blowout co. communication audit
TRANSCRIPT
Communication Audit !
Seth Caldwell!Briana Dobler !Hillary Lewis !Ruth Anne McManus
❖ Salons in Nashville and Brentwood!❖ Blowout styles are named after
Nasvhille areas!❖ Services!
❖ Blowouts!❖ Makeup!❖ Up-Dos!❖ Mini blowouts for girls under 12!❖ House calls
About
The Eastside The Lower Broad
The Belle Meade The Gulch
About the Owner
❖ Leslie Embry was a middle school history teacher before opening the salon. !
❖ She was inspired to open The Blowout Co. after visiting a similar salon in California!
❖ Leslie would like to expand to The Gulch.!
❖ Leslie has a very hard time with communication amongst her staff (emails, scheduling, etc.). The business could really benefit from better internal relations as well.
Goals and Objectives
❖ Goal!
❖ The goal is to raise awareness within the community about a new business, The Blowout Co.!
❖ Objective!
❖ The comprehensive objective for the Blowout Co. is to gain and retain a strong clientele with women ages 18 to 50 who are looking to get their hair styled within the next year by using media: TV, print, and social media.!
❖ The key areas that need to be audited are public awareness and advertising of the salon.
Targeting Assessment
“The comprehensive objective for the Blowout Co. is to gain and retain a strong clientele with women ages 18 to 50…”!
❖ The salons want possible customers to know that visiting their salon is a “luxury experience,” they even say it on their website.!
❖ The Nasvhille salon has met its desired clientele requirements.!
❖ The Brentwood salon hasn't gained and retained a strong clientele yet.!
❖ The salon owner wants to expand again into the Gulch because it is an ultra-modern, young professional area in downtown Nashville. !
❖ The Blowout Co. would also benefit from stronger internal relations for organizational purposes.
BlowoutCo.com!
❖ Most effective in reaching target audience !
❖ Task management goals!
❖ Reputation management goals!
❖ Meant to attract clients!
❖ Company expectations!“Nashville’s first salon dedicated to the quick and
beautiful blowout. Come visit one of our two locations”!
“Luxury experience that you can’t afford to miss.”
Website
❖ The website design is attractive and simple.
❖ There are easy to navigate tabs towards the top of the website.
❖ It also incorporates Google Maps to help customers find the salons.
❖ The home page presents the key message to customers.
❖ On every page there is a button to book an appointment now and the phone numbers are features on the homepage.
❖ Social media links are present on the left side of the page.
Website
Website
❖ The title of webpage has an art deco style sans serif.!
❖ The body of the page has a more basic sans serif.!
❖ The color scheme includes white and various shades of cornflower/sky blue with dark brown accents.!
❖ Two large, professional pictures of each location are featured on the website.
Website
Social Media:Pinterest
❖ Pinterest is a major area where The Blowout Co. has room for growth!
❖ It’s not featured prominently on the website like Facebook and Twitter
❖ 330 Followers!
❖ Facebook posts are pushed to twitter so the posts are the same.!
❖ On average posts are no more than 7 days apart!
❖ Post usually feature a hairstyle
Social Media:Twitter
❖ 296 Followers!
❖ Pictures are posted on Facebook but not from Instagram!
❖ On average posts are no more than 7 days apart!
❖ Post usually feature a hairstyle!
❖ Instagram using customers can get tagged in photos
Interaction:Instagram
Social Media:Facebook
❖ 938 Likes!❖ 4.5 Stars!❖ On average posts are no more than
7 days apart!❖ Post usually feature a hairstyle!❖ Information features!
❖ Hous!❖ Phone Number!❖ Link to website!❖ Map
Examples of Facebook posts
Social Media:Facebook
Media Attention
❖ There aren’t official press releases to the public or on the website.!
❖ The website “News” page does link to featured news spots!
❖ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGWleYkO93Q!
