Brand Communication, Reputation Management and Activism Report

This report examines brand communication and reputation management, focusing on brand activism strategies employed by Tesco and Unilever. It explores the impact of digitalization on brand image and customer service, highlighting Tesco's proactive approach versus Unilever's gradual adoption. The report delves into various models, including the Grunig & Hunt model (press agent, public information, two-way asymmetrical, and two-way symmetrical models), emphasizing the importance of customer feedback, especially in the context of digitalization. Furthermore, it analyzes the Paid-Owned-Earned media model, detailing how companies can leverage owned media (websites, social media), paid media (advertisements), and earned media (customer reviews) to enhance brand image and engage in brand activism. The analysis underscores the significance of integrating these models to meet societal needs and achieve commercial objectives. The report concludes with recommendations for both companies to improve their brand activism and reputation management efforts.

BRAND
COMMUNICATION AND
REPUTATION
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Brand activism along with different models................................................................................3
Think piece in the practitioner trade............................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report highlights the challenges faced by Tesco and Unilever and its impact on Tesco and
their work experiences along with the concept of brand activism with different models.
INTRODUCTION
Brand communication is one of the important tool used to influence the stakeholders of the
company. It is the significant tool for brand management which companies use to enrich the
knowledge of their stakeholders about the brand. It is also used as promotional tools and tactics
to influence the customers about the brand. Reputation management is useful to influence what
people think of brand. It is the process of shaping the public perception in relation with brand.
This report is prepared in the context of Tesco and Unilever which shows how both the
companies uses different strategies to maintain the reputation. Utilizing technology appropriately
results in better customer service and Tesco has taken advantage of it while Unilever is in
process to adopt digitalization.
MAIN BODY
Brand activism along with different models
Brand activism or making the brands active by socially indulging them with the society so that
the objective of the company will be achieved with dual benefit to the society. It is the
responsibility of the brands to do something for the society which means that the brands have to
take care of the interest of the society to promote their brands as well as earning commercial
benefits in terms of increase in sales and profits.
Since, it is the society or group of people who made the brand and leads to running of brand and
due to this reason also every brand have to do something for the society which in tern benefits
the society as well as brand in capturing and meeting the market competition (Craddock, 2018).
Also, as every company works for increasing their customer share and sales margin, and
customers are also the part of society and for that reason also companies have to adopt some
steps for the betterment of the society apart from operating its business operations.
Thus, it is very essential for every brand to do brand activism so that the company and society
both will be benefited.
Organizational overview:

Tesco:
It is one of the British largest retailers of consumer goods with the excellent market share.
Tesco is reputed and powerful leading brand, it has a value for money, ease and wide range of
products in one store. It is known to be leading global brand in UK as they have expanded their
business in 12 countries including China, India, Malaysia, Hungary and Poland. The leaders of
Tesco has always set high standards, clear vision and goals, premium quality and never settling
for anything less than perfect. Tesco is playing a good position to reduce the prices and beating
the competition.
Unilever:
It is known to be the largest producer of soaps in all over world. They manufacture
products with a purpose and believes that the brand with a purpose grow. They are planning to
stay committed to this in the near future and bring every Unilever brand with a purpose. Unilever
run their operation with the motive that less work should be given to women, foster health,
contribute in personal attractiveness and to make life more enjoyable and rewarding. This
particular mission is always been part of Unilever's culture. They are focusing on to make people
look good, feel good a get more in life.
Digitalization as a technological advancement:
Digitalization or being digitalized is the recent trend and requirement of the today's world and
society, specially after the outbreak of Covid-19. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and due to
changing trends and increasing the requirement of digital marketing or digital sale and purchase
of products, the term digitalization came into effect. Digitalization is one of the important
element which put an impact over the brand image of the companies, in-fact the brand image of
the companies depends upon the term or adoption of the latest technology in the form of
digitalization (Kubiak and Ouda, 2020). Being digitalized means dealing the business activities
or interacting with consumers through online mode or with the help of digital modes.
Digitalization and its impact over the business is very vast in terms of its reputation and brand
image in the market which could affect its sales and profit percentage. Since due to Covid-19 and
increasing awareness among the people regarding the safety measures, digitalization now being
very important for the society also. Apart from that digitalization provides transparency to the
customers by which they can compare the products of different companies in terms of price and

