Executive Summary
This paper is an analysis of AT&T and their strategies in working on their public relations. AT&T is a publicly traded company that is in the field of telecommunication; they had the first patent on the telephone and kept that until the 90s. With the monopoly on telephones and telegraphy the once Bell Telephone Company, and now AT&T has made strides in becoming the leading competitor among the other leading companies in its category(cite?). Overall, their use of public relations has made an impact in their company profile and involvement in the community.
Introduction
AT&T is a publicly traded company that has recently been ranked number one against their leading competitors in September of 2018. With having the leading service for data, calling, and texting plans the company also offers its customers cable and wireless internet services. They are a competitive brand, and they no longer just offer the typical service of data and cellular. But also owning a cable company and advertising agency, they continuously provide a customer forward enhancement to their brand. With having over 2,200 independent stores and partnering with bigger retailers like Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Walmart, etc.
About the Company
When you think of cellular devices there are a few companies that come to mind – and AT&T is one of the top two that people think of alongside Verizon. The second largest wireless network did not always have such a monopoly on the worlds entertainment industry – but since its start in Delaware 141 years ago the company has built up and bought subsections of their company. Some of their ownerships include: Cricket, DIRECTV, and Xander. AT&T calls “home” to their head office in Dallas, Texas. The company has ten high ranking positions that help the company run smoothly. The CEO and chairman for AT&T is Mr. Randall L. Stephenson. The CFO is Mr. John J. Stephens, the CEO of Communications is Mr. John M. Donovan, and lastly the CEO of Business Solutions and International is Mr. F. Thaddeus Arroyo. Alongside these, CEOS/CFO there are multiple SEVPs (Senior Executive Vice-President). The AT&Ts CEO and Chairman, Randall Stephenson has been in this position for the company for eleven years. The CFO, John Stephens has held his position since 2001, this retention tells the analyst something about how the company runs and attacks progress. From the time that majority of these important board positions in the company have been held by these men it has been a time of great change in technologies and advancements that are constantly being made in that field. AT&T has kept up with these advancements throughout the past decade and then some by being ranked second amongst their competitors.
History Overview
AT&T was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, who was the inventor of the telephone; a company whose founder created the product is a company that is setting itself up for success. “During the 19th century, AT&T became the parent company of the Bell System, the American telephone monopoly.” (Corp.att.coM). The company began in 1875 once the founder, Bell, created and established a working telephone that could allow his company to flourish. The company had an overview on making sure that its communication was continuously at one of their highest priorities – this helped them expand their network beyond what they ever could have thought they would. While the company had set its roots in Delaware first, they now reside in Dallas, Texas.
Importance of Diversity
AT&T does a good job at making their environment a positive experience for all of their employees – at all levels. “A diverse workforce and inclusive culture are essential to AT&T. They allow us to attract and retain the best and the brightest to develop the most innovative products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs,” says Randall Stephenson, the company’s CEO. AT&T promotes their employees to be engaged in the community through service and supporting other communities that may tie into the ones of other employees in the company. The company focuses on being an equal opportunity employer… they want all people to be able to work for their company no matter the color, age, or disability. Specifically, AT&T focuses on partnerships with programs that help provide job experiences to students with disabilities. This is something that sets them apart from their competitors in the way that they are actively trying to engage with their population of diverse employees and potential employees.
AT&T not only is a business company but also has a foundation – the AT&T Foundation. The AT&T Foundation has been around upward of about twenty-seven years. “The foundation supports nonprofit organizations and programs that foster inclusion and create opportunities for diverse populations.”. The importance of inclusion and diversity is a reoccurring theme seen throughout AT&T’s company strategies and operations – this shows a lot about the company. They focus on helping programs that enforce a promotion of education or advancement of a community.
Something that AT&T was leader in its industry in is accessibility. AT&T provides a lot of services to benefit their disabled customers – but they were the first to introduce an on-screen reader software. Encouraging entrepreneurship through minority groups is also an impact that they strive to make; partnering with well-known business schools offering opportunities to their communities. “We work with leading-edge business schools with programs and scholarships to provide expert coaching and resources to incumbent and prospective diversity suppliers.”.
Overall AT&T takes a lot of strides to be a leading competitor in both the business aspect and social responsibility too. Between their advancements in accessibility to the AT&T Foundation – the company is one that thinks about the next step when arranging the future of AT&T. AT&T compared to other competitors, is the most involved in community affairs out of all the leading in their industry (Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile). They really push their employees to care about where they are doing their work on scale that isn’t met in other companies.
Importance of Communication and PR in a Communications Company
AT&T is in the communication company realm – they produce different products for their consumers – to enhance personal or business communication… in many different aspects. Having good communication between one’s company and consumers is very important so that it is as transparent as possible to provide the best services. Using public relations in the mix of communications in the business setting is something that can make a major company – like AT&T. Public relations is, “the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company of other organization…”. For AT&T it is important that they handle all public situations in a certain manner that shows the world that the company, who is leading in communication, knows how to handle it themselves.
What is There for AT&T to Offer
This company is one that is constantly growing. Recently they have added a new branch of the AT&T company – Xander. Xander is an advertising agency that the company just recently decided to add onto their growing list of products. Not only do they have Xander, but they also bought DirectTV, which is another leader competitor in its desired area… including Wi-Fi. Having all of these different avenues is a benefit for the company in whole – because they would have a bigger grasp on different audiences. Not only from a professional stand point, but also as an awareness point of view – it gives them a bigger platform to show their social responsibilities and the actions they take towards those. They are slowly gaining another monopoly as they once did when the company first began. With being named the top of its competitors list in September of 2018 this proves that AT&T is slowly growing into the leading company once again (cite?).
