case studies - lahore - islamabad apr · • crisis management case study ... strategic advice....
TRANSCRIPT
CASE STUDIES
CONTENTS
• CRISIS MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY
• MEDIA ADVOCACY CASE STUDY
• MEDIA COVERAGE CASE STUDY
• INTERNATIONAL EVENT & MEDIA MANAGEMENT CASE
STUDY
• ‘PAKISTAN NATIONAL IMAGE CAMPAIGN’ CASE STUDY
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
COCA-COLA - BACKGROUND
Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd (CCBPL) decided to outsource distribution and sell off its ageing fleet of delivery trucks, resulting in laying off about 150 drivers and helpers. CCBPL feared that when announcement was made, there would be backlash from the union, especially as the president and vice president of the union were also amongst those to be laid off. Potentially the issue could have blown up into a full fledged crisis, affecting all Coke plants throughout the country. Further the issue could also go off on a tangent, away from the lay-off into boycott calls for Coke products, with usual anti-American sentiment being ignited and renewed allegations of Coke being Jewish product. APR as the PR agency was called in to give strategic advice.
COCA-COLA – APR’S ROLE
• Conducted discussion sessions with all relevant management executives – top management, HR, legal, production, others to determine all possible reactions – strike, lock-out, plant closure, union action at other plants throughout the country, physical harassment, kidnapping of company executives, willful damage to company property, etc
• Developed, together with client, a response to each possible scenario
• Developed a holding statement
• Developed Q&A
• Developed a press release
• Briefed company spokespersons
COCA-COLA – APR’S ROLE
• Developed positive stories of Company’s contribution to society and to the economy, to be kept ready in case of need
• Advised client to limit advertising during the crisis period
• Proactively briefed contacts in law enforcement agencies in event of a law and order situation taking place
• Established contact with friends in media to advise us as far as possible before publication of any negative stories or statements by the union
• Got published positive stories about Coke in the interim period, not connected at all with the labour issue
• Stood by the client on a 24/7 basis for over two weeks until all issues were resolved and the matter was closed
COCA-COLA - RESULT
As expected the union when told of the lay-off protested very strongly and even violently, even though the severance package was more than generous. However since the entire issue had been proactively handled, the company management was prepared at every stage and the crisis was guided through its course in a manner that substantially limited negative fallout. In the end the laid off employees accepted a final negotiated package and it was back to business as usual
MEDIA ADVOCACY
‘Imposition of 20-paisa tax on SMS’
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ISSUE
• In the Federal budget 2009-2010, the government announced the levy of a new tax of 20-paisa per SMS in addition to the rate specified for the telecom sector
• In pre-budget negotiations with the telecom stakeholders, the Government had put forward a condition of reduction in taxes by asking telecom operators to increase SMS rates
• The finance ministry offered telecom industry the reduction of SIM activation tax, on the condition that as a quid pro quo, the operators will increase SMS rates
• Reportedly, this move was being pushed by the largest mobile phone operator
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ISSUE
• Generally 40 billion SMS are sent in Pakistan every year by the
subscribers of cellular phones
• With a tax of Rs 0.2 per SMS, the government was expecting to earn Rs 8 billion per annum (US$100 million)
• Since bulk SMS deals were to become very difficult to operate, the telecom industry was expected to curtail them from the current levels
• This had the potential of absolutely discouraging the users to send SMS freely thus resulting in lesser numbers of SMS exchanges
SUCCESSFUL CASE STUDY IN MEDIA ADVOCACY – TAX ON SMS
• ZONG (CMPak Ltd) and its PR agency, Asiatic Public Relations
Network decided to plan and launch a media campaign for
withdrawal of the new sms tax, after it was announced in the new
Budget
• The strategy was to build a lot of pressure on the government in a
short time frame, through the mass media
• It was important that the tax was shown up to be highly unpopular
in the general public
WHAT ‘ADVOCACY’ MEANS IN THIS PRESENTATION?
Provoking concern about a problem, with
the aim of generating an appropriate
response
MEDIA STRATEGY
• Building pressure - Breaking the news to media one week before the budget announcement
• Strategic favorable news placements in major newspapers
• News placement at blogs and discussion
• Letters to the editors
• Public survey
PRE-BUDGET NEWS STORIES
AFTER BUDGET GENERIC NEWS
No mention of
tax in headlines
AFTER BUDGET GENERIC NEWS
No mention of
tax in headlines
AFTER BUDGET NEWS PLACEMENT BY US
AFTER BUDGET NEWS PLACEMENT BY US
ELECTRONIC
LETTER TO THE EDITORS BY US
WEBSITES / BLOGS
GENERIC NEWS PLACEMENT…
IN FAVOR OF TAX IMPOSITION
FOLLOW UP NEWS STORIES BY US
EVEN PUBLIC PROTESTS…
WITHDRAWAL OF DECISION!
RESPONSES AFTER THE DECISION
MEDIA COVERAGE
INTERNATIONAL EVENT & MEDIA
MANAGEMENT
AKD SECURITIES
Client: AKD Securities
Venue: London
Event: Investment Forum
Date: March 08, 2006
Managed by: APR & H&K UK
Our Brief:
Complete event management for invitees and government
VIPs including keynote speaker, H.E. Mr. Shaukat Aziz,
Prime Minister of Pakistan
AKD SECURITIES
Issue
Dispel myth about the risk of investing in the Pakistani market
Raise awareness of investment opportunities in Pakistan
Services Rendered
Identifying and securing attendance of key fund managers and influencers
Media Management to generate widespread awareness
Additional third-party endorsement achieved through a partnership with the Financial Times
Identified 340 fund managers, with 125 attending the event
Arranged breakout sessions on specific sectors (banking; telecom; airlines/ insurance; oil & E&P; cement/fertilizer; power)
More than 2 dozen 1:1 and 1:few meetings between investors and AKD arranged
Extensive media coverage secured
AKD SECURITIES
AKD SECURITIES
PAKISTAN NATIONAL IMAGE CAMPAIGN
Nation Image Marketing Requires a Total Approach, with no Empty Promises
Changing the perceived image of a nation is a form of nation
marketing. The uniqueness of nation marketing is that it requires
all parts of society and government to be dedicated to the cause.
To be truly effective it can not be a stand-alone campaign, but
must involve the support and participation of other ongoing
campaigns such as in the areas of tourism and investment. In this
way everyone participates and everyone is the winner when mind-
sets are changed.
Image Campaign: Global Press Office Coordinated in major media centres
Materials library, media training,
contacts management, online and local press
office
Platforms Reports
Speaking opportunities Conferences Trade shows
Forward Features Placing articles on Pakistan with identified surveys and
features among international publications
Rapid Response PR Angles, stories for individual
media news agenda. Readiness to answer
negative news
Media briefings Proactive
briefings to key journalists to get across
key messages
Pakistan Govt Profile
Media visits showcasing the true
Pakistan
Milestones Programme
Announcements and regular news sent out to
media internationally
PAKISTAN
THANK YOU!