CRM Final Report

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Company Profile and Analysis: Amazon.co.uk Limited
Emma Fisher (11050499) and Alasdair Joe Hymers (11055728)
Advertising Management and Brand Management
Susan Kinnear

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Introductory Profile
Amazon.co.uk Limited (referred to hereon in as ‘Amazon’) is the UK’s market leader in
online retail (Mercer, 2014). It is a subsidiary of the global online retailer Amazon.com, Inc.
which operates across North America, Europe and Asia (MarketLine, 2014). It employs
approximately 5,000 permanent warehouse staff, as well as 15,000 seasonal workers at
eight locations across the UK (Cadwalladr, 2013), and around 1,700 corporate staff based
in Slough and London, although all corporate staff will be centralized to London by 2017
(Bowers, 2014).
In 2013, Amazon, which also acts as a platform for third-parties to sell products, including
books, electronics and clothing; had a market share of 16.1 percent (Mercer, 2014). They
reported a turnover of £449m (Garside, 2014), although sales growth slowed by 8.5
percent, potentially due to claims of tax evasion in the UK (Vizard, 2014).
PESTLE
Issue/ Trends Positive impacts on
organisation
Negative Impact on
organisation
Political
• European Union investigation into
claims of tax avoidance by Amazon
(BBC News, 2014)
Current tax structure allows
Amazon to achieve higher
annual turnover
Reputational issues and
potential future compliance if
legislation changes
Economic
• Consumers have less disposable
income and are more reluctant to
spend money due to the unstable
economy in UK and high
unemployment rate, resulting in
‘value seeking’ behaviour. (Reuben,
2009)
Amazon ‘share of wallet’ likely
to be high as their business
model allows them to sell
products cheaper (Wilson and
Gilligan, 2008), giving them an
advantage over competitors
Profit margins potentially
lower than they could be, as
less money is being spent
per product
Social
• Ageing population: people aged over
55 will be responsible for two-thirds
of retail spending growth over the
next 10 years (KPMG, 2013)
50s+ have most disposable
income (Manning-Craig, 2013).
40% of over 65’s shopping
online in 2014, over double the
2008 forecast (Office for
national statistics, 2014a).
Over 55-64’s & 65+’s
currently participate least
with 70% and 40% shopping
online respectively. (Office
for National Statistics,2014a).
Technological
• UK Internet penetration of 89.9%
makes the Internet very accessible
(Internet World Stats, 2013) With
government continuing to invest.
• 74% of all UK adults reported buying
goods or services online (Office for
national statistics, 2014b).
Majority of population have
access to Amazon’s website to
buy products / access services
and make price comparisons
with competitors – which is
beneficial to Amazon as they
can sell products cheaper
Amazon online only strategy
neglects 26% of consumers
not currently shopping online
(Office for national statistics,
2014b).
Multi channel businesses can
capitalise on both online and
offline revenue streams.
Legal
• UK/EU competition law - April 2014
Amazon may be accused of abusing
their market position to dominate via
monopolization, predatory pricing or
unfair trading terms (Out-law.com,
2014). Some of these practices
Amazon are already utilizing.
Amazon currently falls beneath
the threshold (40%+ market
share) market share of 16.1
percent (Mercer, 2014).
However with proposed growth
by Rushton (2014) Amazon
will soon exceed the threshold
and could be targeted.
Once above the threshold
Amazon could be fined ‘up to
10% of turnover’ have
directors disqualified and
face legal action from third
parties (Out-law.com, 2014).
Loveless and Delgado (2012)
claim amazon are already
acting illegally.
Environmental
• Consumers “expect a high level of
environmental and ethical integrity”
from brands (Duckett, 2014)
Evidence suggests consumers
believe that shopping online is
greener than shopping offline
(Centre for Retail Research,
2012)
New eco-friendly packaging
and usage of renewable
energy (Finley, 2014) could
result in reduced profit
margins for Amazon

