EB3101: International

Corporate Communication
(ICC) for Global Business
Discussion 3: Corporate
Communications
Case Studies
Session Outline

 Communicating Corporate Identity

 Corporate Communication Tools
 PR Case Studies: UCLan and Virgin Atlantic
 Press Releases and their structure
 Assignment 1 Task 2
 Preparation for next week
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 Preparation for Discussion 3
1. Review the lecture’s slides and the links
2. Explore UCLan’s website, refer to slides 23-26, and make notes on the
following:
 What corporate image does the website try to create?

 What is UCLan’s corporate identity?

 How is it communicated?

3. Read “Friargate traders fear for their livelihoods as major Preston

roadworks take their toll” and complete the following tasks:
 Identify UCLan’s stakeholder groups affected by the issues in the
article (refer to slide 22)
 Identify the communication channel(s) UCLan uses to address its
stakeholders
 Make a note of the key points/arguments of UCLan’s response (see
page 8 of the article)
 Make a note of the (positive) language used in UCLan’s response
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Communicating corporate identity
 Corporate identity is ‘the face’ or personality of an
organisation.
 Corporate identity – the profile and values
communicated by an organisation
 Corporate identity should address these questions:
 Who are we?
 What are we?
 What are we doing?
 Why are we doing it?
 Corporate identity includes the image the company
has with all its stakeholders (staff, customers, general
public, government bodies etc.)
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THE NEW CORPORATE R O N 12
Wheel: Balmer and Greyser. Adapted
COMMUNICATIONS WHEEL
from D. Bernstein (1984)
 Communicating Corporate Identity
 The ‘face’ or personality of the organisation
 The image the organisation has with its
stakeholders (staff, customers, public etc.)
 Communicated through:

 marketing/advertising strategies & images

 websites

 corporate logo, slogan, colour etc

 uniforms worn by staff

 product packaging

 mission statement & other standard corporate

texts & templates
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 What’s the Corporate image of
Virgin Atlantic Airline?
 Virgin Atlantic 25th Anniversary Advert
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIqwUV-qOiU
 Compare with their more recent ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NduSuP-4EEU
 What’s changed?
 The image:
 ahead of its time, different, new, young, vibrant, sexy,
efficient (‘on time’)
 also a lot of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities
 Virgin website
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Mission Statements
 A mission statement expresses the overall philosophy of an organisation
 Mission statements are short, one or two sentences and generally full of
positive language, e.g.:
‘To help leaders make distinctive, lasting, and substantial improvements in
performance and constantly build a great firm that attracts, develops, excites,
and retains exceptional people.’ (McKinsey Consulting, 2014)

‘We are a global management consulting firm that serves a broad mix of
private, public and social sector institutions. We help our clients make
significant and lasting improvements to their performance and realize their
most important goals. With nearly a century of experience, we’ve built a firm
uniquely equipped to this task.’ (McKinsey Consulting, 2019)

 Do a web search to find the mission statement for UCLan. What does it
say? What are the key themes?

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Corporate Slogans
 Like products, organisations have slogans (taglines) which
express their personality to their publics
 https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/brand-slogans-and-tag
lines
“Skilfully phrased corporate slogans can make complex corporate values and
beliefs accessible to both staff and customers by putting the usually abstract
ideas in a nutshell.” (Lee & So, 2007:58)
 ‘The World’s local bank’
 ‘I’m lovin’ it’
 ‘Because you’re worth it’
 ‘Innovative thinking – for the real world’
1. Do a web search to find the slogan of your favourite company
or brand
2. What did you find? Did anything surprise you?
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Other PR Tools

 Press (news) releases / e-releases – short articles sent

to the media to publicise an organisation’s good news:
e.g. a new product, an event, financial results or to
manage publicity
 Press releases are written by PR people so that
journalists can use them easily
 Video (press) releases – film footage, with or without
sound ready for TV to use & uploaded to YouTube, etc.

