An Evaluation of the Strategic Application of Integrated Marketing Communications for Dove Essays

An Evaluation of the Strategic Application of Integrated Marketing Communications for Dove Essays An Evaluation of the Strategic Application of Integrated Marketing Communications for Dove Paper An Evaluation of the Strategic Application of Integrated Marketing Communications for Dove Paper An Evaluation of the Strategic Application of Integrated Marketing Communications for Dove Introduction The pace of change in the marketing communications industry has accelerated with the advent of the Internet and new media technologies. New technologies create new ways for marketers to reach consumers and are having an impact on the more traditional media, in terms of greater fragmentation of these media (Belch Belch). For the purpose of this report, the official website of Dove will be critically evaluated. With effective use of the response hierarchy models, an analysis will be conducted on how Dove is exploiting the Web for influencing consumers. The Role of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) â€Å"Marketing communications is a management process through which an organisation engages with its various audiences. Through understanding an audience’s communications environment, organisations seek to develop and present messages for their identified stakeholder groups, before evaluating and acting upon the responses. By conveying messages that are of significant value, audiences are encouraged to offer attitudinal and behavioural responses† (Fill 2005, pp. 7). It was during the 1980s that firms started moving towards IMC, which essentially acknowledges the added value of a comprehensive plan that strategically evaluates the roles of a variety of communications tools and effectively combines these tools to provide maximum impact of communications (Belch Belch, 2004). Traditionally there are five principal marketing communications tools which include advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relation and direct marketing. Purpose of the website The website of a company can be considered as a promotional event on its own. The web is a place for individuals to communicate with others, organisations and individual alike (Rowley, 2004). The primary purpose behind the Dove website is to act as a rich information source targeted at the consumer; essentially females of all age groups. Such websites are generally referred to as non-transactional brochure websites. The website aims to provide information about the Dove brand, Dove products, Real Beauty philosophy and tools to attract users and enabling them to interact with the company. Although Dove does not sell directly to the consumer, unlike Body Shop, the website is very customer-centric due to the nature of the creative communications strategy – ‘Real Beauty’. Communications Objectives The communication objectives can vary from creating and increasing brand awareness to changing perceptions about the philosophy of the company that would ultimately affect behaviour. Possible communications objectives may include education and information, branding and image building, affecting attitudes, and loyalty and reminding (Christopher et al, 1995). In the case of Dove, the umbrella communication objective is to provide information to effectively change the target consumer’s knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards the brand, which would eventually change behaviour. The content of the website is focused on the objective of branding, via brand building activities with the use of the marketing communications tools. The communication objectives also include dissemination of information about new and existing products, and about the Real Beauty campaign and the various activities and promotions that are linked with it, which are strongly aimed on changing mindsets of the target audience. Also included in the objectives is creating relationships (Rowley, 2004) and attaining customer loyalty, through direct interaction with customers and finding ways of making the brand more meaningful to them. Evaluation of the Response Hierarchy Models Belch Belch (2004) believe that perhaps the most important aspect of developing successful marketing communications programmes involves a comprehension of the response process the receiver may go through and how the promotional efforts of the marketer influence responses of the target consumers. The three renowned models of the response process include the AIDA model (Christopher et al, 1995; Fill, 2005; Belch Belch, 2004), hierarchy of effects model and the information-processing model (Fill, 2005; Belch Belch, 2004; Huizingh et al, 2003). The stages in all three models are represented by the cognitive, affective and behavioural stage. The hierarchy of effects model is based on the assumption that a consumer passes through a sequence of steps, which include awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase. While most of the steps in the information-processing model are similar to those of the hierarchy of effects model, a new step introduced is that of retention, which pertains to a customer retaining relevant information. The hierarchy of effects model is known to be effective in advertising (Belch Belch, 2004; Fill, 2005) and Huizingh et al (2003) has proven through experiments, the effectiveness of the model to websites as a marketing tool. Linking Marketing Communications Tools to Response Stages An analysis is undertaken below to identify the tools that appear to be the most effective at each stage of response. Advertising The core theme of the website is to inform the target audience about Dove’s philosophy of beauty, which is that, â€Å"beauty comes in different shapes, sizes and colours†. The philosophy is