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Prioritised SWOT
Strengths
1. Strong reputation: Amazon came first for
customer experience (WARC, 2014). One of the UK
top ten brands (Reynolds, 2014). 93% Amazon
consumers recommend it to friends (Mercer, 2014).
2. Competitive advantage through cost
leadership: Amazon will change prices on 80 million
products a day to remain competitive during
Christmas (Loeb, 2014).
3. Range, breadth and depth of products:
Approximately 123 million products (Mercer, 2014b)
in over 20 categories available online.
4. Individualisation: 82% of consumers say Amazon
cannot be beaten on website personalisation
(Mortimer, 2014), which Chaffey (2014b) believes
increases site conversion and average order value.
Opportunities
1. Growth: ‘E-commerce is the fastest growing retail
market in Europe’ (Centre for Retail Research, 2014),
with forecasted growth of 10% in the UK (Chaffey,
2013).
2. Improve reputation: by continuing, increasing CEI
(Community Engagement Initiatives) & CSR
(Corporate Social Responsibility) programs
continually developing communities (Amazon, No
Date). Nurture workforce “good workplaces have
higher productivity, greater employee retention and
improved customer satisfaction” (BITC, 2014).
3. Expansion: New innovative own-branded
products/services, e.g Amazon Prime Drone (McNeil,
2014), or continue to explore the opportunities of new
foreign markets e.g India (Roy, 2014)
Weaknesses
1. Slow sales growth: potentially due to a decline in
consumer perception in the UK (Vizard, 2014).
2. Low profits: low profitability business model
(Hern, 2013) results in 17% drop in share prices of
parent company in 2014 (Ruddick, 2014).
3. Disgruntled employees: workers at risk of mental
and physical illness (BBC News, 2013).
4. Security flaws: The site allows credit card
fraudsters to buy easily (White, 2014). Hackers are
continually targeting Amazon because of their value
and client database (McCarthy, 2014).
Threats
1. Campaigns against Amazon: potential losses of
over £2.5m in sales through pledges made to
‘Amazon Anonymous’. Boycotts also urged by MP’s
(Garside, 2014) and Ethical Consumer (no date).
2. Decline in consumer perception: potentially due
to UK tax evasion claims (Vizard, 2014), an
association with ‘the death of the high street’ (Lewis,
2012) and a BBC panorama expose on poor working
conditions (BBC One, 2013).
3. Competing traditional retailers: for example,
Argos, upping their online game (Vizard, 2014)
Porter’s Five Forces
Determinates of supplier
power - Low Power
High supplier concentration
in market. Amazon (16.1%
MS - largest) top of mind with
31% agree it’s their favorite
brand for online shopping
(Mercer, 2014), Amazon
extensive range of product
limits their vulnerability from
supplier threats, suppliers
want to be on the most
popular site.
Threat of new entrants - Low Power
Barriers to entry are low, online retail channels are
inexpensive and quick. However, large finances
required to compete. Amazon has economies of
scale. Online retail market growth continues, with
more consumers online. 78% of consumers see
Amazon as ‘moving forward’ (Mercer, 2014).
Determinants of buyer power –
Medium to High Power
Buyers have no obligation;
many use multiple channels
and switch continuously.
Consumers normally shop by
convenience or price, both of
which Amazon are strongest
(Loeb, 2014). Amazon can be
used for anything from routine
problem solving, showrooming
or convenience purchases.
Rivalry among existing firms - Very High Power
Saturated and competitive oligopoly market.
Amazons vast array of product limits vulnerability.
Buyers switch constantly, but regard Amazon best
for price and convenience. Suppliers want / must,
in some cases, be on Amazon to survive.
Threat of substitute products – Medium to High power
Substitute marketplaces available online, many small independent retailers and larger businesses are using multi
channel strategies – Most third party products Amazon stock can be purchased elsewhere both on and offline.
Amazon only holds power over own brands “Kindle”, “Fire Phone, Tablet and TV”.
Key issues and potential target publics
1. Investigation being conducted over allegations of tax avoidance in the UK.
Key publics: Government (active), Protestors (active), Activist Groups (active), MPs
(active), National media (active) and Customers (aware).
2. Warehouse working conditions and wages are viewed as poor
Key publics: Protestors (active), Activist Groups (active), National and local media (active),
Employees (aware), Trade Unions (aware) and Communities (aware).
3. There is a perceived link between the ‘death of the high street’ and Amazon
Key publics: National and local media (active), Activist Groups (active), Protestors (active),
MPs (aware), Communities (aware) and Customers (aware).

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12-Month Corporate Communications Campaign:
Amazon.co.uk Limited
Word Count: 4,368
Emma Fisher (11050499) and Alasdair Joe Hymers (11055728)
Advertising Management and Brand Management
Susan Kinnear

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Contents Page
1.0 Further Analysis of Amazon.co.uk Ltd 2
1.1
1.2
1.3
Recap of the organisation, key issues and target publics
Management of communications
Three year financial analysis
2
2
2
1.4
1.5
1.6
Justification of key issue choice
How this issue affects Amazon’s reputation
Communications implications
4
4
4
2.0 SMART Objectives 5
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
Business objectives (5 years)
Communications objectives (12 months)
Overall message strategy
Campaign message
5
5
5
5
3.0 Stakeholder and Key Publics 6
3.1 Stakeholder Analysis 6
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
Rationale of chosen Key Publics
The Media
Communities
High Street Retailers
7
7
7
7
3.2.4
3.3
3.3.1
MPs
Selected key public profiles & developed objectives and
messages
The Media
8
8
8
3.3.1.1
3.3.1.2
3.3.2
3.3.2.1
Specific Objectives
Specific Message
Communities
Specific Objectives
9
9
9
9
3.3.2.2
3.3.3
3.3.3.1
3.3.3.2
3.3.4
Specific Message
High Street Retailers
Specific Objectives
Specific Message
MPs
10
10
10
10
10
3.3.4.1
3.3.4.2
Specific Objectives
Specific Message
11
11
4.0 Corporate Communications Programme 11
4.1 Tactics by key public 11
4.2 12 month Gantt chart (see appendix C) 16
5.0 Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 17
5.1 Overall Success 17
5.2 Individual Tactics 18
6.0 References 20
7.0
7.1
7.2
Appendices
Appendix A – Amazon.com market value calculations
Appendix B – Preliminary press release schedule
25
25
25
7.3 Appendix C – 12 month Gantt Chart (A3) 26

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1.0 Further Analysis of Amazon.co.uk Ltd
1.1 Recap of the organisation, key issues and target publics
Amazon.co.uk Limited (hereon ‘Amazon’) ‘Earth's Most Customer-Centric
Company’ (Amazon, [no date]a), is the UK’s leading online retailer (Mercer,
2014) that acts as a platform for third-party sellers, as well as manufacturing
and selling their own products and services.
Three major reputational issues were identified following a company analysis,
as well as key target publics recognised for each issue;
1) Allegations of tax avoidance: Government, Protestors, Activist
Groups, MPs, National Media and Customers.
2) Poor wages and working conditions for warehouse employees:
Protestors, Activist Groups, National and Local Media, Employees,
Trade Unions and Communities.
3) A perceived link to the ‘death of the high street’ (DotHS): National
and Local Media, Activist Groups, Protestors, MPs, Communities and
Customers.
1.2 Management of communications
Amazon refer to their Marketing and PR teams as ‘the face of Amazon’. Their
teams consist of, but are not limited to, Marketing and PR Managers, PR
Specialists, Strategic Communications Managers, Brand & Position
Specialists, and so on. The teams are challenged with the task of building
transparent relationships with customers (Amazon Jobs, no date).
Amazon also appointed three new external agencies in April 2014 to handle
their account. Agency ‘Bite’ manages their consumer brief, while ‘Unity’ and
‘Ideas Network’ were added to their UK PR roster (Tilley, 2014).
1.3 Three year financial analysis
1.3.1 Figure 1. Market share of the top 25
online retailers (accountable for 71.5% of
UK online retail sales)
Source: Mercer (2014)

