Research ReportA working day in a Marketing Communication Environment

Prepared by:

Juliette Oden -338365

Iris Fitzek -314050

Sukunchai Sukhant -322062

Kariem Abdulrawof Abdulahmid -318743

Class: ICV1D

Block 1.4

Coach: Irene Taroni

Word count: 2.920

Executive Summary

Within the Orientation to Profession Project at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in

Groningen, for the International Communication cohort, we researched what a marketing

communication professional does within 24h working time.

This research report has the purpose of collecting valid and reliable data collection, which can

be further used in the #COMPRO15 event on the 25th of June 2015, in showing to prospective

students and alumni how a working day as a communication professional looks like.

To answer the main research question, “What does a marketing communication professional do

in 24h time?”, we interviewed Alejandra Davila, a marketing expert at Royal FrieslandCampina,

a Dutch business enterprise which operates in hundreds of countries, offering a wide variety of

dairy-products.

Based on the findings of the interview and on the research conducted separately, we have

analysed the internal aspects within FrieslandCampina, and we found out that they are a low-

context company, oriented towards individualism; the internal communication procedure is

stable, the employees and employers making use of the old-fashioned email to communicate.

Besides this, they also use Yammer, their own business platform, where they exchange

information.

In addition, we discovered that the daily activities of a marketing expert are divided in two

types, according to internal and external communication. Furthermore, what is of high

importance, is that a marketing specialist needs to be aware of the trends in order to develop

new strategies and approach new possible clients.

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Table of Content

INTRODUCTION_____________________________________________________________________________________________________3

CHAPTER 1- PROJECT CONTEXT_________________________________________________________________________________5

BACKGROUND TO RESEARCH__________________________________________________________________________________________5RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES____________________________________________________________________6

CHAPTER 2 – METHOD_____________________________________________________________________________________________8

METHODS FOR DATA COLLECTION____________________________________________________________________________________8

CHAPTER 3 – RESULTS___________________________________________________________________________________________10

DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNAL ORGANISATION ANALYSIS___________________________________________________________10Mission_________________________________________________________________________________________________________10Vision___________________________________________________________________________________________________________10Organisation Culture__________________________________________________________________________________________13Internal Communication______________________________________________________________________________________14Corporate Identity and Corporate Image____________________________________________________________________15Stakeholders___________________________________________________________________________________________________15

DESCRIPTION OF THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONAL_________________________________________________16

CHAPTER 4 – CONCLUSIONS_____________________________________________________________________________________18

REFERENCES_______________________________________________________________________________________________________19

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Introduction

Within the International Communication programme at Hanze University Groningen, we as

group “IJS” will plan and organise a fraction of the #COMPRO15 event. The purpose of the event

is to inform fellow and prospective students about the role of a communication professional. We

are responsible with hosting a stand at the job fair, where we will present to prospective

students or to alumni the results of our research on the marketing communication profession.

This research report contains all the steps that we followed; from the reason for which we chose

the marketing communication sector, to the analysis on an international company and the

interview with a communication professional within this organisation.

We will elaborate more on the project context in chapter one, where the research objective and

questions are included. Furthermore, chapter two explains the methodology of our research.

The organisation will be analysed from the interior, in order to explore the level of internal

communication. This section is included in the third chapter and it is based partly on the

interview with a marketing communication professional from the chosen organisation.

Moreover, in the last chapter, research findings will be analysed and can be found in the

conclusion.

Base on this report, we will be able to inform future students at Hanze University about the role

of a marketing communication professional, and also create an infographic which visualises the

activities in 24 hours time within this job.

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Chapter 1- Project Context

Background to research

Within the “Orientation to Profession” project at the International Communication Programme

of Hanze Hogeschool Groningen, we as group “IJS”, consisting of Juliette Oden (Dutch), Iris

Fitzek (Romanian), Sukunchai Sukhant (Thai) and Kariem Abdulraowf Abdulhamid (Dutch),

have the goal to create a research report in order to inform prospective students and alumni

about the role of a communication professional.

We have the freedom to choose between three areas of expertise: Public Relations, Marketing

and Consultancy; Communication in Marketing will be our focus because of our previous

experience within this study and we found it very interesting and futuristic. From here we

started looking for a communication professional that we can interview, in order to find out

details about his/her activities within 24 working hours.

This was a broad process, because we chose companies whose employees are not in our

network area. It was difficult to get a response, thus we chose plan B, which was to contact one

of the communication professional from our own professional networks.