quality which again raise the social importance of digitalization (Sarkar and Kotler, 2018). Thus,
it becomes very essential for the companies to adopt digitalization not just to improve their sales
and profits but also for the betterment of society.
Tesco which is one of the biggest and technologically advanced company of UK have adopted
digitalization and technological advancement in its business operations which is playing an
important role in the growth and success of the business of the company. Tesco by doing the
proper market research and study, analyse the importance of digitalization along with its positive
impact over the business of the company and accordingly implemented it in its business. Tesco
considers digitalization as an important element in influencing the society in terms of meeting
their needs and providing them the best services and product with full transparency which could
help the Tesco in attracting more customers towards it and leads to increase in customer share.
On the other hand, Unilever which is also a successful brand of UK is still analysing the need or
requirement of digitalization and its impact over the business operation and slowly adopting this
term and due to this reason only it has not that much benefited as the Tesco got.
The following points and models are described below for better explanation regarding this
concept and the impact over the society:
Grunig & Hunt model:
This model focus on maintaining the public relation by the company so that the objective
of the company will be achieved apart from betterment of the society. According to this model
the public relation can be maintained or improved by following four modes:
Press agent:
According to this model the focus lies on one way communication under which the
feedback or reviews of the customers are not that much important which means under this model
the manager influence or communicate with the customers regarding the product or service of the
company without considering the reviews of the customers. Also, under this mode the focus lies
on the flow of communication from sender to the receiver only. There is usually seen a lack of
accuracy and trust among the customers regarding this mode.
Public information model:
It is somewhat better from the press agent model but this model also focus on one way
communication. Under this model, companies performs the market research and accordingly

frame their products and policies but no consideration is given regarding the interest of customer
under this mode.
Two way asymmetrical model:
Under this model the customer analysis is done but more importance is given to the
company and its motive irrespective of customers which means under this model the companies
use manipulative practices to influence and motivate the customers so that they can help the
company in achieving its objective and improve its sale proportions.
Two way symmetrical model:
Under this model the equal importance is given to customers as well as company's
objective which means the interest of customers along with company are both considered under
this model (Nielsen, 2020). The main feature of this model is taking of feedbacks and reviews of
the customers by the company so that they can make the required changes and adopt the changes
which may leads to the satisfaction of customer's needs and wants.
Under Digitalization the 4th model is usually followed because under this the customers interest
along with their reviews and feedbacks are also given dual importance apart from company's
objective. Tesco usually uses this model under which it always tries to hear the feedbacks of its
customers which is again giving it a chance to improve its products and brand image.
While Unilever is still adopting digitalization and trying to become more socially activist so that
it can also grab more customers and society's support which could help it in achieving its
objectives. This model give benefits to the people and society because under this model social
needs and wants are considered in addition to company's objective and due to this reason only it
helps the companies in enhancing their brand image in the market apart from just meeting social
needs.
Paid-Owned-Earned media:
This is one of the best model which helps the company not just in raising their brand image but
also helps them to do brand activism and meeting the needs of the society. This model shows that
companies can have three type of communication media by which they are able to interact with
the customers and societies able to understand their wants and meet their wants apart from just
meeting and achieving own objectives.
Owned media:

