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Running head: FedEx Marketing Communication Channels
Marketing Principles (BUSI 3313)
Ms. Kumarashvari Subramaniam
December 14,12
Rawan Al-Askar ID#201001452
Deema Al-Otaibi ID#200800397
Nouf Al-Essa ID#200900466
Mai Al-Fozan ID#201000193
FedEx Marketing Communication Channels
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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Executive Summary
This report will carry out an extensive analysis of employees’ and customers’ views
on the company FedEx, in order to come up with a well-informed synthesis on the status of
the company in the market. The paper will achieve this by carrying out a study of employees
and customers of the company’s services, and analyzing all of the responses they give on the
effectiveness of the company’s marketing communication channels, and how they have
succeeded or failed in helping the company maintain its top position in the market.
In the end, we shall realize the company’s communication strategies in marketing
have been quite effective so far and have largely attained their purpose, which explains why
the company has maintained its position at the top. At the same time, the paper shall identify
some of the areas that the company needs to improve in order to consolidate this position
among all customers in all countries of the world in which it operates.
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Contents
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................................... 5
Personal Communication .......................................................................................................................... 6
How Companies Stimulate Personal Communication .............................................................................. 7
Non Personal Communication Channels .................................................................................................. 8
Channels of Promoting Sales .................................................................................................................... 9
Research Methodology
Survey Questions .................................................................................................................................... 12
Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 20
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................... 21
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Introduction
In today’s corporate world, communication channels are a key determinant in the
success of a business. Businesses have been caught up in a communication evolution, largely
prompted by the rapid expansion and advancement in the technological advancement in the
Information and Technology sector. The success of every business today is determined by the
effectiveness of its marketing communication channels, and those with such elaborate
channels have been found to do much better in business efficiency than those without.
There are many communication channels today than there was one decade ago. These
channels provide for both the formal and informal platforms, with the internet carrying the
lion share for the most popular and easily accessible communication channels. It is common
today for companies to communicate with their clients using social sites such as Facebook
and Twitter. The older channels of communication like banners, posters, newspaper adverts,
and radio and TV commercials, however, continue to be used in marketing efforts, to
compliment Internet usage. These older forms are more popular among older generation, who
could not be favorites of the Internet as such, compared to the younger generations.
One such company that has not fallen short in adopting such elaborate communication
channels for its marketing efforts is the American courier company FedEx. The company has
been growing its presence in the country and other countries around the world because of its
adoption of sound marketing communication channels. The company has established a good
name for itself in China and South Korea among others, because of the management’s
relentless efforts to increase the company’s customer base.
Five years ago, the company embarked in a campaign for its brand recognition, which
pushed the company into the world fifth most recognized company, all attributed to its award
winning and highly compelling advertising and promotional campaigns. These high flying
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marketing services have been channeled through the right communication channels, ensuring
that they reach a wide array of people all over the world. Besides the effective marketing
strategies, the company endeavors to couple these efforts with offering high quality services,
leaving customers with good words for the company in all aspects.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the current marketing communication channels
as adopted by FedEx in an effort to reach out to its target market. The paper will also analyze
some of the most popular communication channels, which include the social sites and the
internet in general, as well as analyze their effectiveness in achieving the communication
goal. In the end, the paper shall assess how likely the strategic channels will be in
withstanding the current and future marketing needs for companies, and how they will cope
with the ever changing communication technology.
Literature Review
Marketing communication includes the means by which a company informs, reminds,
and persuades consumers to purchase its products and brands. These means are reached
directly and indirectly to target consumers and effective methods are needed to achieve this
function (Barnlund, 2008). A number of marketing channels are used for this purpose, and
they include both the personal and non-personal channels. The use of either of the channels
depends on the nature of the message being sent, the purpose that the message is intended to
play, and the type of population being targeted for receiving the message. Within each of the
channels, there are quite a number of sub-channels that act as intermediaries for the major
channels (Barnlund, 2008). These channels and sub-channels work together to form a
marketing mix, which comprises of six major alternatives for marketing functions. These
alternatives include advertising, sales and promotion, direct marketing, personal selling,
events and experiences, and public relations and publicity (Strokes, 2008).
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Personal Communication
A good marketing strategy uses both personal and impersonal communication
channels to achieve their task. Personal communication is communication that occurs
between two or more persons (Robbins et al…, 2011). The major difference between this
type of communication and impersonal communication is that in personal communication,
the message emanates from a single individual, and is directed to a person or people with the
same interest. This communication can take place in direct forms or through mediated
channels. These include face-to-face communication, communication by persons through
telephone, post, courier services, text messages, or email services (Barnlund, 2008).
In the case of marketing, communication can is further categorized depending on the
manner in which it is applied. For instance, when sales persons of a particular company
communicate with current or prospective customers for the company’s products or services,
they act as advocates of the product to the company. These sales persons may not be experts
in the knowledge of the product, as their major task is to convince buyers into purchasing the
goods or services. They are, thus allowed, to paint the products or services a better image
than it really is as long as they get them buying, and as long as the information is not grossly
false or misleading (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
A second category of marketing communication is expert communication. In this
case, unlike in the case of advocate communication, the communicator is an expert in the
product or service being sold. Expert communicators will posses certain amount of
knowledge on the topic, and he will give the merits as well as the demerits of the goods or
services (Barnlund,2008). Although his intention is to sell the product, he is also tasked with
the responsibility of ensuring that the consumer gets all the knowledge he needs before
purchasing the item.
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Lastly, there are social communicators (Robbins et al…, 2011). These are neither
advocates nor experts on the brand, but they may have been people who have heard about the
brand, and pass the information on what they heard to their social colleagues on a social
level. They may recommend the product to them because it worked well for them, because it
is cheaper, or because it has better qualities than the rest of the products.
How Companies Stimulate Personal Communication
It is important that companies formulate strategies that will encourage personal
communication between the company personnel and the customers. Research studies show
that personal communication is more influential that impersonal communication, as the
audience of a personal communication process feel more respected and worthy to the
company, given the amount of attention they receive from the personalized messages. In
achieving this, companies take a number of measures to enable them stimulate personal
communication by their marketing personnel about their brands and products (Robbins et
al…, 2011).
