Management Report: Red Cross Society Bushfire Victim Support Campaign

This report analyzes the Red Cross Society's public relations campaign aimed at providing moral support to victims of the Bega Valley NSW bushfires. The report details the background of the disaster, the research methodologies employed (including both quantitative and qualitative approaches), and the problem/opportunity statement. It outlines specific objectives such as providing timely help, informing volunteers, and collaborating with fundraising companies. The report also identifies the target public (bushfire victims), key messages, and strategies, including media events and surveys. Tactics such as social media campaigns and news launches are discussed, along with a Gantt chart outlining the campaign's timeline and cost allocation. The campaign's goal is to offer a safe space for victims to share their stories and receive non-judgmental support, utilizing social media to connect volunteers with those in need. The report emphasizes the importance of communication and understanding the victims' needs.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
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Situation Analysis
Background
The Red Cross society is one of the most well known disaster relief organizations that work for
the overall welfare of the people (redcross.org.au. 2020). They try to make sure that people who
become the victims of some natural disasters are being given the timely support and help which
they call as the first line disaster support in order to make sure that the victims are able to deal
with the shock. The bushfires at the Bega Valley NSW has been one of the major disasters in
history. Efforts have to be made to make sure that the victims who lost their houses and also
other precious things at the fire are being given proper help and support. It has been seen from
the surveys that the victims of the bushfire have mainly been suffering from isolation. As they
lost their houses and also their near and dear ones, there is actually no one who can help them to
get back to normalcy. However , it is really tough to get back to normal course of living so soon
but all they want is someone to listen (Whittaker, Taylor and Bearman 2020). As the PR
Practitioner, I will have to carry on an extensive and in depth research in order to be able to help
the ones that are actually in need.
Moral support is something they are looking for. The Red Cross society has recently launched
the campaign that will just send their officials from door to door and allow people to narrate their
stories and try to deal with them in a very non judgmental manner. The targeted public here is
the ones who lost their houses and also much of their property in the bush fires (Ginesta, Ordeix
and Rom 2017).

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Research
Research has been conducted from the different sources like the online sites, news channels and
the other resources as well. They mainly talk about the fact that the victims are looking for
somebody with whom they will be able to communicate. There have been several bush fires even
in the earlier context but this is also one of the most dangerous one as it has create a very harmful
impact on life and properly. Both the qualitative and the quantitative methods have to follow in
order to find out the impact of this bushfire (Mahmood and Yasin 2019).
Primary (Quantitative) research will be conducted by making the questionnaires and surveys that
will be circulating them among the people. The qualitative research will be conducted via focus
groups interviews. The focus groups will be the ones who have lost their houses, personal
property and also much of their natural belongings. The members of Red Cross Society will be
able to travelling to the shelter houses and refugee camps in order to interview them and gather
the information (Diaz 2019).
Secondary research will be mainly done via the thematic analysis that will be done by gathering
information from the journals, pdfs, and internet sites and also from many other such useful
websites.
Problem/opportunity statement
Red Cross Society will try to provide moral support and a quiet place to all the bush fire victims
by listening to them in a non judgmental manner.

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The campaign will gain the help from several youngsters who are trying to render their help in
order to support the victims
However communication is often an issue in these PR campaigns. It is because of this reason that
the social media platforms like face book, twitter will be used in order to act as a bridge between
the staffs of the company and also the targeted customers. This will help the PR practitioner to
get the ideas and the opinions of all the people via the posts and comments on the social media
sites.
2. Objectives
To provide timely help and support to all the victims of bush fire
To inform all the interested people the right ways in which they can volunteer their help and
support to the victims of bush fire
To inform all the SME to make sure that they are coming forward with the employment
opportunities so that the local people from in and around Bega Valley and the affected regions
are able to get help from them.
To go for some collaborations with the fund raising companies so that a good amount of money
can be collected for commencing the construction works for providing a proper shelter to them
who have lost their houses in this dangerous bush fire
To make sure that the Company is able to gain the support from maximym people possible
through the online social platforms like the websites, twitter, facebook and many other such
online sites.
Specific

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This is a specific objective as it will be helping in understanding the actual moral and social state
of the bush fire victims. This will give them a safe place to share their feelings.
Measurable
This is measurable as it will be taking time to visit all the refugee campaigns. The very name
door to door suggests that all the employees will try their level best to visit door to door and it
will take a time span of about 12 months.
Attainable
This is attainable in nature as the employees of Red Cross Society will try their level best to
communicate in a horizontal manner and make sure that they are being able to hear the stories in
a non judgmental manner.
Realistic
This is realistic in nature as employees might be able to make sure that they are able to
understand the needs of the victims and helping them to deal with this trauma
Time bound
This is time bound because it will be done within a span of about a year that is 90 days or 3
months.
3. Target Publics

