days when they need to burn weekends Controlling element o Tracking the progress Ensure the budget doesnt exceed If it does, need to check quotation with client again Or negotiate with suppliers Approval from various organizations o Meetings are held with clients Ensure project meets clients expectations 2-way communications via email and face-to-face Facilitating element o Delegation of jobs according to hierarchy o Manager gives freedom to her executives and interns o Part-timers are not given the freedom to make decisions as they are unaware of the whole scope and elements with the event o Let the top management tell people whats going on, so that they have the freedom to define their roles within the context Communication element o 2 way feedback between employees/client Email, phone, face-to-face to confirm everything Opportunity to provide opinions and suggestions o Relaxed but cordial working relationship Between employees and employers Managers and project executives have meals together Negotiating element o Suggest days-off for employees After many consecutive work days o Negotiate with clients when budget exceeds

Alternative solutions have to be considered Liaise with suppliers

Conclusion o Managers follow modern management theories to improve performance o Everyones effort is recognized by the manager

Golfpunk and Golf Vacations publications Brought franchise from UK (2008) Magazine that celebrates golf in bunker babe style! Features o News on golf o Instruction/tuition o Course reviews o Latest on equipment o Golf fashion o Features on players o Redefine golf as something edgy, cool and sexy Better reach out to the young crowd Golf Vacations is a homegrown brand, marries travel with golf Hierarchy o Horizontal structure o Multi-task and cross-discipline o Small company, manager heads both advertising and editorial department Primary role o Get the magazine out each issue o Plan the line-up of the content for each issue o Communicate with overseas correspondents for stories o Advanced planning for the next calendar year o Negotiate with key advertisers o Dealing with changes in the magazine line-up Planning o Organizational goals Build up towards international franchising To be the trendiest, most fashion-forward alternative magazine Organizing o Makes the decision of who gets hired/fired o Reorganizes workload in times of need Small company with limited resources o Send emails when things need to be done Motivating factors o Seeing your end product Hard work pays off o Satisfaction from clients Organize golf day out for clients, success is measured from smiles

Feel a sense of accomplishment from success o New products throughout the year o Hungry for success Invested heavily on franchise, national pride for homegrown magazine Controlling o Post-mortem Weekly assessment Feedback for future directions o Monitor target audience and adapt to their tastes Monitoring o On employing social media to reach out to target audience Facilitating o Working across departments is the norm o Due to horizontal hierarchy, he works together with the sales department to manage the brand o Employees given freedom to do what they want because roles are defined o Overseas reporters given their jobs ahead of time Negotiating o Appraised at the end of calendar year o Make cold calls to potential clients to market products Skills an Editor-In-Chief must have o Able to write o Strong command of language o Creativity flow of ideas o Skills > personality

Planning To Plan or not to Plan? Gives you direction and focus on your aims But it hurts your adaptability and gives you a false sense of certainty o You believe that you will do this, and it will success, and take extra risks to ensure so Eg. Company going to get a sponsor next year and thus hires more people because of extra funds o Detached planners Planners who dont know about the real worlds workings

Flexibility in Planning Like the weaver bird (?) Fuzzy planning so that the plan is not so firm and rigid, able to adapt to new information and trends

Goals Defined time periods (that is short, not the next 1000 years)

Linked to rewards (let people feel they have something to work for)

SMART (coming out for Exams) Specific Measurable Agreed/attainable Realistic Timely (within a time frame)

Commitment to Goals Not involving the group o Junior employees, when consulted, cant see the big picture They will just want the easy way out o Managers dont like giving feedback, which potentially lets people down Just giving direction is easier May have to critique and disappoint people o Junior levels tend to focus on measurable goals, which miss the big picture (intangible benefits)

Tracking progress Proximal (near-term) and distal (long-term) goals o Getting more clients along the way vs. bringing in 10 million at the end of the day

Gather Feedback Slack resources o If your competitor is getting into your industry, then you need to divert some resources to counter the competition Fuzzy planning o Need to have a plan that allows flexibility to adapt to changes that comes along o But this might distract us from the main plan as well o Problem is we need a balance between the two

Tutorial Exercise 1. What is your goal in this situation? (SMART) a. To reduce the amount of stray cats by 25 percent in the next year b. Or a double whammy (one in the short term, one in the long term) 2. How will you plan for your decision? a. Define the present situation i. Overpopulation of stray cats b. Establish goals and objectives i. Restricting the population and decreasing it 1. Which leads to a clear idea of the decision needed, short and longterm

2. Important to show that youre doing something, than doing nice c. Forecast aids and barriers to goals i. Welfare groups, concerned citizens d. Develop budgets i. For the programmes, and communication to stakeholders e. Implement the plans f. Control the plans 3. What will you decide to do? 4. What steps would you take to reach that decision? a. People, resource, time, budget, steps 5. Which people would you involve in the decision-making process? a. Stakeholders such as government, cats welfare societies, grassroots i. Develop goodwill towards AVA