In the end, Alejandra Davila, a marketing communication professional at FrieslandCampina, has

accepted our interview request. Furthermore, we prepared clear research questions in order to

elaborate on the structure of the interview.

We decided to use a semi-structured interview, because it gives Alejandra the opportunity to

answer the questions without any limits. With this type of interview, more in-depth information

can be collected. It is very useful for us because we want to create an infographic for our visual

representation and we need detailed information so as to show the daily working activities.

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More information can be found in Chapter 2 of this report, under “Methods used for data

collection”.

Research questions and research objectives

Main RQ: What does Alejandra, the marketing communication professional at FrieslandCampina

do in 24h time?

RQ: What is the working schedule?

-When does the programme start and ends?

-How many breaks are there in a day?

-What does she think about the structure of the programme?

-Is it soliciting or relaxing?

-Does she have to work in their free time as well?

-Where is her office located?

RQ: What kind of tasks does she have to execute?

-What tasks does she get in specific?

-What are her tasks as a marketing communication professional?

-Does she have to travel in order to accomplish these tasks?

-Can she work from home?

-Did she encounter any difficulties?

RQ: What are her daily activities at work?

-How many meetings does she have to attend in one day?

-Are these meetings called by her superiors or by other colleagues?

-Does she have to spend a lot of time working in groups or more individually?

-Which activities does she enjoy the most at work?

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-How does her day start? (From waking up until arriving at the office)

-How does her day end? (From when leaving the office until arriving home)

RQ: How does communication take place at work?

                     -What style of communication do you use within the company?

                     -What internal communication channels do you use at FrieslandCampina?

                     -Do you deal with communication crisis? If yes, what would your role be?

                     -How does brainstorming work within the company? Do you do this often?

                     -What is the hierarchy within FrieslandCampina?

                     -How does decision making take place in the company?

                     -Are you entitled to make any decision?

                     -Have you noticed any recent changes in the decision process?

-Does she have to accomplish tasks in regards to event management?

-Are there any big upcoming events?

                              

RQ:  What is her working environment?

-Does she have international colleagues? If yes how many?

-Does she work in an international, national or regional level?

-How is her relationship with the boss?

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Chapter 2 – Method

Methods for data collection

For the “Orientation to Profession” Research Project within the International Communication

Programme at Hanze Hogeschool Groningen, we made use of multiple types of research. In the

following section, we will explain the means through which we found the necessary information

included in this research report.

Research extends knowledge and understanding by answering specific research questions in a

manner in which the answers are as accurate as possible.

The purpose of our research can be defined as being exploratory. This classification consists of

in-depth interviews, also known as semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interview

provides the interviewer with the opportunity to probe answers and give the opportunity to the

interviewee to explain or to build on their answers, having as outcome a rich set of detailed

data.

The research methods used during this project are the following:

Secondary research or desk research - stands for the data collected from already

existing sources.

For the preparation before the interview, we analysed this information in order to have

a background about the organisation. We got our information from FrieslandCampina’s

official sites and reports, as well as from an intern’s report. We used both quantitative

and qualitative data to describe and support our conclusions.

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Primary Research or field research - stands for the data collected at first hand.

We made use of this type of research when interviewing Alejandra, the marketing

communication professional from FrieslandCampina.

The research-interview created was semi-structured, and it contained questions about

the communication professional’s daily working activities. The reason why we chose

this type of interview is because the questions are flexible, and can follow the flow of the

discussion.

For the visual representation we want to create an infographic which illustrates what

Alejandra does in 24h time. In order to do so, we need to get in-depth information, thus

the best option, we think, is to use a semi-structured interview because we can ask

follow-up questions whenever clarification is necessary. Moreover, we included open

questions where we gave her the opportunity to describe the situation in her own terms,

as well as closed questions, used to obtain or confirm a fact.

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Chapter 3 – Results

Description of the internal organisation analysis

FrieslandCampina- Background Research

Short description: FrieslandCampina is one of the world largest

cooperative, the company being the result of a merger between

“Royal Friesland Foods” and “Campina”. It is located in The

Netherlands, Amersfoort.

Its owners are represented by farmers in different locations around

the world. Being active in more than hundred countries, they provide goods such as dairy-based

beverages, cheese, desserts and infant nutrition.

Mission

By offering a wide variety of high quality (dairy and fruit-based) products, FrieslandCampina

aims to create customer value worldwide. Their vision is to produce, improve and put on the

market all their brands in multiple different globally locations. Moreover, the company wants to

meet the consumers’ expectations, which is to offer healthy, high quality and safe goods.