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Feature Releases and Press Conferences
 Feature releases (aka advertorials, sponsored
features) - more detailed articles about the
organisation, not necessarily related to news – sent
to specialist publications
 Press Conferences & Media Kits
 factsheets
 ‘backgrounders’
 photographs & videos (for publication)
 digital copy for journalists to use
 profiles of the organisation, products or staff
 Reassure/manage public opinion
 Respond to crisis

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Public Relations Writing
 Good writing & presentation skills are the key
 PR people need to be able to write in different styles
(different audiences, different genres, spoken-written
language etc.) (see ‘The Wheel’)
 Simple not simplistic writing
 The focus is on informative, persuasive & usually positive
writing
 The keywords are:
 accuracy

 brevity
 clarity
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Writing ‘Sticky’ messages
(Mendonca & Miller 2007: 7)
‘A sticky idea is one that people understand when they hear it, that they
remember later on and that changes something about the way they think or
act.’ (Heath cited in Mendonca & Miller 2007:1)

6 Keys to writing messages that stick

1.Simplicity – short but deep enough
2.Unexpectedness – to generate interest
3.Concreteness – examples not abstract ideas
4.Credibility – can be believed & trusted
5.Emotions – real case studies
6.Stories – help us understand

Virgin Atlantic
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 Here’s how media ranked different
earned and owned channels for trustworthiness

                                                                                                                           

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 Press Releases

 Press releases need:

 … to communicate key information with a, b, c

 … to be targeted at appropriate media audiences

 … to have a title which optimises their appearance in

search engine results (SEO – search engine optimisation)
 … to be in a format and language which journalists can
use easily
 … to have a specific structure – the ‘inverted pyramid’ –
journalists use the same structure for their news texts

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The Inverted Pyramid Structure for
Press Releases

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Online press releases / e-releases
 www.PRWeb.com
 Read the release and look for the inverted pyramid:.
Identify all elements of the release, i.e. 1.headline (Is it
interesting and important? Why?); 2.location and date; 3.5
w’s & h (key information); 4.more details and quotes;
5.boiler plate/editor’s notes; 6.press contact(s).
 Who is the intended audience?
 How is it different from a ‘normal’ advertisement?

 What do you notice about the layout of the text?

 What do you notice about the language used?

 Vocabulary
 Sentences
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12251266.htm
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 Assignment 1 Task 2
Individual Press Release
 Working individually and independently, produce a
press release announcing something newsworthy
that has happened or is to happen at UCLan/SUIBE.
This includes:
 Breaking news announcement
 Product launch
 Event
 Partnership
 Awards
 Crisis management
 Any other newsworthy information that will earn
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 Task 2 Guidelines (1)
 Analysing the genre: you should look at as many
press releases as possible to see how the
professionals write them.
 Your press release should include the following:
 Headline: make it clear why your story is interesting
and important
 Press Contact: to ensure the media can get in touch
with you
 Location: where is your news happening?
 Body copy: order information by level of
importance
 Boiler Plate: What is your organisation all about?
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 Task 2 Guidelines (2)
 A good press release:
 … follows all the rules / conventions of the genre of
press releases.
 … demonstrates your awareness of the target audience
and the most appropriate way to address them, e.g.
appropriate use of linguistic and non-linguistic features.
 … demonstrates appropriate use of language & style,
e.g. accuracy, brevity, clarity
 … contains ‘sticky’ & persuasive messages, even though
it’s not directly advertising
 … is well-presented (think about layout).

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 Homework for Discussion 4
 Review this week’s lecture and seminar slides and links
 Choose one of the following press releases:

 Swim ‘N Fun Announces Blog About Benefits of Swimming for Exercise

and Relaxation (prweb.com)

 Red Pocket Mobile Announces Strategic Partnership with Vonage (prw

eb.com)

 Analyse the chosen press release focusing on the following:

 Identify all elements of the release, i.e. headline (Is it interesting and
important? Why?); location and date; 5 w’s & h (key information);
more details and quotes; boiler plate/editor’s notes; press contact.
 Highlight/make a list of the linguistic features employed in the press
release
 Start looking for a newsworthy UCLan/SUIBE event for your press 28

release for Assignment 1 Task 2

References
Cottle, S. (2003) ‘News, Public Relations and Power:
mapping the field’ in S. Cottle (ed) News Public Relations
and Power, London, Sage pp 3 - 24.

Mendonca, L & M Miller (2007) ‘Crafting a message that

sticks: An interview with Chip Heath’, UMcKinsey
Quarterly November 2007.

Tench, R. (2003) ‘Public relations writing – a genre based

model’, Corporate Communications: An International
Journal, Vol 8/2 pp139 -146.
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