Work Based Learning Reflective Report

Description
In January 2016 we where given a Honey Brief that wanted us to create a new logo
and label for the companies Manuka honey. They also stated that we could change
the shape of the jar itself to create a look that would be sort after in the UK honey
market. We were given a brief that said they were offering an exciting highly
competitive alternative for the discerning Manuka consumer and health conscious
alike.
They also stated that their PR and social media campaign will strategically create a
buzz with a specific demographic of prospects to purchase directly from your stores.
Exciting news, a real game changer in the market. I homed in on this aspect of the
brief and focused on the Social Media campaign as I have had work experience
managing the social media campaign for a teacher training company. I thought I
could bring more to the brief through this aspect and possibly help the company to
expand and build up brand awareness. The concept of Social Media is top of the
agenda for many business executives today. Decision makers, as well as
consultants, try to identify ways in which firms can make profitable use of applications
such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Second Life, and Twitter. (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2010). This made me more adamant to present my ideas and concepts to
the company, however I struggled on how to even start this project and how to
approach it. This showed me that I was very unprepared and that for future projects I
will plan a research and planning strategy for my ideas so that I have a clear path to
follow.
I then went away to research and create a proposal for the honey company to explain
to them why social media management would benefit them in the long run and put all
this research into my blog.

Analysis
Firstly I started with researching into other honey companies and how they used
social media to expand and build brand awareness. I found that Rowse, one of the
top honey companies had launched a new heavy-weight marketing campaign to tell
the story behind their honey. This involved a four million pound investment across:
TV, Social Media and In-Store Activation. I realised that if Rowse where homing in on
social media to boost their sales and brand awareness then it was imperative for
smaller companies to home in on it to as they are less well known and it would help
to boost their sales and to reach out to supermarkets and shops willing to sell their
produce. The fact that Rowse were creating this whole social media campaign really
inspired me to make sure this honey company went through with their intentions to
create one.To make my research more structured and in depth I couldve looked at
more than just Rowse honey and what their social media strategy was, so that I could
compare more companies that are already concentrating on the social media side of
advertisement and shown this to the client. This would mean that the client would
have had more of an idea to what they where aiming for and what they are able to
achieve from this venture.
I then thought back to my work experience where I used a social media tool which
helps you to keep track and manage your social network channels. Although at first I

struggled to understand the program I soon understood it and I realised it would help
me to explain to others how to use it to benefit them. The content, timing, and
frequency of the social media-based conversations occurring between consumers
are outside managers' direct control (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). However this means
that it can enable you to monitor what people are saying about your brand and help
you to respond instantly, This is why I thought this approach was perfect for this
company and kept me optimistic for what they would say to my proposal .As soon as
I started to write this report, I realised that a social media campaign isnt that hard for
small companies to take control of or implement. They can use a piece of software
called HootSuite which can hold all the companies social media accounts so that
everything is in one place. It allows the company or person to post on all social media
accounts simultaneously I one click. It makes managing the campaign so much
easier and simpler for the company and is time efficient as it doesnt take up that
much time each day to post. To make this easier for the client to understand I could
of created a mock up of the software to show what the posts for the company would
be like and how it would be presented and set up. This would have been a visual
presentation as well as written to enforce and support what I was trying to explain.
I then went on to look at what famous companies use HootSuite to manage their
social media and in the top twenty where brands such as H&M, Tiffany & Co and
IBM. This is because HootSuite helps you to Spot trends, shifts in brand sentiment,
and new opportunities quickly through easy-to-use alerts. Track campaign
effectiveness in real time, so you know what works, and when you need to
act.( HootSuite.com ). This makes it easier for the honey company to choose its
newest social media campaign from what the newest trends are. It will also help you
turn insight into action by helping the company to Discover how real-time social
analysis delivers insights that will improve your sales, customer service, and
marketing. ( HootSuite.com ). In turn, companies and organizations are looking to
online social marketing programs and campaigns in an effort to reach consumers
where they 'live' online (Hanna, Rohm, & Crittenden, 2011). It opens up many more
lines of communication between company and consumer but most importantly
consumer to company to allow the company to stay in touch with what its target
audience wants from a brand and the product itself. I think that I couldve made my
proposal stronger by backing up my points that I made about the software with
quotes from the company itself. I could also of included these points more that I have
made above to make my idea stand out more and emphasise on the importance of
using Hootsuite.
From researching into this aspect of social media management and from my person
experience I was asked to write up a proposal for the company as to why they should
use social media to promote and expand their brand. I met with my boss to discuss
and get her opinion on the matter and she spoke to me about what she suggests and
talks about in her proposals and how to get the idea across to the company without it
being daunting or overpowering for them to take in or consider. So I sat down and
thought of a way to explain this concept to someone who has possibly never heard of
this tool and in the least complicated way possible tell them and describe how this
social media management tool works and how it could benefit them rather than take
away from more important issues that the company may have and that it doesnt take
over a lot of their time but very little. I also stated how they could contract someone to
manage it for them for so many hours a day so that they can concentrate on the
more essential factors of the company.
I also wrote about HootSuite in detail and how it could benefit them as a company
expanding and how they could use it to get their product into supermarkets and small
health shops that have the same ideals as the honey company. I then handed this

