Strategic Communication Plan for Old Chang Kee: A Rebranding Approach

This report provides a strategic communication plan for Old Chang Kee, a fast-food company in Singapore. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the challenges faced by the company, particularly regarding its aging workforce and the need for rebranding. The report delves into the background of Old Chang Kee, its products, and its history. It then examines the characteristics and dynamics of the fast-food industry, including customer satisfaction, service intangibility, and the impact of technology and external stakeholders. The communication challenges faced by Old Chang Kee are identified, such as customer information and the complexity of customized services. The core of the report is the strategic communication plan, which outlines objectives, brand promotion strategies using social media, local news, and advertisements, and the use of corporate social responsibility initiatives to engage seniors and other stakeholders. Finally, the report acknowledges the challenges and limitations during the execution of the plan, and provides a conclusion.

Running head: STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
Strategic Communication
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Executive Summary
The fast-food industry is fast growing and along with it, the several challenges it faces are
explicitly encountered by the different fast food chains. For this study, a fast food company
named Old Chang Kee is considered. This fast food chain company is growing fast and in
Singapore. According to the latest market trends, due to the ageing population, a high number of
the seniors and elders are considered for the jobs. The company chairman Han Keen Juan also
recruits the elders in his business. The various characteristics and dynamics are assumed due to
the lack of information, however, the challenges found in the Old Chang Kee are identified and
provided into the study. As the study demands the formulation of a strategic communication plan
from the perspective of a communication manager. A plan is formulated for the purpose of
rebranding the fast food business of Old Chang Kee and providing it with the necessary inputs so
that the Old Chang Kee can gain more customers. The execution of the strategic communication
plan has some inherent drawbacks and limitations which are explicitly mentioned and addressed
at the end.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background of the organization.......................................................................................................3
Characteristics and dynamics of your organization.........................................................................4
Communication challenges faced by the organization....................................................................6
Strategic communication plan.........................................................................................................7
Challenges during the execution of the plan....................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Strategic communication can be described as an umbrella term which encompasses
different types of activities like the advertising, management communication, public relations.
The main strength of the strategic communication is the emphasis it puts on the strategy rather
than on employing the special tactics, it puts its majority of the focus on the development of the
communication holistically (Downs & Adrian, 2012). Strategic communication is utilized by the
organizations in order to use the high level of communication behind the conduct of the business
and to stay adhered to the organizational goals. The delivery of the news is to the general public
is dependent on the media and the people who play an important part in society and the media
(Thomas & Stephens, 2015). This study is based on Singapore and its ageing population that
employs a majority of the senior workforce into the private and public enterprises. The study is
also based on a how a communication manager can raise and distinguish its business among the
seniors.
Background of the organization
Especially for this study, the old change kee food chain company has been considered.
Considering the fact that Singapore is currently facing a shortage of youth employees and this
company found a novel way of recruiting the seniors that have already retired from active work
(peakmagazine, 2018). The various kinds of products offered by Old Chang Kee are traditional
favourites (Curry’O, Spring’O, Carrot’K8, Gyoza), seafood items (crab nugget, prawn nugget,
Sardine’O, Sotong Ball, Big fishball, Fish Fillet, Sotong Wing, Sotong Head, Fishball), chicken
items (cheezy chicken sausage, chciekn nugget, chicken wrap, chicken wing and chicken
mushroom’o), desserts (green bean feel’in) (Oldchangkee, 2018). Old Change Kee was first
established in the year 1956 along the Mackenzie road. It was famous due to a dish prepared by

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this stall, the dish was called curry puff and at that time the dish was called “Red Curry Puff”. In
the year 1986, Han Juan made an important decision that changed the fast food scenario all over
Singapore. He took over the control of the Old Change Kee business and transformed it into a
successful business. Old Chang Kee now specializes the manufacture of a wide variety of the
high-quality food products and very affordable signature curry puff. Presently, the production of
the food products is carried out in a high-end modern factory along with the high-end
technology. The Old Chang Kee company strived to maintain the quality along with consistency.
The production processes have met the standards prescribed by the food manufacturer and are in
accordance with the Halal and HACCP standards.
Characteristics and dynamics of your organization
Due to the lack of proper information from the end of the company, certain assumptions
need to be placed in order to assess the characteristics and the dynamics of the Old Chang Kee.
The assumptions are made based on the general fast food business and the dynamics as well as
the characteristics of the organization. the characteristics and the dynamics are all over the same
and it occurs in all the different types of the fast food industry.
The fast-food industry can also be termed as a service sector due to the hospitality
services that it renders. The entertainment and reception of the strangers, visitors, and the guests
along with the goodwill and liberty is the main theme of the hospitality industry. The hospitality
industry is a wide term that encompasses the tourism industry, lodging, restaurant, theme park,
event planning. A hospitality industry thus includes different people with different
responsibilities and it includes the human resources, marketing, operations manager, facility
manager and communication manager. In order to be an able manager in the hospitality industry,
there are certain important skills that need to be possessed by the manager himself so that