aimed at touching a nerve of females of all age groups and is in stark contrast with the popular culture which bombards us with unrealistic images of physical perfection (www. unilever. com). The brand pyramid exhibited below shows what Dove, as a brand, stands for at a glance. The website contains a section dedicated to Real Beauty which contains TV ads, inspirational articles, health and beauty articles, campaign promotions, awards, Ask the Expert feature and interactive beauty tools. There has been an argument over the effectiveness of ESPs (Emotional Selling Points) versus USPs (Unique Selling Points), wherein the former focuses on brand values based on emotion and imagery and the latter on a more functional, rational approach (Fill, 2005). Dove’s campaign clearly highlights the ESPs, as they stir a chord in the women’s heart, therefore creating both cognitive and affective responses. A slight area of concern about the Real Beauty Campaign is that while Ad Age (Neff, 2004) might consider the campaign as a step forward, with Dove’s sales increasing over the years, it is still to be seen how the campaign will be received over the long-term. Dove was initially launched with a unique functional benefit strengthened by support from dermatologists and formed a strong emotional link through its one-fourth moisturising cream. That struck a chord with women who liked Doves qualities of simplicity, gentleness and truthfulness, thereby creating a strong bond of trust. The Real Beauty campaign focuses on an important issue that women are facing worldwide but it may well be seen slightly disconnected with the brand’s history and prior positioning. Sales Promotion The sales promotions offered at the website include giving out free samples of Calming Night, Ultimate Clean, Good Stuff shampoo and Real Beauty T-shirts (on ? 15 purchases). All the free sampling is done for new products which are launched within their own interactive sections on the website. These sections assume the role of interactive advertisements on the net. The tool of sales promotion is therefore effectively being used on the website to induce trial of new products and can lead to covering all the stages in the hierarchy of effects model, starting from brand awareness (cognitive stage) to leading them to the behavioural stage (ordering free samples or purchasing Dove products worth ? 15). Direct Marketing The browser is enticed to join â€Å"YourDove† and register for Dove Dimension e-newsletter or magazine. â€Å"YourDove† entitles the user to previews of special offers and product innovations, articles from â€Å"Opera. om†, access to beauty editors and expert’s advice and provides tips to create their own personalised beauty care routines. Toll free contact numbers are available on the website for customer support and emergency calls. The website provides a link to enable the browser to give feedback to Dove and â€Å"Add Your Details† option. The direct marketing on the Dove website influence the browser at the cognitive and affective stages in the model. Public Relations One of the most crucial aspects in the success of the Real Beauty campaign has been the effective use of PR to affect the consumers at the cognitive and then the affective stage. The â€Å"Dove in the News† section contains a number of press releases that were published in various newspapers and magazines. The Power of Word of Mouth (WoM) All product detail pages have a link to enable the browser to send the page to a friend by email. A link for the campaign for Real Beauty website (www. campaignforrealbeauty. com) is available in the Real Beauty section, which takes the browser into a detailed version of the activities related to the campaign (advertisements, surveys, Self Esteem Fund, voting by browsers on their notions of their beauty, message board for females etc. . This provides the browsers with an online platform to engage in meaningful dialogues about the campaign by sharing their views and experiences, which results in an overwhelming experience for the browsers. This takes the concept of the effectiveness and power of WoM to a new level, thereby affecting the browser at a cognitive level and possibly at the affective level in case of the onl ine forum, if he/she happens to read some really heart-warming experiences. Other important elements of the website There is consistency and clarity in the flow of the website and the use of brand colours, language and design aspects give a very welcoming feel to the browser. One aspect of peculiar interest in the website is the â€Å"We’re listening† section wherein the browser can find the FAQ, store locator and contact us sections. The FAQ section contains information on Dove’s promotions and offers, the availability of coupons in newspapers and magazines and the plans of making these coupons available to Dove subscribers. If a consumer has to track an order that he places, the only way is via emailing Dove, as they do not email the consumers about how the item is being tracked, which is a weakness of the website. It is intriguing to note that information about product ingredients, product lifetime and information about some of the brand values is in the FAQ section. Facts like Dove is committed with a limited number of organisations in donating products for charity, the company’s ethical stance on animal testing and its stance on recycling and environment are only available in the FAQ section. Other information about Dove’s beauty philosophy including the Self Esteem Fund etc. is also found in the FAQ section. The problem here is that vital information about the brand is lying in a section, which is quite invisible to the browser. Notably this information can play a key role at the cognitive stage. Conclusion Recommendations It has been noted that the