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Targeted people will be the Bega Valley bush fire victims who have lost their homes and also
many of the personal belongings. The PR campaign will mainly be done in order to make sure
that the timely help and support can be provided to them so that they are able to deal with these
losses and are able to get back to their normal courses of living.
These publics are the ones who often view themselves as the abandoned and also socially
isolated. In order to get back to the normal courses of life they will have to be given a mental and
moral support. They want someone to speak to and someone with whom they will be able to
narrate their stories.
4. Strategy and Key Messages
The key messages will be -
 To help people know that the best way to render relief to bush fire victims is to give them
some quiet time
 Proper interactions and communications will be helping them to understand the actual
positions or the things that the victims are actually asking for.
 The major motif or the key theme of this campaign will be to hear about the personal
stories o any bits and pieces of information that the victims actually have to share.
 The volunteers have to carry on working in a totally unbiased and non judgmental way so
that they are able to get more close to the victims and are able to understand the different
ways in which the victims can be helped.
Strategies will be as follows

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To conduct some media events like media release or media launches. This will be one of the
important platforms as the Red Cross Society members will be displaying their journeys and
their experiences during those media launches to show the actual agony and the pain hat these
bush fire victims are passing through and the actual therapies that must be given to them.
To create some surveys
Creating surveys and circulate it among the victims in order to know if they are being given the
timely help and support. The questions will be based on the kinds of services that they expect
and also the kinds of help and support that they have been getting post their arrival in the rescue
campaigns or the help agencies
5. Tactics
The best tactics that can be used are as follows
Primary tactic
 Social media campaign
This one of the best possible way because there are many youngsters who want to contribute
towards the relief funds. In other words the students and the social workers are of the in search of
a proper platform that will connect them with the victims and also enable them to understand
what are the exact needs and the demands that the victims are looking for. Therefore they often
leave some tweets or some posts on their social media sites in order to know if they can actually
be able to help the victims.
 Sub tactic

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Red Cross society will be uploading their new campaign insights like small videos of their
members going to the rescue camps and speaking with the victims
 Conducting events at a news launch
This is one of the important tactics, because this attracts the attention of people at the same time.
It is therefore essential to make sure that there is a proper inclusion taking place. This will
enable the bush fire victims and also the other youngsters to come and take part in the event.
This event can take place in any trusted media release. Newspapers like Sydney Morning Herald
and others can be invited during these events so that they are able to act as the bridge between
the new campaigns being developed by the company that is by the Red cross society. This will
be very useful for the youngsters and the other volunteers to know that apart from the financial
help the refugees or the victims are actually looking for affection and some quiet time.
The new campaign that is being launched by the Red Cross society is to offer some quiet time to
the people who have lost their houses, property, wealth and also their near and dear ones.
7. Calendar (Gantt chart)
Task sheet

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Task Name Duration Start Finish
Social media
campaign
137 days
Wed
2/5/20
Thu
8/13/20
Assessing the
needs
12 days
Wed
2/5/20
Thu
2/20/20
conduction of
surveys
5 days
Wed
2/5/20
Tue
2/11/20
conduction of
interviews
4 days
Wed
2/12/20
Mon
2/17/20
collection of
feedbacks
1 day
Tue
2/18/20
Tue
2/18/20
analysis of data 1 day
Wed
2/19/20
Wed
2/19/20
compiling a
report
1 day
Thu
2/20/20
Thu
2/20/20
Idea generation,
planning and
approval
22 days
Fri
2/21/20
Mon
3/23/20
meeting with the
CEO
2 days Fri 2/21/20
Mon
2/24/20
idea generation 4 days
Tue
2/25/20
Fri 2/28/20
planning on the 5 days Mon Fri 3/6/20

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social media
platforms
3/2/20
consultation with
sponsors
4 days
Mon
3/9/20
Thu
3/12/20
gaining idea of
general costs and
processes
4 days Fri 3/13/20
Wed
3/18/20
creating the
social media plan
2 days
Thu
3/19/20
Fri 3/20/20
gaining approval
from the CEO
1 day
Mon
3/23/20
Mon
3/23/20
Assessment of HR
needs
29 days
Tue
3/24/20
Fri 5/1/20
consultation with
the HR
4 days
Tue
3/24/20
Fri 3/27/20
creating job
advertisements
7 days
Mon
3/30/20
Tue 4/7/20
conducting
interviews and
screening sessions
14 days
Wed
4/8/20
Mon
4/27/20
recruitment 4 days
Tue
4/28/20
Fri 5/1/20
Cost allocation 6 days Mon Mon