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business boosts and the fast food outlets earn high revenues (Seyitoglu & Yüzbaşioglu, 2015).
The different characteristics of the fast food industry are customer satisfaction, graveyard shift,
shift work, variable, simultaneous, inseparable, perishable, intangible. The characteristics of the
intangible services in the hospitality sector are the ones that cannot be touched and felt. Services
and the sales that are owned by a person, however, it cannot be opened up from the service
provider's end to the service users. The characteristic of the perishable services in the hospitality
sector are the things that do not last long and the same experiences cannot be experienced again.
When the service is rendered by the owner of the service, it irreversibly disappears because the
service is actually utilized by the consumers. In this case, the service must be utilized within a
stipulated period of time as soon as the service resource is allocated. Inseparable services are the
various means of production which cannot be alienated from a customer (Radojevic, Stanisic &
Stanic, 2015). Customer services are there to interact with the manufacturer in order to reap its
benefits. The service providers are producing the service while there has to someone who has to
disseminate the service to the service users. Certain times, the services are rendered to the
customers are done automatically. Simultaneous services are the sort of services which are
rendered in a sequential manner. The client also to some extent are attached to the final services
rendered and this affects the whole service system. The variable services are the various
disposable substance generating out of the service utilization and consumption. Guest
satisfaction means that the guests that are visiting the fast food outlets must be satisfied with the
services rendered. The satisfaction of the guest depends to a great extent on the service provided
by the fast food outlets because customers overall service and satisfaction because the customers
already have an expectation regarding the service (Villar, Pla-Barber & León-Darder, 2012).

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Hospitality and the fast food industry is a dynamic industry that changes with the passage
of time at a faster rate. The business people and the stakeholders must stay prepared and sharp in
order to cope up with the changing environment. In the fast food industry, people need to move
with the right tools in order to make proper decisions (Richard, 2017). The incorporation of the
several major technological innovations. Most of the fast food outlets still use the traditional
process in order to entertain their customers, while the latest technological innovations provide a
wider aspect of attracting the customers. The external stakeholders influence the ability of a fast
food business in a way that the altogether affects the conduct of the business. The presence of the
market rivals increases the dynamism of the fast food industry. The different strategies and the
different step taken to gain the competitive advantage leads to the increase in the dynamism
(Brida et al., 2015).
Communication challenges faced by the organization
The communication challenges faced by the fast food industry are the unique set
of challenges. This can be overcome by the quality customer service, high cost of the business,
employing the right communication strategies. The several areas of communication challenges
are: customer information and the taste of the customer are not properly conveyed at the
reception desk. A customer that want certain customized services often leads to the increase in
complexity. The complexity arises due to the higher customer demands and fast food service
providers are unable to fulfil such demand (Bharwani & Butt 2012).
The shortage of the manpower led the Old Chang Kee to select the Microsoft Dynamics
NAV into the fast food business and this has helped in gaining the 50 percent logistical
productivity, reduction of the staff overtime and zero chance of data replication and duplication
(AFON, 2018).

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Strategic communication plan
Objective- the major objective of the communication manager is to frame a
strategic communication plan as well as make recommendations and the strategies for Old Chang
Kee. This will help in building the organizational brand, raise the profile of the fast food among
the seniors and the local news media. The plan will also incorporate the corporate social
responsibility initiatives so that the key seniors can be engaged as the key stakeholders. The
stakeholders may include the volunteers, staff members, customers, participants. The strategic
communication plan will also include the rationale behind the formulation of the plan and will
also incorporate the corporate social responsibility.
Brand promotion- the communication manager can promote the brand of Old Chang Kee
will be done through the usage of the social media, local news media, advertisements. Social
media although is not that famous among the elderly, however, the promotion of the business
through the social media is the best due to the vast number of the audience of people it can
collate together. Any new business always requires its name to be spread among the general
public. General public when comes to know the name of a business entity effectively increases
its fame and name among the people that would like to avail the service. Next, the best strategy
is the promotion of brand via spreading information via the local news media. Certainly, it is
easy for a fast food business which is confined to a small geographical region will look for the
chances of spreading its name among the local people living in the area. Local media provides
the best way of spreading the name and the messages. Lastly, there are other options like
advertisements that effectively bring in people from the different areas specifically highlights the
induction of new fast food business. The strategic communication strategies will help Old Chang
Kee to gain customers and investors from different part of the country.