Internet is having a huge impact on the marketing communications programmes of companies. The hierarchy of effects model was used to analyse how Dove is exploiting the Web for influencing consumers. In this analysis of the website, it is concluded that the marketing communications tools of advertising, sales promotion public relations, direct marketing and word of mouth have been effectively used to influence the browser at the cognitive and affective stages of response. It is seen that the tools can influence the browser at more than one stage at a particular time. It appears that the tools of advertising, direct marketing, public relations and word of mouth, in case of Dove’s website, influence the browser at the cognitive and affective levels. Sales promotion, however, seemingly has an influence on the cognitive, affective and behavioural stages of response. The website overall is quite focused on the creative communication platform of Real beauty, which is integrated into many features of the website, which influences the browser strongly at the affective stage. The weaknesses of the website include the lack of visibility of brand values to the browser, so it is recommended that a separate section for brand values should be created. Also, some of the aspects of the website are not integrated well, especially those pertaining to sales promotions, for which the browser has to visit another linked website. If these features were better integrated into the website, it would create a more synergising and integrated experience for the browser. Lastly, while the Real Beauty campaign, which is at the heart of Dove’s marketing communications strategy, is creating waves in the media presently, not much can be said about the future of the campaign as it deviates ever so slightly from the previous positioning of the brand. Never the less, Dove appears to be a very caring and supportive brand. The website achieves the communications objectives satisfactorily and can therefore be deemed as successful. It influences the browser more at the cognitive and affective stages of response and lesser at the behavioural stage, which is acceptable due to the non-transactional nature of the website. Appendix Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 Screenshot 5 Screenshot 6 Screenshot 7 List of References Kotler, P. (2003), Marketing Management, 11th ed. , Pearson Education, Inc. Baker, J. M. (1996), Marketing: A introductory text, 6th ed. , MacMillan Books, pp. 50-66, 342-412. Belch, E. G. Belch, A. M. (2004), Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, 6th ed. , McGraw-Hill. Berger, E. I. , Cunningham H. P. Kozinets, V. R. (1999), Consumer persuasion through Cause-Related Advertising, Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 26, pp. 491-497. Berthon, P. , Pitt, L. Watson, T. R. (1996), Marketing communication and the World Wide Web, Business Horizons, pp. 24-32. Brin? ol, P. , Petty, E. R. Tormala, L. Z. (2004),Self-Validation of Cognitive Responses to Advertisements, Journal of Consumer Research, Inc. , Vol. 30, pp. 559-573. Cartwright, R. (2002), Mastering Marketing Management, Palgrave Master Series. Chang, Y. Thorson, E. (2004), Television and Web advertising synergies, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 75-84. Christopher, M. McDonald, M. (1995), Marketing: An introductory text, MacMillan Press Ltd. , pp. 2 00-250. Elliott, R. (1998), A model of emotion-driven choice, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 14, pp. 95-108. Fill, C. 2005), Marketing Communications: Engagement, strategies and practice, 4th ed. , Prentice Hall Financial Times. Hansotia, J. B. Rukstales, B. (2002), Direct marketing for multi-channel retailers: Issues, challenges and solutions, Journal of Database Marketing, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 259–266. Huizingh, E. R. K. E. Hoekstra, C. J. (2003), Why do consumers like websites? , Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 350–361. Katrandjiev, I. H. (2000), Some aspects of measuring Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), Economics and Organisation, Vol. , No. 8, pp. 87-93. Kolesar, B. M. Galbraith, W. R. (2000), A services-marketing perspective on e-retailing: implications for e-retailers and directions for further research, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 424-43 8. Lagrosen, S. (2005), Effects of the internet on the marketing communication of service companies, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 63–69. Neff, J. (2004), A step forward: In Dove ads, normal is the new beautiful, Advertising Age, Crain Communications Inc. ampaignforrealbeauty. com/uploadedFiles/US/campaign_press/advertising_age_092704. pdf Priester, R. J. Petty, E. R. (2003), The influence of spokesperson trustworthiness on message elaboration, attitude strength, and advertising effectiveness, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 408–421. Rossiter, R. J. Bellman, S. (2005), Marketing communications: Theory and applications, Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 3-40. Rowley, J. (2004), Just another channel? Marketing communications in e-business, Marketing Intelligence Planning, Vol. 22 No. , pp. 24-41. Rowley, J. (2001), Remodelling marketing communications in an Internet environment, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications a nd Policy, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 203-21. Unilever website unilever. co. uk/ourbrands/casestudies/dove_casestudy. asp unilever. com/Images/2004%2018%20May%20Goldman%20Sachs%20Conference%20-%20Speech_tcm13-5247. pdf Wyer Jr. , S. R. (2005), Emergent moderators of affective response in consumer behaviour, Special session summary, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 32, pp. 38-41.