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1.3.2 Figure 2. Amazon.com: AMZN (holding company of Amazon.co.uk)
market value
1.3.3 Figure 3. Profit & loss (Amazon.co.uk Ltd.)
Source: FAME (2014)
1.3.4 Figure 4. Share price
After extensive research, Amazon’s shareholder value could not be found,
however, share price could act as an alternative indicator of reputational
health (Davies et al., 2003);

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1.3.5 Summary of financials
Amazon has the largest market share of online retailers in the UK (see figure
1), however, as figure 3 shows, the business has only recently become
profitable. This is because of a unique long-term growth strategy employed
by Amazon, which strives to become the worlds biggest online retailer (Hern,
2013). However, according to Vizard (2014) a decline in consumer perception
in the UK also contributed towards a slump in sales growth in 2013. In 2012,
sales grew by 21.1%, whereas in 2013 this slowed to 12.6% (Vizard, 2014).
Although sales and market value continue to increase rapidly in the US, share
prices of Amazon.com dropped by 17% in 2014 due to their unattractive
business model (Ruddick, 2014).
1.4 Justification of key issue choice
Identified issue number 3; a perceived link to the ‘death of the high street’,
has been selected as the focus for a 12 month corporate communications
campaign to improve Amazon’s reputation. It was identified to have the most
potential in being resolved through creative communications to change UK
audiences’ perceptions. In addition to this, parent company Amazon.com is
currently trialing its first brick-and-mortar store in North America (CNNMoney,
2015). If successful, it will likely be rolled out to the UK in the coming years,
therefore it is important to resolve this issue beforehand. Also, confidence in
the platform has recently been knocked due to a software glitch (Neate,
2014), it is important to restore this confidence in existing and potential third-
party sellers as they account for approximately 40% of products sold and offer
higher profit margins for Amazon (Wahba, 2015). By pro-actively tackling this
issue, it is also expected to alleviate some of the negative impact caused by
issue 1.
1.5 How this issue affects Amazon’s reputation
Amazon is accused of negatively impacting communities around the UK by
contributing to the ‘death’ of the British high street, for example, through their
aggressive pricing strategy (Lewis, 2012). Although Amazon’s corporate
reputation in the UK is strong, in 2013 their “Reputation” score reportedly fell
by 7.1 points, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex (Vizard, 2014). Amazon
was the number one rated firm in the YouGov BrandIndex Buzz rankings in
2011, however, due to adverse publicity, this fell to third place in 2012 (West,
2013), before being knocked off the top ten list by 2013 (BrandIndex, no
date). This also resulted in a drop from the top ranking of a UK customer
experience study by Nunwood (Cooper, 2013).
1.6 Communications implications
Corporate communication can influence how a firm is perceived by
stakeholders and can help firms develop positive relationships, which in turn
can help achieve their financial and social goals (Roper and Fill, 2012). Lewis
(2012), a sustainability expert, suggests that independent retailers affected by
the DotHS need to increase their reach to consumers through the internet.

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Through addressing issue 3, Amazon can open up opportunities for high
street retailers (HSRs) that are suffering in the economic depression, and
offer support. This could result in a change of perception of Amazon’s
corporate personality, from its current position of ‘Ruthlessness’, to its
preferred, ‘Agreeableness’ (Davies et al., 2004; cited in Roper and Fill, 2012).
However, Amazon will need to ensure that activities are seen to be genuine,
otherwise there is a risk of attracting negative attention.
2.0 SMART Objectives
2.1 Business objectives (5 years)
1) Increase the growth rate of Amazon’s overall sales to 17.5% year on
year.
2) Grow market share from 16.1% to 20% of all UK online retail sales
within 5 years.
3) Retain existing and acquire additional third-party sellers, on Amazon by
90% and 10% respectively, per annum.
2.2 Communications objectives (12 months)
1) Transform key publics’ perceptions of Amazon from ‘ruthless’ to
‘agreeable’, by 30% within 12 months.
2) Recover the YouGov BrandIndex “Reputation” score, achieving a
growth of ≤7.1 points by 31st
March 2016.
3) Increase awareness and develop deeper understanding of Amazon’s
selling platform to selected key publics by ≤20% within 6 months.
4) Build and develop positive long-term relationships with third-party
sellers and high street retailers to increase willingness to use the site,
by 15% within 12 months.
2.3 Overall message strategy
To communicate Amazon’s continued commitment to its customers, including
its’ third-party sellers, through supporting and educating key publics and
nurturing and facilitating high street retailers. This aims to improve consumers’
trust of the brand and change key publics’ perceptions of Amazon as a
friendly, sincere and socially responsible business.
2.4 Campaign message
We’re better together

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3.0 Stakeholder And Key Publics
3.1 Stakeholder Analysis
3.1.1 Figure 5. Stakeholder Attributes Model – Mitchel et al. (1997)
Figure 5 plots Amazon’s key stakeholders identifying 8 groups by possessed
attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency.
This model identifies Amazon’s definitive stakeholders for the DotHS issue
who should be of primary focus. Expectant stakeholders should continue to be
of concern to the business, particularly the dangerous stakeholder group
whom can quickly become definitive.
3.1.2 Figure 6. Latent, Aware and Active Publics - Grunig & Hunt (1984)
Figure 6 identifies key publics by level of interest of the DotHS issue, split into
4 publics (Non-publics, Latent, Aware and Active publics). Grunig & Hunts
(1984) theory suggests tailoring communications by publics level, and

