To the outside
world, you quite often “are” your financial report. You need to have some
control over what that report and the other financial information you release says about
you. When you release information you have to know both to whom you are speaking and that
many people are seeing that information. Another important factor is how information will
be used and interpreted. That is why you need an established information flow process.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1. Targeting Information for
External Audiences
To the
outside world, you quite often “are” your financial report. You need to have
some control over what that report and the other financial information you release says
about.
When you release
information you have to know both to whom you are speaking and that many other people are
seeing that information. Another important factor is how information will be used and
interpreted.
This can mean
that you have to decide what is the least amount of information you can release to satisfy
one constituency without giving others information they could use to their advantage, and
your disadvantage.
This all has to
be done within the frameworks of your moral and legal obligations to your investors,
stockholders, partners, beneficiaries, vendors, and the government. Since the information
could very likely also impact employees, they also have to be taken into consideration.
While the
information you release will be “new,” it will probably not be the first time
that you have released information. Your various audiences already have some knowledge of
you and how you work, and some expectations.
In many cases
where there are problems about financial information that is released, it is not the
financial information as much as it is the expectations that people had and how closely
the information matches those expectations.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2. Aiming the Information
Flow
Information flow is simply the movement of
information from one point to another, over time. The process is the same no matter where
the information is “aimed” at. The process has to fit within an
established information flow system consisting of:
you will likely have a number of different goals,
you will likely have a number of
different policies.
in place to determine what information can be
released, and to whom.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
3. Aiming the Information
Flow (Continued)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4. Information Flow System
Centralized
Dissemination. With one department in charge you have:
Distributed
Dissemination. Information can be released by whichever department, division, or
section, has it. This too has:
Combined Dissemination. In a combined system under
one overall management team, a organization can decide for itself which information should come
from which sources, who has the final say, and who has overall control. Once such a
system is in place, it is easier to make necessary changes than it would be to switch from
either centralized to distributed or distributed to centralized. Combined systems have
a built-in flexibility that allows them to adapt more quickly to changing needs or goals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
5. Creating a Medium for your
Message
Unlike a news
release, a organization’s external publications—and this can include speaker
bureaus, videos, CDs and DVDs—go directly to the outside world untouched, unfiltered,
uninterrupted, and without comment by the media, competitors, government agencies, or
cities.
External
publications are an excellent way to get your interpretation or explanation of
specific information to specific targets.
It is possible,
for example, to break down all the information in your annual report, into separate “messages.”
Each could be aimed at a different audience: investors, market analysts, beneficiaries,
suppliers, and son, and rewritten and revised to appeal to each of those specific needs.
Remember,
however, there is nothing requiring the outside world to believe what they see, hear, or,
for that matter, even read it.
The public has
been conditioned to question anything that looks too one-sided. In fact, there is evidence
that a highly credible source will look even more credible by admitting to making a small
mistake. This finding might also translate to a organization’s external publication if it
includes minor negative information.
It can be
even more effective when you start out with the problem and then use the message to deal
with it openly and honestly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
6. The Focus Is…
If you
plan to reach your external audiences through special, targeted publications, either print
or electronic, you have to realize that they are products that have to be designed.
Let’s
look at the five key questions you need to ask yourself that will help you figure out what
you do or do not want in your publication.
1) Why are you
producing it?
There are a number of reasons for having special project publications. Since the vast majority of them are distributed free, it is not to make a profit.
What, then, is
the “return” you hope to get from your investment?
Are you looking
for support? Understanding? beneficiary or investor loyalty? Another chance? Are you trying
to set the record straight?
Why can’t
you use on of your existing media—news release, advertising, organization magazine, and
such?
2) Who is
your audience?
To whom are
you sending it? Even if you know what you want to say, you won’t be able to say it
effectively until you know exactly who it is aimed at.
A publication
aimed at market analysis would not be very effective, for example, if it didn’t focus
on their specific interest in the overall reason behind the publication, as well as using
their language, frames of references, and vocabulary.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
7. The Focus Is…
(Continued)
3) What is
your voice?
The writers,
editors, photographers, and everyone else involved with actually producing it have to know
what is expected of them in terms of content, style, and tone.
4) Who will
produce it?
Will you
produce the entire publication in-house? Will you hire and use freelance writers,
photographers, and artists? Or will you turn the entire publication over to an outside
agency that specializes in producing such publications.