How does susan hill present Arthur Kipps Essay Example

How does susan hill present Arthur Kipps Essay Example How does susan hill present Arthur Kipps Essay How does susan hill present Arthur Kipps Essay Jamaica It Is a little disconcerting , the laid back attitude of the hire car companies employees as we assumed a half assured Job. The first road sign we see when departing the airport Is keep left, obviously put out by the hire car company. So of course, we are driving on the left side of the road as we wheel Into the first roundabout, horns honking and Mum muttering. I tighten my settable for our rather frightening drive to Beeches Angrier Resort on the Islands west shore. Jamaican seem to drive either way too slow or much too fast. And, with one middle-passing lane shared by vehicles driving either direction, drivers seemingly enjoy playing a nervy game of who was the ballets. We do arrive safely at our all-inclusive resort and, after the drive. The cheery. Personable valet also bumps fists with me, offers the phrase Respect Moon, and hands me a fancy tropical fruit drink.. We sip our drinks, now fully relaxed on a comfy sofa in the breeze-filled Colonial-style parlor. Some more elided back employees then take away our bags and takes to our room. I have to say however that the employees ay be laid back but they must be efficient as there was no problem Moon and no worries, leaving us with no complaints. The island of Jamaica is the very essence of cool, . Lets the perfect sun destination for the family, and birth place of Bob Marled . The locals are inviting, contagiously funny, laid back, naturally warm, friendly and themselves content with what they have, even when they are trying to sell you carved mahogany trinkets or, on one occasion when we took stroll off resort property, a little bit of Marijuana. To keep busy, the resort allows for outdoor games of shuffle board, basketball or Crazy golf and offers indoor pool tables and a games room, Billiards In the pool, gliding down watersides or bellying up to a poolside bar for a cocktail are enjoyable pastimes. Guests can also scuba dive and explore the vast biodiversity of life as it Is Included In the price of your stay, so you may as well make the most of It. The guides are again laid back but only because they make the situation comfortable for themselves. For example strapping a tank to my back , comfort you with the words youll be k Moon and throwing me In. If you Like heights, a circus troupe oversees trapeze lessons, or you can clamber up the rock-climbing wall. The food. Once you ignored that the resort was mostly full of Americans. Who piled cheese and syrup on there bacon at breakfast, was amazing. Ribs, Fish, Pizza anything you dreamed of the chef would make, and to show our gratitude we passed him a hefty tip under the hotels no tip policy. Will have left feeling it was money well spent.

Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Plan - Essay Example This may include private sector, non-governmental organisations and the federal government. Scope of the plan in the emergency operation plan includes the actions to be taken to support the local and state government efforts in protecting public health and property at the same time saving lives. It further contains a detailed description on the coordination of the federal and other states resources to mitigate the effects of the emergency. In the emergency operation plan, the concept of operation is outlined to ensure that there is smooth action. It prevents confusion at the time of emergency hence increasing effectiveness of the members of staff involved in the operation. Lastly organisation assignment and responsibility, are outlined in the plan to ensure that there are adequate resources available to mitigate the effects of an emergency. It outlines the resources to be released to the emergency area under the order of respective leaders. The release of resources, depend on the extent of the emergence as assessed from the initial received information from the area of the incident (Barr, 2008). The plan contains a well-defined emergency support functions that include transportation, public works and alerting, communication and alerting fire fighting, information planning among other support functions. They ensure that all the hazards are dealt with timely with adequate resources in case they occurred. The plan contains a hazardous material response plan, radiological emergency response plan and response to harsh weather changes. Thus the an covers all the most potential and disastrous emergency The plan has a well-designed emergency operation plan within the operation centre. This is aimed at ensuring that there are minimal collisions between people working at the centre. Thus it increases the effectiveness of the emergency response team. This is possible since

The effect of domestic violence on children with in the United Kingdom Essay

The effect of domestic violence on children with in the United Kingdom - Essay Example 149). However, the legal and policy response to these problems has operated upon a presumption that service provision for women who experience domestic violence is also sufficient to meet the needs of children and young people (Mullender & Morley, p. 2; Parkinson & The invisibility of children who experience domestic violence stems from an apparent reluctance on the part of researchers to conduct child-focused qualitative research on this issue (Mullender et al., p. 2). Consequently, few studies have engaged with children and young people about their experiences of domestic violence (but see NCH Action for Children, 2004; Hague et al., 1996; McGee, 2000; Mullender et al., 2002, Gorin, 2004). This is despite significant efforts in family and social policy research more generally to involve and consult directly with children and young people about their views and experiences (Hallett & Prout, 2003; Smart et al., 2001). As a national umbrella organisation, The Womens Aid Federation of England and Wales (WAFE) have been at the forefront of refuge provision for women and children who flee domestic violence. Refuges frequently accommodate women and children fleeing domestic violence not just from their local area but also from outside the area (Ball, p. 35). WAFE supports 270 refuge organisations and manages 567 safe houses across England and Wales (WAFE, 2001). However, the number of refuge places available today still falls short of the recommendation of the 1975 Select Committee on Violence in Marriage that there should be one family refuge place per 10,000 of the population (WAFE, 2001). Refuges have long struggled to attract enough central or local government funding to survive. Consequently, they have historically been funded from a variety of sources. These include local authority housing departments and social services departments, charities and trusts, housing

The Roles of a Citizen in a Democracy Essay Example for Free

The Roles of a Citizen in a Democracy Essay A Democracy is a type of government that is for the people to choose their leaders and to hold their leaders accountable for their policies and their conduct in office. The people are the ones who decide what they want and who they want to represent them, usually by a majority vote. But who exactly are these people? We refer to them as citizens of where ever they are from. We are citizens of the United States of America and we also live in a democracy. As citizens in a democracy we have many rights but also many duties that we have to fulfill such as to actively participate, to use nonviolent pressure to speak our opinions to the government and to follow laws but, to not follow unjust laws. One of the only ways a democracy can work is to have active participation from all the citizens. A reason this is especially important is when we are voting for a governor or president or even just a city mayor. If some people decide that they dont want to vote, then maybe next time some more people will decide not to vote and then next time even more people are not voting, soon enough there are only a few people holding all the votes. This is not what democracy is about. In a democracy, all the citizens are supposed to have a say in everything. When only a few people are voting and only a few people are getting there opinions across then its only a matter of time before they are the ones holding all the power and the citizens who did not say anything before will have no choice. This is why there needs to be active participation from all the citizens in a democracy. If a democracies officials are beginning to stray then it time for the citizens to use their nonviolent protests and actions. Nonviolent actions are simply ways to get your point across with out causing any harm. The Government is much bigger and more powerful than the citizens and if we tried to fight using gun power and other physical means then we would eventually get crushed by the overwhelming forces of the government. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal an d nonviolent pressure(letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963). He was very true in a sense that nonviolent actions are what has peacefully brought us how far we are today. The government can sometimes become corrupt and it is our duty as a citizen to counter whatever the government is doing with our power of legal and nonviolent pressure. A citizen in a democracy must also follow the laws provided by their government but also they have to not follow the unjust laws. The government officials give laws in order to protect us from other people or even from ourselves. There may come a time however, that we will be handed a law that is very much unjust. How can we tell if a law is just or unjust? Martin Luther King, Jr., said Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.(letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963). When the government put out the segregation statutes, people were saying it was a unjust way to treat other humans. It makes the segregator feel superior and the segregated feel inferior. The citizens decided not to stand this treatment so they began using nonviolent protests and petitions and eventually won out. This example shows that in a democracy it is the citizens voice that must come out and they are really the ones that will make it work. In a democracy a citizen must use nonviolent actions to show their opinions, follow just laws, and actively participate in the government. A democracy is a great way to run a group of people but it will really only work. Although some people say that a democracy is not the way to go, I would have to disagree and say that a democracy can and will work. The citizens in a democracy are really the ones that make it work. Without the citizens doing their responsibilities and using there rights then it will quickly turn into a place where the government controls everything and then they ways of a democracy are lost.