The first step for the company is to identify individuals who are influential enough to
influence the decision-making process and preferences of the customers. These are, usually,
social leaders like role models. The companies will then supply information about the
products and brands to opinion leaders (Barnlund, 2008). These are, usually, experts on the
topic, such as medical personnel for health related products and or government officials.
They implore these persons to speak well of the product, knowing that they will have a big
impact in influencing consumer opinions about the product. This is because consumers will
often tend to believe such persons because of their expertise knowledge and accurate
opinions.
The company will then get people who the public can easily believe and be convinced
by to give testimonies about the effectiveness of the brand or product that is being advertised.
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Such people may include religion persons, or people with very high morals standards in the
society. These will give accounts of their wonderful and successful experiences on using the
products, thus recommending to anyone with certain needs as theirs. People, consumers
included, will always be taken emotionally by personal stories. This means that such
testimonies will go a long way in convincing the people on the effectiveness of the product
(Barnlund, 2008).
After impliedly convincing the consumers on the goodness of the product and brand,
the company will then come out to expressively convince the consumers to purchase the
products or services. This will be done based on the inherent characteristics of the product,
and by all means, it will paint the image of the brand a good image and name (Clow &
Baack, 2007). Through the advertising efforts, the company will seek to request customers
who will feel satisfied with the good aspects spoken, heard, and experienced about the
product to come out in large numbers and purchase the product, and promote the product
among their social colleagues.
As a way of maintaining the relationship between the company and customers, so that
the company ensures that the customers remain loyal to the products, the company will
establish communication and interaction channels, through which it will exchange
information with the clients (Robbins et al…, 2011). This is the area that has been largely
affected by today’s advancements in technology. There have come up a number of ways that
a comp-any can do this, the major one being by the use of the Internet.
Non Personal Communication Channels
There are three major ways that non-personal communication can be carried out.
These include through the media, through the atmosphere, and through events.
Communicating through the media will include the use of services like print media, which
includes newspapers, magazines, and books. They also include broadcast media, which
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comprises of TV and radio services (Barnlund, 2008). Display media includes billboards,
posters, and signs to pass on messages to clients passing by. Electronic media includes CD
discs, video tapes, and audio tapes.
Every office creates an atmosphere in the place that it conducts its activities. This
could be the office or field. The company culture plays a big role in communicating messages
to present and potential customers. There are trends that a company may adopt, which may
attract customers, while some will send away its current customers. This varies in array, and
could include the manner in which the office is arranged, the manner of operations in the
office, the manner in which the company personnel relate with its customers, the company
uniform, and the entire attitude of employees and management (Clow & Baack, 2007).
Companies organize events, through which they will communicate messages that will
intend to promote the product or brand on sale. These events include news events, opening
ceremonies of certain occasions, the company may sponsor certain events, usually charitable
and social in nature, to show its human image, and that it connects with real issues affecting
the people, who are its customers (Clow & Baack, 2007). These events may include
environmental events, building of social amenities, and sponsoring the education of needy
children.
Channels of Promoting Sales
All the channels of promoting sales of a company’s goods or services must involve
communication. A company’s success, therefore, will be affected by the kind of
communication channel it chooses to use for its target audience. While some channels may
work well at certain occasions and for certain people, some fail this role terribly (Robbins et
al…, 2011). It, therefore, is the role of the company to study the trends of customers at every
time and in every occasion, so that it can adopt the most appropriate channels for the time.
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Advertising is one of these channels. Advertising is a public mode of communicating
to the public concerning a given product, urging them to purchase the product or service by
highlighting its advantages and benefits to the user (Kottler & Keller, 2012). These messages
are often repeated, thus giving the user the freedom of choice to compare the messages with
those of other companies, and purchase the product that appeals the most to him. This
channel of communication has the benefits of reaching out to a mass number of people
geographically spread out at relatively the same time.
Besides promoting sales of a given product, sales promotions play a crucial
communication role for the business and the product (Barnlund, 2008). Through these
promotions, sales personnel share information about the product with prospective buyers.
Public relations are yet another important tool of communicating a company’s
message to customers. A company that produces news stories and events gives customers
something of interest they would want to know about the company. As earlier said, personal
stories play a big role in catching the attention of readers, and personal stories about brands,
and personal stories act as testimonials for the people to relate with (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Personal selling is another communication channels for marketing that is gaining
prominence in the corporate world today. Personal selling provides consumers with
immediate, personalized, and attentive experience, which they use to know more about the
product by asking whatever questions they may have on the brand to the personal agent.
Lastly, companies today are able to engage in direct selling (Clow & Baack, 2007). This has
been made possible by the use of emails and telemarketing channels. These send a specific
message to a specific recipient, on the benefits of the brand, while offering the customer
reasons as to why he should get the product (Clow & Baack, 2007). This has been made
possible by the advancement of internet services.
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Research Methodology
Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in carrying out the study
above, and both primary and secondary data was collected for the study. Employees and
management staff from FedEx were interviewed on the strategies that they put in place to get
the company to the place it was. They were also asked about areas they felt were successful,
and those they felt needed more attention in order to further improve the company’s
marketing efforts. Another set of respondents that took part in the study included the general
public, especially those who had used the company’s services at some point in their lives.
These gave their responses through structured questionnaires, which they were required to fill
about a number of questions regarding the company’s marketing communication channels.
Secondary data was collected from documented information items, which included journal
articles on the company’s progress in marketing, as well as Internet sources.
Sampling was done through stratified random method. A total of 42 employees and
management personnel were selected from the company’s offices in Saudi Arabia.
Respondents in Saudi Arabia were interviewed through telephone. These were all required to
give open ended answers to the interview questions, because of their relatively less number,
which made analysis easier. Public respondents were chosen by a stratified random method.
Only employees who had used the company’s services, or who had witnessed people close to
them use the services were served with questionnaires. This was in order to ensure that
respondents had information about the company’s operations, to enable them answer the
questions on the questionnaire effectively. The sampling process was done in manner that the
respondents answers could be as varied as possible to increase the rates of credibility.
