Strategic Communication

“Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.” – Nikos Kazantzakis. Public relations aim to establish and maintain mutual lines of communications and understanding between an organization and the public. (Harlow, 2003) It can be a powerful tool to convey a message that can influence the viewers in the light of an organization by applying the relevant theory. Therefore this paper will discuss the significance of strategy for public relations practice with the support of a case study and the theory that was applied to it for it to be successful.  

Strategic communication can be defined as an intentional communication by a business or nonprofit organization that has a purpose. Its purpose and plan is based on research that has been done and works in a specific environment that involves the organization and the target group of people who are affected one way or another. Its messages are either informative or persuasive that aims to build understanding and support for their ideas and causes. (Smith, 2013)

The models of strategy can be categorized into three distinct groups, linear, adaptive and interpretative. Each model of strategy is different from one another with different focuses. Linear strategy focuses in achieving their pre-stated goals, they will be focusing on their goals despite having little or no external forces. The adaptive strategy on the other hand changes its strategy depending on the environment that is aligned with its consumer preferences. Lastly, the interpretative is seen to be the process of negotiation and interpretation. It is positioned in a way that the world will have a shared view that leads to one direction. The organization conveys a meaning that will favor the organization. (Chaffee, 1985)

The case study of Always #LikeAGirl will be used to support the discussion on how Always which is part of the Procter & Gamble Company implemented adaptive and interpretive strategy for their campaign to be successful. The brand consists of feminine hygiene products and is sold worldwide however in Asian countries it is sold under the name Whisper. Always #LikeAGirls’ movement was to turn insult into a confidence movement. Research was done to understand how their target audiences have been losing confidence and results showed that it was during their puberty during their first period. The organization was then determined to empower their audience during their critical life stage by boosting their confidence. The campaign aimed to target millennial women ages 13-34.

Their strategic communication had a clear empowering message and purpose; it was to change the people’s perception of the term “ like a girl”. Its strategy was to show the negative impact of the term “like a girl” and inspire to change the meaning and perception of people into thinking “downright amazing”. This was executed through a social experiment to show how the term had impacted society especially on girl regardless if it was pre or post puberty. This campaign was to revolve around the social experiment with generations of both genders; it was to capture the different interpretations of the phrase of all ages.

Their program would ask how the term “like a girl” has evolved to become an insult and to show how such words were damaging girls, especially during puberty that can affect her for a lifetime. The PR campaign launch was on June 2013 via its official YouTube channel, they generated hype before its launch with the help of influential bloggers. It included the use of hash tag, video launch, strategic media outreach, engaging celebrities and global campaign.

The aftermath of the campaign was a success. The social experiment videos rapidly became a buzz on social media. It turned into a trending topic around the world that made it one of the most viral videos of the year the world and had surpassed the organizations expectations. It was able to attain its purpose of emotionally connecting to their target audience through a purpose. This is evident through a survey that was done stating that majority claims the phrase to be an inspiring term rather than a negative one. Moreover, the viral video reached over 76 million views on YouTube from across the world, a million over users shared the video accompanied 35 000 commenters and achieving 4.5 billion impressions around the world. During this period, there was a double-digit percentage in the brands equity while its competitors declined slightly. Later in 2015 Super Bowl, they ran a 60-second video and continued to upload follow-up videos.

The video itself had a huge response to the public as many were moved by the key-message of the their campaign. The strategy of always in promoting and raising awareness for their campaign is through the use of new media. This includes their official YouTube channel, where it is a platform for online users to watch, comment, share and like videos. In addition, the use of Facebook was used to upload their video campaigns as it has the same features of YouTube that encourages interactivity that will eventually lead to more audiences being exposed to the issue and increasing their potential of having a viral status. Since the organization clearly knew whom they wanted to target which are the millennial women between 13-34 they are technical savvy. Therefore they had to use social media as an adaptive strategy due the current generation being technologically advanced.  

The use of interpretative strategy was present in this campaign as well. As mentioned earlier, interpretive strategy or also known as strategy as perspective. With relations to Ellen Chaffee (1985), interpretation strategy focuses on its organizational culture and influences individuals. In a nutshell, it to establish mutual benefits to its investors and public that contribute to its success. The use of environmental scanning that focuses on understanding society through various functional groups. The organization then forms an idea by means of action and communications. These ideas will influence interpretation of the organizational member and successful ideas increase the quality of the organizations reality that will eventually motivate the public to have the same vision in light of the organization.