- A catalog of key target audiences,
articulation of client USPs for each audience and management
consensus on these issues.
- A report assessing the perceptions,
attitudes, wants, needs and desired communications channels of all
key target audiences.
- A message platform that includes an
overarching positioning for the organization as well as messages
tailored specifically for each key target
audience.
Internal
Communications Assessment and Messaging
Benefits
The benefit of internal communications
assessment and messaging is employees who are aligned with
management’s vision for the organization, or, if not, an
understanding of what is necessary to align employees.
How It Works
Forrest Anderson meets with senior management
to learn its vision for the company. He then conducts one-on-one
interviews with middle management and focus groups with employees to
assess how well management’s vision is being communicated to
employees and, if not, why.
He then analyzes the information and makes recommendations
for improving communications and achieving better organizational
alignment.
Deliverables
Forrest can deliver his
analysis as a Word or PowerPoint document. He can also present his
findings and recommendations.
Mergers
and Acquisitions Communications Research and
Counsel
Benefit
A successful merger of two companies into one
that is greater than the sum of the two individual parts.
How It Works
According to the Institute for Mergers and
Acquisitions at Witten/Herdecke University, some 60 percent of
mergers fail, causing an average loss of ten percent for
shareholders. One way
to increase the likelihood that your merger will be one of the 40
percent that succeeds is to create a shared culture among merging
partners. To do this,
it is essential to understand what employees in both organizations
think and feel, and want from their employer. To this end, Forrest
Anderson interviews the management and employees of both
organizations to identify positive and negative characteristics of
the cultures of each organization. Mr. Anderson then creates a
grid to enable management to review the cultures of both
organizations to determine which characteristics it wishes to
emphasize in the merged organization. He then works with the
merged organization’s communications and HR departments to put in
place programs that will encourage the development of the desired
culture.
Deliverables
-
A written, and/or PowerPoint analysis of the
individual and collective cultures of the merging organizations
and recommendations on characteristics to keep or
abandon.
-
Consulting work with the communications and
HR departments of the merging organization to create a culture
that will lead to a successful merger.
Competitive
Intelligence
Benefit
The benefit
of regular competitive research is a stronger competitive
positioning with customers, analysts and the media. Regular
competitive research gives a client insight into the current and
planned marketing and communications activities of key
competitors. This information gives the client the opportunity
to outmaneuver competitors through preemptive or responsive
marketing and communications.
How It
Works
Forrest W. Anderson meets with the client to
discover the client’s:
- Business objectives
- Business model
- Short-term and long-term
marketing strategies
- Strengths, weaknesses, threats,
opportunities
- Key competitive threats
Forrest then develops a web-based
intelligence network to track competitive actions and
communications. This network will include competitor web
sites, news sources and spider programs that actively seek out
mentions of competitors.
Deliverable
Once a month, Forrest
compiles and analyzes the information. He produces a report
drawing attention to important current and expected activities of
client competitors. The report recommends competitive and
communications actions the client can take to better position itself
against competitors. Forrest can work closely with a client’s
PR agency to develop reactive and proactive communications
strategies.
Finally, Forrest presents the report to
the client, and uses that meeting to learn of new client
developments that might affect future intelligence efforts.
Competitive
Communications Market Assessment
Benefit
The benefit of a competitive
communications market assessment is a more successful product or
service marketing campaign.
How It Works
Forrest
Anderson works with the client to understand the product or service
and to learn who the key competitors are. He then does
secondary and/or primary research on all the key competitors to
assess their product or service offerings and their marketing
strategies and tactics. He identifies which competitors are
dominant and why. He also recommends product and
communications strategies to achieve market advantage against the
competitors.
Deliverable
The
deliverable from this product is a written or PowerPoint document
and presentation.
Company Backgrounders for Initial Sales
Meetings
Benefit
The benefit of these
backgrounders is more successful senior-executive sales and
relationship meetings. The backgrounders prepare client senior
executives for meetings with senior executives of prospect
companies.