Regardless who
actually produces it, what department will it be under? Who has budgetary control? Who
will have the final say-so on content?
5) How big?
How big will
it be? What sizes will the pages be? How many pages will it have? Do you want a magazine
small enough to fit in a back pocket? In a briefcase? Do you want something that will look
good on a coffee table?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
8. Always Remember the
Message
Even though
he was addressing the “agriproject/programme purpose” sector of activity, and other faculty and staff at
the University of Florida, Gainesville, the message (found in http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/poucher.htm)
of Donald W. Poucher, the University’s Director of Educational Media and Services
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, applies to all project/programme purposees.
He was
talking about communication, about carrying specific messages to targeted audiences and
the need to be constantly aware that you are carrying a message. As you read his
comments, think about how you can apply the concepts in your own situation.
“Faculty
and staff deal with people all say long. Do we make every contact count? Every
conversation, every mailing, every outreach should build awareness and accountability.
Before you can build a relationship with any individual or audience, you should think
about the purpose of that relationship. Each level of involvement fits into one of three
categories: knowledge, preference or commitment.
“On a
personal basis, think of it this way: You’d like people in your community to know who
you are, you’d hope your friends prefer your organization and you expect your family to be
committed to you. It’s the same level of relationships for dealing with various
publics. We need a general awareness of our services among the people in our counties and
communities; we want to instill a preference for our programs among our action sponsor/beneficiaryele; and we
want a commitment from decision makers.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
9. Always Remember the
Message (Continued)
“From
some groups such as the media and certain leaders, we want different levels of support on
different issues. When planning to build a relationship with someone, you should decide
what you want and expect from the contact. Each level requires a different approach.”
“As a
relationship moves from interest to loyalty, the best method of reaching that audience
shifts from mass media to targeted media to personal contact. In other words, don’t
rely on mass media to tell your entire story and don’t expect word-of-mouth to sell
your programs to the general public. And when you need a commitment, nothing replaces
personal contact…”
“The
success of any communication strategy will depend on our ability to recognize and adapt to
the challenges and realities of the information age, as opposed to a previous era of
standardized procedures and practices of a mass society. According to Judith Waldrop,
writing in the December 1990 issue of American Demographics, everyone will soon
belong to a minority group. The diverse needs and habits of the market may in some cases
dictate flexibility to provide for mosaic consumption patterns as opposed to mass
consumption patterns.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
10. Always Remember the
Message (Continued)
“An
information age dichotomy is a fragmented mass market of the past as identifiable,
dissimilar, yet overlapping constituencies, each of which may need the same information in
a slightly different form and at a different time than the others. Therefore, the
communications process now becomes a series of dissimilar constituent-specific tasks, all
variations of the same theme. Complete reliance on a single strategy ignores the diversity
that exists in today’s world and increases the chances of failure.”
“Market
segmentation and positioning are also important in developing communication strategies.
Positioning depends on market segmentation. Only by remembering the market segment for
which we’ve designed the program can we effectively position ourselves within a given
market segment as the provider of the program to meet a specific need. We are talking
about appeal and perception. The niche we want a given homogeneous group to perceive us to
occupy determines how we appeal to that group to access or use out program.”
“How do
we position ourselves among diverse markets? The problem becomes one of developing a
position statement that reflects the diverse perceptions of our beneficiaries. With the help
of research we can understand how we are perceived by our different action sponsor/beneficiaryele. We can
quantify the perception, and ultimately verbalize it.”
Poucher’s
comments can help you when you need to present your organization’s message to your own
audience or audiences.
What lessons
does this teach you about your own specific message strategies?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1. When there
are problems about financial information that is released, it is not the financial
information as much as it is the _______ that people had and how closely the information
matches those expectations.
a.
Assumptions
b.
Expectations
c.
Knowledge
d.