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identifies the importance in trying to defuse publics at the Latent and Aware
stages.
3.1.3 Figure 7. Power / Interest Stakeholder matrix – adapted from
Mendelow (1991)
Figure 7 identifies stakeholders by power to influence against interest in issue,
split into four groups, suggesting action approaches. However it is imperative
not to neglect low power / interest stakeholders to avoid the development of
active publics (Grunig & Hunts, 1984).
3.2 Rationale of chosen Key Publics
3.2.1 The Media
Influential opinion former / leader with power and control as UK media
gatekeeper. Public interest gives them legitimate right to report on Amazon,
with rapid distribution of media putting them amongst Amazon’s definitive
stakeholders, an influential, active ‘all issue’ public.
3.2.2 Communities
Active ‘single issue’ public (Portas, 2011) as closures on UK high street soar
(Felsted, 2013). A community stakeholder with definitive attributes, affected
by DotHS issue. Regardless of low influential power, targeting and resolution
here will diffuse and prevent development of active publics (BITC, 2014).
3.2.3 High Street Retailers
Dependent stakeholder and aware public, directly affected by DotHS issue
with high interest of resolution. ‘Single issue’ public is the nucleus of the
reputational issue; resolution here should have a direct effect on other publics.

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3.2.4 MPs
Definitive stakeholder, with vital role within communities, influential over
Parliament and Government. This active public has a relatively high power
and interest in the DotHS issue, their role as community opinion leaders /
formers in the community highlights their required focus.
3.3 Selected key public profiles & developed objectives and messages
3.3.1 The Media
Who: UK Press and Media
Where: Local, Regional and National
Situation: Gatekeeper to the press in an oligopoly market, offering limited
opinions and perspectives. Active Public, Definitive, Antagonistic
stakeholders (Nutt & Blackoff, 1992). Focussing on local and
regional press in highly affected communities (Daily Mail, 2011).
Influence: Key in shaping general public opinion (Bland et al., 2005).
Newspaper readership in decline (Sutcliffe and Jackson, 2014)
but still at 33% in 2013 (Oliver, 2014a) digital media now drives
mass distribution of content (Oliver, 2014a; Oliver, 2014b). 95%
of UK homes have digital TV, on average watching 232 minutes
daily (Ofcom, 2014).
Attitudes: Duty to feature newsworthy content / subjects of interest to their
readers. They want to expose businesses acting irresponsibly,
and regularly attack large businesses for headlines.
Key Media Members:
Level of
Activity
Type of media Opinion Leaders
Active
Public
Newspapers /
Online News –
The Guardian, The
Telegraph, The
Daily Mail, BBC
- Linda Yueh – BBC Chief business correspondent
- Peter Day – BBC Global business correspondent
- Robert Peston – BBC Economics editor
- Kamal Ahmed – BBC Business editor
- Tim Lewis – The Guardian – Sustainability expert
Myhigh.st
Active
Public
Broadcasters –
Channel 4, BBC
- Richard Bilton – BBC Panorama Presenter
- Siobhan Kennedy – Business Editor Channel 4 News
- Paul Mason – Economics editor Channel 4 News
Aware
publics
Newspapers /
Online News –
The Guardian, The
Telegraph, The
Daily Mail, BBC
- Matt Warman – The Telegraph online Editor
- Rory Cellan-Jones – BBC reporter
-
Aware
publics
Broadcasters –
Channel 4, BBC
- Sally Bundock – BBC Business News Presenter
- Ben Thompson – BBC Business News Presenter
- Justin Rowlatt – BBC Business Daily presenter
- Mary Portas – Retail consultant and Channel 4 presenter
- Alex Polizzi – The Fixer BBC Presenter
- Evan Davis – ‘The Bottom Line’ BBC Radio 4
Aware
publics
Local and
Regional;
Newspapers /
Online news and
Broadcasters
- Key Local and Regional press and broadcasters to be
approached appropriately by activity / tactic for relevant
media coverage locally, full UK media directory can be
found at http://media.info/uk
Aware
publics
Trade Press – - Retail Week Magazine - Chris Brook-Carter – Editor-in-
chief
- Retail Week Magazine - George MacDonald - Executive

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editor
- Retail Week Magazine – John Ryan – Stores editor
- Talk Business Magazine – Luke Garner – Editor
- Business Matters Magazine - Paul Jones - Editor
- Business Matters Magazine – Sam Spade – Commercial
director
- Better Business Magazine - Sophie Chalmers (Director/
Head editor)
- Small Business Magazine - Susan Rakowski – Head
Editor
- entrepreneur.com - Ray Hennessey – Editorial director
- RealBusiness.com - Shané Schutte – editor
- Real Business.com – Amy Carrol – Group editor
- BITC.com - Senior Business leaders (Key contacts online)
3.3.1.1 Specific Objectives;
1) To achieve positive publicity of Amazons’ community and high
street initiatives
2) To reach additional publics through the media and change their
perceptions of Amazon through positive publicity
3.3.1.2 Specific Message;
Amazon is proactively helping those affected by the DotHS
3.3.2 Communities
Who: All communities affected by DotHS issue, 83 of 365 towns
surveyed in decline (Daily Mail, 2011).
Where: All 326 councils in the UK (IDEA, 2014)
Situation: Aware / active ‘single issue’ publics, Problematic stakeholders
(Nutt & Blackoff, 1992) directly affected by the DotHS issue.
Attitudes: See importance in nurturing the community, disapproval of
seeing decline in local businesses.
Key Community Members:
Local mayors (IDEA, no date), 650 local MPs (Parliament, no date), National
Business Community groups (BITC, 2014), Members of the general public.
1) To reinvent Amazon’s role within the community
2) To raise awareness of current and future community initiatives
Amazon aim to inspire communities, and the individuals within them,
affected by the DotHS