How It Works
Forrest meets
with the senior executive to learn his or her objectives for the
meeting. (If Forrest is working with an agency or consulting
firm, he can prepare their staff to conduct this meeting in his
place.)
Forrest then does library and Internet research
on the company and, if possible, the specific executives with whom
the client executive will meet. He develops an analytical
report on the company’s broad strategy and notes where this strategy
might be synergistic with the client’s strategy. He identifies
threats, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses.
Deliverable
- A report on the prospect company outlining
its strategy, threats, opportunities, strengths, weaknesses and
challenges it faces.
- A set of “Questions that keep executives
awake at night.”
- A set of questions the prospect executive is
likely to ask the client executive, based on the client’s
business.
Customer Satisfaction
Assessment
Benefit
The benefit of
customer satisfaction research is increased business from both
retained and new customers. With more customer knowledge,
you’ll know what to do to keep your customers happy and what to
develop to keep them happy. Moreover, knowing what satisfies
current customers tells you what to emphasize in new business
efforts.
How It Works
Forrest
Anderson meets with general and sales management and studies product
or service offerings. He develops a discussion guide and
interviews customers, either by phone or in person. Topics he
covers include what customers like about the product or service,
what they don’t like, what they would like to see in future
generations of the product and through what channels they would
expect to hear about the product or service. A bonus outcome
of these interviews is learning the actual language customers use to
describe the problems the product or service solves and the benefits
it creates. Forrest Anderson is an expert in message
development and can use this information to develop marketing
messages that will resonate with current and new
customers.
Deliverables
Mr. Anderson
delivers a written report and a PowerPoint presentation.
PR and Marketing
Program Evaluation
Benefits
The benefits of PR and marketing evaluation are
accountability and effectiveness. Through evaluation, you can
demonstrate to management the degree of success you have achieved
with your program, and you can learn how to change what you have
done to more effectively achieve your goals.
How It Works
Forrest Anderson will consult with you regarding the
business, behavioral, communications or output goals you are trying
to achieve. He can then
design an evaluation system.
He can recommend evaluation vendors or work with the vendors
you have already.
Deliverable
An evaluation program that yields information that
actually helps you better achieve your goals and then demonstrate to
management that you have done so.
Media Research,
Management and Evaluation
Benefit
The
benefit of media research, management and evaluation is a more
competitive representation in the media versus your
competitors.
How It
Works
Forrest Anderson works with your management and PR
group to develop measurable media goals that support your
organization's business goals. These likely will include
overall coverage goals, but also identifying specific topical
discussions that reflect your company's strategic initiatives and
key competitors. He then works with your current media
collection and analysis vendor, or helps you hire one, to put in
place media measures that reflect the achievement of the media
goals. In addition, these measures will help you assess your
relative strength versus your competition. Based on your
business goals, Forrest will make recommendations regarding media
strategies your PR staff can initiate to de-position your
competitors and better position your company for competitive
advantage in the media.
Deliverables
The
deliverables from this kind of project are regular analytical
reports and meetings regarding findings and media campaign
recommendations.
PR Program
Planning
Benefit
The benefit of research-driven PR program planning is
PR programs that drive behavior.
How It Works
Forrest Anderson has written communications strategies
for 30 years and entered PR research to have information on which to
base effective programs.
In developing a plan, Forrest will do or review research to
understand:
-
The client’s business, threats, opportunities,
strengths and weaknesses
-
The target audience’s wants, needs and media
preferences
-
Trends and issues in the business, economic,
technological, socio/cultural, political, green and regulatory and
legislative environments
He will then work with the client or the client’s
agency to develop a measurable communications goal for the program
and strategies to achieve that goal
Deliverables
Depending on the degree of engagement the client
desires the deliverable for this kind of project can range from a
written document or presentation reviewing the research outlined
above to a full communications plan.