Public Relations in Sports
An area that AT&T could and does expand its branding and PR is within the athletic population / community. The company sponsors two stadiums in Texas, where their headquarters resides. They are partnered with the Dallas Cowboys, National Football League team, with the “AT&T Stadium”. The other stadium they own is the “AT&T Center” that is for the San Antonio Spurs, a Men’s Basketball Association. These two stadiums are a source of free public relations. It is almost handed to them; the public in which that they are presenting these stadiums to are ones that their retail stores are also in. Connecting these boosts to AT&T’s public relations to their stadiums. Connecting sports and a brand name is a popular public relations stake that has constant branding when the games are on air or when people
Anti-Distracted Driving Initiative
AT&T has had 34,370,811 people who have signed their pledge and are taking the initiative to not drive while distracted (itcanwait.com). They promote this initiative with “break the habit”, “please, don t drive distracted”, and “it can wait is driving forward”. With the current and ongoing uproar of cellular devices it is important that companies like AT&T take the time to promote safety with products that they are selling to consumers. They created a virtual reality experience that mocks situations that could potentially be a real situation. AT&T does a good job at providing a multitude of information on the topic. On the official “It Can Wait” website has presentations set for specific audiences such as: schools and corporate settings. The pledge campaign is thorough and gives the audience as many answers as they could need – along with taking the pledge AT&T also created an app that helps offset distracted driving when you have the app opened prior to starting the car. AT&T has a thorough thought about the promotion of their campaign by creating a social media hashtag. This creates a sense of want for the younger populations to be a part of the movement. AT&T wins in the integrated marketing communications sector of the campaign – it creates a lot of buzz around the company and the symbol that is associated is also aligned with AT&T’s personal brand.
Public Relations within Xander
AT&T’s newest endeavor as a company is their advertising agency which is known as, “Xander”. The company is named after the inventor of the AT&T company – Alexander Graham Bell. This advertising agency is soon going to be a leading competitor among their competing companies. “People are consuming more content than ever before. And though the combination of data and technology have made advertising more precise, we are still facing challenges,” the statement found on Xander’s website is a true statement that strikes the purpose of what Xander is here to do (cite XANDER.COM). The company wants to create a new way of pushing out advertisements to their clients. The company is set on producing a special set of advertisements for each individual. For example, if they were catering an advertisement toward a consumer who is in the 18-25 age range, in college, and a female the advertisements that Xander would provide for them would be exponentially different than the advertisements that would be produced for a middle age woman who has a family of her own. This can be revolutionary for companies everywhere; this is connected to their public relations by creating a sense of knowing to all of their consumers. The company is all about being addressable and digital. The company’s main focus is to be a company that cares about their customers and wants their experience to be a positive – engaged one.
AT&T Public Relations Through Social Media
AT&T’s social media has a person branding – similar to the way of community outreach. After analyzing their Instagram, Twitter, and Website there was a foundation made that a cohesive brand is taught internally and pushed externally. When looking at their Instagram there is a very high following, and the company has it set as a very interactive form of communication to their consumers. Not only is there Instagram this way, but so is their Twitter; their Twitter is a place where the company / representatives from the company can respond to unhappy tweeters – making a potential public relations issue go away as quickly a possible. As for their profiles, they have a few to separate the content and they are all properly branded. The most used is the main accounts for both the Twitter and Instagram (@att). They use their social media not only to address other people when there is a problem that starts on social media – but they also use it to publicize their conferences with communities in which they are engaged in. Not only are those two forms of social media ways that they get their brand image out, but so is their website. The AT&T website is very transparent and easy to navigate – compared to other formatted websites it seemed to have the best layout. In comparison to the other companies, AT&T, has more features through their links and make more information more available to the customers. Something that is a benefit – for not only AT&T but also for Verizon as they have it on their website – is a section that is a place where all news articles can be posted. Whether it is negative or positive the company decided that it is important to have a shared space that can make news on the company more accessible to its consumers by adding a tab on their own personal company websites. This creates a thought that the company is reliable and transparent; it is a benefit when assessing the public relations of a company and helps boost one company from a lower public relations interaction to a higher one.
Public Relations Wrap Up
Overall, AT&T uses their public relations very well. From their community work to their social media presence they establish a brand and expectation and continually show that through each thing that they do. As such a big company and being one of the top two, if not the best in the telecommunications origin – it is important that AT&T knows who they are as a company. It is important that AT&T continues this trend of being on the top of their game. I think that they are slowly climbing to the top once again, as they used to be when they still had the monopoly and patent on the technology that was needed to create an opposing telecommunication company. With the recent merger with Time Warner and buying Direct TV, AT&T is so close to becoming a monopoly on the digital streaming world once more.
Recommendations
AT&T should watch the comments on their social media platforms. They should implement the “block words” on their accounts so that they can filter out the offensive words from their profiles. Not only that, but they should be more open about the community work that their employees do through their own closer communities; I think that it could only help the company – by maybe gaining them a few more consumers who also support philanthropic efforts. Lastly, to upkeep the overtake of the #1 position in the telecommunications field, AT&T should continue competitive promotions with all of their new merger companies that are all popular by their consumers to entice users from one network / company to be a user of the others as well. These three recommendations for the company overall could help AT&T continue their well working strategy and branding that has set them ahead once more in their history.
Work Cited
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