Vision

Offering food supply worldwide, their vision is to create the most successful dairy company for

consumers and the society, as well as employees (farmers, personnel).

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In addition to this point, they have an internal vision, which is to focus on training employees in

becoming motivated and create an inspiring working place.

Organisation Structure:

The picture on the right

illustrates the six basic parts

of Mintzberg Organisational

Structure.

The strategic apex- this

section is represented by the top management and its support staff. At FrieslandCampina, this

consists of the CEO (chief executive officer), CFO (chief financial officer), the executive

committee and the board of directors. Furthermore, farmers, council members and the board

are also part of this organisational segment.

The operating core- this section is represented by the employees who execute the organisation’s

tasks. FrieslandCampina has over 21.000 employees; this includes sales persons, trainees,

machine operators, as well as interns.

The middle line- this section is represented by the COOs (chief operating officer) of all business’

group, marketing, regional and operational managers. Here is where decisions about the

direction of the specific group are made together with the lower level of management.

The technostructure- this section is represented by engineers, planners, researchers and

personnel managers.

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The support staff- this section is represented by the external employees, maintenance, public

relation, pricing etc.

Overall, the biggest managing power lies in the CEO, the CFO, and the board of directors, the

executive committee and COO. Lower level managers are not entitled to make decisions, but can

contribute with own recommendations.

Organisation Culture

Offering products globally requires a base of well cultural-aware employees. In the following

paragraphs, a few cultural aspects within FrieslandCampina are described.

FrieslandCampina’s workers are highly aware of the laws and regulations, thus loyal to the

organisation. They rather keep feelings or emotions separate from the business schema, in

order not to be distracted from the main objective. In addition to this, being a Dutch-originated

company, employees tend to be more direct and straight to the point.

Being a Dutch-originated company, FrieslandCampina possesses the characteristic of low power

distance due to its Dutch influences. In order words, this means that within this culture, people

see themselves as equals, communicate relatively informal, and do not accept to be called by

titles.

Being part of an individualistic culture, employees at FrieslandCampina are more self-oriented,

and place group-achievement on the second place when it comes to work. Employees, being it

men or women, are encouraged to speak up, employers rewarding them with individual prizes.

However, both emotional roles play an important role, and no difference is made between

females and males within the company, considering the fact that the Dutch culture is a feminine

culture, which means that the emotional gender roles overlap.

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From its mission and vision, it can be observed that FrieslandCampina is long-term-oriented,

focusing on the future innovation. We discovered on their website that they are goal-oriented

and good planners, having a well-structured schedule for their aims until the year 2020.

Internal Communication

Managers at FrieslandCampina want to establish a strong connection for internal

communication, this style being very important and highly promoted. Both internal and external

communication need to be very fluent and clear.

FrieslandCampina has many internal communication channels which they use to communicate

with people within their department, their office, or within their entire organisation. The most

used internal communication channel is the old fashioned e-mail. Every employee at

FrieslandCampina gets their own e-mail ending with @frieslandcampina.nl or

@frislandcampina.com, depending on the country.

There are many more internal communication channels, such as Yammer, used for blogging,

news-updates and information. Moreover, the company uses their own Messenger, for quick

message pop-ups on their computer screens. Messenger is used for short and fast responses. As

expected, the other means of internal communication include notice boards, face-to-face

meetings, as well as informal communication, through SMS or WhatsApp.

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Corporate Identity and Corporate Image

We defined FrieslandCampina's brand essence as 'Get More out Of Milk', based on its fascination

with the colourful and enriching world of possibilities generated by this pure, white substance.

Strategic analysis revealed that the usual dairy category norms would not serve

FrieslandCampina and its ethos, prompting a design which is uniquely coloured and crafted

within the category. Embracing every touch point, from back of pack to livery on its 20,000 litre

trucks, this corporate brand identity conveys FrieslandCampina's professionalism and

commitment - from cow to consumer.