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3.3.3 High Street Retailers
Who: HSRs affected by the DotHS issue, 16 stores closing daily
(Felsted, 2014).
Where: 83 of 365 towns surveyed in decline (Daily Mail, 2011),
implications for all UK high streets.
Situation: Active ‘single issue’ public, Dependent, Antagonistic
stakeholders (Nutt & Blackoff, 1992).
Attitude: Amazon is currently a competitor rather than an ally. Amazon
are the market leader and have power through size and position.
HSRs want to develop their businesses online.
Key Members/ Groups:
Business in the community (BITC, 2014), Federation of small businesses (FSB,
2014), Institute of small businesses and entrepreneurship (ISBE, 2014)
1) To build relationships and partnerships with HSRs
2) To educate HSRs on the benefits of ecommerce
Working in unison for better business!
3.3.4 MPs
Who: 642 ‘aware’ local MPs (Parliament, no date), 8 ‘active’ MPs,
boycotting Amazon (Jones, 2013).
Where: All 326 councils across the UK (IDEA, 2014)
Situation: Aware / active ‘single issue’ publics, Antagonistic stakeholders
(Nutt & Blackoff, 1992) employed to represent local communities
on current issues.
Attitudes: Highly influential in local communities, looking to do the best of
their constituents, aiming to make a difference.
Key Members:
Level of Activity MPs Name and Location
Very Active Public /
Opinion Leader
Margaret Hodge (Barking)
Active Public Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire), Michael Meacher (Oldham West
and Royton), Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch), Austin Mitchell
(Grimsby), Dennis Skinner (Bolsover), John McDonnell (Hayes and
Harlington) and Grahame Morris (Easington).
Aware Public Remaining 642 MPs including 12 ‘Small business ambassador’ MPs.
Sources: (Jones, 2013), (Parliament, no date), (Martin, 2013)
1) To change perceptions of Amazons impact on the DotHS
2) Develop relationships with MPs
Amazon is supporting high street retailers to drive community
development

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4.0 Corporate communications programme
4.1 Tactics by key public
No. Public Objectives targeted
TA1 HSRs HSR - 1 / 2, Communications - 4
‘Inspirational leaders’ live video Q&A sessions
Utilising digital channels relevant to key publics, e.g. Google Hangout, LinkedIn,
Twitter and Facebook, Amazon will run monthly live video Q&A sessions
accessible, online. All publics will be able to stream the live video from Amazon’s
website and use the digital channels previously mentioned to contribute their
questions. The sessions enable key publics to receive free expert advice on
growing their businesses through e-commerce, and best practice for online
retailing, and will feature guest appearances from industry experts, such as, Alex
Polizzi and Evan Davis, as well as inspirational leaders of Amazon. This aims to
drive positive publicity, help support and inspire key publics and change their
perception of the brand.
TA2 HSRs HSR - 2, Communications - 1 / 4
Education of High Street Retailers
Amazon to facilitate HSRs with online training and development courses and
conferences insight of building skills. Possibility of grants from Governments’
£2.85 billion Regional Growth Fund (Gov, 2015). Training and development
courses will be free, accessible online, and include; video tutorials, online guides,
best practices and interactive Twitter Q&A sessions.
Conferences run quarterly (building on AWS events experience) and could be run
in association with other training initiatives. These are paid attendance events,
discounted for partners of Amazon. The conferences will include key industry
speakers (e.g. Evan Davis, Mike Phillips (CIM)), current topics, industry insights,
discussions and workshops. Twitter hashtags and competitions will be used to
drive online engagement.
These initiatives target HSRs, marketed at trade shows, in trade press and on
Amazon’s website, although anyone interested may attend. This will develop
relationships with HSRs and create relationships with community members.
TA3 HSRs HSR – 1 / 2, Communications – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Sponsorship of ‘The Growing Business Awards’
‘The Growing Business Awards are the most established and respected national
recognition of SME and entrepreneurial success’ (Real Business, no date). By
sponsoring these awards, an association with Amazon supporting the growth of
other businesses will be affixed in key publics minds. Amazon could also
specifically sponsor the ‘Retail Hero’ award, to provide additional opportunities for
publicity and offer prizes to the winner, such as expert mentoring, to further help
position the brand.
The Awards will also give Amazon opportunities to network and build
relationships with nominees and those in the trade and promote the benefits of
Amazon as a selling platform through various touch points and key dates over the