The Effectiveness of Weblogs in the Classroom Essay -- Education Teachi

The Effectiveness of Weblogs in the Classroom The internet has proven that it can be a very reasonable and valuable tool for research and communication within the classroom setting. Over the past decade, it has redeveloped the way students retrieve and use information, claims Richardson (2004). Richardson continues that until now it was not very clear if the internet provided students with anything more than a vast tool for research. One application that has altered this perception is the â€Å"weblog.† The introduction of weblogs within school systems has really made a profound impact on the way children learn. According to Richardson (2004), â€Å"Weblogs are redefining the way students and teachers use the internet, turning them from mere readers into writers.†(p.1) Although educators have been slow in adopting weblogs into the classroom, they seem to be quite affective alternatives to traditional education. According to Wikipedia (2005), a weblog can be defined as â€Å"a web application which contains periodic time-stamped posts on a common webpage. These posts are often but not necessarily in reverse chronological order. Such a website would typically be accessible to any internet user. ‘Weblog’ is a portmanteau of ‘web’ and ‘log† (Wikipedia, 2005). Wikipedia (2005) states that the name for this application was created in 1997 by John Barger. During the late 90's the phenomenon of weblogs just started to become ever so popular. Most people used them for personal journal writing, but by 2004 the use of weblogs became mainstream (Wikipedia, 2005). It was estimated that in the fall of 2003 that over 4 million users subscribed and created weblogs over a 6 month period of time, claims Richardson (2004). ... ..., 2005 at http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml Richardson, W. (2005, April 10). Weblogg-ed: The Read/Write Web in the Classroom. Retrieved April 11, 2005, from http://www.weblog-ed.com/ Selingo, J. (2004, August 19). In the Classroom Weblogs are a Bulletin Board [Electronic Version]. New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2005, from http://www.nytimes.com /2004/08/19/technology/circuits/19blog.html?ex=1250568000&en=33627811ca310596&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland Stach, Michael (2004, April 1) Introduction to Blogs and Blogging. Retrieved on April 11, 2005 from http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18400984 Trimarco, R. (2004). Use of Blogs in online College Classes. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved April 11, 2005, from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/ articles/blogonlineclass/index.htm

Hit and Run Sports and Lesiure Company Essay

* The company provides wide range of sports and leisure facilities to members and non-members. The facilities include golf courses, football pitch, basketball court and swimming pool. Members have to book to use facilities and bill is charged to their account. * The leisure club’s shop provide to customers wide range of sports goods such as clothing, golf clubs and tennis racquets. For members there is 10 % discount. * The club provides qualified coaches for different sports that can be booked to give lessons to individuals or groups. The fee is charged for each lesson and the company receives half of the fee. Types of members Type of membership Description Individual They are any one of the ages from 16 to 60, who are not students, under corporate or affiliated team member. Student This membership is available to anyone over 16 and under 25 years of age who is in full time education. Senior For elderly people who are over the age of 60. Corporate For nominated employees from a company who has account with the leisure centre. Family This is available up to 2 adults and 4 children. Children who are under the age of 12 can only join the club as part of a family membership. Affiliated team Available to local sports teams. It allows them for priority bookings and discount rates for regular bookings. Functions of each department within the clubs The club shop The primary function of the shop is to sell sports equipment. However the sales assistants are also responsible for replenishing the stock on display from the stockroom. Also the shop can take bookings for the facilities. They hold all their stock item’s details and quantities on the database. When a member purchase an item, the item code is typed in and the description and the price is displayed on the screen. Also the member’s number is entered from their membership card. This allows them to identify the member and available discount is automatically calculated. The shop also allows members to pay through their account, cash, cheque or credit card. If credit card is used, the Sales assistant has to contact the credit card Company, usually by telephone, to check the credit availability. Receipt is issued when the sale is complete and the appropriate stock item quantities are decreased. The Sales manager is responsible for regulating the stock of all equipment. The sales manager has to make sure that the quantities are up to the required levels. If there is a shortage of any equipment, the database automatically