A set of questions was used to seek opinions of the public as well as company
personnel about that they felt about the state of services the company was offering its
customers. The questions also required them to make recommendations about what they
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would have wished for the company to do in order to improve its image and sales among the
clients. These questions were asked to both the company personnel and the public, although
they were answered in different ways, for the company personnel, their questions were open
ended, so that they could give opinionated answers regarding the company. For the public,
which was in form of questionnaires, they were structured, where customers were required to
select only one response, which fitted or was closest to their views regarding the question.
Survey Questions
1.
In your opinion, what are the most existing and new profitable markets for FedEx
services?
2.
How are these markets best approached?
3.
As you know FedEx has a lot of competitors, how can FedEx maintain its competitive
advantage?
4.
What additional kinds of service can FedEx provide that it does not provide now?
5.
What do you see as desirable in FedEx’s services?
6.
Are there any suggestions or areas that FedEx can improve?
7.
Do you feel that FedEx’s prices are competitive?
8.
Do you feel that there is good value for the money you spend with FedEx?
9.
Have you had any problems with FedEx’s service, and if so, describe the problem?
10.
Would you use FedEx the next time you need to send a package or some documents?
If yes, why? If no, why not?
11.
Do you think that FedEx is the best service provider in the parcel delivery market?
12.
Do you feel that there should be any technology that FedEx could use that would
improve service quality?
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Data Analysis
When asked which existing and new markets the company employees and
management felt offered better opportunities for the company, they gave varied answers,
which revolved around the new markets in of Canada, Denmark, South America, Japan,
Mexico, and Luxembourg. These markets have proved quite successful with the introduction
of a time bound delivery, an international early delivery system, which is specifically targeted
toward door to door delivery in the mornings to designated areas. This delivery system is
committed to taking between 1-3 days of delivery to whatever destination the items are
designated.
Markets in Africa were the most unproductive, given the mushrooming of many other
local and cheaper delivery systems, because of the people’s lower economical prowess. On
the other hand, markets in Europe and North America continue to be the most promising for
the company’s venture, and the company has plans underway to increase investment to
enhance infrastructure in these markets to further increase their services.
Responses from the public expressed their optimism in the markets of emerging super
economies of the Far East. Chine was one of the major countries that were mentioned by a
number of countries, including Hong Kong and South Korea. Others suggested that the
company enters the virgin markets of countries in the United Arab Emirates, especially
Dubai. They recognized the increased importance of the business hub and its significance
around the world.
The best manner in which these markets can be approached is through integrating
extensive Promotional and advertising campaigns, using both the personal and non personal
communication channels off marketing as we saw earlier. The company should first seek the
support of opinion leaders and influential persons in these countries to spear head the
campaign for the brands. It so happens that these countries of the Far East and South
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American and the UAE are still traditional in the manner in which they offer their loyalty.
Using influential persons to spread the message will have a bigger impact on the people.
People that the people regard as role models will give their testimonies about the
effectiveness of the company’s services, and recommend the same services to the rest of the
people.
After these efforts to send the message to the people, the company should then
embark on extensive promotional campaigns using all channels to communicate to the
people. The company should use mainstream media channels of newspaper, magazines,
Television adverts and Radio. The adverts to be aired should be structured in varied ways, so
that they reflect the cultural aspects heralded by the people in these countries. These countries
are highly cultural specific, and any misrepresentation of the people’s culture can a go a long
way in discrediting the company’s good image. This was the strategy that most of the
company officials proposed, which had worked in the many other markets that the company
had successfully penetrated.
The public gave divergent views about the best approach to use. Many of them were
opposed to the use of the company’s already successful image if it was to succeed in its
efforts. They proposed that the company uses a humble approach, which will relate more to
the common citizens, who were the middle class persons. They complained of the company’s
use of patronizing image when marketing their services, which was attributed to its success in
the American market, which the people felt it owed to them for their loyalty.
The company needed to maintain its already existing competitive advantage if it was
to continue being the market leader in parcel delivery, a status it has held for quite some time
now in the US. The company holds competitive advantage on the culture of innovation. The
company was built on innovation, and this has remained its core values, which has catapulted
it to being the world’s leading parcel delivery services company. The company adopts a
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creative culture, which adopts an open and receptive culture in the way it carries out its
operations and activities. This has been the company’s source of competitive advantage,
which have enabled to company maintain its leadership position. One of the company’s
advantages, which established a name for itself in the corporate world, was the provision of
the next-business-day delivery service. This strategy enables customers to get their deliveries
in good time, time enough to prepare the package for its use in the next course of action. This
has been made possible by the company’s extensive investment in delivery infrastructure,
which includes a large number of ground vehicles, shipment, and air services to ensure that
they get their deliveries to the designated locations in good time.
Another advantage that the company has is its long time adoption of technology in its
operations. The company observed the many merits accompanying the technological
advancements in many areas, and took a first lead in adopting these strategies. As such, the
company intensively invested in IT solutions, which saw it adopt the COSMOS and
Powership 3. These are IT solutions, which helped the company develop better packaging
control, which in return improved the quality of the services it offered, as well as of the goods
it delivered to its customers. When economic conditions deteriorated in America and the
entire global economy, the company was able to derive from its IT solutions to adopt a JustIn-Time delivery model, which ensured that in spite of the hardships in delivery, the
customers still got their parcel in time.
When asked on the type of services that the respondents felt that the company should
provide, which it did not provide then, the company respondents gave limited answers on
this. They were optimistic that the company already provided quite a wide range of products
for its customers. They cited services like FedEx Trade Networks, warehousing and customs
services, and the FedEx Copy Centers (Ding, 2007). Some of them, however, expressed the
need for the company to start a transport company for people. They said that it would cost the
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company little in additional investments, given that it already had a wide resource of
transport facilities for air, road, and water transport. Transporting people would tremendously
expand the business, thus increasing its revenue. The company would, however, specialize in
rare forms of transport, where people who were incapacitated in a way could be transported.
These could include children, the elderly, and other groups of special persons. The company
would need to register the people, and charge higher for transporting them, and ensuring that
they get to their destinations safely. This would save many people around the world
additional costs of having to accompany these special groups of people when they travel
abroad.