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year, with the aim of being perceived as an ‘agreeable’ brand of which publics
may consider partnering with.
TA4 HSRs +
Communities
HSR – 1, Communities – 1,
Communications – 1 / 3 / 4
Publicity stunt – The Big Surprise
Additional editorial coverage in key publications could be achieved through a
publicity stunt building on the sponsored award, and their on-going community
and business development commitments.
Amazon will organise a surprise ceremony for the ‘Retail Hero’ Award in
collaboration with the Growing Business Awards. Following the awards, the
elected ‘Retail Hero’ will have their shop decorated with gold banners, stickers
and promotional materials showcasing their achievements. Amazon will hold a
celebratory event on the high street with live music and a super hero theme, and
the local Mayor will be asked to present an awards plaque. This activity aims to
raise Amazons profile within the community, and inject energy back into the high
street. Local and regional media and trade press will be invited to cover the story.
TA5 HSRs +
Communities
HSR – 1 / 2, Communities – 1 / 2,
‘Amazing Online Business Idea’ Twitter Competition
Key publics on social media platform Twitter, will be encouraged to tweet Amazon
with their online business ideas under the hashtag ‘#AMAZonING’. Amazon will
pick a winner every 2 weeks, to promote via their own Twitter feed and can share
the winners’ stories through additional social media platforms like Facebook and
LinkedIn for further engagement opportunities.
Two overall winners will be picked at different intervals during the year to spread
coverage opportunities and drive competition entries. These two winners will
receive free expert mentoring from an Amazon leader, for example, UK Senior
Business Development Manager, Luke Magnuson (or equivalent), as well as 3
months funding to start up or develop their online business idea. The campaign
aims to generate positive publicity by inspiring and engaging individuals and
retailers within the community to expand their businesses online.
TA6 HSRs +
Communities
HSR – 1, Communities – 1 / 2,
High Street events
Amazon will facilitate third-party sellers and members of the community to run
temporary pop-up market stalls on up to 20 high streets across the UK (due to
budget restrictions). The market stalls should drive consumers to the high street
and complement the current offering rather than compete. Amazon will look to
partner with a Market Stall Hire company, such as ‘Stall Hire’ (Stall Hire, no date),
and work with local councils in planning the events and liaise with local politicians
and MPs ahead of the event, however, Amazon will not manage the events
themselves.
Decorations will be provided for the HSRs, who will be encouraged to participate
in the activities by providing promotional offers to potential consumers in-store on

! 13!
the day of the event. This tactic should help to change publics’ perceptions of
Amazon and provide opportunities to build relationships with HSRs who may then
consider using Amazon as a platform to grow their business, as well as to gain
media coverage.
TA7 HSRs +
Communities
HSR – 1, Communities – 1 / 2,
Communications – 1 / 3
Publicity Stunt – Flash Mob
Amazon to organise and hold a string of flash mobs on 25th
July 2015 across
multiple high streets affected by the DotHS.
Working with HSRs and local community choirs to organise and choreograph
flash mob stunts on local high streets. Performing ‘shop owners’ will walk out of
their shops singing, progressing down the high street additional performers will
start building until finally the street is singing in harmony together. A few minutes
later the song will finish and all performers will continue working as if ‘nothing has
happened’. Local production teams would be hired to capture reactions and
produce a video that will be shared on social media networks.
This activity underpins our message ‘We’re better together’, developing
relationships with HSRs and local communities.
TA8 HSRs +
Communities
HSR – 1 / 2 Communities – 1 / 2,
Communications – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Facilitate Online Communities
Amazon to create and facilitate community forums and online brand communities
(OBC). These platforms can be used to promote upcoming events and projects,
new learning or training initiatives and share positive PR and brand stories.
These platforms give HSRs and communities a chance to develop relationships
and create a channel of two-way communications. However there are risks
associated, including trolling and facilitating active publics to collaborate and work
against the brand (Wirtz et al., 2013).
Facilitating these online channels gives communities and HSRs online space to
build relationships, co-create and work together for the greater good. MPs could
also tap into these channels to work with key publics if desired.
TA9 HSRs +
Communities
HSR – 1 / 2 Communities – 1 / 2,
Communications – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4,

! 14!
Storytelling online
Amazon should utilise current digital and social media channels to tell stories of
their extensive community initiatives (Amazon, [no date]b), current multi-channel
business success stories (Amazon, [no date]c) and future initiatives, events and
engaging stories / content, which will run throughout the year.
Transparency of information source, trustworthiness and engaging content are
vital to the success of this technique. Content should be planned a month in
advance, using the ‘30/60/10 golden ratio’ to ensure an engaging content mix
(Rallyverse, 2014). Inspiring communities and HSRs to the possibilities of
multichannel and e-retailing.
TA10 Communities Communities – 1, Communications – 1 / 2
/ 3 / 4
Sponsorship of courses at The Open University (TOU)
Amazon will work with TOU to develop the current offering of Retail Management
courses, for example, the ‘Diploma of Higher Education in Retail Management’
(Open, no date), to include core modules in e-commerce. Amazon should look to
partner with industry experts, such as, Dr Mike Baxter (Charlton, 2010), to deliver
guest lectures alongside Amazon leaders, like the Head of Business
Development, Abigail Khanna, to drive publicity.
Amazon will assist TOU in the development of supporting resources, such as
instructional and educational videos, however, the course will fundamentally be
managed by TOU. This activity will show that Amazon is an active member of the
community that strives for success of the individuals within it.
TA11 The Media (also
filters through to
other key publics)
Media – 1 / 2, Communities – 1 / 2,
HSRs – 1 / 2, MPs – 1, Communications –
1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Press releases / social media press releases
Releases will be scheduled regularly (see appendix B) containing newsworthy
content, with links to rich media available to download from the Amazon press
site, related to initiatives implemented for Communities and HSRs.
The press releases will be distributed to both active and aware newspapers/key
newsreaders (as identified in section 3.3.1) dependent on activity and additional
key publics targeted (e.g. Communities), with the aim of changing the perception
of Amazon’s character to ‘agreeable’ and diminishing the link between Amazon
and the DotHS. If picked up by the media, the press releases will also help raise
awareness of forthcoming activities and events.
Public opinion is believed to often mirror media coverage (Bland et al., 2005),
therefore this tactic is important to help achieve the objectives of the campaign.
Key press publics identified will receive invites to attend special events to
encourage media coverage.
Example
press
releases
Amazon drives consumers to the high street
Amazon and The Open University team up to teach e-
commerce
#AMAZonING Twitter competition for UK’s best retail talent

