The Strategies of Chelsea Football Club's Communications Department To
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THE STRATEGIES OF CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB’S COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT TO GLOBALISE ITS BRAND By Stara Anna ID no. 009200800023 A thesis presented to the Faculty of Communication President University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Bachelor Degree in Communication Major in Public Relations October 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page THESIS TITLE.............................................................................................................i PANEL OF EXAMINERS APPROVAL SHEET.......................................................ii DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY.......................................................................iii ABSTRACT................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................vi CHAPTERS I. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................1 1.1. Background of the Study.....................................................................1 1.2. Company Profile..................................................................................5 1.3. Problems Identified...........................................................................13 1.4. Statement of the Problem...................................................................15 1.5. Research Objectives...........................................................................15 1.6. Significance of the Study...................................................................17 1.7. Theoretical Framework......................................................................17 1.8. Scope and Limitations of the Study...................................................22 II. LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................................23 2.1. Football and Globalisation.................................................................24 2.2. Football and the Media......................................................................27 2.3. Football as a Business........................................................................28 vi 2.4. The Globalised Business of Football and the Fans............................29 III. METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH............................................................34 3.1. Research Method...............................................................................34 3.2. Research Instruments.........................................................................35 IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS............36 4.1. Chelsea Football Club’s Communications Department Structure..................................................................................................36 4.2. Chelsea Football Club’s Communications Department Activities.................................................................................................38 V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................69 5.1. Conclusions........................................................................................69 5.2. Recommendations..............................................................................71 REFERENCES..........................................................................................................76 APPENDICES...........................................................................................................80 Interview Transcripts...........................................................................80 E-interview Transcripts........................................................................82 Documentations...................................................................................91 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Study Communication, defined by Griffin (2005), is the management of messages with the objective of creating meaning while Department means a division of a college or school giving instruction in a particular subject1. Often called as Corporate Communications, Communications Department is a management function that offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organization is dependent2. Similar to other management processes, professional public relations or corporate communications work emanates from clear strategies and bottom-line objectives that flow into specific tactics, each with its own budget, timetable, and allocation of resources. The public relations professionals who have the most organizational clout and get paid the most are those who demonstrate the ability to perform in crisis. Thinking “on your feet” is very much a coveted ability in the practice of public relations. So too is the ability to think strategically and plan methodically to help change attitudes, crystallise opinions, and accomplish the organization’s overall goals. Should public relations truly be the “interpreter” for management philosophy, policy, and programs, then the public relations director should report to the CEO. In many organisations, this reporting relationship has not always been the case. Many times, public relations have been subordinated to advertising, marketing, legal, or human resources. Whereas marketing and advertising promote the product, public relations 1 promotes the entire organisation. Therefore, if the public relations chief reports to the director or marketing or advertising, the job becomes one of promoting specific products and not an entire organisation. The fact is, the management’s will cannot be correctly interpreted if being effectively “blocked” by superiors from getting to top management. That is why, ideally, public relations must report to those who run the organisation. Increasingly, that has become the case. For the public relations to be valuable to the management, it must remain independent, credible, and objective as an honest broker. This also mandates that public relations professionals not only have communication competence but also an intimate knowledge of the organisation’s business. Without the latter, according to research, public relations professionals are much less effective as top-management advisers3. Public relations, rightfully, should be the corporate conscience. An organisation’s public relations professionals should enjoy enough autonomy to deal openly and honestly with management. If an idea does not make sense, if a product is flawed, if the general institutional wisdom is wrong, it is the duty of the public relations professional to challenge the consensus. As the legendary investor and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Berkshire Hathaway company, Warren Buffet, once put it, “We can afford to lose money – even a lot of money. But we cannot afford to lose reputation – even a shred of reputation4.” In terms of sports industry, sport public relations is a managerial, communication-based function designed to identify a sport’s organisation’s key publics, evaluate its relationships with its publics, and foster desirable relationships between the organisation and its publics. While the public relations function often complements the marketing function within sport organisations, it is distinct in that it engages a more diverse group of publics and seeks relational rather than transactional outcomes. Public relations is a powerful promotional tool capable of generating substantial publicity for the sport organisation. However, promotion and publicity do not represent the whole of public relations. 2 The practice of public relations within sport is diverse, but its two most common forms are media relations and community relations. Media relations programs focus on building relationships with members of the mass media in order to maximise positive publicity and minimise negative publicity. Community relations programs are structured to allow members of the sport organisation to come in direct contact with their constituents and to allow the sport organisation to gain public favour by contributing to charitable initiatives. Other forms of public relations in sport include employee relations, investor relations, customer relations, donor relations, and government relations. Regardless of the nature of the specific public relations activity, effective practice is based on several fundamental skills, including the abilities to write well, interact with others, make public presentations, design publications, and work with Web sites. Effective public relations offers several benefits to the sport organisation. First, it is a powerful marketing tool that can generate brand awareness and brand associations. Second, it generates information that can be effectively marketed as a product extension (e.g., content on Web sites, game programs). Third, public relations counsel can help sport organisations save money by avoiding damaging mistakes in relation to key publics. The precise value of a crisis avoided or at least effectively managed may be difficult to determine, but the costs of public relations mistakes can be significant and long lasting5. As one of the world’s top football clubs, London-based Chelsea Football Club is a high profile organisation with a world class reputation to maintain. Its original communications system and Contact