proposal to Damyon who presented my proposal to the company for them to look
through it and see if it was something they wanted to go with and do with their brand
to help it along in the start-up and for the future of the company.
The feedback I was given about my proposal was mostly positive with the company
commenting that they had no idea social media could be a step forward for them in
introducing their brand to the public. They said that my proposal was well understood
however, they werent quite sure how they would go about setting it up. This is
something I should have covered in my proposal but will hold in mind for the next
time I advise someone on anything software related. I also think that I could of written
the proposal in a simpler way so that the company could look at the software itself
and been able to set it up within the company in a matter of hours.

Evaluation
After I had finished the proposal and had my feedback from the company I realised
that social media really is the only way forward for companies in this day and age
and to not have that line of communication cuts them off from the rest of the world. To
be able to move forward and get the sales and recognition that they want to achieve
then social media has to have its part in that. The world revolves around social media
and so do companies. They include providing consumers with networking platforms,
and using blogs, social media tools, and promotional tools to engage customers
(Mangold & Faulds, 2009). This quote supports my idea and concept. I think that the
insight and advice I gave to the client was just a stepping stone to them being able to
achieve their aims and objectives. Although I gave the advice it is up to the company
to implement them, I hope that the company does take what I have explained and
carries it out as it will be very beneficial to them. However I think doing a one to one
presentation would have been far better as I would have been able to show my
enthusiasm though my speech and expressions rather than through a page of
writing. This is something I will definitely take on board and implement in my future
briefs.
That is what this company needs to be successful and the more I researched and the
more I explained to them the more I realised it myself. For me this will affect any
future projects that I do as I will remember what I have learnt from this experience
and apply it to my own work. I will endevour to make my work structured and strong
with supporting items to back it up, with this being one of them. I will also take
forward the feedback I got from the company but most importantly I will take forward
the mistakes that I made so that I remember to correct them in future projects that I
can apply it to.
Throughout this assignment I was able to work on my skills to present an idea to a
client in a professional way to try and help make their company a success and to
help them realise that they have many possibilities open up to them by doing it. At the
time I found it quite challenging to put across my idea but the more I researched and
wrote my proposal it became easier and easier to explain as I had a full
understanding of the idea and how they could implement it. I would like to do another
brief like this one as I think what I have learnt from this brief I could carry it over and
complete the next one to a much higher standard.

Action Plan

Bibliography
Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. (2011). Were all connected:
The power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons,
54(3), 265-273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.007
Mangold, W. & Faulds, D. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid
element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), 357-365.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.03.002