Customers felt that the company needed to start a money transfer service. This was
because of the high trust that the people had in the company and its efficacy in offering the
services. Such services would be transacted worldwide, and stood to benefit a lot of people.
The company has quite a number of desirable aspects about it. The employees as well
as customers were able to identify two of its most outstanding aspects, which kept drawing
them back to the company. Compared to other parcel delivery services like the American
major competitor the UPS, FedEx had better rates compared to the quality of services it
offered its customers. The pay rates for FedEx were found to be most favorable among
customers, who at the same time expressed their satisfaction, that the quality of delivery
services and that of the goods was not compromised by the lower pay rates. This attribute
emerges from the fact that the company has a wide established market, enabling it to take
advantage of economies of scale, thus offering its clients lower rates.
Another aspect about the company that many found to be quite desirable was the
company’s customer service. Although the leading companies of FedEx, UPS, and DHL all
had good shipping deals, most customers found favor with FedEx because of the superb
customer service of the company employees. The company employees were always quite
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empathetic with the needs of the customers, and helped them with information that would
facilitate good service delivery of their products.
In spite of these good attributes about the company, there was need for the company
to improve on the number of employees. Compared to UPS, which has nearly half a million
employees worldwide, FedEx only has a quarter a million, thus trailing UPS by half. This is a
significant number, which makes all the difference when it comes to service delivery. A
shortage of enough employees in every segment of the company is responsible for some of
the major crises the company has had in the past, where stalemates have been experienced for
deliveries. Besides the number of employees, the company needs to improve its fleet capacity
from the current 70,000 vehicles to match up with UPS’ 94,000.
The company also needs to improve in its domestic delivery services, to reach the
remote areas of the country. FedEx is more popular in the international world for its
effectiveness than it is in the native America, especially in deliveries to remote areas.
Companies like UPS have a competitive advantage in this area, because of its ability to reach
these areas. Because of the company’s lack of proper plans for deliveries to the rural areas, it,
at times, depends of independent contractors to deliver to these areas, an act which makes
charges to deliveries to the rural areas high. The company needs to adopt an al round
efficiency and effectiveness image in order to get customers from all parts of the world.
On the question as to whether the company’s charges are competitive, most customers
were positive about it. They often compared the prices with other leading companies like the
UPS and DHL, all of which charged similar rates for express and overnight services. The
three also had charged the same on shipping services abroad. The difference, however, came
with the quality of services that each company offered. FedEx was often found to be leading
in the quality of its services, which included timely deliveries, door-to-door deliveries, and a
good customer care attitude. Besides, the company’s culture of disseminating as much
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information about the services and the goods being delivered gave it an upper hand among
other companies.
As such, most customers were satisfied that they got good value for the money that
they spent at the company. This was reflected by 87% of the customers who responded to
this. They had no major complaints about the company’s services, and said they would
continue seeking the same services. A large number of those who were not satisfied were the
people from rural and remote areas in the country, who complained late deliveries and high
charges for the services.
Asked whether the employees and customers had experienced any problems with the
company, a few of them responded positively to this. Some customers recounted some of the
bad experiences they had had with the company’s customer care services. This, they largely
attributed to the fact that the company lacks enough employees for all its segments, a problem
that we identified earlier. Some customers told of how they were made to wait for hours
before their parcels could be located. These problems were more pronounced on parcels that
were ordered on line, indicating improper procedures in handling such services. During such
stressing moments, customer services was found to have failed in offering the people proper
customer services and assistance, and many customers were even forced to come back on
subsequent days, only to discover that their parcels were in the right places all the time, only
that customer care did not bother enough to locate them.
Employees also had their share of complaints. Most of them were dissatisfied by the
amount of work they had to do, because they were understaffed. Their ratio to customers
stood at 1:25, which was quite an overwhelming number, especially when anomalies arose
that required specific and personalized attention. This was to blame for the many complaints
that customers had raised in the previous times about insufficient customer care attention at
times when they needed specialized attention. Employees often cited the ratio of employees
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to customers in other companies like UPS, which stood at 1:13. They, therefore, expressed
their desire for the company to employ more employees to assist in the various departments.
Asked on whether they would use FedEx the next time customers were sending
parcels majority of them said they would. They said that in spite of the few setbacks about the
company, FedEx still offered them competitive rates, high quality services, and personalized
care by the customer service department. At the same time, they cited the fact that the
company had delivery locations in many countries in the world, and that they had learnt to
trust the company over time to do the best it could to offer them the best of customer service.
The few who objected to this are the ones who had had bad experiences with the
company. They said they though the company had poor customer relations, and that their
employees were too overwhelmed by the big number of people they had to handle every day
to offer them good services. Those living in remote areas also expressed their preference of
UPS to FedEx because of the latter’s cheaper rates and efficiency in delivery.
Employees and customers both agreed that the company deserves the leadership title
for being the best delivery company in the delivery market. The company had averaged its
benefits and evenly spread them out across all segments of service. The company’s quality of
services was good, its customer service was generally good, its reputation among customers
was good, the value it offered its customers was good and a totality of the services was
generally good. The company did not have major areas it was lacking in effectiveness and
efficiency, and the single incidents that stood out were typical for every corporate
organization.
Management and employees together recommended that the company adopts a
technology tool called Signature Direct. This tool is a PBT Courier‘s Proof of Delivery
system, which can electronically record signature confirmations of deliveries made right at
the time of delivery. The company can use Vodafone’s GPRS network to provide instant and
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real time information about the movement of goods at any one time. This will save the
company the hassles of trying to locate goods manually, which is responsible for the many
complaints lounged by customers.
Conclusion
After analyzing the information gathered on FedEx’s marketing communication
channels, it was evident that the company was on the right track toward maintaining and even
advancing its position in the market as a market leader for delivery services. The company
has managed to maintain this position for such a long time because of its adoption of a highly
innovative and open culture, which enables it to adopt strategies that could help it achieve its
goals. This liberal approach has seen the company open hundreds of braches worldwide, and
maintain a strong name and preference in the US.