StakeholdersThese can consist of a person, group or company that has an interest in an organisation. We

have done research about FrieslandCampina’s stakeholders, dividing them in the following

groups:

Employees

Customers

Consumers

Dairy farmers: the suppliers responsible of high-quality materials and products

Suppliers

NGOs (non-governmental organisations)

Authorities: they are involved in the cooperation of the development of laws, as well as

responsible for subsidies

Umbrella organisations: partners in regulations with whom they exchange knowledge

Other interesting facts about FrieslandCampina: (CSR Report, 2013)

The company has increased its revenue in the past 4 years by 10.8% - 11,418 millions of

Euros;

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Farmers from The Netherlands gave trainings for over 800 dairy farmers in Thailand,

Malaysia and Indonesia, being part of the Farmer2Farmer programme;

The organisation wants to reduce sugar and salt in the offered products, in order to

contribute to stopping children becoming over weighted;

One of their partners is the Dutch Red-Cross; their goal is to make available products for

the people who have been affected by natural catastrophes or are victims of violence.

Description of the role of the communication professional

Alejandra Davila gets a lot of tasks in general; they vary from interviewing people for

newsletters, to monitoring social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Also, she has to participate in many meetings. Most of these meetings are with her team, where

she is able to speak in a slightly less formal way than with people who do not belong to her

working group. Alejandra also developed a system which improves the internal communication

within FrieslandCampina, using the online platform Yammer.

Mentioning group work, one of the interview questions was about her work as an individual and

as a team member. Alejandra works alone when she has to write a blog post or news-update for

the Yammer internal platform, yet her work still needs revision by a superior before making it

official. In regards to group tasks, sometimes she has to work within the Event Management

sector. Here, she is hosting events, but in order to do so, she works with a project group to

research analytical data.

Furthermore, regarding the style of communication she uses at FrieslandCampina, we found out

that she sees herself as being of high-context communication, while FrieslandCampina is more a

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low-context organisation. However, this aspect varies within the company, because it is directly

dependent on the environment (the persons with whom she is talking or interacting, as well as

the topic of the conversation).

We can conclude that Alejandra Davila is a very motivated communication professional, even

though she is only doing her internship at the moment at FrieslandCampina. However, because

of a good relationship with her boss, after finishing her master’s degree, she will be offered a

full-time job at FrieslandCampina.

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Chapter 4 – Conclusions

This chapter answers the research questions. Firstly, the sub research questions will be

answered, and secondly the main research question, followed by a conclusion.

The sub-questions of this research give insight in the company FrieslandCampina, where

Alejandra Davila is working. The findings show that FrieslandCampina is a low-context

organization, and because of its Dutch roots, the culture of the enterprise tends to be

individualistic. Moreover, in regards to the communication style, communication within the

company is done in an old fashioned way, yet they are adapting to the technological changes, by

making use of an online intranet platform.

Furthermore, the purpose of this research report is to discover what a marketing

communication professional does during one full working day. Alejandra Davila, marketing

communication professional at FrieslandCampina, cooperated with this research by giving

information about a day at FrieslandCampina, through an interview.

Alejandra Davila says that she gets many different tasks every day. These tasks vary from

interviewing people for newsletters, to monitoring social media channels. Furthermore,

Alejandra mostly works alone when she has to write a blog post or news-update, however, her

work still needs revision by a superior.

The daily activities of a marketing communication expert vary a lot. Daily activities can be

divided based on two types of communication, internal and external. The internal

communication process within FrieslandCampina is mostly based on sending e-mails, their own

business platform Yammer, and a messenger on all of their company laptops. This process is

very stable, procedures always staying the same. Yet, the daily lives of marketing

communication professionals vary, because marketing is a continuously developing and

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innovating job. As a marketing communication expert, you tend to be on top of every

development within this field. An example of this is social media. It is very important for a

marketing communication expert to know what to post, what the current trends are, and what

social media platforms are being used mostly. The task of a marketing communication expert is

to develop new strategies in order to approach potential consumers. This is why a marketing

communication expert is always innovating and developing him/herself.

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design

BusinessDictionary.com,. (2015). What is a stakeholder? definition and meaning. Retrieved 8

June 2015, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/stakeholder.html

Frieslandcampina.com,. (2015). FrieslandCampina - Financial. Retrieved 8 June 2015, from

http://www.frieslandcampina.com/english/financial.aspx

Frieslandcampina.com,. (2015). FrieslandCampina - route2020 strategy: growth and value

creation - About us. Retrieved 4 June 2015, from

http://www.frieslandcampina.com/english/about-us/strategy-route2020.aspx

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http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_change_strategy/

07_mintzberg.htm

Mintzberg, H. (1979). The Structuring of Organizations: A Synthesis of the

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http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1496182

Royal FrieslandCampina N.V.,. (2015). CSR Report 2013.

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