! 15!
TA12 The Media (also
filters through to
other key publics)
Media – 1 / 2, Communities – 1 / 2,
HSRs – 1 / 2, MPs – 1, 2 Communications
– 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Interviews
Amazon will attempt to secure interviews with trade press, local press and radio
shows (see section 3.3.1) on their efforts to help drive the development of
communities and HSRs, with an aim to seed messages regarding activities
implemented. UK Senior Business Development Manager, Luke Magnuson, or an
alternative media-trained senior executive, should be made available for the
interviews and make use of a ‘skeleton plan’ to increase the chance of the key
messages being received (Bland et al., 2005) by additional publics reached
through coverage, e.g. HSRs.
There is a risk that interviews will deviate from the desired structure, with other
reputational issues being pursued. However, carefully selected interviews with
appropriate staff for the issue being addressed, should minimise this risk.
Interviews will be timed to fall after key events, such as a publicity stunt, to
improve chances of positive reception and engagement from interviewers.
However, another risk is that interviewers could be skeptical or even critical of
Amazon’s intentions. The selected staff from Amazon should be media-trained
and thoroughly prepared in order to ‘win’ the interview (Bland et al., 2005;
Cornelissen, 2008).
TA13 MPs MPs – 1 / 2, Communications – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Positioning paper
Amazon should commission a positioning paper to present key MPs (section
3.3.4) to demonstrate that they are not accountable for the DotHS. Research of
key opinion leaders such as Mary Portas and Mike Phillips (CIM) should be used
to justify report findings. Concluding the report with Amazon’s activities to drive
community and high street development, and their initiatives to help businesses
grow and develop online. The positioning paper will be presented in October
looking to avoid additional boycotts of Amazon over the Christmas season.
This aims to demonstrate that Amazon is acting responsibly and proactively
developing solutions to alleviate the DotHS issue, proposing new government
initiatives to help HSRs.
TA14 MPs MPs – 1 / 2, Communities – 1,
Communications – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Face-to-Face meetings
Amazon should appoint a Public Affairs representative to give direct meetings
with the 12 MPs appointed as small business ambassadors (Martin, 2013) to
discuss current development initiatives, possibilities of collaborations on business
training and high street growth ideas.
These meetings will be held at the Amazon office in London, 3 times over 12
months, aiming to build relationships and help drive the continual development of
HSRs. This should change MPs perceptions of Amazons role within communities,
by proactively driving change.

! 16!
4.2 12 month Gantt chart (see appendix C)
Amazon'Corporate'Communications'Campaign'Gantt'Chart'1st'April'2015'9'31st'March'2016
W/C$30th$March$2015 W/C$6th$April$2015 W/C$13th$April$2015 W/C$20th$April$2015 W/C$27th$April$2015 W/C$4th$May$2015 W/C$11th$May$2015 W/C$18th$May$2015 W/C$25th$May$2015 W/C$1st$June$2015 W/C$8th$June$2015 W/C$15th$June$2015 W/C$22nd$June$2015 W/C$29th$June$2015 W/C$6th$July$2015 W/C$13th$July$2015 W/C$20th$July$2015 W/C$27th$July$2015 W/C$3rd$August$2015 W/C$10th$August$2015 W/C$17th$August$2015 W/C$24th$August$2015 W/C$31st$August$2015 W/C$7th$September$2015 W/C$14th$September$2015 W/C$21st$September$2015 W/C$28th$September$2015 W/C$5th$October$2015 W/C$12th$October$2015 W/C$19th$October$2015 W/C$26th$October$2015 W/C$2nd$November$2015 W/C$9th$November$2015 W/C$16th$November$2015 W/C$23rd$November$2015 W/C$30th$November$2015 W/C$7th$December$2015 W/C$14th$December$2015 W/C$21st$December$2015 W/C$28th$December$2015 W/C$4th$January$2016 W/C$11th$January$2016 W/C$18th$January$2016 W/C$25th$January$2016 W/C$1st$February$2016 W/C$8th$February$2016 W/C$15th$February$2016 W/C$22nd$February$2016 W/C$29th$February$2016 W/C$7th$March$2016 W/C$14th$March$2016 W/C$21st$March$2016 W/C$28th$March$2016
ActivityWks
Wk$1
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Wk$53
Inspirational$Leaders$Q&A!!✚!!✚!✚!!!✚!✚!!✚
Education$of$HSR!!!!
Sponsorship$of$Awards!!!
PS$U$The$BigSsurprise!!
Twitter$Competition
High$Street$Event
PS$U$Flash$Mob!!!!
Facilate$online$communites$!!!
Storytelling$Online$
Sponsorship$of$TOU!!!!!!✚✚✚
Press$Release*1/5891014a3a131214b3b2/614c411158d7$
Interviews
Positioning$Papers!!
MP$Meetings$!!!
Survey$1
Survey$2
Survey$3
Survey$4
Gant'Chart'Key'*Proliminary'Press'Release'Schedule'can'be'found'in'Appendix'B
Planning
Preperation!
Activity
Launch$/$Release
Event
Meeting
Ongoing$Activity
Guest$Apperance✚
Winner$Announced★
Press$Release$NumberX
Campaign$Survey$Period
TA12
TA13
TA14
TA5
TA6
TA7
TA8
TA9
TA10
TA1
TA2
TA3
TA4
TA11

! 17!
5.0 Monitoring and evaluation plan
Figure 8. PR Effectiveness Yardstick (Lindenmann, 1993; cited in
Macnamara, 2005).
5.1 Overall Success
Figure 8 categorises evaluation by three levels of complexity to measure
‘outputs’, ‘outgrowths’ and ‘outcomes’ (Macnamara, 2005). The most
advanced level measures the impact of the campaign on attitudes, opinions
and behaviour of publics, and is used to assess the effectiveness of the
campaign (Macnamara, 2005).
Amazon should conduct formative and evaluative research, before, during
and after the campaign to establish a benchmark in order to measure change
of attitudes, opinions and behaviour of key publics. Four surveys will be
executed over the duration of the campaign to assess effectiveness (see
Gantt chart for timings). However, it will be difficult to attribute all changes to
the communications campaign.
Additional indicators of whether the campaign has been successful will be if
the communications objectives have been met, such as an increase in the
YouGov BrandIndex “Reputation” score and perception of Amazon as an
‘agreeable’ character, along with progression towards business objectives.