The company understands and appreciates the role of communication and using the
right communication channels for its marketing activities. As such, the company has been
able to reach the right people in all walks of life, send the right message to these people, and
solicit for the right responses through these communication channels. This had made the
company a household name in the business of delivery, with many customers having good
things to say about the company. In spite of some of the problems and setbacks that the
company undergoes from time to time, the company has managed to steer off from the
setbacks to maintain its top position, because of the company’s management and employees’
dedicated efforts to the company. the good reputation and trust that the company was also
able to build for itself since the time of its inception has also played a big role in ensuring
customers’ support and loyalty for the company at all times.
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Recommendations
Although this research attempted to capture as many views of the employees of the
company as well as customers as possible, there, still, was a lot of information that was left
out because of the limited number of respondents chosen. A total of 42 employees in all
branches of the company worldwide are way too low for a company that has over 500,000
employees. This means that the study was limited its approach, and that the views presented
by the employees are not likely to be quite representative of all other employees. The number
of customers chosen for the quantitative study was also less, considering that the company
has customers worldwide, all of whom have different experiences with the company. It would
be better if the company sourced for a bigger study, which would include a substantial
number of employees and customers, significantly represented by respondents form all
countries that the company has offices in. this would ensure a more credible study, whose
results would offer a more authoritative reckoning for action.
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
22
References
Barnlund, D. (2008). A Transactional Model of Communication. NJ: Transaction Books
Clow, K., & Baack, D. (2007). Integrated Advertising Promotion and Marketing
Communications. NJ: Upper Saddle River.
Ding, G. (2007). First FedEx Kinko’s Store in China Celebrates Ten Year Anniversary.
Available at www.news.van.fedex.com/node/6476.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. NJ: Person Education
Robbins, S., Millet, B., & Boyle, M. (2011). Organizational Behavior. NJ: Pearson.
Strokes, R. (2008). eMarketing: The Essentials Guide to Online Marketing. Quirk
eMarketing.
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
23
Appendix
http://bmachicago.org/events/why-fedex%E2%80%99s-marketing-efforts-are-perfectpackage
MarketingMasters Luncheon Seminar
Why FedEx’s Marketing Efforts are the
Perfect Package
SPEAKER:
Steve Pacheco
Managing Director, Advertising
FedEx
INTRODUCING THE SPEAKER:
Emma Armstrong
Group Account Director
BBDO / Atmosphere BBDO
What do carrier pigeons, lemmings and overhead airplane compartments have in common? They’re all focal
points in ads from FedEx’s highly acclaimed 'Relax, it’s FedEx' campaign which pokes fun at corporate life while
demonstrating how the company helps businesses with its wide range of services.
On Oct. 2, at the Standard Club in Chicago, you can hear the stories behind this campaign and others from Steve
Pacheco, the managing director at the helm of FedEx’s award-winning advertising. He’ll give us a look at the
various touch points that FedEx uses to stay top of mind and a tour of some of the tools and platforms that it uses
to power one of the world’s most powerful brands.
Some of FedEx’s best-known creative has been produced under Pacheco’s 11-year tenure, including the EMMYnominated 'Carrier Pigeon' spot that aired during Super Bowl XLII. Pacheco has overseen the creation of a
whopping 12 Super Bowl advertising spots for FedEx.
Sporting events have long been a key element in FedEx’s integrated marketing efforts aimed at the C-suite and
small-business people.
In 2007, FedEx became a premier PGA sponsor with its namesake tournament, the FedExCup. A campaign
centered on the sponsorship was created, featuring the humorous shenanigans of office employees trying to get
out of work to go golfing. Another series of ads tied to the company’s sports sponsorships (which span the NFL,
NBA and the NCAA) was the “Everyday is race day” campaign, which highlighted FedEx’s NASCAR sponsorship.
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
24
“The message that every day is race day is a great attribute,” said Pacheco in an interview with BtoB magazine.
“The campaign plays into the company’s characteristics because we race every day to get your packages
delivered on time.”
Sports-related marketing fits in well with FedEx’s long-term brand strategy of reaching executives during their
downtime.
“Sports programming is where people go to relax,” Pacheco said. “It’s rating-protected and puts up good
numbers. The little bit of leisure time that [top executives] have, they spend watching quality sports,” he said in
the BtoBinterview.
Pacheco is not only lauded for his company’s creative, but for being an all-around likable guy.
“People love Steve. He’s always up; he’s bigger than life,” said Karen Rogers, vice president of U.S. marketing at
FedEx and Pacheco’s boss, in an interview with the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
This year Pacheco was honored with the Memphis Advertising Federation's Silver Medal Award three days
before FedEx’s 2008 Super Bowl ad aired.
Emma Armstrong, group account director at BBDO (FedEx’s long-time creative partner) and five others from the
agency, including John Osborn, president and CEO of BBDO, flew down for the ceremony although 20 team
members from BBDO had signed up to come.
“Not only does he have the head for this business in terms of product, but he brings the heart and emotion, too,”
said Osborn.
About Steve Pacheco
Steve Pacheco is Managing Director, Advertising at FedEx Corporation, a $36 billion, Fortune 100 global
transportation, logistics and business services leader. He is responsible for all corporate-wide advertising as well
as leveraging their extensive portfolio of sports and sponsorship properties through media and advertising. FedEx
brands under his direction include:

FedEx Express

FedEx Freight

FedEx Ground

FedEx Office
Prior to joining FedEx in 1997, Pacheco served as Advertising Director for International Paper, a $25 billion multinational producer and marketer of paper, packaging, forest products and building materials. Responsible for
advertising, marketing communications, and sports and event sponsorship, he directed their involvement in the
1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
His broad range of advertising experience includes past positions as partner in Humphreys Ink, a Memphisbased advertising agency, and director of advertising and promotions at The Commercial Appeal, a Scripps
Howard newspaper in Memphis. Before that he had a paper route.
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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In addition to his advertising and marketing background, Pacheco has given his time and talents to numerous
community-based efforts, including:

Board member: Memphis Arts Festival, Memphis in May

Marketing chair: Memphis Arts Council & National Blues Foundation

Advisor: Metropolitan Interfaith Association, National Civil Rights Museum

Habitat for Humanity and The Memphis Food Bank.
A native of Memphis, Pacheco earned a BFA Degree in Journalism from Memphis State University.
