Media Relations Strategy: Tray Return Initiative by NEA Singapore

This report outlines a media relations plan for Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) to promote the Tray Return Initiative, aimed at improving public health and waste management. The primary target audience includes food court operators, quick service restaurants, and other dining establishments, while the secondary audience comprises customers. The key message emphasizes the importance of cleanliness and proper waste disposal through tray returns. The plan involves publishing news in renowned Singaporean dailies, monitoring media coverage, and engaging relevant journalists to garner positive news. A sample news release is provided, highlighting the revival of the Tray Return Initiative and its benefits for managing health and cleanliness. The report underscores NEA's role in ensuring a clean and green environment through integrated solid waste management systems. Desklib offers a variety of similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: MEDIA RELATIONS
MEDIA RELATIONS
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1MEDIA RELATIONS
The major people that the company will be targeting to get the campaign done are the
food courts operators, quick service restaurants or fast food restaurants, food courts and other
dining establishments.
The reasons why these publics have been targeted include, the campaign mainly relates to
the hygiene maintenance of the customers and the waste management approach (Soltani et al.,
2015). As the food service restaurants and food court operators in Singapore have a great
popularity among the local citizens, they need to maintain hygiene in the food items and cooking
method. Through tray returning service these agencies will be able to maintain cleanliness and
keep the environment clean (Kinnaman, 2017). Secondly, this tray retuning initiatives will also
guide the food courts operations and other dining establishments to address the solid waste
problems.
There are several reasons why the National Environment Agency should know the
audiences becomes by knowing them, the agency will be able to develop effective media relation
strategies. As the target audiences in this case are a set of individuals sharing similar characters
and needs which can help the agency to achieve the common goal of waste management in
Singapore. It is important for the agency to select and know the criteria of the audiences as it
crafts specific messages to reach and convince them about this program.
The NEA can reach its targeted publics though some very important steps (Nea.gov.sg,
2019). These include, knowing its target audience, focusing on the needs of these target
audiences, discussing the message with the target audience, building credibility and trust on the
target public, creating an attention grabbing or engaging message, maximizing the budget a
finding and choosing right medium or channel to convey the message. The first and foremost
action that the agency must conduct is to gain knowledge about the difficulties of the target

2MEDIA RELATIONS
audiences regarding waste management (Bing et al., 2016). This will need a proper market
research based on which the media will work for connectivity. Then the agency will engage right
communication channel through which it will be easier to convey the message more clearly to
the audience.

3MEDIA RELATIONS
Media relations plan
Situation analysis:
The National Environment Agency or NEA, in the November 2012 had announced that in
order to manage the growing waste in the cities of Singapore, it has initiated a campaign of tray
return facilities to the food courts operators, quick service restaurants or fast food restaurants,
food courts and other dining establishments. This is needed sure to the fact that the cleanliness of
the cities and other places are becoming difficult for growing usage of trays, plates, bowls and
utensils by the customers. These are all affecting the environment of the place so NEA has
aimed to mitigate this problem (Buhl, Günther & Quandt, 2018). Under the first of three phases
to roll out the Tray Return Initiatives, 34 hawker centers had been chosen to fit with the tray
return facilities. This first phases have been ended by eight months and paved the way for
continuing efforts of the promotion of tray return as efforts to help the food hawkers to keep their
area clean in one hand and pose the act as social graciousness towards the cleaners and fellow
patrons. This launch event has been held at the Yuhua and Haker Centre and Bukit Timah
Market. Now it has been long six years since that roll out of tray returning program but there is
more to be done for cultivating the need of waste management and public hygiene thorough
cleanliness in the residents of Singapore.
Goals:
The aim of this revived campaign is to create awareness among the citizens of the
country the need of cleanliness through the practice of returning trays, plates, bowls and utensils
at the food courts and other food hawker centers by themselves.
Target audience

4MEDIA RELATIONS
The primary target audience of this particular campaign are the food court operators,
quick service restaurants or fast food restaurants, food courts and other dining establishments in
the cities of Singapore (Nea.gov.sg, 2019). This campaign also includes some secondary
audience who are the customers visiting these restaurants and food courts and using trays, plates,
bowls and utensils made of plastic or other non-biodegradable materials. These target audience
eses need to understand the importance of proper waste disposal though returning used materials
properly to the hawkers after using them so that they can reuse or recycle those materials.
Key message
The National Environment Agency aims to share its concern to the media about the
growing issues of waste management in the region of Singapore and health issues among the
people of the country. The NEA has initiated to face the issue by mandating the food courts and
other associated restaurants to take part in the Tray Return program that has been revived after
2013 (Rogers, Skinner & Zechman, 2016). At that point of time, and last six years, the program
has gained a huge response from the target audience but has not become the first and only choice
of the secondary targeted audiences. This campaign desires
 Complete attention of the primary stakeholders to face waste management problems in
Singapore
 Enhancing awareness among the general public about the importance of cleanliness in
the area
 The solid wastes which are the plastic trays, glasses and other utensils after use can
cause air, land and water pollution so retuning the used trays to the stalls can help the
agency to face the problem.
Media list