! 18!
5.2 Individual Tactics
Tactic During Activity After Activity
TA1 –
Inspirational
Leaders
Q&A
Monitoring: Contribution level /
Standard, Live stream audience
Exit Poll: Session helpfulness,
Amazon perception change
TA2 –
Education of
HSRs
Monitoring: Attendance, Attendance
Loyalty, Contribution level / Standard
Social Media Monitoring: Level of
Activity / Buzz
Questionnaire: Session helpfulness,
Enjoyment, knowledge of online
resources
TA3 –
Sponsorship
of Awards
Targeted Survey:
Individuals association with Amazon,
understanding of involvement
Targeted Survey:
Understanding of involvement,
Willingness to build relationships /
partnerships
TA4 – PS –
The Big
Surprise
Press / Social Media monitoring:
Buzz generated, content analysis,
shares, times published
Observations: Attitudes / reactions
in the street
Questionnaires: Understanding
Amazons involvement, attitudes
change, messages received
TA5 –
Twitter
Competition
Online poll:
Understanding Amazons involvement,
favourable attitude change,
Knowledge of initiatives
TA6 – High
Street event
Monitoring: Attendance (HS
Footfall)
Local Focus Groups:
Knowledge of initiatives, Likelihood to
re-participate, messages received
TA7 – PS –
Flash mob
Observations: Attitudes / reactions
in the street, public interest
TA8 –
Facilitate
online
communities
Observations: User attendance,
contribution standard / type,
engagement
Questionnaire: Community
effectiveness, Enjoyment, knowledge
of initiatives/online resources
TA9 –
Storytelling
online
Social Media monitoring: Buzz
generated, content analysis, shares,
likes and comments
Targeted Survey: Attitude change
TA10 –
Sponsorship
of TOU
Monitoring: Demand, Award
standard, new relationships
Local focus group:
Knowledge of initiatives

! 19!
Media Monitoring: press coverage,
content analysis
TA11 –
Press
Releases
Monitoring / Content Analysis:
quantity published, accuracy, positive
coverage
Public Focus Group: Awareness,
understanding, reach and frequency of
messages
TA12 –
Interviews
Observations: Reactions / attitude
of interviewers
Media monitoring / content
analysis: Quantity of messages
received / remembered / acted upon
TA13 –
Positioning
paper
Monitoring: Receipt of delivery Observations: Number of
recommendations pursued, affective
changes made, positive/negative
resultant impact
TA14 – MP
meetings
Observations: Reactions / attitude
of MPs
Observations: Subjects discussed
pursued, changes made / impact
Media Monitoring:
Resultant coverage

! 4!
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inflating-prices.html

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&f=2014&g=d

! 25!
7.0 Appendices
7.1 Appendix A – Amazon.com market value calculations
Date
Share
price at
close ($)
Shares
outstanding ($m) Market value ($bn)
31st Dec 2013 398.79 459,000,000 183,044,610,000
31st Dec 2012 250.87 454,000,000 113,894,980,000
31st Dec 2011 173.1 455,000,000 78,760,500,000
*Sources: Amazon Investor Relations (no date), Yahoo! Finance (no date)
7.2 Appendix B – Preliminary press release schedule
No Release date (W/C) Information Target Press
1 6
th
April 2014 TOU Amazon Retail Management Course
Applications now open.
Local and regional Newspapers
and Broadcasters
2 21
st
September 2015 TOU Amazon Retail Management Course 2
week notice
and Broadcasters
3a 1
st
June 2015 Businesses Awards, sponsored by Amazon
UK entry now open (opens 9
th
June 2015)
and Broadcasters,
Trade Press
3b 7
th
September 2015 Business Awards, sponsored by Amazon
UK closing (entry closes 17
th
September
2105)
and Broadcasters,
Trade Press
4 23
rd
November 2015 Award winner of Amazon sponsored
growing business award announced
(Growing business award announced 26
th
November 2015
and Broadcasters,
Trade Press
5 6
th
April 2105 AMAZonING twitter competition launch Local and regional, national
Newspapers
6 21
st
September 2015 AMAZonING twitter competition winner 1
announced (wk4 – 26)
7 21
st
March 2016 AMAZonING twitter competition winner 2
announced (wk27 – 52)
8 13
th
April 2015 Amazon launch high street events Local and regional Newspapers
and Broadcasters,
Trade Press
9 27
th
April 2015 Inspirational leaders Q&A (with key dates) Local and regional Newspapers
and Broadcasters
10 4
th
May 2015 Seminars / Conferences for HSRs Trade Press
11 30
th
November 2015 Publicity stunt for winner of awards Local and regional Newspapers
and Broadcasters
12 27
th
July 2015 Press release following flash mob activity Local and regional Newspapers
and Broadcasters
13 15
th
June 2015 OBC and Forums Launch Trade Press
14a 11
th
May 2015 Amazon HSR conferences event 1 (W/C
18
th
May)
Trade Press
14b 10
th
August 2015 Amazon HSR conferences event 1 (W/C
17
th
August)
Trade Press
14c 16
th
November 2015 Amazon HSR conferences event 1 (W/C
23
rd
November)
Trade Press
14d 8
th
February 2015 Amazon HSR conferences event 1 (W/C
15
th
February)
Trade Press
15 18
th
January 2015 Amazon Guest lecture at TOU – Evan
Davis to lecture students
and Broadcasters,
Trade Press
* Press releases can be merged to form bigger stories where relevant

! 26!
7.3 Appendix C – 12 month Gantt Chart (A3)

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