About Emma Armstrong
Emma Armstrong started her marketing career in London working at a small charitable organization where she
was responsible for everything from writing press releases to producing large Royal events. Seeking a little more
focus, Emma moved to the world of digital advertising in the late 90s and now has more than 10 years
experience working in both client-side and agency roles. She has had the opportunity to work with a diverse
range of clients across multiple verticals, including British Airways, IKEA, British Telecom, T-mobile, P&G,
E*TRADE, Del Monte, Dyson and Emirates Airlines. Emma now lives and works in New York where she
manages the integrated FedEx advertising team for BBDO and Atmosphere BBDO.
She holds an MA in Biological Anthropology from Cambridge University, UK.
Steve Pacheco, Managing Director of Advertising, FedEx
Sponsored by:
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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http://www.dmnews.com/fedex-launches-fully-integrated-campaign-featuring-e-mail-directmail/article/160829/
Dianna Dilworth
January 07, 2010
FedEx launches fully integrated campaign, featuring e-mail,
direct mail
FedEx is rolling out a multichannel campaign this month as part of the company's new strategy to integrate
its brand messaging and creative across channels. The effort includes online and offline channels with the
unified message, “We understand.”
All creative calls consumers to the initiative's microsite. The TV ads and the site launched on January 1.
Search and display ads, social media, online video, direct mail and e-mail will debut January 11. The
campaign will run through this year, according to Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at FedEx.
“It is our first truly integrated campaign,” said Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at FedEx. “We are
making a conscious strategic shift lately to integrate as many components of the elements as we can, be it
television or online. We are trying to take those sometimes disparate channels and mix them together,
since consumers are in all of these places.”
The effort targets both existing customers and potential new ones. “There is a lot of potential to reach new
customers, but also to remind existing customers about the breadth of services that we have,” Pacheco said.
FedEx's long-time agency of record BBDO, which has worked with the shipping company for two
decades, produced the creative. The Omnicom agency is responsible for both the online and offline
elements of the effort.
The creative focuses on the tag line, “We understand,” which FedEx first used last January. The theme
addresses the recession and positions the brand as reliable in difficult times.
The effort promotes core FedEx products and services, especially their reliability and affordability,
including domestic overnight delivery, international shipping, FedEx Ground, FedEx Office print online
and FedEx Office.
Emma Armstrong, senior director at BBDO New York, said that FedEx's “identity is built on pillars like
trust and reliability.”
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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http://www.financialpost.com/markets/news/Bite+Bourne+Merge+Create+Global+Mar
keting+Services+Agency/7625654/story.html
Bite and Bourne Merge
to Create Global
Marketing Services
Agency
BusinessWire · Nov. 29, 2012 | Last Updated: Nov. 29, 2012 3:07 AM ET
Andy Cunningham, recently-named CEO of Bite Communications, today announced
the integration of Bourne, a fast-growing UK-based creative digital marketing agency
with offices in Glasgow and New York, into Bite. With the addition of 50
professionals bringing new expertise to the company’s offering, Bite now delivers a
complete line of marketing services globally. Services include strategy and insight,
public relations, marketing communications, creative and content, and digital and
technology products and services.
The combined worldwide 15-office, 300-person team will operate under the brand
“Bite” with Bourne CEO Dan Kersh joining the global board as head of Bite’s internal
marketing delivery team, reporting to Cunningham.
“We welcome the Bourne team into the Bite family,” said Cunningham. “This merger
is accelerating Bite’s evolution to becoming a strategic marketing agency that
addresses a client’s entire marketing lifecycle from strategy to planning to
execution.”
The Bite-Bourne merger follows two years of Bite acquisitions in the digital space,
including OneXeno, ILS and the Hong Kong-based search team from Red Bricks
Media (RBM). Together with last year’s acquisition of German-based marketing
consultancy Trademark Consulting, Bite further enhances its ability to deliver truly
global, digitally-focused marketing programs for its client base.
“We’ve enjoyed a really positive relationship with Bite over the past few months. The
process of bringing together the agencies has been pretty exhaustive to ensure we
create the optimal structure and services for our clients,” said Dan Kersh, CEO of
Bourne. “We work with senior marketers at amazing companies. And, we are creating
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
28
transformative marketing technologies and developing practical business processes
that will enable our clients to thrive.”
With the Bourne integration, Bite will now provide enhanced global digital marketing
services to clients, from insight and strategy, to website build, social media
engagement, search marketing and technology development, such as applications
and email marketing programs. This is complemented by Bite’s existing world-class
public relations offerings and heightened focus on content with its recent hires of
high-profile journalists from the new media, IT, channel and consumer sectors,
including former Times of London features editor and Google communications
director, Mike Harvey, and former editor of UK-based New Media Age, Justin
Pearse.
“At Bite, we’ve always prided ourselves on providing the best counsel and most
impactful campaigns to our global client base,” said Cunningham. “However, the
continuing changes in the marketing and communications landscape are profound,
with consumers constantly talking, sharing and influencing. They are always on—and
marketers need to respond accordingly. The new Bite helps them do exactly that.”
The combined global team now includes digitally-savvy strategists, content creators
with expertise in text to video and data, a dedicated brand and creative team, PR
practitioners, a technology marketing group and more than 100 dedicated digital and
social experts.
Bite’s current client portfolio—Avaya, Citi, FedEx, Marriott, Microsoft, Mozilla,
Nokia, SAP, Sony, Telefónica Digital and Toys “R” Us, among others—will now
include current Bourne clients, such as Arcadia, Dell, eClerx, Equinix, MetLife and
Ricoh.
“The merger is going to have a significant impact on the way we deliver services to
our clients across our 15 offices. Most importantly, it will massively enhance our
ability to deliver strong work across multiple channels and in multiple markets to
help connect our clients with today’s consumer,” said Cunningham.