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The Old Chang Kee is a quite an old company with a rich history and thus a
communication manager can indulge in public relations activity in order to promote the brand on
a larger scale. In order to engage and spread its service to a majority of the seniors can be done
via improving the brand image and bringing communication. The corporate social responsibility
or the community services performed by the Old Chang Kee is a novel way of both helping the
society and increasing the brand image of the company. Old Chang Kee often organizes musical
shows as a part of their corporate social responsibility (Oldchangkee, 2018). These kinds of
events are perfect for engaging the seniors, investors and the volunteers into the whole strategic
communication. Events organized can be effectively used to promote the services and the
products of Old Chang Kee can effectively help in boosting the brand image.
Strategic communication brings together the vital stakeholders into a single arena. The
fast-food business specified here is a business specifically targeting the senior customers and the
senior workers. In Singapore, the high number of the aged people that are working bring with
themselves the added exposure and experience. Such experiences can be effectively utilized in
the growth of the fast food business and its promotion. The high number of the seniors that work
in Singapore undergo readmission into work even after they reach the age of 65. Corporate social
responsibility is a vital part of a business organization that is willing to contribute to the society.
This can be achieved only if all the stakeholders are perfectly engaged in the workforce like the:
volunteers, staff members, customers, participants, stakeholders. The experience and the
exposure of the senior employees can be effectively used to educate the others that need the help
and guidance of the experienced people. The rationale of the corporate social responsibility and
the strategic communication plan is to increase the awareness and increase the engagement

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among the seniors. There are other reasons for the promotion of the effective communication
among the other staffs working in the fast food business.
Gannt chart of a strategic communication plan for six months
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Promotion of
the brand
name
Corporate
Social
Responsibilit
y
Engagement
of the
stakeholders
Involving the
seniors
Challenges during the execution of the plan
The challenges that will be faced during the carrying out of the plan is the effective
communication and the management of the whole team. The effective working of the team will
depend largely on the effective working synchronized team. The presence of the too many
stakeholders will increase the complexity of management of the team effectively. There are other

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types of problems like the bringing together a big number of the seniors into the workforce will
reduce the speed of the work. Corporate social responsibility is the responsibility of each of the
business entity and thus it is necessary for them to bring in the effective and abled person into the
picture.
The limitation of the plan is that the brand promotion through the social media, local news
media, and the advertisements. Although in the later part the continuation of the involvement of
the society may be necessary, it is not continued due to the cost of promoting the brand will be
huge. Whereas the strength can be cited as the involvement of the senior and the other
stakeholders into the strategic communication plan. This will effectively boost in the conduct of
the corporate social responsibility.
Conclusion
Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that strategic communication is vital
for every kind of business. It effectively reduces the conflicts that generally arises due to the
ineffective communication. The framing of the strategic communication strategies is totally
aligned with the organizational goals. Depending on the goals and the targets to be achieved, the
strategic communication plays the role accordingly. In this study, a Singaporean case study is
considered where the seniors are actions taken in to account for the promotion of a fast food
business which actively targets the senior employees. The study also includes the strategies
which help in conducting a corporate social responsibility.

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References
AFON. (2018). Case Study - Old Chang Kee. Afon.com.sg. Retrieved 20 March 2018, from
https://www.afon.com.sg/case-study-old-chang-kee
Bharwani, S., & Butt, N. (2012). Challenges for the global hospitality industry: an HR
perspective. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 4(2), 150-162.
Brida, J. G., Driha, O. M., Ramón-Rodríguez, A. B., & Scuderi, R. (2015). Dynamics of
internationalisation of the hotel industry: the case of Spain. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(5), 1024-1047.
Downs, C. W., & Adrian, A. D. (2012). Assessing organizational communication: Strategic
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Oldchangkee. (2018). Old Chang Kee - Our Products. Oldchangkee.com. Retrieved 20 March
2018, from http://www.oldchangkee.com/our-products.htm
Oldchangkee. (2018). Oldchangkee.listedcompany.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018, from
http://oldchangkee.listedcompany.com/misc/ar2010.pdf
peakmagazine. (2018). Why the Old Chang Kee boss prefers hiring elderly | The Peak Singapore
- Your Guide to The Finer Things in Life. The Peak Singapore - Your Guide to The Finer
Things in Life. Retrieved 20 March 2018, from http://thepeakmagazine.com.sg/gourmet-
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workers/

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Radojevic, T., Stanisic, N., & Stanic, N. (2015). Ensuring positive feedback: Factors that
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