ASSIGNMENT Odwalla 2 NAME Tina Pak
BUSINESS OBJECTIVE FOR THE COMMUNICATION (State the business or organizational goal or initiative that this communication supports.)
To revive a successful operation system and ensure the product safety and excellence through comforting our vendors that our products are harmless to sell. The new processes will meet customer demands, increase the quality and safety of the Odawalla product, get the plant personnel to understand the severity of our product impacts and meet customer demands and satisfaction.
Before you begin developing the communication, use the following to plan the strategy that you want to use in your written document or presentation. Submit the typed or neatly printed worksheet with each assignment.
COMMUNICATION OUTCOME (State the desired result of the communication, that is, the understanding, response, or action that should occur once your message is received. State the result you want, not what you will do.)
Approval of our message to retailers by the Odwalla CEO, Stephen Williamson.
PRIMARY AUDIENCE (Identify and analyze the primary audience, that is, the person or group of people who can best accomplish the communication outcome. In the analysis, identify the primary audience’s knowledge, experience, motivation, needs, and expectations relative to the outcome you want to achieve.)
Primary Audience: Stephen Williamson
Experience: The CEO of Odwalla.
Knowledge: The CEO is the most informed member of Odwalla.
Motivation: To further grow Odwalla and guarantee that no more E. Coli outbreaks will occur in the upcoming future.
Needs: Receive assurance from the staff that all messages are communicated and and on a timely manner in regards to the E. Coli outbreak
Expectations: To prevent the outbreak from re-spreading and to guarantee the stakeholders, customers, and retailers to trust Odwalla going forward.
MAIN MESSAGE (State in one concise sentence the single, overarching message that you must get across to the primary audience in order for your communication to get the results, or outcome, you want.)
By thoroughly evaluating our product safety through examining every single stage of the supply chain and running multiple quality assurance tests on one out of three products, we can assure that all of our products will keep their demand through a reinforced image of superior quality.
COMMUNICATOR (Identify the person who should deliver the message to the primary audience. Describe this person’s initial credibility regarding the issue and message, factors that influence his or her credibility, and ways the communicator demonstrates a positive leadership ethos relative to the primary audience.)
Sales VP and Sales Managers, who have had a relationship with the retailers and knowledge about the overall performance of Odwalla, and correspondingly have a close relationship with the Quality Assurance staff.
SECONDARY AUDIENCE (Identify anyone that the communicator should copy on or invite to hear the exact communication that is delivered to the primary audience. This may be someone who needs to approve the communication or know that it has been delivered.)
Sales Managers, considering majority of them will be transporting the messages to the retailers.
RESISTANCES (List any objections or questions the primary audience may have regarding your message. State what you should include in the communication to counter or answer each one.)
− Chances of the project being out of the budget or too time consuming
− Chances of the retailers not believing our words
− Chances of the customers not buying our products from the retailers
BENEFITS (List the benefits that the primary audience will experience if he or she accepts and acts on your message.)
Using forecasting, we can predict that the boosted transactions following the decreased sales will compensate any negative consequences from the E. Coli outbreak. Our product, and its retailers, will be viewed as health enthusiasts and devotees.
APPROACH (Describe the approach — direct or indirect; formal or informal; tell, sell, join, or consult. If you are using one, include the organizational device.)
The message should be delivered face-to-face with caution, enthusiasm, and genuineness.
KEY POINTS (Considering your approach, list the 3 or 4 key points that support your message and structure your communication [see DB’s Pyramid Principle]. Write specific and descriptive points, not your actions. Make sure the sequence of key points is compatible with the approach you have chosen.)
1. The in-person meetings will lower the doubts of the retailers about the E. Coli outbreak
2. Retailers will be convinced thoroughly that Odwalla is the trustworthy brand as always and the E. Coli outbreak will not happen again
3. They will continue to do business with us after they are assured about their concerns
CHANNEL (Identify the best medium or forum for delivering the message to the primary audience. Consider the time-sensitivity, audience’s level of resistance, need for feedback, confidentiality issues, appropriateness for the culture and situation, logistics, and other practical matters.)
The best forum for delivering the message to the primary audience will be in-person communication through meetings. This prevents miscommunication and will ease any clarifications. Through in-person meetings, issues will be able to resolve much faster.
CONTEXT (Describe culture and/or environment in which the communication will occur. Consider the atmosphere, timing, or conditions that can affect the way the audience receives your message.)
The in-person meetings shall be held at the earliest convenience of the retailer’s management and at a place best for them, as they are our clients and their satisfaction is extremely important to us. There should be a concise speech and a slide-deck to make it easier for the message to get distributed to the audience.
Over-the phone meetings should also be well-timed and recorded for security and quality purposes, and all emails must be archived for two years.
Adapted from Mary Munter’s Guide to Managerial Communication and Deborah Barrett’s Leadership Communication