About Bite
With 15 locations around the world, Bite is a global marketing services agency with a
proven methodology that helps clients develop differentiated positions, build digital
footprints and win in the marketplace. Our business- and tech-savvy teams work
with companies who are innovating in their fields, disrupting markets and changing
the world. We attack every challenge with insight, analytics, methodology and
creativity to drive hard-core business results. For more information, please
visit: www.biteglobal.com
Contacts
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
29
Bite Communications
Steven Brewster, 415-577-8851
[email protected]
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
30
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/20/4999907/creativity-reigns-at-the-halo.html
Creativity Reigns at The Halo Group as Michael
Gambino is Named Executive Creative Director
By The Halo Group
Published: Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012 - 8:41 am
NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Halo Group, a New York-based
branding and marketing communications agency, announced today that Michael
Gambino has joined the agency as Executive Creative Director.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121120/NY16794LOGO )
Michael brings more than 17 years of multifaceted large and small agency experience.
During his career he has created campaigns for many of the world's greatest brands
including Coca-Cola, FedEx, McDonald's, Mars and Verizon. Michael started his career
as an Art Director on the launch of MasterCard's renowned "Priceless" campaign, and
the "Make It a Bud Light" campaign. Michael also created many memorable ads for
Visa's "It's everywhere you want to be" campaign and its many sponsorship campaigns
for the Olympics, the NFL, the TONY Awards, the Triple Crown,and NASCAR.
"Mike is the ideal leader to take the helm of Halo's creative team," said Linda Passante,
CEO of The Halo Group. "There are a lot of acclaimed ECD's out there but he has all of
the impressive big-brand experience while maintaining the small-agency management
style needed for Halo, which places a crucial emphasis on an agency-wide inclusionary,
creative work-style."
"Halo's culture is what initially piqued my interests," explains Michael. "Many agencies
preach the idea of collaboration but it was quickly apparent that Halo lives by this
philosophy. Halo's truly a culture of collaborators and there's a refreshing creative
freedom and diverse talent found in every department from brand strategy and PR, to
social media and digital," Michael explains.
Recently, Michael was Group Creative Director on Verizon FiOS, co-creating the popular
Cable Guy character. Michael also wrote the film, Space Cadet, which is currently in
post-production. Michael's work has been featured in Adweek, AOL Fuel the Future, and
more than one hundred blog sites internationally. He has also exhibited his paintings
and sculptures at galleries nationwide. Winning virtually every award, including the Gold
Cannes Lion, Gold One Show Pencils and a few Effies, he has even been nominated for
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
31
an EMMY Award. A native New Yorker, Michael holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in
Advertising Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
About The Halo Group
The Halo Group is a marketing communications and branding agency that brings experts
in business, branding, advertising and public relations together to work as a single team.
Halo helps companies with every experience that a customer has with their brand. The
Halo team works alongside a select group of international, national and regional clients
who understand the value of talent and professionalism. Halo's work has been honored
with some of the industry's top awards; Telly, Webby, and Internet Advertising
Competition Awards but, more important, these campaigns are building relationships
around the globe. The Halo Group was founded in 1994 and is a member of AAAA,
PRSA, NAWBO, and WBNY.
SOURCE The Halo Group
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/20/4999907/creativity-reigns-at-thehalo.html#storylink=cpy
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/11/08/fedex-keeps-friends-connected-with-the-launch-ofa/
FedEx Keeps Friends Connected with
the Launch of an Innovative, New
Facebook Shipping App
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Posted 1:20PM 11/08/12Posted under: Investing
042400
FedEx Keeps Friends Connected with the Launch of an Innovative, New
Facebook Shipping App
FedEx Ship to Friends App Stays Ahead of Social Commerce Trends
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As Facebook tops one billion active users
per month, experts predict it will increasingly become a fully integrated part of how
we do everything from chat to shop. In fact, experts at Booz & Company expect the
market for social commerce—a subset of e-commerce that uses social media to buy
and sell goods—to explode to $30 billion USD in just three years. FedEx Corp.
(NYS: FDX) is ahead of that innovation curve, today launching the FedEx® Ship to
Friends app that allows people who use Facebook to prepare and pay for a
U.S. domestic shipment without ever leaving Facebook.
FedEx Ship to Friends is designed for the tech-savvy, social-media hungry generation
that's never known a world without FedEx. The intuitive online shipping app can be
found at https://apps.facebook.com/fedexshipping. To use, Facebook members:

Select the app from the menu and click "Start Shipping"

Populate the fields with basic details on the package's origin, destination, dimensions and
estimated weight
Choose the speed of service desired—from "Premium Choice" to "Best Deal"—and compare
the estimated rates
Enter credit card payment information via the secure payment platform
Once the transaction is complete, an email with a PDF of the shipping label and tracking
number will be emailed directly to the shipper
Simply print the label, affix it to the package and drop it off at the most convenientFedEx
location




FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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The app allows people to easily share with friends to let them know about packages
they've shipped. Once a shipment is complete, people have the option to post to their
friend's timeline that they're shipping a package to them and can include a
customized message. The app also provides a drop down menu of Facebook friends
to select from as the recipient of the package, making it even easier to ship a package
quickly. The app is available on desktop as well as mobile devices.
"From the introduction of tracking numbers to mobile shipping solutions, FedEx has
a long legacy of industry-leading innovations that make the process of shipping and
receiving simpler for our customers across the globe," said Charlie Ciaramitaro,
director of Marketing for FedEx Services. "With FedEx Ship to Friends, we're
connecting with customers in the networks and communities they enjoy, while
positioning our company to maximize the transition to social commerce."
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYS: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad
portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues
of $43 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating
companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected
FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted
employers, FedEx inspires its more than 300,000 team members to remain
"absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional
standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information,
visitnews.fedex.com.
FedEx Media Relations
Natashia Gregoire, 901-434-5710
[email protected]
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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http://postandparcel.info/51866/news/companies/fedex-express-expands-network-ineurope-middle-east-and-asia/
FedEx Express expands network in Europe, Middle East and Asia
Friday, November 9th, 2012
FedEx Express is adding a new non-stop Boeing 777 Freighter flight between Taiwan and its World Hub
in Memphis, Tennessee.
The company is also adding a new flight from its European hub in Paris to Gdansk, Poland.
And, in Dubai FedEx Express has opened a new regional hub in Dubai to expand its presence in the United Arab
Emirates.