5MEDIA RELATIONS
This agency aims to publish the news of this propaganda of Tray Return Initiative in the
renowned daily published in Singapore (Jambeck et al., 2015). The English publication are The
Straits Times, The Sunday Times, The Business Times and The New Paper. The Chinese
publication Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, Thumbs Up and
zbCOMMA.
Evaluation
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this news in the local newspaper, the
organization will be countering the media clips and understand how many people have been
reached so far.
Timeline
This process will continue for six months so that the growing probable of solid waste
management by returning used trays in the areas of Singapore can be reduced.
Garnering positive news coverage
NEA will follow some steps to garner positive new coverage in the media.
 It will be determining its key message which is the thing it wants someone reading a
story about the propaganda of the organization to take away
 It will set a timeframe of six months
 By researching relevant journalists, it will engage them to support the focused facts
 At the time of news release, the organization will select a spokesperson
 It will raft a media release and take press photos
 Encouraged desired behaviors in both primary and secondary target audience

6MEDIA RELATIONS
Effective pitch for the NEA by drafting a news release
Inverted pyramid:
Revived Campaign for Tray Retuning Initiative
Making Singapore Cleaner and Healthier
Singapore, 11th February, 2019, The National Environment Agency has aimed to revive the tray
returning initiative in the food courts, restaurants and other food serving places situated within the
territory of Singapore. In 2012, this program had gained immense popularity as this had reduced the
amount of solid wastes in this region while was in operation for eight months. However, this process
was not being continued by the NEA.
The reviving factors related to this particular campaign is to make the people of the place understand
the benefits of this tray retuning campaign. This will mitigate the issues of managing health and
cleanliness of these place. Though this program, the food court managers will be developing
awareness regarding the solid waste management in one hand and maintain hygiene in the food
items and cooking method. Through tray returning service these agencies will be able to make sure
that their customers return the used trays to the restaurants and maintain cleanliness along with
keeping the environment clean.
“Singapore’s clean and livable
environment is ensured with the help
of our partners from the People and
Private sectors who take ownership of
our common urban living space. As
such, NEA encourages environment
friendly practices through our grants
and incentives to help organizations
adopt greener systems”.
This tray returning initiatives will
also guide the food courts operations
and other dining establishments to
address the solid waste problems.
This will also reduce the cost of
purchasing trays and use the recycled
trays and other utensils. This is why
patrons of hawker centers should
support this initiative.

7MEDIA RELATIONS
About the agency
National Environment Agency is a statutory board under the Ministry of the Environment and
Water Resources in Singapore. It was formed on 1 July 2002 and is responsible for sustaining
clean as well as green environment in the country. This agency fights maintains public health,
pollution and provides the meteorological information. In order to address solid waste problems
through tray returning programs, this agency with the help of the government of Singapore has
developed an integrated solid waste management system. This ensures that wastes are collected
as well as disposed of safely at plants or at the offshore landfills.

8MEDIA RELATIONS
References:
Bing, X., Bloemhof, J. M., Ramos, T. R. P., Barbosa-Povoa, A. P., Wong, C. Y., & van der
Vorst, J. G. (2016). Research challenges in municipal solid waste logistics
management. Waste Management, 48, 584-592.
Buhl, F., Günther, E., & Quandt, T. (2018). Observing the dynamics of the online news
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Studies, 19(1), 79-104.
Jambeck, J. R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T. R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., ... & Law, K.
L. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science, 347(6223), 768-771.
Kinnaman, T. C. (2017). The economics of residential solid waste management. Routledge.
Nea.gov.sg. (2019). The National Environment Agency. Retrieved from https://www.nea.gov.sg/
Rogers, J. L., Skinner, D. J., & Zechman, S. L. (2016). The role of the media in disseminating
insider-trading news. Review of Accounting Studies, 21(3), 711-739.
Soltani, A., Hewage, K., Reza, B., & Sadiq, R. (2015). Multiple stakeholders in multi-criteria
decision-making in the context of municipal solid waste management: a review. Waste
Management, 35, 318-328.