It is the company's own media over which they have full control and it is unique for their
own brand. The owned media can be in the form of company's websites, their Facebook or
Instagram pages, social media accounts and many more are all included under this category.
Social media accounts or pages are usually free of cost. Because of the online presence and
broad scope companies adopt this mode to extends the presence of their brands.
Paid media:
The name itself deriving its meaning that the paid media is that form of media for which
companies pay money to promote their product or brands. The best example of paid media
incudes advertisement which can be done either on television or internet, search engines like
googles and many more. Companies adopt this mode to attract more customers or to create
awareness among the customers (Kolb, 2017). This mode has broad scale but apart from that
people usually didn't like this mode because of the availability of lots of advertisement which
people didn't like to see.
Earned media:
It is the best and most effective mode of media because it includes those media which is
earned by the company which means if any person talks about the brand of the company then
that person would be treated as an earned media of the company. Thus, anyone can become the
earned media. The best examples includes newspapers, social media reviews or recommendation
of the customers, and many more. This mode also helps the company to more improvise their
products and services as per the recommendation of the customers. Also, sometimes due to
negative reviews or comments of the customers, the brand image of the company is adversely
affected (Johnston and Sheehan, 2020). This is the best mode because it avails the company to
listen the views or recommendations of the customers and then accordingly inculcate in their
existing operations so that the company can improve their customer experience in addition to
improving their sales ratio.
Also, by using the combination of the above model like owned+earned media brands can ask
their customer to share their views over their official websites which ultimately benefits the both
which means company and customers. Similarly, brands can also adopt other combination like
paid+owned under which brands make the payment to promote their content over their own
websites or social media accounts. Companies can also adopt other combination which includes
paid+earned media under which brands make payment for earning media which may includes

sponsored customers who can either be some celebrity or micro influencer like new bloggers
who have just started their blogging (Mattke, Müller and Maier, 2019).
However, brands like Tesco who are dealing on online platform or performing their operating
activities on digital platform usually uses the combination of above model so that the company's
objective can be achieved in addition to taking benefits of the combined models and company
can also able to do, something for the society which may leads to the brand activism for the
company (Kotler and Sarkar, 2017). By doing this the brand can be promoted in the competitive
market apart from meeting societal needs and considering the views or recommendations of the
society. While, Unilever is also using the combination of the above models and trying to do
something for the society apart from meeting its objective because Unilever also knows that
considering the requirement or needs of the society can help its brands to grow more and achieve
success.
Horizon scanning:
Horizon scanning or scanning the environment includes looking at all the different factors
around us and then analyse them in order to know either they are beneficial for the brand or may
harm or affect the image of the brand. If they are beneficial for the brand or by which the image
of the brand can be improved without harming the needs or interest of the society, brands can
take the appropriate steps to avails the benefits of those trends. On the other hand if it is found
that they are harmful for the brand and affecting its image, then with the help of horizon
scanning brands can minimize the degree of those threats or harms at early stage (Washida and
Yahata, 2020).
Horizon scanning is scanning the current trends, what is new coming up in the world, what are
the new ideas, what are the recent changes, what are the big trends or challenges which may
affect the lives of people or society or country at present and many other factors (LaLone, 2017).
By doing or adopting Horizon scanning brands can analyse the whole business environment or
recent trends which may either affect their business and market image or may proves beneficial
in terms of raising their sales and profits. Horizon scanning can be done either at internal or at
external level by which brands can identify the emerging and growing trends along with
analysing the changing trends, within or outside their level of operations so that they can also
make and adopt the required changes in order to inculcate themselves with the required trends.

Digitalization which is also one of the recent trend and need of today's economy by which brands
not only achieve their objective but also inculcate themselves with the society. Tesco being a
digitalized brand able to do so because of understanding the recent trends and requirement of the
society apart from just meeting its own objectives. On the other hand Unilever being an adopting
digitalization company also trying to understand the importance of recent trends and their impact
which may proves helpful for it in raising its brand image.
From the above models it is very clear that the brand like Tesco, being an adopter of recent
trends and understanding the value of society, usually align themselves with the current social
trends and needs of society, which not only helps them in raising its brand image in the market or
earning good profits or achieving its goals but also through brand activism Tesco is able to
contributing for the society or the peoples of the society (Mukherjee and Althuizen, 2020). Being
a contributor for society and taking care of the needs and wants of the society, Tesco being able
to succeed in becoming one of the famous brand of UK with strong brand image.
On the other hand, brand like Unilever who is also gradually following brand activism and trying
to inculcate itself with the society is also adopting the recent trends and needs. And as a result of
this adoption only it is also glorifying its brand image. However, the growth and success which
Unilever has got regarding this contrast is something less in comparison of Tesco who was an
early adopter and analyser of brand activism.
Think piece in the practitioner trade
The challenges faced by TESCO:
Tesco is facing the fall in the quality of the products or services. Hence, the products or services
are the important part of the company and its the most effective tool that the customer connect
with the company. Tesco is facing the negative customer experience from the last few years
because quality is most preferred part than the cost for the buyers.
Tesco is facing failure in the market of US and Japanese because its did not taken into account
the business forces, the social changes that occur in the market of those countries along with the
cultural differences. As the choices of the places where it market its product is always the wrong
one and drastically fall in its sale.
How did Tesco did things differently -