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5/4/20 5/11/20
identifying the
recurring costs
2 days
Mon
5/4/20
Tue 5/5/20
identifying the
non-recurring costs
2 days
Wed
5/6/20
Thu 5/7/20
calculation of the
total expenses
1 day Fri 5/8/20 Fri 5/8/20
creation of
budget
1 day
Mon
5/11/20
Mon
5/11/20
Implementing the
social media
campaign
52 days
Tue
5/12/20
Wed
7/22/20
creating contents 14 days
Tue
5/12/20
Fri 5/29/20
managing visuals 20 days
Mon
6/1/20
Fri 6/26/20
developing key
messages
5 days
Mon
6/29/20
Fri 7/3/20
proofreading
content
7 days
Mon
7/6/20
Tue
7/14/20
publication in
different social
media platforms
6 days
Wed
7/15/20
Wed
7/22/20

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Monitoring and
controlling
16 days
Thu
7/23/20
Thu
8/13/20
conduction of
surveys
7 days
Thu
7/23/20
Fri 7/31/20
assessing
feedbacks
3 days
Mon
8/3/20
Wed
8/5/20
analyzing flaws
in the social media
operations
2 days Thu 8/6/20 Fri 8/7/20
devising control
mechanism or
mitigation
4 days
Mon
8/10/20
Thu
8/13/20

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Gantt chart

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8. Evaluation
Therefore it can be evaluated that there are people who want to narrate their stories and their
journeys in the midst of this dangerous bushfire. It is the duty of the social media marketing
manager to make sure that they are listing about this new campaign to the different people who
are looking for help (Hill, and Connelly 2018). There are victims who have talked about their
night mayors to see their houses getting burnt in front of their eyes and all they want is to narrate
about their feelings so that other victims are also able to derive some strength from this. Hence
the social media platforms like twitter and facebook will be great importance. This will be
helping people to contact with Red Cross society so that the timely help and the support can be
given to them.
Interactions and regular connection of feedback is of utmost importance so that the managers and
the PR practitioner of the company are able to understand if their campaigns are actually being
able to give some benefits to the victims. Efforts have to made so that the company can enter into
some very useful collaborations’ so that they are able to find out the different ways of
rehabilitation or the other helpful ways that can be found out in order to help the poor victims of
any kinds of natural disasters like that of the bush fire.

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References
Diaz, N.K., 2019. Analyzing Tactics and Strategies in PR Campaigns to Identify Best Practices
for Targeting the USA-based Hispanic Population. Rubtcova, M. and Pavenkov, O., 2018,
December. Analysis of Approaches to the Evaluation of the Efficiency of PR-Campaigns.
In International Conference on Global Business, Economics, Finance and Social Sciences
(ICGBEFSS). Pune, Maharashtra, India (Vol. 2).
Ginesta, X., Ordeix, E. and Rom, J., 2017. Managing content in cross-cultural public relations
campaigns: a case study of the paris terrorist attacks. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(6),
pp.624-632.
Hill, D. and Connelly, S., 2018. Community energies: Exploring the socio-political spatiality of
energy transitions through the Clean Energy for Eternity campaign in New South Wales
Australia. Energy research & social science, 36, pp.138-145.
Mahmood, F. and Yasin, Z., 2019. Using Facebook for Government Public Relations
Campaigns: Relationship between Information Seeking Attitude and Effectiveness of Public
Relations Outcomes for Facebook. Journal of Media Studies, 34(1).
redcross.org.au. 2020. redcross.org.au. [online] Available at: https://www.redcross.org.au/
[Accessed 5 Feb. 2020].
Shirreff, G., Wadood, M.Z., Vaz, R.G., Sutter, R.W. and Grassly, N.C., 2017. Estimated effect of
inactivated poliovirus vaccine campaigns, Nigeria and Pakistan, January 2014–April
2016. Emerging infectious diseases, 23(2), p.258.

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Whittaker, J., Taylor, M. and Bearman, C., 2020. Why don't bushfire warnings work as
intended? Responses to official warnings during bushfires in New South Wales,
Australia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, p.101476.