❖ http://www.wsmv.com/video?clipId=9520081&autostart=true
❖ Their social media pages aren’t all promoted on the website and on each other.!
❖ It’s hard to find the More on Midday videos anywhere on the internet. !
❖ Content every other day would be beneficial to promoting the salons instead of once a week.
Opportunities
“Nashville's first salon dedicated exclusively to the quick and beautiful
blowout. It is the luxury you can't afford to miss.”!
Key Message
❖ Key message is located on the website, Facebook and twitter. !
❖ The website in particular emphasizes the quickness and affordability the salon offers.!
❖ The salon also stresses the abilities and expertise of the stylists who work at the salon.
Message Assessment
How we got our information!
❖ Our group met with the management for an interview to determine general attitudes of the salon’s target audience and its employees.!
❖ We also conducted a focus group to determine the media habits and business awareness of clients and employees.
Audience Perception
What we learned from the focus groups!
❖ The Nashville location is meeting its communication goal.!
❖ The Brentwood location is not as widely known.!
❖ Only one-third of a sample group was aware of the Blowout Co.’s various social media accounts.!
❖ Half of the participants check email or TV for news and information and half rely on social media.!
❖ However all of the employees interviewed prefer social media as a means for news and information.
Audience Perception
What does that mean?!
❖ Overall, clients of the Blowout Co. are moderately aware of its communication efforts, but there is much room for improvement.!
Audience Perception
Strengths-It is the first salon in the Nashville area of its kind. There are two great locations with two different markets. More at Midday has featured the client several times. The management and employees are highly trained and experienced. The company is locally owned and operated.!
SWOT Analysis
Weaknesses-The owner has no prior business experience and there is very little utilization of social media. The company could also work on its organizational communication concerning operations, services, appointments, etc. with customers.!
SWOT Analysis
Opportunities- All members of the focus group and the employee sample would be willing to participate (or encourage others to participate) in drawings and contests primarily conducted via social media avenues, given that those avenues are utilized. Embry is also interested in opening a third location in the Gulch.
SWOT Analysis
Threats- Much larger, corporate chains with more resources have scouted Nashville for potential business. The current state of the client’s social media use (or lack thereof) is also a continuing threat to the business.!
SWOT Analysis
❖ Combining the client’s favorable local feel with the opportunity to host online contests, the client could become more involved with local events, charities, businesses and organizations. !
❖ Members of the highly trained staff could possibly take turns contributing to social media, appealing to the younger audience the client needs to reach.
SO Strategies
❖ People like supporting local businesses and love seeing local businesses active in the community. The Blowout Co. needs to promote itself as a local favorite where the expertly trained staff is caring and personal. !
❖ Finding ways to get involved in the community, host newsworthy events and garner media attention through press releases and news articles is very important. !
❖ The client needs a strong following of local customers to lessen the threat of corporate businesses taking over and to make those competing businesses seem less appealing.
ST Strategies
❖ Leslie Embry needs to brand herself through social media. !
❖ She may not have experience to strategize a complicated business plan or optimize the company’s growth as well as other business owners. !
❖ She could, however, brand herself as a likeable, professional business owner who knows how to make customers happy.!
❖ Using social media channels, Leslie should communicate with potential customers herself, conducting prize-giveaways and promoting the Blowout Co. in the process.
WO Strategies
❖ The lack of social media could be treated as an opportunity and a threat. While there is an obvious opportunity to utilize social media and reach a wider audience, the current lack of that utilization is a continuing threat to the company. !
❖ The mediocre communication with customers could be solved greatly by using social media. !
❖ Employees could manage the Facebook page, booking appointments online and answering questions in as close to real-time as possible.
WT Strategies
Areas of Improvement
!
❖ Twitter and Instagram could primarily interact with a younger audience.!
❖ One communication success for the client is the coverage received on More at Midday but it can’t be found on social media or on their website!
❖ More regular posting and updates could create more content attracting new customers. !