produces a report. This operates at the end of each working day. The following day, the Sales manager telephones the appropriate equipment suppliers and orders the equipment required. The confirmed purchase orders are printed and sent by post. The shop also has specially printed carrier bags for customer’s purchases. The design of the bag changes every year however it always includes the Hit and Run name and logo. Every year the Sales and Marketing Director negotiates a new order for bags for all clubs. Administration The administration manager handles all applications for membership with the help of assistant. The administration assistants are responsible for all office procedures within a club. They produce and post out all correspondence from the club such as letters to members. They also produces invoices for goods and services. One of the administration assistants is responsible for updating the member’s details on database and also ordering membership cards. The summary of all membership transactions which include new members, bookings and membership renewals, is sent to Head office on a floppy disk. The floppy disk also contains information about financial summaries for shop sales, membership and booking fees and lastly a summary of all purchase orders raised. Administration assistant sends all the invoices received by suppliers on the goods received or service done, to head office. This is done at the end of each week. Head office then deals with the payment. Most important function of Administration department is keeping records of the hours worked by each member of the club’s staff along with any coaching fees received. The information is sent to the Human Resource department in head office. The human resource department deals with the information so that wages due can be calculated and paid. Reception Reception department deals with bookings. When a member books facilities, receptionist take member number on a booking login screen together with expiry date on the card. The member’s details are displayed on the screen. Receptionist asks for member’s address and name. When it is confirmed booking screen is displayed. The member’s number is copied onto the booking screen. Also code for facility, the date and the start time is required. The booking system then checks the availability of the facility and if it is the booking is confirmed. Then a booking card is produced containing the information to the member. Reception also deals with members checking in. The member provides the receptionist with the booking number. The details of the booking are displayed on the computer when the booking number is typed in on a check in screen. The receptionist checks and allocation of the facility is confirmed. Then another card is printed for the member. This confirms that the facility has been booked. Facilities maintenance The facilities manager deals with maintenance of all the buildings and facilities in the club. Outdoor facilities such as pitches and the golf course are maintained b a team of green keepers. A team of maintenance staff maintains the indoor facilities and the structure of the buildings. The facilities manager must schedule regular maintenance. This will reduce the chance of member’s disruption on using facilities and also to make efficient use of available staff. The manager also contacts contractors from outside the club for tasks such as the servicing or repair of mowers, rowing machines and other equipment. Once a month the manager contacts suppliers for cleaning materials. Coaching Qualified coaches provide lessons for each of sports. They provide this service to groups or individuals. They also supervise the use of club facilities. The head coach is responsible for ordering sports equipment needed such as tennis balls, shuttlecocks, nets or racquets. This is sent off to the suppliers by fax. Suppliers to the club and relationship between these suppliers and the department/individuals within the company * Sports equipment retailers – They provide stocks for the shop in the clubs. The sales manager phones the suppliers when there are shortage of equipment. They also provide equipment for the coaching department. * Card Company – They provide membership cards for the administration department. The administration assistant sends the details of the membership card. * Cleaning material suppliers – They provide cleaning materials to the facilities maintenance department. The facilities manager places the order. * Maintenance equipment service – The service is provided for repairing or servicing mowers, rowing machines and other equipment for facilities maintenance department. Facilities manager also places the order. * Carrier bag suppliers – They provide carrier bags for the sport shop. The sales manager and marketing manager change the design every year. The supplier provides yearly allocation. * ICT service and suppliers – The club uses ICT facilities. There are computer workstations at the main desk, in the sports shop, administration office and the General Manger’s office. They need software, which hold data for all sports equipment in sports shop. Also for membership database and booking data. The ICT suppliers along with ICT department in head office supply this.