None of the above
2. In ______
______, a organization can decide for itself which information should come from which sources,
who has the final say and who has overall control.
a. Centralized Dissemination
b. Distributed Dissemination
c. Combined
Dissemination
d. All of the above
3. Information
can be released by whichever department, division, or section has it.
a. Centralized Dissemination
b. Distributed
Dissemination
c. Combined Dissemination
d. All of the above
4. Having one
person or department in charge creating a consistency of style and an efficient use of
personnel and resources.
a. Centralized
Dissemination
b. Distributed Dissemination
c. Combined Dissemination
d. All of the above
5. A organization’s
_______ publications go directly to the outside world untouched, unfiltered,
uninterrupted, and without comment by the media, competitors, government agencies or
critics.
a. Internal
b. External
c. Media
d. organizational
6. _______
publications are an excellent way to get your interpretation or explanation of specific
information to specific targets.
a. Internal
b. External
c. Media
d. organizational
7. When you
need a commitment nothing replaces
a. Internal relations
b. Media recognition
c. Personal
contact
d. None of the above
8. This is
important in developing communication strategies.
a. Market segmentation
b. Positioning
c. Both of
the above
d. None of the above
Matching the Columns
1. Information
strategy |
A. This
establishes the methodology for achieving your goals. |
|
2. Information
policies |
B. Once
people have information, they can use it in any way that they wish. |
|
3. Information
classification |
C. Not all information should be released. Systems have to be in place to determine what
information can be released, and to whom. |
|
4. Acceptable
use policy |
D. What
you want to do with specific information and what you hope to accomplish with it. |
|
5. Dissemination
storage |
E. Different
constituencies deserve and are entitled to different levels of treatment and types and
levels of information. |
|
6. Recipient
identification and classification policies |
F. Keeping
track of the information because it is a commodity. |
Answers:
1.)
D
2.)
A
3.)
C
4.)
B
5.)
F
6.)
E
Summary
As we have
seen, to the outside world, you quite often “are” your financial report. You
need to have some control over what that report and the other financial information you
release says about you. When you release information you have to know both to whom you are
speaking and that many people are seeing that information. Another important factor is how
information will be used and interpreted. That is why you need an established information
flow process.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Test
1. ______
Positioning depends on market
segmentation.
2. ______ The success of
any communication strategy depends on our ability to recognize and adapt to the challenges
and realities of the information age.
3. ______ When planning to
build a relationship with someone, you should decide what you want and expect from the
contact.
4. ______ When carrying
specific messages to targeted audiences, you only need to be aware of the message when you
deliver it.
5. ______ The writers,
editors, photographers, and everyone else involved with actually producing the publication
need to know what is expected of them in terms of content, style and tone.
6. ______ Internal
publications are an excellent way to get your interpretation or explanation of specific
information to specific targets.
7. ______ A centralized
dissemination process spreads the workload and is more responsive, flexible, accurate, and
current in controlling their own information.
8. ______ Distributed
dissemination is less responsive and can be seen as being restrictive or conservative
about what it will release.
9. ______ Information
policies establish the methodology for achieving your goals.
10.______ All information should
be released.
Answers:
1.
T
2.
T
3.
T
4.
F – you should be
constantly aware
5.
T
6.
F – external
7.
F – distributed
dissemination
8.
F – centralized
dissemination
9.
T
10.
F – Not all
Bibliography
Fisher, L.
(1992). The craft of organizational journalism: Writing
and editing creative organizational publications.
Mehra, A.
(1986). Free flow of information: A new paradigm.
Myers, J.
(1996). Segmentation and positioning for strategic
marketing decisions.
Glossary
Information flow – The
movement of information from one point to another, over time.
External publications
– Go directly to the outside world untouched, unfiltered, un interrupted, and without
comment by the media, competitors, government agencies, or critics. It is an excellent way to get your interpretation
or explanation of specific information to specific targets.
Combined dissemination – A
organization can decide for itself which information should come from which sources, who has
the final say, and who has overall control. They
have built-in flexibility that allows them to adapt more quickly to changing needs or
goals.
Information strategy –
Determines what you want to do with specific information and what you hope to accomplish
with it.
Q&A
1.
What are the three types of
dissemination procedures?
Dissemination procedures are the
approaches to controlling the flow of information. They
are centralized management, with one person or department in charge; distributed
management, any number of people or departments distributing the information; and combined
dissemination that merges the two styles.
2.
What are six key questions
you need to ask yourself that will help you figure out what you do or do not want in your
publication?
You should ask yourself, “Why are you
producing the publication?, Who is your audience?, What is your voice?, How will it be
delivered?, Who will produce it?, and How big it will be?”
3.
How are market segmentation
and positioning important in developing communication strategies?
Positioning depends on market
segmentation. Only by remembering the market
segment for which we have designed the program can we effectively position ourselves
within a given market segment as the provider of the program to meet a specific need.