Tesco is now spending the huge cost in improving its services by providing the healthy choices
like removing the huge amount of saturated fats and tones of salt in its products and work with
the health organisation in order to develop standard and aiming for nutritional labelling
(Rosnizam, and “et.al” 2020). Tesco also ensures to analyse the market opportunity so that its
helps them to make the products or services is different from others and make the attributes to
attract their targeted buyers.
Tesco also took initiative to make the products more environmental friendly and opened its first
environmental stores in Manchester which has the very low level of carbon footprints and all
other new established stores also follow this plan.
Risk of Tesco and its impact -
Tesco is managed to start the development programme in order to listen to the stakeholders and
also listen to their perspective and include their plan in their organisation (Evans and Mason,
2018). They also took the advice or references of the external team like in-house agencies or
digital expert so that they expand their brand value and also maximise the value.
The technology failure or loss of information brought Tesco to make the group strategy, directly
done its investment in the technology flexibility is being evaluated. Additionally, the acceptance
of the cloud computing proved to be the further support for the Tesco. The technology failure
recovery is done through the planned establishment of an organisation continuity forum.
The company took the risk in order to retain the employees and failure to meet and attract the
colleagues who are most talented,the leadership and behaviour to meet the company's purpose ,
hence the executive committee meets on a regular basis to make sure they review people to make
the policies, procedures development programmes. Tesco also listen and understand the
problems of the workers and also listen to their feedback by doing open conversation, with the
help of social media and by performing the performance review.
The bank of Tesco is implement the number of risk like the credit or operational risk and legal or
regulatory risk (Awadari,and Kanwal, 2019). So the Bank continue to mange the risk by
operating a management risk framework which is managed by governance., policies, procedures,
reporting and assurance. Tesco is also faced the fraudulent attack risk of debit card but they
manage to deal with it by ensuring the customers safety first and it took the immediate action
and provide the transparency and to assure the customers that there data are not lost and there is

no breach of security. The team continue to closely work with the authority and regulators after
this incident took place.
The Tesco is also failed in the safety standards in relation with the workplace or even with
products and become the principal risk. Their quality standard team is manage to scanning the
horizon and also inform about the new goods legislation policies. Another policy is implement
like the product safety standard are communicated to all the suppliers and it is examine by the
audit team (Volkov., 2020). The online platforms is also being used and providing the heath and
safety standard in all the sites of Tesco and issue useful information to the general public.
The work inspiration of Tesco -
As Tesco is the community focused company and it follows the corporate social responsibilities
thoroughly in their management programmes. Its creates the whole new opportunities for the
billion of youngsters around the world. They also took the initiative to follow the health standard
products and proved to be the best for the buyers health as a result it will tackle the global crises
of obesity. The environmental degradation plans is also one of the impressive function that Tesco
performs and spread the message of environment protection by reducing the food waste.
RECOMMENDATION
It would be recommended from the above report that Unilever have to adopt the recent trends or
brand activism for further growth and success of business along with meeting the needs of
society. It is also recommended that if Tesco can also further more improve its brand image by
taking more care about society and indulging itself in brand activism.
CONCLUSION
From this report it is concluded that Tesco and Unilever both are leading brands globally. Both
the companies are using different strategies to stay reputed and maintain their brands goodwill.
Tesco has adopted digitalization methods to provide with better services to their customers. They
have digitally transformed their customer experience and business model. Tesco has digitalized
in store experience for their customers whereas Unilever is still in process to adopt digitalization.
Unilever has invested in artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality, etc. Unilever is
introducing new tools to increase efficiency and speed. They are making investments in
connectivity, research and development to connect its customers and supply chain with partners.

Tesco and Unilever both are heading towards advancement in technology while using digital
methods.