Taiwan to Memphis
The new five-days-a-week service from Taipei to Memphis will support customers including major electronics
manufacturers shipping products from the Far East into the United States.
The company said the US has been one of Taiwan’s top three trading partners for the past five years, with trade
between the two countries reaching $67bn (USD) last year and exports from Taiwan into the US growing by
15.6% year-on-year.
FedEx said its new flight from Taipei would mean a later cutoff time for Taiwanese firms shipping into the US
through FedEx International Priority and deferred International Economy shipments.
“By extending the cutoff time to 7pm in major cities and industrial zones throughout Taiwan, we’re providing our
customers more time to prepare and manage their exports and supply chains,” said Raj Subramaniam, the senior
vice president for global marketing at FedEx Services.
The Boeing 777F aircraft provides a “fuel-efficient” flight into the US, the company said, reducing emissions by
18% per pound of cargo compared to alternative aircraft.
FedEx now operates eight 777F routes between the Asia Pacific region and the US and Europe, along with the
new flight from Taiwan.
Paris to Gdansk
FedEx will be using an ATR42 aircraft on its new route from Paris’s Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport to Gdansk,
via a stopover in Berlin.
The new flight to and from the city on the Baltic Sea will be operated four times a week, connecting to the FedEx
global network through the Paris hub.
It follows on from FedEx’s acquisition of Polish courier company Opek back in June.
The company said it would mean improved services for customers in Northern Poland, with pickups being made
up to three hours later, while deliveries can be made three hours earlier. Transit times for intra-European
shipments to and from Northern Poland will be reduced by one business day.
A new next-day service from Northern Poland to the US East Coast will also now be possible, the company said.
FedEx said the Polish region is home to industries including shipbuilding, petrochemical, chemical, electronics,
telecommunications and IT, along with pharmaceutical and food industries.
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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Dubai
FedEx Express has also opened a new station in Dubai this week.
The new Garhoud facility is the company’s fourth and largest station in the United Arab Emirates, including
“state-of-the-art” processing systems that can sort up to 3,000 packages per hour.
The facility measures 59,000 square feet (5,481 square metres), and will house 200 FedEx Express employees.
It includes a Retail Service Center, operations station and 24-hour Customer Service Call Center.
Gerald P Leary, the president of FedEx Express Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa, said his
company had been operating in the Middle East for 23 years, and that Dubai was at the heart of its regional
operations.
“The investment in the Garhoud facility is in line with FedEx’s strategy to continue offering outstanding services
that fit our customers’ needs.”
Source: Post&Parcel/FedEx Express
Tags: Aircraft, Dubai, FedEx Express, Poland, Taiwan, UAE, USA
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/CRM-News/Daily-News/To-Be-Social-withCustomers-Look-Inside-Your-Organization-86369.aspx
To Be Social with Customers, Look Inside Your Organization
Proper engagement will require cross-enterprise change and strategy.
By Kelly Liyakasa
Posted Nov 27, 2012
NEW YORK—Social media drives engagement. Engagement drives loyalty. And loyalty will correlate
directly to increased sales.
That was a key message from Ted Rubin, social marketing strategist and chief marketing officer at
Collective Bias, and keynote speaker for Social Media World Forum North America, held here
today. Rubin, who authored the book Return on Relationship, compared social brand-building to
parenting.
When Rubin, a father of two girls, would see his daughters fight, his go-to intervention would be to
take his children's hands and begin skipping wherever they were, the reason being that skipping
evoked a sense of play in his children. He said the same technique can be applied by companies.
"Do whatever you can to make your customers, employees, and friends skip metaphorically when
they're interacting with you," he told the SMW Forum audience in closing.
For some companies, that means humanizing the enterprise and offering customers a look into the
organization. Victor Reiss, digital and social media director for FedEx Services, said that through
the company's "I am FedEx" initiative, 290,000 FedEx team members are given the opportunity to
share stories with customers, which gives inside access to the brand. "Our research shows that our
customers want to know, 'Who is that curator or package handler?'" Reiss said.
Sponsor text:
See the world's #1 CRM sales application in action! Watch the Salesforce demo.
As the CRM magazine feature, "Transforming to a Social CRM Enterprise,"
(http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Editorial/Magazine-Features/Transforming-into-a-SocialCRM-Enterprise-82471.aspx) outlined, having a companywide Twitter handle or a community or
two is not the same as becoming a social business. To become a real social enterprise, there is a
cultural alignment and shift that has to take place internally.
In the case of SAP, as Jeanne Carboni, the company's senior director of collaboration, digital,
social, and communities explained today, social was not something that happened overnight or
absent of experimentation. The company has maintained social communities for nine years,
initially beginning with developers, which culminated into the SAP Community Network, "Coffee
Corner," where employees, developers, and partners can "play" and ask questions about anything.
FEDEX MARKETING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
37
But a recurring theme at the SMW Forum is that social media can and must be incorporated into
broader business strategy. In SAP's case, its series of grassroots meet-ups called Inside Tracks are
a real "chance for you to meet someone that you know online" face-to-face, Carboni said.
Similarly, Tami Cannizzaro, IBM's director of marketing, said during a panel that the company
encourages its approximately 400,000 employees to build their own blogs, and to interface with
external partners and customers. "We think about, 'How are we as a company facilitating action
with our audience?'" said panelist Jordan Slabaugh, social media director for software company
Spredfast.
But as Robert Harles, Bloomberg's global head of social media and conference chairman pointed
out, social media—both in terms of usage and strategy in the enterprise—faces some resistance.
Citing findings from Omniture and other statistics from the 2012 Fortune 500 Social CEO Index,
it's estimated only 7.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs have Facebook accounts and only 4 percent
have Twitter accounts. Seventy percent of CEOs have no presence on social networks. But with
McKinsey & Co. reporting that social business initiatives could contribute $1.3 trillion to the
economy by 2018, it can't be an afterthought.
"What's really interesting about social media is it helps build connections and relationships with our
customers," Harles said, and acknowledged the fact that several years ago, the policy at his
company was to forgo any kind of social media at all. "All 15,000 people at Bloomberg have the
ability to impact other people, so why shouldn't they have a personal brand? We have to do
that…as publishers or retailers or manufacturers."